UBC engineer helps pioneer flat spray-on optical lens

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A University of British Columbia engineer and a team of U.S. researchers have made a breakthrough utilizing spray-on technology that could revolutionize the way optical lenses are made and used.

Kenneth Chau, an assistant professor in the School of Engineering at UBC's Okanagan campus, is a key investigator among colleagues at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland. Their work – the development of a flat lens – is published in the May 23 issue of the journal Nature.

NASA's SDO observes another mid-level solar flare

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An image, captured at 11:06 a.m. EDT on May 22, 2013, from the ESA/NASA Solar Heliospheric Observatory shows the conjunction of two coronal mass ejections streaming away from the sun. This image is what's known as a coronagraph, in which the light of the sun is blocked in order to make its dimmer atmosphere, the corona, visible.

Depression linked to telomere enzyme, aging, chronic disease

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The first symptoms of major depression may be behavioral, but the common mental illness is based in biology — and not limited to the brain. In recent years some studies have linked major, long-term depression with life-threatening chronic disease and with earlier death, even after lifestyle risk factors have been taken into account.

Frequent heartburn may predict cancers of the throat and vocal cord

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PHILADELPHIA — Frequent heartburn was positively associated with cancers of the throat and vocal cord among nonsmokers and nondrinkers, and the use of antacids, but not prescription medications, had a protective effect, according to data published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

New discovery in fight against deadly meningococcal disease

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"Neisseria meningitidis is an important human pathogen that can cause rapidly progressing, life threatening meningitis and meningococcal sepsis in humans," Professor Jennings said.

"Until now we have not known how it attaches to the human host. It has been a long-standing mystery how it attaches to the airway to colonise"

New imaging techniques used to help patients suffering from epilepsy

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Researchers identify networks of neurons in the brain that are disrupted in psychiatric disease

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Pay attention: How we focus and concentrate

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Publishing in Neuron, the team reveal the interplay of brain chemicals which help us pay attention in work funded by the Wellcome Trust and BBSRC.

By changing the way neurons respond to external stimuli we improve our perceptual abilities. While these changes can affect the strength of a neuronal response, they can also affect the fidelity of that response.

University of Wisconsin chemists find new compounds to curb staph infection

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MADISON, Wis. – In an age when microbial pathogens are growing increasingly resistant to the conventional antibiotics used to tamp down infection, a team of Wisconsin scientists has synthesized a potent new class of compounds capable of curbing the bacteria that cause staph infections.

Study shows people can be trained to be more compassionate

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MADISON, Wis. – Until now, little was scientifically known about the human potential to cultivate compassion — the emotional state of caring for people who are suffering in a way that motivates altruistic behavior.