Piezoelectric 'taxel' arrays convert motion to electronic signals for tactile imaging

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Using bundles of vertical zinc oxide nanowires, researchers have fabricated arrays of piezotronic transistors capable of converting mechanical motion directly into electronic controlling signals. The arrays could help give robots a more adaptive sense of touch, provide better security in handwritten signatures and offer new ways for humans to interact with electronic devices.

The Earth's center is 1,000 degrees hotter than previously thought

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Grenoble, 26 April 2013: Scientists have determined the temperature near the Earth's centre to be 6000 degrees Celsius, 1000 degrees hotter than in a previous experiment run 20 years ago. These measurements confirm geophysical models that the temperature difference between the solid core and the mantle above, must be at least 1500 degrees to explain why the Earth has a magnetic field. The scientists were even able to establish why the earlier experiment had produced a lower temperature figure. The results are published on 26 April 2013 in Science.

New battery design could help solar and wind power the grid

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Because solar and wind power are not 'always on' they need a better storage solution than exists today. Researchers from Stanford Linear Accelerator have designed a low-cost, long-life battery that could enable solar and wind energy to become major suppliers to the electrical grid.

Deep, permeable soils buffer impacts of crop fertilizer on Amazon streams, MBL study finds

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WOODS HOLE, Mass.—The often damaging impacts of intensive agriculture on nearby streams, rivers, and their wildlife has been well documented in temperate zones, such as North America and Europe.

Yet a new study in an important tropical zone—the fast-changing southern Amazon, a region marked by widespread replacement of native forest by cattle ranches and more recently croplands—suggests that at least some of those damaging impacts may be buffered by the very deep and highly permeable soils that characterize large areas of the expanding cropland.

New LED streetlight design curbs light pollution

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WASHINGTON, April 24, 2013—Streetlights illuminate the night, shining upon roadways and sidewalks across the world, but these ubiquitous elements of the urban environment are notoriously inefficient and major contributors to light pollution that washes out the night sky. Recent innovations in light emitting diodes (LEDs) have improved the energy efficiency of streetlights, but, until now, their glow still wastefully radiated beyond the intended area.

Battery and memory device in 1

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Inhibiting enzymes in the cell may lead to development and proliferation of cancer cells

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Blocking certain enzymes in the cell may prevent cancer cell division and growth, according to new findings from researchers at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The discovery is published in the April 25, 2013 issue of the journal Molecular Cell.

Precision agriculture improves farming efficiency, has important implications on food security

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Precision agriculture promises to make farming more efficient and should have an important impact on the serious issue of food security, according to a new study published in Significance, the magazine of the Royal Statistical Society and the American Statistical Association. In an article about the study in the magazine's May issue, University of Reading Professor Margaret A. Oliver, BSc, PhD, assesses how there is potential to manage land more effectively to improve the farming economy and crop quality, and to ensure food security.

Dietary medium chain triglycerides prevent nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

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Microscopic dust particles found in underground railways may pose health risk

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New research from the University of Southampton has found that working or travelling on an underground railway for a sustained period of time could have health implications.