Tech

Orlando, Fla. - A first-of-its kind study using robotic technology to remotely control coronary guidewires and stents reported on the feasibility of performing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on patients with complex coronary lesions. Similar clinical outcomes compared to the PCI procedure performed manually were reported.

When migrants move, they often try to keep eating their native cuisine. But a new study from an MIT professor reveals an economic tension underneath this practice: Migrants who hang on to their old cuisines often pay more to eat, because they tend to move to places where their familiar foods are more expensive. In turn, poor migrants on tight budgets must reduce the amount of calories they can consume.

Rechargeable lithium air batteries are a next-generation technology: Theoretically they might be much lighter and offer better performance than current lithium ion batteries. However, currently they run out of steam after only a few charging cycles. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Forschungszentrum Jülich have now investigated the processes and discovered a possible culprit: highly reactive singlet oxygen, which is released when the batteries are charged.

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Engineers at Oregon State University have found a new way to induce and control boiling bubble formation, that may allow everything from industrial-sized boilers to advanced electronics to work better and last longer.

Advances in this technology have been published in Scientific Reports and a patent application filed.

Montreal, May 4, 2016 -- Is the antivirus program running on your computer really making your computers safer to use, say, for online banking? Is the parental control software you bought to keep your 13-year-old off porn sites transparent for the overall safety of your computer?

Probably not. New research from Concordia University in Montreal shows security software might actually make online computing less safe.

Not even the surest surgeon's hand is quite as steady and consistent as a robotic arm built of metal and plastic, programmed to perform the same motions over and over. So could it handle the slippery stuff of soft tissues during a surgery?

WASHINGTON -- Researchers have developed a new light-based technique that selectively stiffens tissue in the cornea and might one day offer improved treatment for eye problems caused by weakened corneal tissue.

In The Optical Society's journal for high impact research, Optica, the researchers detail their new technique for strengthening the cornea by precisely crosslinking the collagen fibers that make up corneal tissue. They also demonstrate a specialized microscopy approach that measures tissue stiffness without disturbing untreated areas.

Radio frequency emission are considered incidental system noise in virtually all laptops, smartphones and other electronic devices, but scientists at Disney Research have found a way to use these spurious electromagnetic (EM) signals to uniquely identify even seemingly identical devices.

Their method, called EM-ID, can differentiate in most cases between devices of the same make and model.

In a cross-national study of what European schools are doing to support student mental health and well-being, 47% of surveyed schools indicated that mental health provision is a high/essential priority, but more than half did not implement a school policy regarding mental health.

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 3, 2016 - Since lasers were invented more than 50 years ago, they have transformed a diverse swath of technology -- from CD players to surgical instruments.

Now researchers from France and Hungary have invented a way to print lasers that's so cheap, easy and efficient they believe the core of the laser could be disposed of after each use. The team reports its findings in the Journal of Applied Physics, from AIP Publishing.

Scientists from the Light-Matter Interactions Unit, led by Professor Síle Nic Chormaic at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), have developed a new technique to fabricate glass microlasers and tune them using compressed air. The new technique, published in Scientific Reports, could pave the way for the simple serial production of glass microlasers and could be used in a wide range of applications, such as optical communications, chemical or biosensing.

The new method is a clever combination of an established industrial production technique (thermoforming) and a new software, which allows even ambitious amateurs to produce individual pieces or small batches of objects with structurally complex and coloured surfaces quickly and cheaply. The researchers have just described their method in a scientific publication, which will be presented at the ACM SIGGRAPH 2016.

Research at TU Eindhoven, KU Leuven and the University of Liege has shown how a motorcyclist riding right behind a racing cyclist can reduce the air resistance for the cyclist by almost nine percent. In a time trial, such as this Friday's forthcoming prologue in the Giro (Tour of Italy) in Apeldoorn, this could mean a decisive advantage. The researchers advise the UCI (International Cycling Union) to extend the minimum distance between motorcycle and cyclist, also from a safety perspective, to 20 or 30 meters.

Researchers at the Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, studied 518 children in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) who underwent bone scans at nine, 15 and 17 years old. Measurements such as thickness, volume and weight, were also taken from the mothers' placenta.

The Southampton group, working with colleagues at the University of Bristol, found that greater placental size at birth was associated with larger bones at each age in childhood.

Ultrasound-estimated percent intramuscular fat of muscles in the lower extremity was inversely associated with physical activity level and positively associated with body mass index in a recent study.

Ultrasound is advantageous because it is less costly and more accessible when compared with other imaging technologies.

The Muscle & Nerve study included 42 participants (16 men, 26 women) between the ages of 19 and 68 years, with a wide range of body mass index and physical activity levels.