Tech

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Taking their cue from biological circulatory systems, University of Illinois researchers have developed vascularized structural composites, creating materials that are lightweight and strong with potential for self-healing, self-cooling, metamaterials and more.

"We can make a material now that's truly multifunctional by simply circulating fluids that do different things within the same material system," said Scott White, the Willet Professor of aerospace engineering who led the group. "We have a vascularized structural material that can do almost anything."

(PHILADELPHIA) -- Social media tools like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare may be an important key to improving the public health system's ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters, according to a New England Journal of Medicine "Perspective" article from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania to be published this week.

Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have created a graphene and tin nanoscale composite material for high-capacity energy storage in renewable lithium ion batteries. By encapsulating tin between sheets of graphene, the researchers constructed a new, lightweight "sandwich" structure that should bolster battery performance.

Washington, D.C.—Geological history has periodically featured giant lava eruptions that coat large swaths of land or ocean floor with basaltic lava, which hardens into rock formations called flood basalt. New research from Matthew Jackson and Richard Carlson proposes that the remnants of six of the largest volcanic events of the past 250 million years contain traces of the ancient Earth's primitive mantle—which existed before the largely differentiated mantle of today—offering clues to the geochemical history of the planet. Their work is published online July 27 by Nature.

Fairbanks, Alaska—In 2007 the largest recorded tundra fire in the circumpolar arctic released approximately as much carbon into the atmosphere as the tundra has stored in the previous 50 years, say scientists in the July 28 issue of the journal Nature. The study of the Anaktuvuk River fire on Alaska's North Slope revealed how rapidly a single tundra fire can offset or reverse a half-century worth of soil-stored carbon.

Why do people behave selfishly and accept that their behaviour may have negative consequences for others? Astrid Matthey and Tobias Regner from the Max Planck Institute of Economics in Jena investigated this question in a laboratory experiment. They found that such behaviour often depends on whether information about the consequences for others can be ignored. Based on their findings, the researchers believe that conclusions can be drawn on, for instance, how the marketing of fair trade products could be improved.

Scientists are reporting development of a new aquatic microrobot that mimics the amazing water-walking abilities of the water strider — the long-legged insect that scoots across the surface of ponds, lakes and other waterways. The bionic microrobot incorporates improvements over previous devices of this kind that position it as a prime candidate for military spy missions, water pollution monitoring, and other applications, the scientists say. Their study appears in the journal, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

Giving amphetamines to adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can help them control their symptoms, but the side effects mean that some people do not manage to take them for very long. These conclusions were drawn by a team of five researchers working at Girona and Barcelona Universities in Spain, and published in a new Cochrane Systematic Review.

UPTON, NY - Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a computational model for analyzing the metabolic processes in rapeseed plants - particularly those related to the production of oils in their seeds. Their goal is to find ways to optimize the production of plant oils that have widespread potential as renewable resources for fuel and industrial chemicals.

The Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials & Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, in close collaboration with the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, has shown that the band gap and energy levels of conjugated polymers can be finely tuned using a two-dimensional-like donor-π-acceptor (D-π-A) molecular design, which is of important for polymer solar cell applications. The study is reported in Volume 54 of Science China Chemistry because of its significant research value.

Taking advantage of the unique properties of zinc oxide nanowires, researchers have demonstrated a new type of piezoelectric resistive switching device in which the write-read access of memory cells is controlled by electromechanical modulation. Operating on flexible substrates, arrays of these devices could provide a new way to interface the mechanical actions of the biological world to conventional electronic circuitry.

Los Angeles, CA (JULY 26, 2011) Views on the role of for-profit colleges have been varied, opposing and very public. This debate had played out primarily in the media, and those sentiments were researched and analyzed in SAGE Open's "All-Out War: A Case Study in Media Coverage of For-Profit Higher Education".

For immediate release - July 26 (Toronto) - People who abused methamphetamine or other amphetamine-like stimulants were more likely to develop Parkinson's disease than those who did not, in a new study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

The researchers examined almost 300,000 hospital records from California covering 16 years. Patients admitted to hospital for methamphetamine or amphetamine-use disorders had a 76 per cent higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease compared to those with no disorder.

AMES, Iowa – Soil quality, water quality, and possibly even farm profits will all benefit by using a perennial cover crop on corn fields that allows for similar yields to traditional farming methods, according to Iowa State University research.

Using standard agronomic practices and managing a perennial cover crop between rows of corn can keep soil, nutrients and carbon in the fields, a three-year study says. Plus, farmers will still be able to yield 200 bushels per acre, the study showed.

MADISON – For thousands of years, bakers and brewers have relied on yeast to convert sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Yet, University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers eager to harness this talent for brewing biofuels have found when it comes to churning through sugars, these budding microbes can be picky eaters.