Tech

Reducing the size of large food portions, packaging and tableware could help to tackle obesity, argue experts in The BMJ this week.

Theresa Marteau from the University of Cambridge and colleagues recently published a Cochrane review that found the "most conclusive evidence to date" that people consume more food or drinks from larger size portions or packages, and when using larger items of tableware.

They showed that eliminating larger portions completely could reduce daily energy intake consumed by 12% to 16% among UK adults, and by 22% to 29% among US adults.

Pharmaceutical sales representatives are screening people in India in return for prescriptions for their products, finds a special report published by The BMJ today.

Free 'health camps' for poor people in India have grown popular, writes author Frederik Joelving, a journalist based in Denmark.

DENVER (Dec. 2, 2015) - As natural gas production increases around the nation, new research from the University of Colorado Denver shows that it can have a similar impact on climate change as coal if it's allowed to leak while producing electricity.

The speed of vessels operating near endangered killer whales in Washington is the most influential factor -- more so than vessel size -- in how much noise from the boats reaches the whales, according to a new study published today in the online journal PLOS ONE.

Previous studies have shown that Southern Resident killer whales alter their behavior in the presence of vessels and associated noise, which affects their ability to communicate and find food. Research has also found that the whales likely expend extra energy to call more loudly when boats are operating nearby.

That's the crux of a University at Buffalo study which examined how weather-related tweets can be analyzed to bolster computer models that, among other things, recommend safe driving speeds and which roads motorists should avoid during inclement weather.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida State University researchers are striving to make solar cells more effective at trapping and using light.

They're one step closer.

In a new paper in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Kenneth Hanson and his team have introduced a new strategy for generating more efficient solar cells. The team is composed of post-doctoral researcher Tanmay Banerjee and graduate students Sean Hill and Tristan Dilbeck.

Finding the right mix of green energy technologies for generating electricity will be crucial in reducing the global impact of pollution for the next generation, according to a United Nations report co-written by a Yale professor.

Without such efforts by policy-makers worldwide, the report warns, greenhouse gas emissions may double by the year 2050. The report is being released as leaders from nearly 200 countries gather in Paris to discuss a possible agreement on limiting carbon emissions.

Physicists at the Technical University of Munich, the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Stanford University (USA) have tracked down semiconductor nanostructure mechanisms that can result in the loss of stored information - and halted the amnesia using an external magnetic field. The new nanostructures comprise common semiconductor materials compatible with standard manufacturing processes.

Body sensors, which were once restricted to doctors' offices, have come a long way. They now allow any wearer to easily track heart rate, steps and sleep cycles around the clock. Soon, they could become even more versatile -- with the help of chewing gum. Scientists report in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces a unique sensing device made of gum and carbon nanotubes that can move with your most bendable parts and track your breathing.

As the world increasingly looks to alternative sources of energy, inexpensive and environmentally friendly polymer-based solar cells have attracted significant attention, but they still do not match the power harvest of their more expensive silicon-based counterparts.

Now, researchers at the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and Kyoto University's Department of Polymer Chemistry have shown that a newly developed polymer can minimize energy loss as well as silicon-based solar cells when converting photon energy from sunlight to electricity.

If quantum computers existed, they would revolutionize computing as we know it. Based on fundamental properties of matter, the potential power of these theoretical workhorses would solve problems in a new way, cracking extremely complex spy codes and precisely modeling chemical systems in a snap. This week in ACS Central Science, researchers create cleverly designed molecules to get one step closer to this goal.

DURHAM, N.C. -- When you're as soft and delicious as a cuttlefish, evading predators is a full-time job.

Not only do these squid-like creatures employ stealthy visual camouflage when a predator looms nearby, new research shows they also manage to cloak their electrical fields.

One of the cuttlefish's major predators, the shark, has eyes on the side of its head, making it effectively blind straight ahead and near the front of the mouth. So the shark relies instead on a snout studded with sensitive detectors of faint electrical fields to get the meat in the maw.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Dec. 1, 2015 - A new era of electronics and even quantum devices could be ushered in with the fabrication of a virtually perfect single layer of "white graphene," according to researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

COLUMBIA, Mo. - In 2014, 75.4 million Baby Boomers lived in the United States, according to Pew Research. As this generation continues to age, dialogue will increase on how to manage concerns associated with aging, such as the decline in cognitive ability and retirement decisions. Now, a researcher at the University of Missouri has found that older individuals with lower cognitive abilities are susceptible to behavioral biases, such as being adverse to upfront costs.

A powerful laser scanner has been used by experts at The University of Nottingham to capture a detailed, virtual record of the interior of Lincoln Cathedral and reveal clues to its architectural past.

Existing floor plans for the historic monument are in excess of a century-old and do not accurately represent the building as it stands today.

The scan results will act as a digital blueprint to work from if any part of the building is ever damaged, helping to future-proof the cathedral for generations to come.