Tech

More than two thousand years ago the Greek inventor and philosopher Archimedes already came up with the idea of using a curved mirror to reflect light in such a way as to focus it into a point - legend has it that he used this technique to set fire to the ships of the Roman enemies. Today such curved or parabolic mirrors are used in a host of technical applications ranging from satellite dishes to laser resonators, where light waves are amplified between two mirrors. Modern quantum physics also makes use of resonators with curved mirrors.

WASHINGTON-- Many mysteries of nature are locked up in the world of the very small and the very fast. Chemical reactions and material phase transitions, for example, happen on the scale of atoms -- which are about one tenth of one billionth of a meter across -- and attoseconds -- which are one quintillionth (10^-18) of a second long.

URBANA, Ill. -A new University of Illinois study reports that when conflict occurs in romantic relationships, the negative emotional climate that results hinders a person's ability to recognize their partner's attempts to reach out to them.

Researchers have been able to watch the interior cells of a plant synthesize cellulose for the first time by tricking the cells into growing on the plant's surface.

"The bulk of the world's cellulose is produced within the thickened secondary cell walls of tissues hidden inside the plant body," says University of British Columbia Botany PhD candidate Yoichiro Watanabe, lead author of the paper published this week in Science.

"So we've never been able to image the cells in high resolution as they produce this all-important biological material inside living plants."

A new study shows that iron-bearing rocks that formed at the ocean floor 3.2 billion years ago carry unmistakable evidence of oxygen. The only logical source for that oxygen is the earliest known example of photosynthesis by living organisms, say University of Wisconsin-Madison geoscientists.

Epinephrine autoinjectors can be life-saving for patients experiencing anaphylaxis - a life-threatening emergency - but a new case series published online Tuesday in Annals of Emergency Medicine identifies design features of EpiPens, the most commonly used autoinjector, that appear to be contributing to injuries in children ("Lacerations and Embedded Needles Caused by Epinephrine Autoinjector Use in Children").

Thousands more people would take part in bowel cancer screening if the kit included extras, such as gloves and "poo catchers", according to a Cancer Research UK study published today (Wednesday) in Biomed Research International*.

The London study looked at how to increase the number of people who take part in the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (BCSP)**, with fewer than six in ten 60 to 74 year olds in England returning the kit.

Every year, $400 billion in federal and state funds are distributed to state, county and local communities for infrastructure, public safety, community development and social services. When it comes to determining how the money is distributed, accurate data are paramount. Those looking for data and analytical reports often turn to the American Community Survey (ACS) from the U.S. Census, which provides data such as unemployment, median household income, and housing prices for multi-year periods.

McMaster Engineering researchers Emily Cranston and Igor Zhitomirsky are turning trees into energy storage devices capable of powering everything from a smart watch to a hybrid car.

The scientists are using cellulose, an organic compound found in plants, bacteria, algae and trees, to build more efficient and longer-lasting energy storage devices or supercapacitors. This development paves the way toward the production of lightweight, flexible, and high-power electronics, such as wearable devices, portable power supplies and hybrid and electric vehicles.

Patients with Light-chain (AL) amyloidosis who are treated with high-dose chemotherapy (melphalan) and autologous (one's own) stem cell transplantation (HDM/SCT) have the greatest success for long-term survival.

These findings, which appear as a "Letter" in the journal Blood, (Journal of the American Society of Hematology), report on the largest number of patients in the world receiving high dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation for this rare disease.

In recent years, two-micron lasers (0.002 millimetre) have been of growing interest among researchers. In the areas of surgery and molecule detection, for example, they offer significant advantages compared to traditional, shorter-wavelength lasers.However, two-micron lasers are still in their infancy and not yet as mature as their telecom counterparts (1.55-micron). Moreover sources currently used in labs are typically bulky and expensive. Optical fibre-based 2 micron lasers are an elegant solution to these issues. This is where researchers at Photonics Systems Laboratory (PHOSL) come in.

A report analysing the use of energy in the EU food industry finds that the share of renewable remains relatively small (7%) when compared to its part in the overall energy mix (15%). Progress in the decarbonisation of the food sector is challenging: while farmers and industry have made relevant efforts to improve their energy profile, consumers can also play their part by reducing meat consumption, buying locally and seasonally, and reducing food waste.

SEDE BOQER, Israel...October 8, 2015 -Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a highly sensitive, cost-effective technology for rapid bacterial pathogen screening of air, soil, water, and agricultural produce in as little as 24 hours.

Most robotic parts used today are rigid, have a limited range of motion and don't really look lifelike. Inspired by both nature and biology, a scientist from Florida Atlantic University has designed a novel robotic finger that looks and feels like the real thing.

These findings, reported today, Friday 9th October, in the journal Bioinspiration & Biomechanics, offer a new insight into how animals respond to different terrain, and how robots can learn from them.

The researchers, based at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, USA, and Northwestern University, Evanston, USA, developed a test-bed to test the performance of different animals and a hexapedal robot over loose ground.