Tech

When the former Hurricane Sandy struck New York City in late October 2012, the Manhattan-media-named "superstorm" led to traffic annoyances in New York City for more than five days, but evacuation proceeded efficiently with only minor delays, according to transportation researchers at the University of Illinois.

What do you get when you wrap a thin sheet of the "wonder material" graphene around a novel multifunctional sulfur electrode that combines an energy storage unit and electron/ion transfer networks? An extremely promising electrode structure design for rechargeable lithium-sulfur batteries.

Lithium-sulfur batteries are of great commercial interest because they boast theoretical specific energy densities considerably greater than those of their already-well-established cousin, lithium ion batteries.

A new analysis suggests that women who use bisphosphonates (medications commonly used to treat osteoporosis and other bone conditions) have about half the risk of developing endometrial cancer as women who do not use the drugs. The study supports other research that has shown an anti-cancer effect of this type of medication.

Although currently available diagnostic screening systems for breast cancer like X-ray computed tomography (CT) and mammography are effective at detecting early signs of tumors, they are far from perfect, subjecting patients to ionizing radiation and sometimes inflicting discomfort on women who are undergoing screening because of the compression of the breast that is required to produce diagnostically useful images.

When it comes to engineering single-layer atomic structures, "minding the gap" will help researchers create artificial electronic materials one atomic layer at a time, according to a team of materials scientists.

The gap is a miniscule vacuum that researchers in Penn State's Center for 2-Dimensional and Layered Materials believe is an energy barrier keeping electrons from easily crossing from one layer of material to the next.

Scientists have discovered the oldest recorded stone tool ever to be found in Turkey, revealing that humans passed through the gateway from Asia to Europe much earlier than previously thought, approximately 1.2 million years ago.

According to research published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews, the chance find of a humanly-worked quartzite flake, in ancient deposits of the river Gediz, in western Turkey, provides a major new insight into when and how early humans dispersed out of Africa and Asia.

Cilia, the cell's tails and antennas, are among the most important biological structures. They line our windpipe and sweep away all the junk we inhale; they help us see, smell and reproduce. When a mutation disrupts the function or structure of cilia, the effects on the human body are devastating and sometimes lethal.

The challenge in diagnosing, studying and treating these genetic disorders, called ciliopathies, is the small size of cilia -- about 500-times thinner than a piece of paper. It's been difficult to examine them in molecular detail until now.

Scientists are using a new method of 'caging' and cooling water molecules to study the change in orientation of the magnetic nuclei at the centre of each hydrogen atom - a process which transforms the molecule from one form of water to another.

By trapping water molecules in carbon spheres and cooling them, scientists at the universities of Southampton, Nottingham and Columbia University in New York, have been able to follow the change in form (or isomer) of the molecules.

The results of this work may one day help to enhance the diagnostic power of MRI scans.

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 18, 2014 -- Uncork a bottle of champagne, and as the pressure of the liquid is abruptly removed, bubbles immediately form and then rapidly begin the process of "coarsening," in which larger bubbles grow at the expense of smaller ones.

This fundamental nonequilibrium phenomenon is known as "Ostwald ripening," and though it is most familiar for its role in bubbly beverages, it is also seen in a wide range of scientific systems including spin systems, foams and metallic alloys.

The lithium-ion batteries that mobilize our electronic devices need to be improved if they are to power electric vehicles orstore electrical energy for the grid. Berkeley Lab researchers looking for a better understanding of liquid electrolyte may have found a pathway forward.

It's like a scene from a gamer's wildest dreams: 12 high-definition, 55-inch 3D televisions all connected to a computer capable of supporting high-end, graphics-intensive gaming.

On the massive screen, images are controlled by a Wii remote that interacts with a Kinnect-like Bluetooth device (called SmartTrack), while 3D glasses worn by the user create dizzying added dimensions.

But this real-life, computer-powered mega TV is not for gaming. It's for engineering.

Researchers from the University of Southampton have revealed a breakthrough in optical fibre communications.

Academics from the University's Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) have collaborated with colleagues at Eblana Photonics Inc, in Ireland, to develop an approach that enables direct modulation of laser currents to be used to generate highly advanced modulation format signals.

[Boston, MA December18, 2014] Parents of children involved in an elementary school-based community intervention to prevent obesity appear to share in its health benefits. A new analysis of Shape Up Somerville: Eat Smart Play Hard™ shows an association between being exposed to the intervention as a parent and a modest decrease in body mass index (BMI) compared to parents in two similar control communities.

Australian scientists have developed a model for oil palm cultivation, aimed at helping growers of the crop maximize the yields of their plantations, while minimizing detrimental environmental impacts.

The model was recently published in the journal Environmental Modeling & Software.

"Oil palm has become a major crop in the tropics, cultivated on more than 39 million acres of land," co-author Dr Paul Nelson of James Cook University (JCU) said.

MANHATTAN, KANSAS -- A Kansas State University engineering team has discovered some of graphene oxide's important properties that can improve sodium- and lithium-ion flexible batteries.

Gurpreet Singh, assistant professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering, and Lamuel David, doctoral student in mechanical engineering, India, published their findings in the Journal of Physical Chemistry in the article "Reduced graphene oxide paper electrode: Opposing effect of thermal annealing on Li and Na cyclability."