Tech

A colony of feral rhesus macaques calls the banks of the Silver River in Silver Springs State Park in central Florida its home. The monkeys are part of a larger feral population living throughout the Cross Florida Greenway. Many locals enjoy having the monkeys in the park, but wildlife officials are concerned about overpopulation caused by human feeding, the nonnative animals' ecological impact and the potential for interspecies disease transmission.

Smart skin that can respond to external stimuli could have important applications in medicine and robotics. Using only items found in a typical household, researchers have created multi-sensor artificial skin that's capable of sensing pressure, temperature, humidity, proximity, pH, and air flow.

Emulsions, the stabilized mixtures of oil and water are the basis of many food and personal care products such as spreads, creams, and pastes. Each product has different requirements and there is a need for emulsifiers that can be tuned, or tailored but are also biocompatible and biodegradable.

Lebanon, New Hampshire - February 18, 2016 - Adimab, LLC, a global leader in the discovery of human antibodies, today reported the isolation of a broad panel of neutralizing anti-Ebola virus antibodies from a survivor of the recent Zaire outbreak. The work, published online today in the journal Science, highlights the remarkable speed of Adimab's recently launched single B cell isolation platform, and constitutes the largest panel of functional anti-Ebola antibodies reported in the scientific literature to date.

Researchers have created a library of fungi-secreted enzymes that breakdown plant biomass, which is no easy feat for man, and mapped out how these enzymes function together. The results could help simplify and lower the costs of biofuel production. Lignocellulose, or plant dry matter, is the most abundant material available on Earth for the production of biofuels, including ethanol. Yet current methods to convert such biomass into fuel require costly pretreatment processes. Fungi within the guts of herbivores are highly efficient at breaking down lignocellulose.

Ecstasy -- or MDMA, the active chemical ingredient--is one of the most prevalent party drugs; it is estimated to be used by at least one out of ten young adults in the United States.

Motion-controlled video games, such as those played on the Wii, may help boost skills when players compete in the real world, according to a team of researchers.

Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of Delaware have developed an algorithm that can quickly and accurately reconstruct hyperspectral images using less data. The images are created using instruments that capture hyperspectral information succinctly, and the combination of algorithm and hardware makes it possible to acquire hyperspectral images in less time and to store those images using less memory.

Hyperspectral imaging holds promise for use in fields ranging from security and defense to environmental monitoring and agriculture.

PHILADELPHIA (February 18, 2016) - A new, novel study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) shows that there is an alarming connection between the negative social interactions disadvantaged youth experience in both the neighborhoods they live in and on social media. The study, led by Robin Stevens, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Department of Family & Community Health and Director of the Health Equity & Media Lab, is set for publication in New Media & Society, but is currently available online.

What do irritable, squished riders on a crowded subway train do? According to a forthcoming study in the INFORMS journal Marketing Science, they often immerse themselves in their mobile phones to escape the crowd, and that they shop and buy more in response to mobile ads in the crowded train.

Innovative membrane wings that work like artificial muscles have been successfully tested in-flight, paving the way for a new breed of unmanned Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) that have improved aerodynamic properties, can fly over long distances and are more economical to run. Inspired by bats, the wings change shape in response to the forces they experience and have no mechanical parts, making MAVs incorporating them easier to maintain.

Autonomous robots performing a joint task send each other continual updates: "I've passed through a door and am turning 90 degrees right." "After advancing 2 feet I've encountered a wall. I'm turning 90 degrees right." "After advancing 4 feet I've encountered a wall." And so on.

Computers, of course, have no trouble filing this information away until they need it. But such a barrage of data would drive a human being crazy.

New research has identified regions in the United States where bioenergy crops would grow best while minimizing effects on water quantity and quality.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign used detailed models to examine impacts on water quantity and quality in soils that would occur if existing vegetation was replaced by various bioenergy crops in the name of ethanol production.

Fragrances can be powerful. They can sooth or revitalize, evoke the forest or sea, and remind us of the past. To capture them, manufacturers infuse scents into products from toilet bowl cleaners to luxury perfumes. But once released from a bottle, fragrances evaporate quickly. Now researchers report in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces a new way to encapsulate fragrance molecules to make a product's scent last.

Soilless farming could help developing countries with little arable land and harsh for agriculture climate, such as Qatar, to become self-sufficient in terms of their produce. Relying on advanced hydroponics and multi-story vertical growing, the proposed system uses nutrient-enriched water to produce approximately a hundred times more yield compared to when the crops are grown on a conventional farmland of the same size.