Tech

WASHINGTON -- Researchers have developed a new fluorescence microscopy approach that significantly improves image resolution by acquiring three views of a sample at the same time. Their new method is particularly useful for watching the dynamics of biological processes, which can provide insights into how healthy cells work and what goes wrong when diseases occur.

For the first time ever a team of Dutch hacking experts, led by cyber security professor Herbert Bos at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, managed to alter the memory of virtual machines in the cloud without a software bug, using a new attack technique.

Whether violent video games influence the behavior of youth has been a debate that has split the academic community for years. Scholars and clinicians remain divided in opinion about whether violent games are harmful. In 2011, the US Supreme Court, in a decision examining the constitutionality of regulating the sale of violent games to minors, declared the research evidence could not support claims of "harm" caused to minors. In a new study published in Psychology of Popular Media Culture, Christopher J.

Dublin, Ireland, Thursday 11th August, 2016 - Scientists have discovered macabre fossil evidence suggesting that 300 million-year-old sharks ate their own young, as fossil poop of adult Orthacanthus sharks contained the tiny teeth of juveniles. These fearsome marine predators used protected coastal lagoons to rear their babies, but it seems they also resorted to cannibalising them when other food sources became scarce.

A UBC professor's flax research could one day help Canadian farmers grow a car fender.

In a recent study, UBC researcher Michael Deyholos identified the genes responsible for the bane of many Canadian flax farmers' existence; the fibres in the plant's stem.

Game on for Pokémon Go, The BMJ's weekly GP columnist says today in a light-hearted look.

As she and her children hunt Pikachu monsters in their native Glasgow, Dr Margaret McCartney describes the streets as having become a "reclaimed playground in which to have interconnected fun."

"Increased physical activity is a tantalising side effect," she hopes.

A deluge of recent media headlines prompted McCartney to consider whether playing the game might be good or bad for you -- despite a lack of science to help.

MADISON, Wis. -- Using a unique combination of advanced computational methods, University of Wisconsin-Madison chemical engineers have demystified some of the complex catalytic chemistry in fuel cells -- an advance that brings cost-effective fuel cells closer to reality.

"Understanding reaction mechanisms is the first step toward eventually replacing expensive platinum in fuel cells with a cheaper material," says Manos Mavrikakis, a UW-Madison professor of chemical and biological engineering.

Experiencing financial difficulties and worrying about debt at university increases the risk of mental health conditions such as depression and alcohol dependency, according to new research from the University of Southampton and Solent NHS Trust.

The research, published online in the Community Mental Health Journal, found that symptoms of anxiety and alcohol dependence worsened over time for those who were struggling to pay the bills. Those who were more stressed about their debt had worsening levels of stress, anxiety and depression.

Scientists from Russia and Australia have put forward a simple new way of counting microscopic particles in optical materials by means of a laser. A light beam passing through such a material splits and forms a characteristic pattern consisting of numerous bright spots on a projection screen. The researchers found that the number of these spots corresponds exactly to the number of scattering microscopic particles in the optical material.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- An analysis of a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults reveals that access to healthy foods in a supermarket does not hinder Americans' consumption of empty calories. In fact, the study found, U.S. adults buy the bulk of their sugar-sweetened beverages and nutrient-poor discretionary foods at supermarkets and grocery stores.

The new findings challenge the "food desert" hypothesis, which posits that a lack of access to supermarkets and grocery stores in some communities worsens the obesity crisis by restricting people's access to healthy foods.

1. Research supports removing drug use as a restriction for receiving highly curative hep C treatment

Hep C patients being treated for opioid addiction achieved high rates of sustained virologic response after 12 weeks of therapy with elbasvir-grazoprevir compared to those taking placebo for 12 weeks before beginning the drug treatment. The patients in the elbasvir-grazoprevir group saw a reduced viral load, regardless of ongoing drug use. The results of a randomized, controlled trial are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Today, supercomputer-based weather predictions are typically done with simulations that use grids spaced at least one kilometer apart, and incorporate new observational data every hour. However, due to the roughness of the calculations, these simulations cannot accurately predict the threat of torrential rains, which can develop within minutes when cumulonimbus clouds suddenly develop.

Researchers have built a miniature electro-optical switch which can change the spin -- or angular momentum -- of a liquid form of light by applying electric fields to a semiconductor device a millionth of a metre in size. Their results, reported in the journal Nature Materials, demonstrate how to bridge the gap between light and electricity, which could enable the development of ever faster and smaller electronics.

Designers of solar cells may soon be setting their sights higher, as a discovery by a team of researchers has revealed a class of materials that could be better at converting sunlight into energy than those currently being used in solar arrays. Their research shows how a material can be used to extract power from a small portion of the sunlight spectrum with a conversion efficiency that is above its theoretical maximum -- a value called the Shockley-Queisser limit.

The team was able to show through neutron measurements made at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France, that lithium ions do not penetrate deeply into the silicon. During the charge cycle, a 20-nm anode layer develops containing an extremely high proportion of lithium. This means extremely thin layers of silicon would be sufficient to achieve the maximal load of lithium.