Tech | Page 1054 | Science Codex

New drug combinations could significantly improve tuberculosis treatment

Researchers from UCLA and Shanghai Jiao Tong University have made an important step toward a substantially faster and more effective treatment for tuberculosis, which infects some 10 million people and causes 1.5 million deaths each year.

Combination therapy, which utilizes a series of drugs, is a clinical standard for many major diseases. However, the number of potential combinations of different drugs and dose levels can be in the billions, making the prospect of choosing the best one seem daunting.

Scientific secrets for successful aging?

Metabolites - substances that are created during metabolism -- can provide a wealth of information about individual health, disease, diet, and life-style. Now, they can tell us even more. Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) researchers and collaborators at Kyoto University have recently discovered metabolites that are specifically related to aging and shed light on how the human body ages. The team, led by OIST's Professor Yanagida, published their results in PNAS.

Multilingual circuit: NIST's 'optomechanical transducer' links sound, light, radio waves

Researchers working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a "piezo-optomechanical circuit" that converts signals among optical, acoustic and radio waves. A system based on this design could move and store information in next-generation computers.

The team's work, published in Nature Photonics, also was presented at the March 2016 meeting of the American Physical Society in Baltimore, Md.

Engineering black gold, as light as the bones of birds

A team of Korean research team, led by Professor Ju-Young Kim (School of Materials Science and Engineering) of Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), South Korea has recently announced that they have successfully developed a way to fabricate an ultralight, high-dense nanoporous gold (np-Au).

In a new paper, published in Nano Letters on March 22, the team reported that this newly developed material, which they have dubbed "Black Gold" is twice more solid and 30% lighter than standard gold.

Study finds metal foam handles heat better than steel

A new study from North Carolina State University researchers finds that novel light-weight composite metal foams (CMFs) are significantly more effective at insulating against high heat than the conventional base metals and alloys that they're made of, such as steel. The finding means the CMF is especially promising for use in storing and transporting nuclear material, hazardous materials, explosives and other heat-sensitive materials, as well as for space exploration.

Computer simulation discloses new effect of cavitation

Researchers have discovered a so far unknown formation mechanism of cavitation bubbles by means of a model calculation. In the Science Advances journal, they describe how oil-repellent and oil-attracting surfaces influence a passing oil flow. Depending on the viscosity of the oil, a steam bubble forms in the transition area. This so-called cavitation may damage material of e.g. ship propellers or pumps. However, it may also have a positive effect, as it may keep components at a certain distance and, thus, prevent damage.

Sniffing out a dangerous vapor

Alkane fuel is a key ingredient in combustible material such as gasoline, airplane fuel, oil -- even a homemade bomb. Yet it's difficult to detect and there are no portable scanners available that can sniff out the odorless and colorless vapor.

But University of Utah engineers have developed a new type of fiber material for a handheld scanner that can detect small traces of alkane fuel vapor, a valuable advancement that could be an early-warning signal for leaks in an oil pipeline, an airliner, or for locating a terrorist's explosive.

Unlocking the gates to quantum computing

Researchers from Griffith University and the University of Queensland have overcome one of the key challenges to quantum computing by simplifying a complex quantum logic operation. They demonstrated this by experimentally realising a challenging circuit -- the quantum Fredkin gate -- for the first time.

"The allure of quantum computers is the unparalleled processing power that they provide compared to current technology," said Dr Raj Patel from Griffith's Centre for Quantum Dynamics.

Phone-based laser rangefinder works outdoors

The Microsoft Kinect was a boon to robotics researchers. The cheap, off-the-shelf depth sensor allowed them to quickly and cost-effectively prototype innovative systems that enable robots to map, interpret, and navigate their environments.

But sensors like the Kinect, which use infrared light to gauge depth, are easily confused by ambient infrared light. Even indoors, they tend to require low-light conditions, and outdoors, they're hopeless.

Chinese researchers develop new battery technology

A Chinese research team from the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a novel, environmentally friendly low-cost battery that overcomes many of the problems of lithium ion batteries (LIB).The new aluminum-graphite dual-ion battery (AGDIB) offers significantly reduced weight, volume, and fabrication cost, as well as higher energy density, in comparison with conventional LIBs.

New research ensures car LCDs work in extreme cold, heat

One of UCF's most prolific inventors has solved a stubborn problem: How to keep the electronic displays in your car working, whether you're driving in the frigid depths of winter or under the broiling desert sun.

LCD screens are everywhere -- our smartphones, televisions, laptops and more. Increasingly, they're now popping up in automobiles, where it's now common to find liquid crystal displays showing speed, distance, fuel consumption and other information, as well as GPS mapping, rearview cameras and audio systems.

Solar cell material can recycle light to boost efficiency

Scientists have discovered that a highly promising group of materials known as hybrid lead halide perovskites can recycle light - a finding that they believe could lead to large gains in the efficiency of solar cells.

Saving sunshine for a rainy day: New catalyst offers efficient storage of green energy

We can't control when the wind blows and when the sun shines, so finding efficient ways to store energy from alternative sources remains an urgent research problem. Now, a group of researchers led by Professor Ted Sargent at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering may have a solution inspired by nature.

UD researchers examine ways to break down, track synthetic compound in herbicides

To examine the fate and persistence of glyphosate, one of the most common commercial herbicides used for agricultural and urban applications, and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), a major byproduct of glyphosate, in soils and other environments, researchers at the University of Delaware have used isotopic signatures as a method of source tracking.

ATS supports Osha's more protective crystalline silica exposure standard

While it took nearly three years of waiting, the American Thoracic Society is pleased that OSHA has issued its final rule establishing a more protective standard for occupational silica. The new more protective standard will greatly reduce exposure to this known and potentially deadly occupational hazard.