Tech
Toronto scientists have mapped the genes allowing cancer cells to avoid getting killed by the immune system in a finding that paves the way for the development of immunotherapies that would be effective for larger patient populations and across different tumour types.
Genoa/Bologna (Italy), 23 September 2020 - The biomimetic prosthetic hand Hannes is featured on Science Robotics' cover today; in the current issue researchers from Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT- Italian Institute of Technology) and Centro Protesi INAIL (the prosthetic unit of the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work) in Italy reported about its ability to replicate the key biological properties of the human hand: natural synergistic and adaptable movement; biomimetic levels of force and speed; high anthropomorphism and grasp robustness.
The frequency of combined droughts and heatwaves - which are more devastating when they occur in unison - has substantially increased across the western U.S. and in parts of the Northeast and Southeast over the past 50 years, according to a new study. The findings also suggest areas that experience compound dry-hot extremes are growing less scattered and more connected, resulting in larger impacted regions that place enormous strain on regional and national relief efforts.
Nanoscale vortices known as skyrmions can be created in many magnetic materials. For the first time, researchers at PSI have managed to create and identify antiferromagnetic skyrmions with a unique property: critical elements inside them are arranged in opposing directions. Scientists have succeeded in visualising this phenomenon using neutron scattering. Their discovery is a major step towards developing potential new applications, such as more efficient computers. The results of the research are published today in the journal Nature.
A BCI is an apparatus that allows an individual to control a machine or computer directly from their brain. Non-invasive means of control like electroencephalogram (EEG) readings taken through the skull are safe and convenient compared to more risky invasive methods using a brain implant, but they take longer to learn and users ultimately vary in proficiency.
In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration delivered the first image of a black hole, revealing M87*--the supermassive object in the center of the M87 galaxy. The EHT team has now used the lessons learned last year to analyze the archival data sets from 2009-2013, some of them not published before. The analysis reveals the behavior of the black hole image across multiple years, indicating persistence of the crescent-like shadow feature, but also variation of its orientation--the crescent appears to be wobbling.
Pollution particles, including metals, have been found in the placentas of fifteen women in London, according to research led by Queen Mary University of London.
The study, funded by Barts Charity and published in the journal Science of The Total Environment, demonstrate that inhaled particulate matter from air pollution can move from the lungs to distant organs, and that it is taken up by certain cells in the human placenta, and potentially the foetus.
Philadelphia, September 23, 2020 - Depression in elderly people can include symptoms such as memory loss, making it hard to distinguish from the early stages of Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia. A signature of Alzheimer's is accumulation of a protein called amyloid beta (Aβ) in the brain, which can be detected with brain-imaging technology.
Many animal species are currently changing their distribution range owing to global warming. The underlying mechanisms are still little known, especially in mammals. An international team of scientists led by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) has now demonstrated that in the common noctule bat, one of the largest European bat species, the colonization of hibernacula progresses from lower to higher latitudes over successive generations of young animals - especially first-year males.
With the development of society, energy demand increases. A series of problems caused by the excessive use of fossil fuel requires clean renewable energy for sustainable development. However, the intermittent and random nature of renewable energy generation such as wind and solar power brings challenges to the safe and stable operation of the power grid. As a key technology for the wide application of renewable energy, large-scale energy storage technology can effectively solve the above problems.
According to a new review paper, published in Journal of The Electrochemical Society, industry leaders feel that battery safety standards do not represent real-world scenarios that could cause fires and are therefore not robust enough to prevent, detect, and suppress battery fires. The authors argue that better alignment of research and industry could address this gap and help to reduce the likelihood of and damage from battery fires.
Electrochemistry is playing an increasingly important role: Whether it is fuel cells, electrolysis or chemical energy storage, chemical reactions controlled by electric current are used. The decisive factor in all these applications is that the reactions are as fast and efficient as possible.
Until now, seven genes were known to be involved in hearing loss in Israel's Jewish population. A new study led by Zippora Brownstein, PhD, and Prof. Karen Avraham from the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University has found that 32 genes are responsible for inherited hearing loss in Israeli Jewish families. The researchers also identified a mutation in a gene not previously recognized to cause hearing loss in humans. The research has immediate implications for genetic counseling for families with hearing loss and for care of children with hearing loss.
A new type of imaging that does not require a lens and uses reconfigurable particle-based masks to take multiple shots of an object is being developed by researchers at Penn State. The electric-field directed self-assembling mask technology is expected to have uses in lower-cost and faster disease diagnosis, the enhancement of optical microscopy, and may even lead to thinner cellphone technology.
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Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a chronic sleep condition affecting more than one billion people worldwide. Evidence suggests OSA can alter the gut microbiome (GM) and may promote OSA-associated co-morbidities, including diabetes, hypertension and cognitive problems. Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine and MU Health Care have discovered how OSA-related sleep disturbances affect the gut microbiome in mice and how transplanting those gut bacteria into other mice can cause changes to sleep patterns in the recipient mice.