Tech
Routing apps such as Google Maps or Nokia's Here platform could offer a cost-effective way of calculating emissions hotspots in real time, say researchers at the University of Birmingham.
These apps routinely capture detailed information as motorists use the GPS technology to plan and navigate routes. This data could be invaluable for researchers and planners who need to better understand traffic flows on busy roads, according to new research published in Weather, the journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
CLEMSON, South Carolina - Three teams of researchers at Clemson University have joined forces to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding perovskite nanocrystals, which are semiconductors with numerous applications, including LEDs, lasers, solar cells and photodetectors.
Salk Institute scientists have made a major advance in the pursuit of a safe and effective treatment for type 1 diabetes, an illness that impacts an estimated 1.6 million Americans with a cost of $14.4 billion annually.
Using stem cell technology, Salk researchers generated the first human insulin-producing pancreatic cell clusters able to evade the immune system, as detailed in the journal Nature on August 19, 2020. These "immune shielded" cell clusters controlled blood glucose without immunosuppressive drugs in mice once transplanted in the body.
An analysis of facial expressions in ancient Mesoamerican sculptures finds that some emotions expressed in these artworks match the emotions that modern U.S. participants would anticipate for each discernible context, including elation, sadness, pain, anger, and determination or strain. For instance, elation was predicted in the context of social touch while anger was predicted in the context of combat.
Babies that experience low oxygen levels in the womb due to pregnancy complications often go on to develop heart disease in adulthood. A study using sheep has discovered that a specialised antioxidant called MitoQ can prevent heart disease at its very onset. The results are published today in the journal Science Advances.
The evolution of limbs with functional digits from fish fins happened approximately 400 million years ago in the Devonian. This morphological transition allowed vertebrates to leave the water to conquer land and gave rise to all four-legged animals or tetrapods - the evolutionary lineage that includes all amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals (including humans). Since the nineteenth century several theories based on both fossils and embryos have been put forward trying to explain how this transformation unfolded.
Applying a noble metal, such as gold, to the surface of a crystal induces an electrical field that 'excites' the structure of the crystal
Physicists at University of Warwick demonstrate that by exciting its structure, the crystal is capable of new electrical effects
Effects include converting movement and heat into electricity - making the technique ideal for sensors, infra-red technologies and energy conversion
Useful for mobile technologies as the effects scale down efficiently
An elusive protein that many consider the key of fully understanding the causes of genetic Parkinson's disease has come much more clearly into focus.
Impacting millions around the world, Parkinson's is a neurological disorder that progressively attacks motor functions, leading to lasting damage in movement and coordination, among other areas.
A new approach to a surgical procedure required for dialysis offers better long-term viability and a lower chance of complications compared with conventional techniques, according to work involving rats and 274 patients. The strategy could help improve the safety and long-term performance of dialysis for patients with chronic kidney disease, a widespread and debilitating chronic condition. Chronic kidney disease affects approximately 30 million Americans and imposes a massive burden on the healthcare system, causing more than $84 billion in healthcare costs in 2017, according to the CDC.
Traditional ways of producing entanglements, necessary for the development of any "quantum internet" linking quantum computers, are not very well suited for fiber optic telecoms networks used by today's non-quantum internet. However, researchers have come up with a new way to produce such particles that is much more compatible.
New research highlights 'challenging nature' of vested interests in the energy transition
Pioneering new research has highlighted some of the political difficulties with the UK's energy transition, in particular around vested fossil fuel interests.
The research, by Dr Richard Lowes and Dr Bridget Woodman from the University of Exeter's Energy Policy Group, found that those with existing interests around fossil fuel heat were overselling the idea of converting the UK's existing gas infrastructure to run on low carbon gases such as hydrogen.
Bacteria that can help defuse highly toxic dioxin in sediments in the Passaic River – a Superfund hazardous waste site – could eventually aid cleanup efforts at other dioxin-contaminated sites around the world, according to Rutgers scientists.
Their research, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, needs further work to realize the full potential of the beneficial bottom-dwelling microbes.
DNA is not only the blueprint of life, it has become the backbone for making tiny structures that can be inserted into the human body to diagnose and treat disease. In particular, researchers are setting their sights on a technique known as DNA origami, in which they meticulously assemble hundreds of strands of DNA to build a Lilliputian collection of structures that could include drug delivery containers, biosensors and other biocompatible devices.
Something like a quarter of the world's population suffers from chronic pain at some point in their lives. As opposed to acute pain - for example, the feeling after hitting your finger with a hammer - chronic pain may not even have a clear cause, and it can linger for years or lifetimes. The burden of chronic pain includes damage to mental and physical health, lower productivity and drug addiction.
Many animals respond to unfavourable environmental changes in their habitat by migrating or dispersing to other areas. Seasonally recurring changes in habitat conditions have led to such spectacular annual events as the large mammalian migrations across the African plains, and the monarch butterfly migrations across North America. India has its share of large-scale migrations and dispersals: millions of waterfowl migrate from the northern regions to India and back around winter, and a countless number of insects disperse over long distances as seasons and habitats change.