Tech
Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have developed a unique method for studying proteins which could open new doors for medicinal research. Through capturing proteins in a nano-capsule made of glass, the researchers have been able to create a unique model of proteins in natural environments. The results are published in the scientific journal, Small.
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- A newly developed material that is so transparent you can barely see it could unlock many new uses for solar heat. It generates much higher temperatures than conventional solar collectors do -- enough to be used for home heating or for industrial processes that require heat of more than 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit).
LIVERMORE, Calif. -- A weakness in one common open source software for genomic analysis left DNA-based medical diagnostics vulnerable to cyberattacks.
For more than a billion people around the world, running water comes from "intermittent systems" that turn on and off at various times of the week. A new paper by University of Toronto Engineering professor David Taylor proposes a simple, yet powerful model to explain why and how these systems come to be -- and how they fit into the global challenge of meeting international targets for human development and safe drinking water.
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Years ago, MIT Professor Neil Gershenfeld had an audacious thought. Struck by the fact that all the world's living things are built out of combinations of just 20 amino acids, he wondered: Might it be possible to create a kit of just 20 fundamental parts that could be used to assemble all of the different technological products in the world?
Russian researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) and Valiev Institute of Physics and Technology have demonstrated resonant absorption of terahertz radiation in commercially available graphene. This is an important step toward designing efficient terahertz detectors, which would enable faster internet and a safe replacement for X-ray body scans. The research findings were published in Physical Review Applied.
Graphene optoelectronics
Intermittent fasting is known to improve sensitivity to the blood glucose-lowering hormone insulin and to protect against fatty liver. DZD scientists from DIfE have now discovered that mice on an intermittent fasting regimen also exhibited lower pancreatic fat. In their current study published in the journal Metabolism, the researchers showed the mechanism by which pancreatic fat could contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes.
In 1665, Lord Christiaan Huygens found that two pendulum clocks, hung in the same wooden structure, oscillated spontaneously and perfectly in line but in opposite directions: the clocks oscillated in anti-phase. Since then, synchronization of coupled oscillators in nature has been described at several scales: from heart cells to bacteria, neural networks and even in binary star systems -spontaneously synchronized.
NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites passed over the Eastern Pacific Ocean after Tropical Storm Barbara strengthened into the first hurricane of the season. Barbara intensified rapidly into a major hurricane.
NOAA's National Hurricane Center (NHC) noted that Barbara intensified early during the morning of July 2 and could strengthen a little more. Fortunately, Barbara is over 1,000 miles west of the southern tip of Baja California, and there are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.
Researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences have designed and tested a prototype cathodoluminescent lamp for general lighting. The new lamp, which relies on the phenomenon of field emission, is more reliable, durable, and luminous than its analogues available worldwide. The development was reported in the Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B.
When forecasting weather, meteorologists use a number of models and data sources to track shapes and movements of clouds that could indicate severe storms. However, with increasingly expanding weather data sets and looming deadlines, it is nearly impossible for them to monitor all storm formations -- especially smaller-scale ones -- in real time.
Type 1 and type 2 diabetes affect the health of the inner lining of blood vessels. People with diabetes often experience complications in the eyes, heart, and other organs because of worsening blood vessel damage over the long term. One of the earliest signs of systemic inflammation in the blood vessels is the increased sticking of immune cells to the inner lining. As inflammation and microvascular damage continues in the light-sensitive tissue in the back of the eye -- the retina -- diabetic retinopathy can ensue.
To some, a chocolate cake may spark a shot of pleasure typically associated with illicit drugs. A new study by Penn biologists offers some insights into that link, revealing new information about how the brain responds to rewards such as food and drugs.
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., July 2, 2019--New work from Los Alamos National Laboratory, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Florida is showing that artificial neural nets can be trained to encode quantum mechanical laws to describe the motions of molecules, supercharging simulations potentially across a broad range of fields.
BOSTON -- (July 2, 2019) -- A Joslin Diabetes Center study among people treated for type 1 diabetes for many years has discovered that a minority may have monogenic diabetes, a non-autoimmune inherited condition that in some cases does not require insulin treatment.