Other Sciences News

The new smart material is activated by both heat and electricity, making it the first ever to respond to two different stimuli. Image credit: Xu et al., doi: 10.1002/smll.202207900.

Scientists Develop Multi-Stimuli-Responsive Smart Fabric

Apr 25, 2023 by News Staff

Researchers at the University of Waterloo have developed a new smart material with a dual-response feature, that is, shape-memory and color-changing. The...

Overview of nanowire network device and setup for supervised learning, physical reinforcement learning, and the N-Back task protocol. Image credit: Loeffler et al., doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adg3289.

Nanowire Networks Can Exhibit Both Short- and Long-Term Memory Like Human Brain

Apr 24, 2023 by News Staff

The brain’s powerful information processing capacity can be largely attributed to neuronal microcircuits established by synaptic connectivity patterns....

GRX-810. Image credit: NASA / Jordan Salkin.

NASA Researchers Create 3D-Printable Superalloy for Extreme Environments: GRX-810

Apr 21, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using a model-driven alloy design approach and laser-based additive manufacturing, materials scientists at NASA have developed a new oxide-dispersion-strengthened...

Visualization of the glazed wall made with translucent aerogel bricks. Image credit: Ganobjak et al., doi: 10.1016/j.jobe.2022.105600.

Materials Scientists Create Translucent Aerogel Bricks

Apr 20, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of materials scientists from Empa (Swiss Federal Laboratory for Science and Technology) and the Slovak University of Technology has developed a...

Cranberries contain proanthocyanidins, which inhibit the adherence of Escherichia coli to the urothelial cells lining the bladder. Image credit: David Mark.

Cranberry Product Consumption Reduces Risk of Symptomatic UTIs in Women

Apr 20, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Cranberries — as cranberry juice, tablets or capsules — have been used for many years to prevent urinary tract infections (UTIs). They contain...

Bagherian et al. compared classical computing techniques for compressing data with potential quantum compression techniques. Image credit: Garik Barseghyan.

Researchers Seek to Define Quantum Data Compression

Apr 19, 2023 by News Staff

In a new review paper, scientists from the Quantum Information Science Section at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Michigan presented...

Small-scale battery-like microbial fuel cells are a promising alternative power source for future low-power electronics. Controllable microbial electrocatalytic activity in a miniaturized microbial fuel cell with unlimited biodegradable energy resources would enable simple power generation in various environmental settings. However, the short shelf-life of living biocatalysts, few ways to activate the stored biocatalysts, and extremely low electrocatalytic capabilities render the miniature microbial fuel cells unsuitable for practical use. In new research, heat-activated Bacillus subtilis spores are revolutionarily used as a dormant biocatalyst that can survive storage and rapidly germinate when exposed to special nutrients that are preloaded in the device. Image credit: Maryam Rezaie & Seokheun Choi, doi: 10.1002/smll.202301135.

Bacteria-Powered Biobattery Has 100-Year Shelf Life, Scientists Say

Apr 19, 2023 by News Staff

Scientists at Binghamton University, State University of New York, have used a species of spore-forming bacterium called Bacillus subtilis to create a...

The carbon-negative, environmentally friendly concrete that is nearly as strong as regular concrete. Image credit: Washington State University.

Environmentally Friendly, Carbon-Negative Concrete Created

Apr 18, 2023 by News Staff

Researchers at Washington State University have demonstrated a new synergistic carbon-capture strategy, i.e., using concrete washout water and biochar...

Kuitems et al. provide evidence that the Norse were active on the North American continent in the year 1021 CE. Image credit: Oscar C.R.

Vikings Abandoned Southwest Greenland Due in Part to Sea-Level Rise, New Research Suggests

Apr 18, 2023 by News Staff

The first records of Greenland Vikings date to 985 CE. Archaeological evidence yields insight into how they lived, yet drivers of their disappearance in...

The New Port Richey fulgurite images and microscopy. Image credit: Bindi et al., doi: 10.1038/s43247-023-00736-2.

Study: Lightning Strikes Can Create Phosphites on Earth’s Surface

Apr 11, 2023 by News Staff

Phosphate minerals such as those in the apatite group tend to be the dominant forms of phosphorus in minerals on the Earth’s surface. Phosphates can...

EchoSpeech requires just a few minutes of user training data before it will recognize commands and can be run on a smartphone. Image credit: Zhang et al., doi: 10.1145/3544548.3580801.

EchoSpeech: Artificial Intelligence-Equipped Eyeglasses Can Read Silent Speech

Apr 10, 2023 by News Staff

EchoSpeech, developed by Cornell University researchers, uses speakers and microphones mounted on a glass-frame and emits inaudible sound waves towards...

An artist’s impression of defect centers in diamond nanostructures. They can be used as quantum bits. Via quantum entanglement, quantum information can be stored in emitted single photons and transmitted in optical fibers in the future quantum internet. Image credit: HU Berlin / AG Integrierte Quantenphotonik.

Scientists are One Step Closer to Quantum Internet

Apr 6, 2023 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut has succeeded in generating photons with stable frequencies...

A large stream of meltwater (about 5 to 10 m in width) emerges from an upstream supraglacial lake in the Greenlandic ice on July, 21 2012. The darker shapes are minor streams covered by cryoconite (a mix of dust particles, soot, meteorite dust and organic material) which covers the ice sheet. Cracks cutting through the streams are visible. Along these cracks water can flow through, enlarging them and, eventually, generating moulins that can deliver meltwater through the ice. Image credit: M. Tedesco / CCNY / NASA ICE.

Greenland Ice Sheet Very Close to Melting Point of No Return, Scientists Say

Mar 28, 2023 by News Staff

With ongoing carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, the atmosphere of Earth heats up, which has dramatic consequences for the ice sheets....

In a randomized controlled trial, a significant increase in urinary phenolic metabolites was observed in healthy young adults who consumed skin roasted peanuts and peanut butter daily for 6 months compared to those who consumed a control butter (cream without fiber or polyphenols). Image credit: Petra Pezibear.

Peanut Consumption Could Have Positive Impact on Vascular Biomarkers in Healthy Young Adults

Mar 27, 2023 by News Staff

New research from the University of Barcelona and the CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición suggests that the urinary phenolic metabolites...

Genetically predicted, lifelong, higher plasma caffeine concentrations were associated with lower body mass index and fat mass, as well as a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Image credit: Sci.News.

Study: Higher Blood Caffeine Levels Might Reduce Body Fat and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Mar 27, 2023 by News Staff

Karolinska Institutet researcher Susanna Larsson and colleagues investigated the potential causal effects of long term plasma caffeine concentrations on...

In two large population-based cohorts, Ochoa-Rosales et al. observed longitudinal associations between higher habitual coffee consumption and lower risk of type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance. Image credit: Sci.News.

Coffee Consumption Reduces Risk of Type 2 Diabetes, New Study Suggests

Mar 24, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Coffee is among the most consumed beverages worldwide. Coffee consumption has been associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes, but underlying mechanisms...

Using an interventional study in healthy, normal-weight participants, Thanarajah et al. demonstrate that, independent of body weight gain and alterations in metabolic markers, exposure to high-fat/high-sugar food: (i) reduces preferences for low-fat food, (ii) plays a critical role in up-regulating brain responses to anticipation and consumption of highly palatable, energy-dense food, and (iii) has a generalized effect on the neuronal encoding of prediction errors in the context of associative learning and independent of food rewards. Taken together, repeated consumption of high-fat/high-sugar relative to isocaloric low-fat/low-sugar food, and in the absence of changes in body weight or metabolic state, can rewire brain circuits and thereby induce neurobehavioral adaptations. Hence, changing the food environment and reducing the availability of energy-dense high-fat/high-sugar food items is pivotal to combating the obesity pandemic. Image credit: Thanarajah et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2023.02.015.

Daily Consumption of Sweet and Fatty Snacks Alters Our Reward Circuits: Study

Mar 23, 2023 by News Staff

Western diets rich in fat and sugar promote excess calorie intake and weight gain; however, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. To close this gap, researchers...

Faisal et al. demonstrated three-dimensional micropatterned sensors based on a subnanometer-thick epitaxial graphene for detecting the electroencephalography signal from the challenging occipital region of the head. Image credit: Faisal et al., doi: 10.1021/acsanm.2c05546.

Researchers Develop Non-Invasive Graphene Sensors for Brain-Machine Interfaces

Mar 21, 2023 by News Staff

Using their non-invasive sensors, Professor Francesca Iacopi from the University of Technology Sydney and her colleagues have demonstrated hands-free communication...

Aled Roberts and Nigel Scrutton used simulated Martian soil mixed with potato starch and a pinch of salt to create the material that is twice as strong as ordinary concrete and is perfectly suited for construction work in extraterrestrial environments. Image credit: Aled Roberts & Nigel Scrutton, doi: 10.1515/eng-2022-0390.

StarCrete: Materials Scientists Create Starch-Based Concrete for Extraterrestrial Construction

Mar 17, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The StarCrete is twice as strong as regular concrete and is made from extraterrestrial dust, potato starch, and a pinch of salt. Aled Roberts and Nigel...