Other Sciences News

Karshalev et al created a micromotor pill and demonstrated its attractive use as a platform for oral delivery of active micromotors: (A) left: schematic of in vivo administration of a micromotor pill for actuation in the stomach; right: schematic of the micromotor pill composition consisting of a lactose/maltose pill matrix and the encapsulated a magnesium/titanium dioxide/polylactic-co-glycolic acid (Mg/TiO2/PLGA) micromotors; a zoom-in view illustrates the micromotor structure consisting of a Mg microsphere core with a TiO2 shell layer and a cargo-loaded PLGA film coating; (B) schematic of micromotor pill dissolution in gastric fluid and subsequent micromotor release; (C) left: image showing different sizes of disk-shaped micromotor pills; center: microscope image showing the dissolution of a micromotor pill in gastric fluid simulant; right: propulsion of the released Mg-based micromotors in gastric fluid simulant. Image credit: Karshalev et al, doi: 10.1021/acsnano.8b03760.

Researchers Create Micromotor Pill

Sep 14, 2018 by News Staff

A team of scientists at the University of California, San Diego has found a way to encapsulate micromotors into pills. The pill’s coating protects the...

The Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica shows the continent in stunning detail. Image credit: National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

New High-Resolution Map of Antarctica Unveiled

Sep 13, 2018 by News Staff

A team of cartographers and researchers from the University of Minnesota and the Ohio State University has produced a high-resolution terrain map of Antarctica...

Hensleigh et al developed a new process to 3D print graphene structures. Image credit: Hensleigh et al, doi: 10.1039/C8MH00668G.

Scientists Find New Way to 3D Print Graphene Objects

Sep 12, 2018 by News Staff

A team of scientists at Virginia Tech and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has developed a new 3D printing process to create complex objects out...

Increasing daily fasting times made mice healthier and live longer compared to mice who ate more frequently. Image credit: Mitchell et al, doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2018.08.011.

Study: Daily Fasting Improves Health and Longevity in Male Mice

Sep 12, 2018 by News Staff

A new study led by the National Institute on Aging shows that a long daily period of fasting improves the health and survival of male mice, regardless...

Chandrasekhar et al invented a proof-of-concept blood pressure app that can give accurate readings using an iPhone. Image credit: Michigan State University.

New Smartphone App Accurately Measures Blood Pressure from Fingertip

Sep 11, 2018 by News Staff

A team of researchers at Michigan State University has developed an iPhone X app that measures blood pressure via the ‘oscillometric finger pressing...

Wind and solar farms are known to have local effects on heat, humidity and other factors that may be beneficial to the regions in which they are situated. Image credit: Erich Westendarp.

Large-Scale Solar and Wind Farms in Sahara Would Increase Rain and Vegetation

Sep 10, 2018 by News Staff

Energy generation by wind and solar farms could reduce carbon emissions and thus mitigate anthropogenic climate change. A new climate-modeling study, published...

Microscopy image of OLM cells. Scale bar - 20 µm. Image credit: Mikulovic et al, doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-05907-w.

Neuroscientists Find ‘Bravery Neurons’ in Hippocampus

Sep 10, 2018 by News Staff

An international group of neuroscientists from Sweden and Brazil has found that some cells in a brain area called hippocampus play a key role in risk-taking...

In people with bipolar disorder, the left side of the amygdala is less active and less connected with other parts of the brain than in people with depression. Image credit: Westmead Institute for Medical Research.

Amygdala Neurons Could Hold Key to Accurately Diagnosing Unipolar Depression, Bipolar Disorder

Sep 6, 2018 by News Staff

A team of scientists, led by Dr. Mayuresh Korgaonkar of the Westmead Institute for Medical Research and the University of Sydney, used MRI scanning to...

A chip designed to operate as a 128-qubit superconducting adiabatic quantum optimization processor. Image credit: D-Wave Systems, Inc.

Physicists Demonstrate ‘Teleportation’ of Quantum Gate between Two Qubits

Sep 6, 2018 by News Staff

A team of scientists at Yale University has experimentally demonstrated one of the key steps in building the architecture for quantum computers —...

Rimfeld et al use twin analyses and genome-wide polygenic score analyses of longitudinal data from the Twins Early Development Study from age 7 to age 16, including GCSE scores, to investigate three issues -- the stability of general educational achievement, the stability of achievement in specific subjects, and the contribution of general cognitive ability to the stability of educational achievement. Image credit: Andrew Tan.

Study: Genetic Factors are Key to Academic Success

Sep 6, 2018 by News Staff

According to a large new study of twins, genetics explains more than 60% of individual differences in school achievement. Rimfeld et al use twin analyses...

This image shows a piezoelectric energy harvester in a wristwatch-like device. Image credit: Pennsylvania State University.

New Wearable Piezoelectric Device Harvests Energy from Low-Frequency Vibrations

Sep 5, 2018 by News Staff

A wearable piezoelectric energy harvester developed by scientists from the Materials Research Institute at the Pennsylvania State University and the University...

Mount St. Helens in 2007. Image credit: Michael Adams / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Geoscientists May Have Solved Mount St Helens Mystery

Sep 5, 2018 by News Staff

Oregon State University geophysicist Adam Schultz and co-authors believe they may have solved the mystery of why Mount St. Helens, a volcano located in...

Infants distinguish between respect-based and fear-based power relations. Image credit: Bill Kasman.

Study: Toddlers Can Distinguish Between Bullies and Leaders

Sep 5, 2018 by News Staff

New research from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Trento finds that 21-month-old infants can distinguish between two...

Did Mona Lisa Suffer from Hypothyroidism?

Sep 4, 2018 by News Staff

In a paper published in the September 2018 issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Brigham and Women’s Hospital researcher Mandeep Mehra and University...

The ‘Early Acheulean’ and ‘Late Acheulean’ handaxes produced by knappers. Image credit: A.J.M. Key & C.J. Dunmore, doi: 10.7717/peerj.5399.

500,000-Year-Old Artifacts Reveal Modern Human-Like Gripping Capabilities

Sep 4, 2018 by News Staff

New research published in the journal PeerJ demonstrates that a technique used to produce ‘Late Acheulean’ handaxes is likely to have needed a modern...

The occasional use of stone tools as ‘strike-a-lights’ was a technocultural feature shared among Neanderthals in France.

Study: Climate Change Contributed to Neanderthal Demise

Aug 30, 2018 by News Staff

The transition from Neanderthals to modern humans in Europe occurred during a period of recurring cold climate cycles. In a new study, a team of researchers...

Workers in hospitals and nuclear facilities can wear disposable yeast badges to check their daily radiation exposure instantly. Image credit: Kayla Wiles, Purdue University.

Researchers Create Wearable Yeast-Based Radiation Sensor

Aug 30, 2018 by News Staff

A new radiation sensor developed by Purdue University researchers is a wearable, disposable, film-type device fabricated on a paper substrate with cells...

Drivers of brain aging. Image credit: Daniel G. Amen.

Scientists Identify Drivers of Brain Aging

Aug 30, 2018 by News Staff

In a large brain imaging study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, a team of neuroscientists and psychiatrists evaluated over 60,000 brain...

A reconstruction of a rosehip neuron. Image credit: Tamas Lab, University of Szeged.

New Type of Human Neuron Discovered: Rosehip Neuron

Aug 29, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of neuroscientists from the United States and Hungary has uncovered a new type of human brain cell that has never been seen in mice...