Forum for Science, Industry and Business

SLAC scientists find a new way to explain how a black hole's plasma jets boost particles to the highest energies observed in the universe. The results could also prove useful for fusion and accelerator research on Earth.

Fishermen would be puzzled if they netted only big and little fish, but few medium-sized fish. Astronomers likewise have been perplexed in conducting a census of star-hugging extrasolar planets. They have found hot Jupiter-sized planets and hot super-Earths (planets no more than 1.5 times Earth's diameter). These planets are scorching hot because they orbit very close to their star. But so-called "hot Neptunes," whose atmospheres are heated to more than 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit, have been much harder to find. In fact, only about a handful of hot Neptunes have been found so far.

Collagen is the fundamental building block of muscles, tissues, tendons, and ligaments in mammals. It is also widely used in reconstructive and cosmetic surgery. Although scientists have a good understanding about how it behaves at the tissue-level, some key mechanical properties of collagen at the nanoscale still remain elusive. A recent experimental study conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Washington University, and Columbia University on nanoscale collagen fibrils reported on, previously unforeseen, reasons why collagen is such a resilient material.

When humans experience stress, their inner turmoil may not be apparent to an outside observer. But many animals deal with stressful circumstances - overcrowded conditions, not enough food - by completely remodeling their bodies. These stress-induced forms, whether they offer a protective covering or more camouflaged coloration, can better withstand the challenge and help the animal survive until conditions improve.

UMD Geologist Richard Ash developed a mass spectrometry standardization method for generating a timeline of thallium poisoning by analyzing the victim's hair

Organism aging is characterized by increases in inflammation and decreases in stem cell function. The relationship between these processes remains incompletely understood. Researchers of the Leibniz Institute on Aging in Jena identified a new role of the protein cohesin in mediating inflammatory signaling in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Cohesin is required for gene regulation during normal differentiation, but chronic inflammation in aging impairs the function and self-renewal of HSCs by constant activation of cohesin-mediated inflammatory signals. HSC with reduced cohesin, increased self-renewal and skewed differentiation are selected, resembling the hallmarks of hematopoietic aging.

A team of researchers led by wildlife ecologist Theresa Walter analysed over 1,100 fox sightings made by the public as part of the citizen science project StadtWildTiere (www.stadtwildtiere.at). The joint team of researchers from the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna (Vetmeduni Vienna) and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) was able to show that foxes prefer specific city areas and environments. The study also revealed that reports of fox sightings correlated with the educational level of the population.

Complexity in nature, whether in chlorophyll or in living organisms, often results from self-assembly and is considered particularly robust. Compact clusters of elemental particles can be shown to be of practical relevance, and are found in atomic nuclei, nano particles or viruses. An interdisciplinary team of researchers led by professors Nicolas Vogel and Michael Engel at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have decoded the structure and the process behind the formation of one class of such highly ordered clusters. Their findings have increased understanding of how structures are formed in clusters and have now been published in the journal Nature Communications.

Astrophysicists discover a large population of potential young planets in distant solar systems

Ship-to-shore conversations with deep-sea scientists will take place during the American Geophysical Union fall meeting

Under threat of being scrubbed away with disinfectant, individual bacteria can improve their odds of survival by joining together to form colonies, called biofilms. What Arnold Mathijssen, postdoctoral fellow in bioengineering at Stanford University, wanted to understand was how stationary biofilms find food once they've devoured nearby nutrients.

Thawing and slumping permafrost in the western Canadian Arctic is releasing unprecedented levels of mercury into waterways.

Topics include remote sensing of seasonal snow, forest ecohydrology in a changing climate, plant stress in drought-prone forests

Argonne researchers have demonstrated a new technique's viability for membranes.

Personal patches could reduce energy waste in buildings, Rutgers-led study says

Using laser light to trap atoms in a checkerboard-like pattern, a team led by Princeton scientists studied how resistance -- the loss of electrical current as heat -- can develop in unconventional metals.

Soot from road traffic in emerging countries can reach high altitudes, where it can be transported over long distances and thus contributes to global warming. This is the conclusion of a study performed by an international team of researchers in the Bolivian cities of La Paz, El Alto and the neighboring Chacaltaya mountain observatory. The reduction of pollutants from road traffic such as soot particles from diesel cars should therefore have high priority in order to both protect the health of the population in the growing conurbations of emerging countries and reduce global warming. The results have been published in the journal Atmospheric Environment.

Astronomers discover unknown structures in belts of dust and gas around young stars

Team joins national network focused on neurodegenerative disorders

A new computational model developed by researchers from The City College of New York and Yale gives a clearer picture of the structure and mechanics of soft, shape-changing cells that could provide a better understanding of cancerous tumor growth, wound healing, and embryonic development.

Pain is a negative feeling that we want to get rid of as soon as possible. In order to protect our bodies, we react for example by withdrawing the hand. This action is usually understood as the consequence of the perception of pain. A team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now shown that perception, the impulse to act and provision of energy to do so take place in the brain simultaneously and not, as was expected, one after the other.

Cell biologists at the University of Münster have developed a new method for measuring how mechanical forces in cells are processed. The results have been published in the journal “Nature Communications”.

Chemists at Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) synthesise molecule as possible component for quantum computers