Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and Northern Illinois University have shown that very thin materials can still retain an electric polarization, opening the potential for a wide range of tiny devices.
The researchers found that the ferroelectric phase – the ability to hold a switchable electric polarization – is stable for thicknesses as small as 1.2 nanometers, one-billionth of a meter, or a size several hundred thousand times smaller than t
The findings of a new study published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology demonstrate that the use of high resolution imaging can greatly aid physicians who are treating patients suffering from a particular type of irregular heart beat.
The study, conducted at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, provides insight into the mechanism of atrial flutter, a common heart rhythm disturbance that circulates around the atria, or top chambers of the human heart. Three
Latest Eurostat data show that although women are still significantly under-represented in scientific and engineering disciplines, the numbers of female graduates in these fields have increased over the last few years. The new figures on “Women, science and technology: Measuring recent progress towards gender equality” provide continuing evidence of a narrowing of the gender gap for graduates in “hard sciences”, especially in engineering. From 1998-2001, the numbers of graduates in engineering and re
New research has found that the brain continues to accept ambiguous visual information about an object in motion even when it conflicts with more reliable information that we can touch. The studies, which appear in the June 7 issue of the journal Psychological Science and the forthcoming June issue of the journal Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, provide new insights into the way the brain blends and balances information from different senses.
The research, conducted by Vander
University of California scientists working at Los Alamos National Laboratory with a colleague from Sandia National Laboratories have developed a new method for exciting light emission from nanocrystal quantum dots. The discovery provides a way to supply energy to quantum dots without wires, and paves the way for a potentially wider use of tunable nanocrystalline materials in a variety of novel light-emitting technologies ranging from electronic displays to solid-state lighting and electrically pumpe
New UNU Institute in Germany to Advise Governments on Mitigating “Human Security” Threats
The number of people worldwide vulnerable to a devastating flood is expected to mushroom to 2 billion by 2050 due to climate change, deforestation, rising sea levels and population growth in flood-prone lands, warn experts at the United Nations University.
One billion people – one sixth of the global population, the majority of them among the world’s poorest inhabitants – are estimated t
An MIT team has developed new technology that could jump-start scientists’ ability to create specific cell types from human embryonic stem cells, a feat with implications for developing replacement organs and a variety of other tissue engineering applications.
The scientists have already identified a simple method for producing substantially pure populations of epithelial-like cells from human embryonic stem cells. Epithelial cells could be useful in making synthetic skin.
Hu
Last July the Mancomunidad de AGUAS DEL AÑARBE (Association of Municipal Councils supplied with water from the Añarbe reservoir) contracted the CIDETEC Research Centre to carry out a study of the corrosive capacity of the water supply treated at the AÑARBE reservoir purification plant and supplied to households in pipes made of various materials. The Mancomunidad de Aguas del Añarbe is made up of Donostia-San Sebastian City Council and the following Town Councils; Rentería, Pasaia, Hernani, Lasarte,
Potatoes may be on the no-no list for high-protein diets, but a University of Florida researcher says a new low-carb potato will help win back die-hard carbohydrate counters.
“Consumers are going to love the flavor and appearance of this potato and the fact that it has 30 percent fewer carbohydrates compared to a standard Russet baking potato,” said Chad Hutchinson, an assistant professor of horticulture with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
“The potato doesn’t l
Results of a study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET highlight how improved treatment and management of risk factors have reduced the incidence of stroke by 40% in a region of the UK over the past 20 years.
Stroke is the second largest cause of death worldwide, the largest cause of long-term neurological disability, and the single most costly condition for the UK National Health Service and social services. The rise in the elderly population would be expected to increase the incidence of a
Scientists funded by the UK’s largest biomedical research charity, The Wellcome Trust, have developed a drink that enhances the effectiveness of medication given to treat psychiatric illnesses such as mania and schizophrenia.
A team of researchers from the Department of Psychiatry at Oxford University have found that they can achieve this, and probably reduce problematic side effects from traditional treatments, by supplementing medication with a specially designed drink. The drink, called T
These images of fluvial surface features at Mangala Valles on Mars were obtained by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board the ESA Mars Express spacecraft.
The HRSC has imaged structures several times which are related to fluvial events in the past on Mars.
The region seen here is situated on the south-western Tharsis bulge and shows the mouth of the Mangala Valles and Minio Vallis outflow channels.
The source of the outflow channel is related to the Ma
Two major British landmarks now count among the world’s smallest objects
Scientists & engineers based at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne specialising in miniaturisation technology have recreated North East England’s Tyne Bridge and Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North sculpture so they are smaller than a pinhead and invisible to the naked eye.
The team used a combination of chemistry, physics and mechanical engineering techniques to create the tiny struct
This Friday, scientists from ICES will release a report giving more strong advice to the European Commission and governments to reduce fishing pressure. In particular, cod stocks in the Kattegat, eastern Baltic and Norwegian coastal cod are all depleted and being overfished and ICES will advise zero catch of cod in these areas for 2005. (The report does not include cod stocks in the North Sea, Irish Sea and West of Scotland which will be assessed in the autumn.)
ICES will also recommend redu
Stalin’s leadership style undermined the USSR by setting unrealistic targets and placing penalties on subordinates telling the truth, according to Leeds University historian James Harris, who has been looking at newly-opened archives of the Soviet leader’s correspondence.
In his leadership of five-year plans Stalin ignored data which cast doubt on the possibility of achieving targets and put disincentives in the way of telling the truth – removal or execution – that massively distorted infor
A penny for your thoughts would take on a new meaning if spammers were charged for every e-mail message they sent. University of Michigan researchers have a proposal to do just that.
Here’s how it would work: Internet users would be allowed to set a price at which they will accept e-mail from an unknown sender. The higher the price, the less spam the recipient is likely to receive. Recipients can collect the amount they specified for any spam received, unless it was from a pre-approved
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