As the old Hawaiian love song says, tiny bubbles really do make some people feel fine. Chemists, that is. But there is no wine involved this time, just water.
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) chemists reported in the June 24 online edition of Langmuir that a process called microboiling shows promise for quick, simple and inexpensive chemical sensing. The process involves the formation of tiny vapor bubbles on a 200-nanometer-thick film of precious metal immersed in wat
A method that can be used to predict the growth of earthquake faults also aids prediction of the tiniest of phenomena–how arrays of “artificial atoms,” or quantum dots, assemble and stack themselves on semiconductor materials, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers report in the July 15 issue of Physical Review B.
The insight could aid development of more reliable methods for fabricating lasers, sensors and other devices that exploit quantum dots’ special el
Researchers at the University of Virginia Health System have defined a molecular mechanism by which the activity of low-voltage-activated calcium channels can be decreased. Low-voltage-activated, T-type calcium channels are found in many types of tissue and alterations in their activity can contribute to several pathological conditions, including congestive heart failure, hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, epilepsy and neuropathic pain. The findings will be published in the July 10 edition of Nature.
A water-sensing satellite orbits more than 400 miles above Earth. An instrument-packed airplane circles 25,000 feet above three U.S. states and Brazil. Scientists, college students and other volunteers troop into the countryside, armed with sensors and notepads. It’s all about “getting the dirt.” In this case, collecting detailed information about the soil.
The objectives are two-fold — validating soil moisture data gleaned from satellites and working to find the optimum instrument for cond
Science fiction writers and movie-makers have imagined a world completely covered by an ocean, but what if one really existed? Would such a world support life, and what would this life be like?
ESA could make science fiction become science fact when it finds such a world, if the predictions of a group of European astronomers are correct. The ESA mission Eddington, which is now in development, could be the key.
At the recent ESA co-sponsored ’’Towards Other Earths’’ c
Difficulties that children with autism have in pointing and showing objects to other people may emerge from earlier problems with simple face-to-face interaction, according to new research sponsored by the ESRC.
Findings from a two-year study led by Dr Susan Leekam, of the Department of Psychology, University of Durham, could be important for understanding the early language and communication problems found in these children.
Dr Leekam said: “We have known for a long time that chil
Doctors treating lung failure need to focus on the whole patient to improve the chance of patient survival. Research published on 9th July in Critical Care shows that the survival rate of patients admitted to hospital with lung failure alone is good, but diminishes if other vital organs fail.
Hans Flaatten and colleagues carried out the 30-month study on intensive care unit (ICU) patients at the Haukeland University Hospital, Norway. They followed 529 patients diagnosed with acute respirator
United Nations-led development efforts in some of the poorest and most remote parts of the globe are being guided by images from space.
The ESA-backed UNOSAT consortium is providing an average of five new satellite-derived maps or data products to UN agencies and non-governmental organisations every week.
The poor Nicaraguan highlands municipality of Matagalpa is just one site among many where UNOSAT-supplied geographical information system (GIS) tools are being used in develop
A University of Melbourne research team has overturned 30 years of dogma on how a cell transports calcium, revealing potential insights into cancer and neuro-degenerative diseases.
Professor Mike Hubbard, Department of Paediatrics and School of Dental Science, will reveal his research in this area at the International Congress of Genetics, Melbourne on Thursday 10 July. He will also discuss the latest on their recent discovery of a new class of protein that they have linked to breast cancer
Scientists have discovered a single gene that gives the vinegar fly resistance to a range of pesticides, including DDT, but warn it could spell disaster if found in pest insect species.
The geneticists from the University of Melbourne fear that should this mutation arise in pest insects, the world will need to rethink its overall control strategies.
The researchers are part of the Centre for Environmental Stress and Adaptation Research (CESAR) a special research centre that includ
Reader heads of compact discs and computer hard discs or position and magnetic field sensors are some of the applications of magneto-resistant materials, which are normally obtained by costly methods. Precisely in order to solve this problem, university teacher María Luisa Fernández-Gubieda Ruiz, of the University of the Basque Country, is carrying out research into developing a simpler and more effective method for the preparation of these materials, based on their undergoing thermal treatment. The
Scientists from Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a strategy that could one day be used to create functional human organs such as kidneys and livers. They present their research today at the American Society for Microbiology’s conference on Bio- Micro- Nano-systems.
The technique involves creating a network of microscopic tubes that branch out in a pattern, similar to that seen in the circulatory system, to provide oxygen and nutrients
U-M researchers report more effective method for separating viable sperm
A new technique to find the viable sperm in the semen of men with low sperm motility could lead to a new approach for infertility treatment, according to University of Michigan Health System researchers.
In a study published online and in the July/August issue of Reproductive BioMedicine Online (http://www.rbmonline.com), UMHS researchers used a microscopic chip divided into two channels to encourage vi
New class of superweak particles may reveal secrets of hidden mass in universe
A UC Irvine study has revealed a new class of cosmic particles that may shed light on the composition of dark matter in the universe.
These particles, called superweakly interacting massive particles, or superWIMPs, may constitute the invisible matter that makes up as much as one-quarter of the universe’s mass.
UCI physicists Jonathan Feng, Arvind Rajaraman and Fumihiro Takayama report th
Technical Insights Electronics and Semiconductors Industry Impact Research Service: Developments and Opportunities in Advanced Electronic Materials
Materials such as polymers, superconducting ceramics, and diamond films are likely to shape the electronics industry in the coming decade. Processing technologies for these improved materials will also gain importance.
“Advanced materials are synthesized at nano levels, creating the possibility of achieving several new structures
Energy emissions far greater than predicted by Planck’s Law
You can’t get something for nothing, physicists say, but sometimes a radical innovation can come close.
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories — exceeding the predictions of a 100-year-old law of physics — have shown that filaments fabricated of tungsten lattices emit remarkably more energy than solid tungsten filaments in certain bands of near-infrared wavelengths when heated.
This greater use
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