Nature has been manipulating structures on the atomic and molecular scale for millions of years, in comparison humans have only been developing these techniques over the last few decades. Molecular engineering builds structures and devices at the smallest scales imaginable, aiming to make better materials, new types of information technologies, biomedical devices and much more. In an article, `Natural strategies for the molecular engineer`, published today in the Institute of Physics` journal, Nanote
Researchers say they have developed the world’s strongest, lightest solids. Called aerogels, the sturdy materials are a high-tech amalgam of highly porous glass and plastic that is as light as air.
#In light of the events of Sept. 11 and a heightened interest in homeland security, these new materials show promise as lightweight body armor for soldiers, shielding for armored vehicles, and stronger building materials, the researchers say.
The materials could also be used for better
Cornell University entomologists have unlocked an evolutionary secret to how insects evolve into new species. The discovery has major implications for the control of insect populations through disruption of mating, suggesting that over time current eradication methods could become ineffective, similar to the way insects develop pesticide resistance.
The researchers, led by Wendell L. Roelofs, the Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Insect Biochemistry at Cornell, made the discovery while exami
For the first time, Stanford researchers have compared genetic patterns with archeological findings to discover that genetics can help predict with a high degree of accuracy the presence of certain artifacts. And they say the strength of this link adds credence to theories that prehistoric people migrated from the Middle East to Europe, taking both their ideas and their way of life with them.
“The recovery of history is really a jigsaw puzzle,” said Peter Underhill, PhD, senior research sci
Art conservators have been slow to adopt lasers as restoration tools, preferring their trusty scalpels and solvents to untried technologies. But the first systematic study of the long-term effects of lasers on paintings should help ease their doubts: the results show that lasers can be superior restoration tools without sacrificing the safety of priceless works of art.
The findings are reported in the Sept. 15 print edition of Analytical Chemistry, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Ch
Engineers, computer scientists and graphics technology experts at Purdue University have created the first publicly available simulation that uses scientific principles to study in detail what theoretically happened when the Boeing 757 crashed into the Pentagon last Sept. 11.
Researchers said the simulation could be used as a tool for designing critical buildings – such as hospitals and fire stations – to withstand terrorist attacks.
The simulation merges a realistic-looking visual
The inflammatory myopathies comprise three different entities: polymyositis, inclusion body myositis and dermatomyositis. People in all age groups can be affected by major muscle weakness and pain, and show evidence of muscle fiber breakdown in the serum. Autoimmune pathogenetic mechanisms have been identified in each inflammatory myopathy, but the antigen(s) recognized by the autoreactive inflammatory cells and the factors eliciting the aberrant immune responses remain unknown. Currently, patients a
Scientists from the University of Edinburgh are using immune cells harvested from blood donors to help fight an unusual cancer which can affect transplant patients. And their findings, published recently in The Lancet show that the therapy has proved effective in a number of cases. The treatment proved successful last year in saving the life of a four-year-old boy from Birmingham, who developed the cancer— post-transplant lympho-proliferative disease— following a liver and bowel transplant.
Another piece of the complex puzzle of how inflammation is involved in heart attacks and strokes has been discovered by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.
Their findings demonstrate that C-reactive protein (CRP) binds to oxidized low density lipoprotein (LDL), implicating the interaction of CRP and oxidized LDL as a potential trigger for the cascade of events leading to atherosclerosis. This form of artery disease is characterized by the buildup
Instead of landfills clogged with computer and car parts, packaging and a myriad of other plastic parts, a Cornell University fiber scientist has a better idea. In coming years, he says, many of these discarded items will be composted.
The key to this “green” solution, says researcher Anil Netravali, is fully biodegradable composites made from soybean protein and other biodegradable plastics and plant-based fibers, developed at Cornell and elsewhere.
“These new fully biodegradable
A research project to restore native grasslands to a reserve in California has yielded some promising results. The native grasslands may only need to be reseeded with native seeds without having to first eradicate the invading plants from Europe, according to a presentation at the recent annual Ecological Society of America meeting by researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Minnesota.
The research team included Eric Seabloom, of the National Center
Pilot project for stroke victims to begin this fall
A Queen’s neuroscientist’s invention to help understand the role of the brain in arm and leg movement will dramatically improve the assessment and rehabilitation of stroke and spinal cord victims. It will also help lay the groundwork for development of neural prostheses that can re-activate paralyzed limbs.
Dr. Stephen Scott’s unique mathematical model, combined with his new experimental device, KINARM (Kines
Developing countries stand to profit most from advances in genome science, write Samuel Broder, Stephen Hoffman and Peter Hotez in this month’s issue of EMBO reports (EMBO reports September, 2002 pp 806–812). They claim that biotechnology coupled with genomics might emerge as the key technology in the 21st century for improving global health and probably even avoiding major political conflicts and wars.
The authors warn that we must no longer view the diseases of the developing world in
A researcher in environmental engineering at Staffordshire University has developed a technique to convert unwanted cooking oil into a ‘biodiesel’ which is a much cleaner alternative to fossil diesel.
Dr Tarik Al-Shemmeri, a Reader in Environmental Engineering at Staffordshire University, uses discarded vegetable oil as the basis of his sustainable fuel which, when burnt, DOES NOT
give off sulphur dioxide, unlike conventional diesel.
Sulphur dioxide contributes to what has bee
Raw garlic consumption may help limit the damage done to the heart after surgery because if its natural antioxidant properties, according to a new study published in BMC Pharmacology.
After a heart attack it is important to restore the flow of blood to the heart so that damage to the heart muscle can be minimised. However, the return of blood flow can paradoxically cause further damage, so called “ischemic-reperfusion injury, due to the release of free radicals. Free radicals cause oxidativ
Now physicists need not fully control the growth of laser crystals, because the crystals grow themselves. Professor Nikolay Ledentsov and his team at the Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute have learned how to provide special conditions in which crystals can grow defectless.
Growing crystals with enhanced characteristics is possible on the basis of the effect of quantum dots. A quantum dot is a tiny islet of one material lost in the monocrystal of the other material. For a long time t
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