Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed an ultrasound device that could help identify arterial plaque that is at high risk of breaking off and causing heart attack or stroke.
At issue is the plaque that builds up in arteries as we age. Some types of plaque are deemed “vulnerable,” meaning that they are more likely to detach from the artery wall and cause heart attack or stroke. (more…)
Study methods may help with future interpretation of evolutionary history.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Cambrian Period is a time when most phyla of marine invertebrates first appeared in the fossil record. Also dubbed the “Cambrian explosion,” fossilized records from this time provide glimpses into evolutionary biology when the world’s ecosystems rapidly changed and diversified. Most fossils show the organisms’ skeletal structure, which may or may not give researchers accurate pictures of these prehistoric organisms. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found rare, fossilized embryos they believe were undiscovered previously. Their methods of study may help with future interpretation of evolutionary history. (more…)
ANN ARBOR — The ability to control crystals with light and chemistry could lead to chameleon-style color-changing camouflage for vehicle bodies and other surfaces.
University of Michigan researchers discovered a template-free method for growing shaped crystals that allows for changeable structures that could appear as different colors and patterns. (more…)
Eine internationale Forschergruppe hat im Projekt SOLAR-JET zum weltweit ersten Mal Flugzeugtreibstoff aus Sonnenlicht, Wasser und Kohlenstoffdioxid hergestellt. Im Gegensatz zu herkömmlichem Kerosin, das aus Erdöl hergestellt wird, basiert der alternative Treibstoff auf fast unbegrenzt zur Verfügung stehenden Ressourcen und kann so in Zukunft einen entscheidenden Beitrag zur Nachhaltigkeit und Versorgungssicherheit des Luftverkehrs leisten. Zu den Projektpartnern zählen das Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), die ETH Zürich, das Bauhaus Luftfahrt, Shell Global Solutions sowie das Beratungsunternehmen ARTTIC. (more…)
Data about DNA differences, gene expression, or methylation can each tell epidemiologists something about the link between genomics and disease. A new statistical model that can integrate all those sources provides a markedly improved analysis, according to two new papers.(more…)
Voting for the Eurovision Song Contest has been scrutinised by statistics experts at UCL and Imperial College London, who have found that musical talent is unlikely to be the only element that wins scores – but that the contest is not ‘stitched up’ at the UK’s expense.
The analysis of voting patterns over the past two decades suggests that widespread support for certain countries’ acts is, however, not driven by prejudice, as the media periodically suggests, but by positive loyalties based on culture, geography, history and migration. But these effects are relatively small – and the team found no evidence to support Sir Terry Wogan’s criticism that the contest is marred by blatant bias and discrimination. (more…)
Berkeley Lab Researchers Discover New Rules for Single-Particle Imaging with Light-Emitting Nanocrystals
The term a “brighter future” might be a cliché, but in the case of ultra-small probes for lighting up individual proteins, it is now most appropriate. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered surprising new rules for creating ultra-bright light-emitting crystals that are less than 10 nanometers in diameter. These ultra-tiny but ultra-bright nanoprobes should be a big asset for biological imaging, especially deep-tissue optical imaging of neurons in the brain.
Working at the Molecular Foundry, a DOE national nanoscience center hosted at Berkeley Lab, a multidisciplinary team of researchers led by James Schuck and Bruce Cohen, both with Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division, used advanced single-particle characterization and theoretical modeling to study what are known as “upconverting nanoparticles” or UCNPs. Upconversion is the process by which a molecule absorbs two or more photons at a lower energy and emits them at higher energies. The research team determined that the rules governing the design of UCNP probes for ensembles of molecules do not apply to UCNP probes designed for single-molecules. (more…)
Geograph Ronald Pöppl zu landschaftlichen Eingriffen und deren geomorphologischen Konsequenzen mit Beispielen aus Niederösterreich
Die Auswirkungen menschlichen Handelns auf die geologischen, biologischen und atmosphärischen Prozesse haben insbesondere seit Beginn der Industrialisierung enorme Ausmaße angenommen. WissenschafterInnen haben deshalb das Zeitalter des “Anthropozäns” ausgerufen. Ronald Pöppl, Geograph an der Universität Wien, zeigt anhand von Beispielen aus Niederösterreich auf, wie sehr die Menschheit mit flussbaulichen Maßnahmen und durch Veränderung der Vegetationsbedeckung das Erdrelief verändert. Im Rahmen der heuer in Wien stattfindenden Konferenz der “European Geosciences Union” liefert Pöppl im Rahmen einer Pressekonferenz zum Thema “The Anthropocene: are we living in the age of humans?” einen Beitrag zum geomorphologischen Erbe von Staudämmen.(more…)
