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Flawed Diamonds Promise Sensory Perfection

By Guest PostJune 10, 2013Scienceandrey jarmola, berkeley lab, binary digit, biophysics, carbon atoms, center, defense, degrees kelvin, diamond defect, dmitry budker, electron spin coherence, electrons, flawed diamonds, fluoresce, gyroscopes, hebrew university, Jerusalem, liquid nitrogen, magnetic resonance imaging, mri, nanoscale, nir bar gill, nitrogen vacancy, nuclear spin, nv, oscillating magnetic fields, quadrillionths, quantum computer, quantum information, ronald walsworth, rotational sensors, second, sensory perfection, smart phones, temperature

Berkeley Lab researchers and their colleagues extend electron spin in diamond for incredibly tiny magnetic detectors

From brain to heart to stomach, the bodies of humans and animals generate weak magnetic fields that a supersensitive detector could use to pinpoint illnesses, trace drugs – and maybe even read minds. Sensors no bigger than a thumbnail could map gas deposits underground, analyze chemicals, and pinpoint explosives that hide from other probes.

Now scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley, working with colleagues from Harvard University, have improved the performance of one of the most potent possible sensors of magnetic fields on the nanoscale – a diamond defect no bigger than a pair of atoms, called a nitrogen vacancy (NV) center. (more…)

A tangle of talents untangles neurons

By Guest PostJune 10, 2013Sciencebiological phenomenon, brain science, brown university, cell cultures, cristina lopez fagundo, diane hoffman kim, jennifer mitchel, microfabrication facility, mike cohea, nerve cells, neurons, puerto rico, rat neural tissue, schwann cells, semiconductor, substrates, talisha ramchal, tangle of talents, techniques, technological ingenuity, topography, university, yu ting dingle

Brown’s growing programs in brain science and engineering come together in the lab of Diane Hoffman-Kim. In a recent paper, her group employed techniques ranging from semiconductor-style circuit patterning to rat cell culture to optimize the growth of nerve cells for applications such as reconstructive surgery.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Two wrongs don’t make a right, they say, but here’s how one tangle can straighten out another.

Diane Hoffman-Kim, associate professor of medicine in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biotechnology, is an affiliate of both Brown’s Center for Biomedical Engineering and the Brown Institute for Brain Science. Every thread of expertise woven through those multidisciplinary titles mattered in the Hoffman-Kim lab’s most recent paper, led by graduate student Cristina Lopez-Fagundo. (more…)

Bittersweet: Bait-Averse Cockroaches Shudder at Sugar

By Guest PostJune 9, 2013Nature, Scienceayako wada katsumata, behavior, behavioral resistance, bittersweet, coby schal, cockroaches, entomologist, genetic changes, german cockroaches, glucose, glucose averse roaches, jules silverman, loss of function, memory, mutations, normal cockroaches, north Carolina, paraglossae, receptor neurons, roach bait poison, state university, sugar, types of food

Sugar isn’t always sweet to German cockroaches, especially to the ones that avoid roach baits.

In a study published May 24 in the journal Science, North Carolina State University entomologists show the neural mechanism behind the aversion to glucose, the simple sugar that is a popular ingredient in roach-bait poison. Glucose sets off bitter receptors in roach taste buds, causing roaches to avoid foods that bring on this taste-bud reaction. This aversion has a genetic basis and it eventually spreads to offspring, resulting in increasingly large groups of cockroaches that reject glucose and any baits made with it.

In normal German cockroaches, glucose elicits activity in sugar gustatory receptor neurons, which react when exposed to sugars like glucose and fructose – components of corn syrup, a common roach-bait ingredient. Generally, roaches have a sweet tooth for these sugars. (more…)

Mathematics of Popping Bubbles in a Foam

By Guest PostJune 5, 2013Sciencefoamy bubbles, formation of foams, mathematics of bubbles, modeling industrial processes

Bubble baths and soapy dishwater, the refreshing head on a beer and the luscious froth on a cappuccino. All are foams, beautiful yet ephemeral as the bubbles pop one by one. Now, two researchers from the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California, Berkeley have described mathematically the successive stages in the complex evolution and disappearance of foamy bubbles, a feat that could help in modeling industrial processes in which liquids mix or in the formation of solid foams such as those used to cushion bicycle helmets.
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Algorithms find genetic cancer networks

By Guest PostJune 4, 2013Scienceacute myeloid leukemia, algorithms, aml, ben raphael, blood cancer, brown team, cancer causing mutations, cancer types, ccmb, cellular pathway, dendrix, eli upfal, fabio vandin, genetic cancer networks, genetic profile, genetics, genetics of cancer, hot networks, hotnet, hsin ta wu, max leiserson, pan cancer project, washington university

Researchers at Washington University in St., Louis, using powerful algorithms developed by computer scientists at Brown University, have assembled the most complete genetic profile yet of acute myeloid leukemia, an aggressive form of blood cancer. Findings are reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Powerful data-sifting algorithms developed by computer scientists at Brown University are helping to untangle the profoundly complex genetics of cancer.

In a study reported on May 1, 2013, in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from Washington University in St. Louis used two algorithms developed at Brown to assemble the most complete genetic profile yet of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an aggressive form of blood cancer. The researchers hope the work will lead to new AML treatments based on the genetics of each patient’s disease. (more…)

New Technique May Open Up an Era of Atomic-scale Semiconductor Devices

By Guest PostJune 2, 2013Scienceair, atomic scale, chun li, era, leds, light emitting diodes, linyou cao, molecules, molybdenum chloride, mos2, new technique, north Carolina, partial pressure, researchers, self limiting growth, semiconductor devices, solid atoms, state university, substrate, thin layer, vapor pressure, yifei yu

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a new technique for creating high-quality semiconductor thin films at the atomic scale – meaning the films are only one atom thick. The technique can be used to create these thin films on a large scale, sufficient to coat wafers that are two inches wide, or larger.

“This could be used to scale current semiconductor technologies down to the atomic scale – lasers, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), computer chips, anything,” says Dr. Linyou Cao, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at NC State and senior author of a paper on the work. “People have been talking about this concept for a long time, but it wasn’t possible. With this discovery, I think it’s possible.” (more…)

Pebbly Rocks Testify to Old Streambed on Mars

By Guest PostMay 31, 2013Scienceatmospheric conditions, bradbury landing, conglomerate rocks, environmental conditions, evidence, gale crater, goulburn, hottah, imperial college, london, mars, mars rover curiosity, martian surface, mastcam, microbial life, NASA, old streambed, outcrop of rocks, pebble rich layers, pebbly rocks, planetary science institute, rebecca williams, sand layers, sanjeev gupta, stream flow, tucson, water ice

PASADENA, Calif. – Detailed analysis and review have borne out researchers’ initial interpretation of pebble-containing slabs that NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity investigated last year: They are part of an ancient streambed.

The rocks are the first ever found on Mars that contain streambed gravels. The sizes and shapes of the gravels embedded in these conglomerate rocks — from the size of sand particles to the size of golf balls — enabled researchers to calculate the depth and speed of the water that once flowed at this location. (more…)

Keeping beverages cool in summer: It’s not just the heat, it’s the humidity

By Guest PostMay 31, 2013Scienceevaporative cooling, heat of condensation, hot day, keeping beverages cool, summer

In spring a person’s thoughts turn to important matters, like how best to keep your drink cold on a hot day. Though this quest is probably as old as civilization, University of Washington climate scientists have provided new insight. (more…)

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