Science – Page 254 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Improving Batteries

By Guest PostNovember 10, 2012Sciencebattery systems, block copolymer, conducting membranes, conductivity, delaware, doctoral student, improve, innate properties, kipp gutshall, lightweight, lithium battery, mechanical strength, membrane, nanoscale, structure, temperature stability, thermal properties, thomas epps, university, wei fan kuan

UD doctoral student studies ways to improve lithium battery performance

Lithium batteries are used in many devices such as cell phones, computers and cameras, among others.

University of Delaware doctoral student Wei-Fan Kuan is investigating ways to improve membranes used in lithium batteries by capitalizing on the innate properties of block copolymers.

It is work that he believes will become increasingly important as the components in electronic devices continue to get smaller. (more…)

Folding Funnels Key to Biomimicry

By Guest PostNovember 9, 2012Sciencebiomimicry, kinetic traps, nanoscale synthesis, protein folding, protein folding funnels

Berkeley Lab Finding that Protein Folding Funnels Also Apply to Self-Assembly Should Benefit Biomimicry and Nanosynthesis

Proteins are able to self-assemble into a wide range of highly ordered structures that feature a diverse array of properties. Through biomimicry – technological innovation inspired by nature – humans hope to emulate proteins and produce our own version of self-assembling molecules. A key to accomplishing this is understanding how protein-folding – a process critical to the form and function of a protein – is extended from individual proteins to complex assemblies. (more…)

Saber-toothed Cats and Bear Dogs: How They Made Cohabitation Work

By Guest PostNovember 8, 2012Sciencebear dogs, extinct mammals, mammalian predators, saber toothed cats

ANN ARBOR — The fossilized fangs of saber-toothed cats hold clues to how the extinct mammals shared space and food with other large predators 9 million years ago. (more…)

Studies: Pigs Look Healthy But Test Positive for Flu at Fairs; Flu Transmission Seen Between Pigs and Humans

By Guest PostNovember 6, 2012Scienceandrew bowman, cdc, flu positive, genbank, h1n2, h3n2 virus, h3n2v, human illness, illness, immune system, influenza a, influenza strain, jacqueline nolting, ohio, ohio county, pig virus, pigs, respiratory tract, richard slemons, sarah nelson, sign, state university, swine origin, viral infection, virus

COLUMBUS, Ohio – More than 80 percent of pigs that tested positive for influenza A virus at Ohio county fairs between 2009 and 2011 showed no signs of illness, according to a new study.

Ohio State University researchers tested 20 pigs each at 53 fair events over those three summers and found at least one flu-positive pig at 12 fairs – almost a quarter of fairs tested. (more…)

Terracotta Army Craftsmen Pioneered Toyota-style Industry

By Guest PostNovember 4, 20121 commentSciencebronze weapons, terracotta army, terracotta army weapons, toyotism

The most comprehensive analysis of the Terracotta Army’s weapons has revealed that the craftsmen responsible for arming the 7000 warriors, chariots and horses followed a sophisticated labour model now associated with Toyota, the world’s biggest car maker. (more…)

Barley getting by

By Guest PostNovember 4, 2012Sciencebarley genome, crops, cycle, disease resistance, drought, euphrates, farmers, fertile crescent, food security, function, fungus, fusarium, gary muehlbauer, genes, heat tolerance, idaho, malting quality, mediterranean coast, mesopotamia, minnesota, montana, nile valley, nitrogen use, nomads, north dakota, persian gulf, pests, planet, plant genetics, sequencing, tigris, university, valley, western world, yield

Sequencing the barley genome will sow many benefits

Some 10,000 years ago, people found they didn’t have to live as nomads, hunting and gathering all their food. In the Fertile Crescent, they started planting crops.

The Fertile Crescent extended from the Nile Valley and along the eastern Mediterranean Coast, through the Tigris and Euphrates valleys of Mesopotamia and down to the Persian Gulf. There, the foundation crops of the Western World were first domesticated. (more…)

Measuring Table-Top Accelerators’ State-of-the-Art Beams

By Guest PostNovember 4, 2012Scienceelectron beams, electron lasers, free electron lasers, laser plasma accelerators, optical transition radiation

Studies by Berkeley Lab scientists of electron beam quality in laser plasma accelerators include novel tests for slice-energy spread

Part Two: Slicing through the electron beam

Wim Leemans of Berkeley Lab’s Accelerator and Fusion Research Division heads LOASIS, the Laser and Optical Accelerator Systems Integrated Studies, an oasis indeed for students pursuing graduate studies in laser plasma acceleration (LPA). Among the most promising applications of future table-top accelerators are new kinds of light sources, in which their electron beams power free electron lasers. (more…)

When People Worry About Math, the Brain Feels the Pain

By Guest PostNovember 3, 2012Sciencemath anxiety, math is painful, mathematics anxiety, painful anxiety, physical pain

Mathematics anxiety can prompt a response in the brain similar to when a person experiences physical pain, according to new research at the University of Chicago. (more…)

Category Archives: Science