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With Random Lasers, Yale Researchers Fight Random Noise, Improve Imaging

By Guest PostMay 1, 2012Sciencebeam of light, biomedical engineering, blood flow, diagnostic radiology, embryo heart, eric gershon, hui cao, illumination, imaging equipment, leds, light source, medical, michael a choma, pediatrics, photon, random laser, spatial mode, traditional lasers, yale university

Using “random lasers” as a source of illumination in medical imaging equipment could improve both processing time and the clarity of the final images, according to new research by Yale University scientists.

Imaging systems currently rely on a variety of light sources — specialty light bulbs, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and traditional lasers. But systems using traditional lasers, the brightest of these light sources, often yield undesirable visual byproducts that mar the final picture. One common byproduct, speckle, looks something like a snowfall pattern. (more…)

Mutltitasking May Hurt Your Performance, But It Makes You Feel Better

By Guest PostApril 30, 2012General, Media, Sciencebook, cellphone, cognitive goal, cognitive need, cognitive task, computer use, good feeling, jeff grabmeier, john tchernev, media multitasking, media sources, multitasking, online video, reading, Social networking, text message, watching tv, web browsing, zheng wang

COLUMBUS, Ohio – People aren’t very good at media multitasking – like reading a book while watching TV – but do it anyway because it makes them feel good, a new study suggests.

The findings provide clues as to why multitasking is so popular, even though many studies show it is not productive.

Researchers had college students record all of their media use and other activities for 28 days, including why they used various media sources and what they got out of it. (more…)

The Bright Side of Death: Awareness of Mortality Can Result in Positive Behaviors, Say MU Researchers

By Guest PostApril 30, 2012Culture, Sciencealtruism, catastrophe, climate change, control topic, death, disaster, discrimination, divorce rate, global threat, jamie arndt, ken vail, monty python, morose despondency, mortality, muslim, negative behavior, negative effect, news media, oklahoma city bombing, peaceful, terrorism, terrorist attack, university of missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Contemplating death doesn’t necessarily lead to morose despondency, fear, aggression or other negative behaviors, as previous research has suggested. Following a review of dozens of studies, University of Missouri researchers found that thoughts of mortality can lead to decreased militaristic attitudes, better health decisions, increased altruism and helpfulness, and reduced divorce rates.

“According to terror management theory, people deal with their awareness of mortality by upholding cultural beliefs and seeking to become part of something larger and more enduring than themselves, such as nations or religions,” said Jamie Arndt, study co-author and professor of psychological sciences. “Depending on how that manifests itself, positive outcomes can be the result.” (more…)

Golden Potential for Gold Thin Films

By Guest PostApril 29, 2012Science1d chain, 2d nanoparticle, 2d sheet, berkeley lab, block, catalysis, co polymer, DNA, gold nanoparticle, joseph kao, microdomain, microtechnology, nanometer, nanoparticle, peter bai, peter ercius, plasmonic metamaterial, plasmonic technology, polymer scientist, polymer supramolecule, scalable nanomanufacturing, semiconductor nanocrystal, solvent evaporation, supramolecular nanocomposites, thin film, three dimensional array, ting xu, uc, university of california, vivian chuang, zhang jiang

Berkeley Lab Researchers Direct the Self-Assembly of Gold Nanoparticles into Device-Ready Thin films

Scientists with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley have directed the first self-assembly of nanoparticles into device-ready materials. Through a relatively easy and inexpensive technique based on blending nanoparticles with block co-polymer supramolecules, the researchers produced multiple-layers of thin films from highly ordered one-, two- and three-dimensional arrays of gold nanoparticles. Thin films such as these have potential applications for a wide range of fields, including computer memory storage, energy harvesting, energy storage, remote-sensing, catalysis, light management and the emerging new field of plasmonics.

“We’ve demonstrated a simple yet versatile supramolecular approach to control the 3-D spatial organization of nanoparticles with single particle precision over macroscopic distances in thin films,” says polymer scientist Ting Xu, who led this research. “While the thin gold films we made were wafer-sized, the technique can easily produce much larger films, and it can be used on nanoparticles of many other materials besides gold.” (more…)

Did Bone Ease Acid for Early Land Crawlers?

By Guest PostApril 28, 2012Scienceacid buildup, bodily fluids, bony skin, dermal bones, dermal sculpture, early land crawlers, early tetrapods

In a new paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, scientists propose that the bony structures in the skin of many early four-legged creatures might have been there to relieve acid buildup in bodily fluids. Analysis of their anatomy suggests that as they ventured out of water, the animals would have had trouble getting rid of enough CO₂ to prevent acid buildup

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Here’s an anatomical packing list for making that historic trip from water to land circa 370 million years ago: Lungs? Check. Legs? Check. Patches of highly vascular bone in the skin? In a new paper, scientists propose why many of the earliest four-legged creatures that dared breathe on land carried bony skin features. (more…)

Research Shows Why One Bacterial Infection is So Deadly in Cystic Fibrosis

By Guest PostApril 28, 2012Scienceacute infection, amal amer, antibiotics, anwari akhter, arwa abu khweek, autophagy, bacterial infection, bacterium, basant abdulrahman, benjamin kopp, burkholderia cenocepacia, cf, chronic destruction, cystic fibrosis, genetic mutation, kyle caution, lung infection, lung tissue, macrophage, mia tazi, mice and humans, molecule, ohio state university, p62, rapamycin

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scientists have found why a certain type of bacteria, harmless in healthy people, is so deadly to patients with cystic fibrosis.

The bacterium, Burkholderia cenocepacia, causes a severe and persistent lung infection in patients with CF and is resistant to nearly all known antibiotics. Cystic fibrosis is a chronic disorder characterized by a buildup of mucus in the lungs and other parts of the body, and various types of lung infection are responsible for about 85 percent of deaths in these patients. (more…)

New Graphene-Based Material Could Revolutionise Electronics Industry

By Guest PostApril 27, 2012Scienceconductive material, electricity, electronic device, ferric chloride, graphene, graphexeter, indium tin oxide, ito, molecule, monica craciun, saverio russo, Technology, university of exeter

The most transparent, lightweight and flexible material ever for conducting electricity has been invented by a team from the University of Exeter.

Called GraphExeter, the material could revolutionise the creation of wearable electronic devices, such as clothing containing computers, phones and MP3 players.

GraphExeter could also be used for the creation of ‘smart’ mirrors or windows, with computerised interactive features. Since this material is also transparent over a wide light spectrum, it could enhance by more than 30% the efficiency of solar panels.

Adapted from graphene, GraphExeter is much more flexible than indium tin oxide (ITO), the main conductive material currently used in electronics. ITO is becoming increasingly expensive and is a finite resource, expected to run out in 2017. (more…)

NASA’s Spitzer Finds Galaxy with Split Personality

By Guest PostApril 27, 2012Sciencearchetypal galaxy, centaurus, Chile, constellation virgo, dimitri gadotti, earth, elliptical galaxy, ellipticals, Galaxy, galaxy evolution, globular cluster, NASA, ngc 4594, ruben sanchez janssen, sean carey, sombrero galaxy, spiral disk, spiral milky way, spitzer space telescope, split personality

PASADENA, Calif. — While some galaxies are rotund and others are slender disks like our spiral Milky Way, new observations from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope show that the Sombrero galaxy is both. The galaxy, which is a round elliptical galaxy with a thin disk embedded inside, is one of the first known to exhibit characteristics of the two different types. The findings will lead to a better understanding of galaxy evolution, a topic still poorly understood.

“The Sombrero is more complex than previously thought,” said Dimitri Gadotti of the European Southern Observatory in Chile and lead author of a new paper on the findings appearing in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. “The only way to understand all we know about this galaxy is to think of it as two galaxies, one inside the other.” (more…)

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