Cat owners fall into five categories in terms of their attitudes to their pets’ roaming and hunting, according to a new study.
University of Exeter researchers surveyed UK cat owners and found they ranged from “conscientious caretakers” concerned about cats’ impact on wildlife and who feel some responsibility, to “freedom defenders” who opposed restrictions on cat behaviour altogether. (more…)
IBM scientists will focus on building the first logical quantum bit
Yorktown Heights, N.Y. – 08 Dec 2015: IBM announced today that the U.S. Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) program has notified IBM that it will award its scientists a major multi-year research grant to advance the building blocks for a universal quantum computer. (more…)
Daya Bay neutrino experiment publishes a new result on its first search for a “sterile” neutrino
BEIJING; BERKELEY, CA; and UPTON, NY—The Daya Bay Collaboration, an international group of scientists studying the subtle transformations of subatomic particles called neutrinos, is publishing its first results on the search for a so-called sterile neutrino, a possible new type of neutrino beyond the three known neutrino “flavors,” or types. The existence of this elusive particle, if proven, would have a profound impact on our understanding of the universe, and could impact the design of future neutrino experiments. The new results, appearing in the journal Physical Review Letters, show no evidence for sterile neutrinos in a previously unexplored mass range. (more…)
UD alum leads Michigan State research team in development of solar concentrator
A team of researchers at Michigan State University, which is being led by a University of Delaware alumnus, has developed a new type of solar concentrator that when placed over a window creates solar energy while allowing people to actually see through the window.
It is called a transparent luminescent solar concentrator and can be used on buildings, cell phones and any other device that has a clear surface. (more…)
A class of drug currently being used to treat leukaemia has the unexpected side-effect of boosting immune responses against many different cancers, reports a new study led by scientists at UCL and the Babraham Institute, Cambridge.
The drugs, called p110δ inhibitors, have shown such remarkable efficacy against certain leukaemias in recent clinical trials that patients on the placebo were switched to the real drug. Until now, however, they have not been tested in other types of cancer. (more…)
App also allows users to communicate with MU animal science experts
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Each year, overheated cattle cost farmers more than $1.2 billion. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have created a smartphone application that can detect when a cow is at risk for heat stress. The app also can offer the best methods for intervention.
“Cows are like the rest of us,” said Don Spiers, professor of animal sciences at MU’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, who led the team that developed the app. “They slow down in hot and humid weather. When stressed by too much heat, they stop eating, and thus, fail to grain weight or produce milk.” (more…)
About the video: Discusses the interaction between abiotic and biotic factors. The style of the animation is influenced by The Common Craft Show.
Warning: This class will teach students to translate scientific mumbo jumbo into understandable phrases.
Michigan State University’s first, free Massive Open Online Course, or MOOC, also promises to then teach students “to speak mumbo jumbo and amaze your friends.” (more…)
UCLA researchers have discovered a type of cell that is the “missing link” between bone marrow stem cells and all the cells of the human immune system, a finding that will lead to a greater understanding of how a healthy immune system is produced and how disease can lead to poor immune function.
The research was done using human bone marrow, which contains all the stem cells that produce blood during post-natal life. (more…)
