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Researchers bolster development of programmable quantum computers

By Guest PostApril 24, 2014Scienceandrea burgalossi, dublin office, friends online, james franck institute, michael schmidt, mystical personality type, nature of god, new tool, ortserinnerung, quantum mechanics, quantum physics, remus sharkcam, sexually harassed, shark behavior, software engineers, thomas rosenbaum, university of chicago

University of Chicago researchers and their colleagues at University College London have performed a proof-of-concept experiment that will aid the future development of programmable quantum computers.

Many complex problems are difficult and slow to solve using conventional computers, and over the last several years, research has grown steadily toward developing quantum computation. In particular, optimization problems such as the “traveling salesman” problem, which calculates the shortest possible route needed to visit a set of towns, become intractable as the number of towns grows. (more…)

World’s oldest weather report could revise Bronze Age chronology

By Guest PostApril 9, 2014Environmentalexander jaworski, alpentourismus, bouncing back, carolyn conner seepersad, deutschen wirtschaft, egypt, holly gildea, honeycomb technology, joystick, konjunkturbarometer, kontur 2, kosmonaut, natural structures, negative stiffness, nell2, ns, sergei volkov, university of chicago

An inscription on a 3,500-year-old stone block from Egypt may be one of the world’s oldest weather reports—and could provide new evidence about the chronology of events in the ancient Middle East.

A new translation of a 40-line inscription on the 6-foot-tall calcite block called the Tempest Stela describes rain, darkness and “the sky being in storm without cessation, louder than the cries of the masses.” (more…)

Evolutionary study finds neglected fin may have a function

By Guest PostMarch 12, 2014Nature, Scienceadipose fin, Chicago, convergent evolution, evolutionary study, field museum, function, michael coates, neglected fin, new model, species, thomas stewart, university of chicago

Fin’s emergence in many species challenges assumption that it’s a useless remnant

Although present in more than 6,000 living species of fish, the adipose fin, a small appendage that lies between the dorsal fin and tail, has no clear function and is thought to be vestigial. A new study analyzing their origins, however, finds that these fins arose repeatedly and independently in multiple species. In addition, adipose fins appear to have repeatedly and independently evolved skeletal elements, offering a glimpse into how new tissue types and structural complexity evolve in vertebrate appendages.

Adipose fins therefore represent a prime example of convergent evolution and offer a new model for exploring the evolution of vertebrate limbs and appendages, report University of Chicago scientists in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B on March 5. (more…)

Undergraduate women in physics find strength in numbers

By Guest PostMarch 6, 2014Education, Scienceadler planetarium, astrophysics, biophysics, carolyn phillips, ceo, debra fischer, erin abouzaid, female scientists, lisa nash, louis block, michelle larson, physics, samantha stam, savannah thais, undergraduate women, university of chicago, yale university, young kee kim

Prof. Young-Kee Kim leads conference for aspiring female scientists

On a mid-January Friday night, Savannah Thais stood at the podium in International House’s Assembly Hall and shared some of her experiences as a female student in physics. She described the refusal of some male students to work with her, the difficulty in finding a female professor or mentor in math or physics, and the common message from adults that “I can’t be ‘girly’ and good at physics.” (more…)

Argonne supercomputer dramatically accelerates rapid genome analysis

By Guest PostFebruary 24, 2014Scienceaccelerate, argonne supercomputer, beagle, cardiomyopathy, clinical genetics, cray xe6 supercomputer, elizabeth mcnally, genome analysis, genome sequencing, ian foster, junk dna, megan puckelwartz, sequencing data, tcs, university of chicago

Although the time and cost of sequencing an entire human genome has plummeted, analyzing the resulting genetic information— three billion base pairs from a single genome—can take many months.

In the journal Bioinformatics, however, a University of Chicago-based team—working with Beagle, one of the world’s fastest supercomputers devoted to life sciences—reports that genome analysis can be radically accelerated. This computer, based at Argonne National Laboratory, is able to analyze 240 full genomes in about two days. (more…)

Researchers find brain’s ‘sweet spot’ for love in neurological patient

By Guest PostFebruary 14, 2014Health, Scienceanterior insula, Argentina, argentinian heterosexual men, biological drive, blas couto, brain, fmri, heterosexual male, john cacioppo, love, lucas sedeno, motor control, neurological patient, sexual desire, stephanie cacioppo, sweet spot, university of chicago

A region deep inside the brain controls how quickly people make decisions about love, according to new research at the University of Chicago.

The finding, made in an examination of a 48-year-old man who suffered a stroke, provides the first causal clinical evidence that an area of the brain called the anterior insula “plays an instrumental role in love,” said UChicago neuroscientist Stephanie Cacioppo, lead author of the study. (more…)

Discovery spotlights key role of mystery RNA modification in cells

By Guest PostJanuary 16, 2014Sciencecell differentiation, cells, chuan he, demethylation, deoxyribonucleic acid, diabetes, discovery, DNA, exact function, healthy cells, infertility, key role, m6a, messenger ribonucleic acid, methyl, methylation, mrna, mrna in question, mystery, n6 methyladenosine, neurobiology, obesity, organic compounds, parameter, peking university, proteins, regulating mrna lifetime, rna modification, san diego, sequence, university of california, university of chicago, xiao wang, ythdf2

Researchers had known for several decades that a certain chemical modification exists on messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), which is essential to the flow of genetic information. But only recently did experiments at the University of Chicago show that one major function of this modification governs the longevity and decay of RNA, a process critical to the development of healthy cells.

The chemical modification on mRNA in question is called N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A). A recent study by UChicago scientists reveals how the m⁶A modification on mRNA could affect the half-life of mRNA that in turn regulates cellular protein quantities. That discovery could provide fundamental insights into healthy functioning and disorders such as obesity, diabetes and infertility. (more…)

Exoplanet study finds ‘super-Earths’ likely have oceans and continents

By Guest PostJanuary 15, 2014Scienceastronomy, continents, dorian abbot, earth, exoplanet study, Galaxy, geological timescale, geophysicist, geophysics, habitable zone, interior, massive terrestrial planets, Milky Way, new model, nicolas b cowan, oceans, proportional to gravity, solar system, super earths, thermostat, university of chicago, water, water cycle

Massive terrestrial planets, called “super-Earths,” are known to be common in Earth’s galaxy, the Milky Way. Now a Northwestern University astrophysicist and a University of Chicago geophysicist report the odds of these planets having an Earth-like climate are much greater than previously thought.

Nicolas B. Cowan and Dorian Abbot’s new model challenges the conventional wisdom, which says super-Earths actually would be very unlike Earth—each would be a waterworld, with its surface completely covered in water. They conclude that most tectonically active super-Earths—regardless of mass—store most of their water in the mantle and will have both oceans and exposed continents, enabling a stable climate such as Earth’s. (more…)

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