Science News
Strongest ever spin-phonon coupling observed
Phys.org - 14 Jan 2016 15:50
A research team led by Kazunari Yamaura, chief researcher, Superconducting Properties Unit, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Japan, and Dr. Stuart Calder and others at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in...
First all-antiferromagnetic memory device could get digital data storage in a spin
Phys.org - 14 Jan 2016 23:00
If you haven't already heard of antiferromagnetic spintronics it won't be long before you do. This relatively unused class of magnetic materials could be about to transform our digital lives. They have the potential to m...
Not All Gravitational Waves Are Created Equal
Scientific American - 14 Jan 2016 17:30
The LIGO experiment hunts for gravitational waves that are different from those sought by BICEP2. Although both types are elusive, they differ in age and strength—and come from very different... --
Sensitive robot skin has a memory and knows what it has touched
New Scientist - 14 Jan 2016 21:30
A new kind of artificial skin that remembers tactile information could make robots better at picking things up by improving their grip
Scientists get mice to pay attention by manipulating neurons in brain
Science Daily - 14 Jan 2016 21:19
Researchers have identified for the first time a cell type in the brain of mice that is integral to attention. By manipulating the activity of this cell type, the scientists were able to enhance attention in mice. The re...
Work on the mystery of the glass transition receives NSF CAREER grant
EurekAlert! - 14 Jan 2016 09:00
(University of Akron) Why can some materials act like solids without crystallizing? This question - the central issue in the study of the 'glass transition' -- is one of the longest standing and most technologically impo...
Photos: Enormous Titanosaur Invades New York Museum
Live Science - 15 Jan 2016 01:59
The cast of an enormous titanosaur skeleton will go on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City on Friday.
New theory of secondary inflation expands options for avoiding an excess of dark matter
Phys.org - 15 Jan 2016 01:50
Standard cosmology--that is, the Big Bang Theory with its early period of exponential growth known as inflation--is the prevailing scientific model for our universe, in which the entirety of space and time ballooned out ...
How trypanosome parasites communicate with each other
Science Daily - 15 Jan 2016 01:45
While scientists have known for years that African trypanosomes cause sleeping sickness, they've been left scratching their heads as to how these tiny single-celled organisms communicate. A new study helps solve this mys...
Is suicide a tragic variant of an evolutionarily adaptive set of behaviors?
Science Daily - 15 Jan 2016 01:33
What do snapping shrimp, naked mole rats, ants, honeybees, and humans all have in common? They all share a similar colony-like organizational system that biologists have termed eusociality. Eusocial species have been rem...
Key pathway involved in blood vessel occlusion discovered
Science Daily - 15 Jan 2016 01:25
Researchers have made a breakthrough in understanding blood vessel occlusion by discovering a novel pathway involved in this process.
Flexible film may lead to phone-sized cancer detector
Science Daily - 15 Jan 2016 01:25
A thin, stretchable film that coils light waves like a Slinky could one day lead to more precise, less expensive monitoring for cancer survivors.
Versatile new way to build molecules developed
Science Daily - 15 Jan 2016 01:25
Chemists have devised a new and widely applicable technique for building potential drug molecules and other organic compounds.
Breast cancer study suggests new potential drug targets and combinations
Science Daily - 15 Jan 2016 01:25
The largest analysis of breast cancer cell function to date suggests dozens of new uses for existing drugs, new targets for drug discovery, and new drug combinations.
New blood test may expand scope of liquid biopsies
Science Daily - 15 Jan 2016 01:20
A new approach to liquid biopsies may overcome limitations of current blood tests to diagnose and monitor cancers, birth defects, organ transplants and autoimmune disorders. The method relies on analyzing fragmentation p...
Drug 'cocktail' could restore vision in optic nerve injury
Science Daily - 15 Jan 2016 01:20
Research suggests the possibility of restoring at least some visual function in people blinded by optic nerve damage from glaucoma, estimated to affect more than 4 million Americans, or from trauma.
Brain waves could help predict how we respond to general anesthetics
Science Daily - 15 Jan 2016 01:20
The complex pattern of 'chatter' between different areas of an individual's brain while they are awake could help doctors better track and even predict their response to general anesthesia -- and better identify the amou...
Exploring the dark universe with supercomputers
Symmetry Magazine - 15 Jan 2016 01:16
Next-generation telescopic surveys will work hand-in-hand with supercomputers to study the nature of dark energy. The 2020s could see a rapid expansion in dark energy research. For starters, two powerful new instruments ...
Virus Linked to Birth Defects Requires Action, Doctors Say
Live Science - 15 Jan 2016 00:39
Experts evaluate the threat posed by Zika virus, a denguelike illness that in recent months has spread rapidly across the Americas and has been linked to birth defects.
How the cell's power station survives attacks
Science Daily - 15 Jan 2016 00:23
Mitochondria, the power generators in our cells, are essential for life. When they are under attack -- from poisons, environmental stress or genetic mutations -- cells wrench these power stations apart, strip out the dam...
Chemists devise powerful new method for modifying drug molecules
Science Daily - 15 Jan 2016 00:23
Chemists have developed a versatile new technique for making modifications -- especially one type of extremely difficult, but much-sought-after modification -- to complex drug molecules.
Trio of autism-linked molecules orchestrate neuron connections
Science Daily - 15 Jan 2016 00:23
Researchers have revealed how three proteins work in concert to wire up a specific area of the developing brain that is responsible for processing visual information. The findings may also lend insight into brain disorde...