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News | Archive (26 January 2011)
Nanowires exhibit giant piezoelectricity
— 19:28 GMT | TechnologyGallium nitride (GaN) and zinc oxide (ZnO) are among the most technologically relevant semiconducting materials. Gallium nitride is ubiquitous today in optoelectronic elements such as blue lasers (hence the blue-ray disc) and light-emitting-diodes (LEDs); zinc oxide also finds many uses in optoelectronics and sensors…
Mathematical model could help predict and prevent future extinctions
— 19:25 GMT | EnvironmentIn an effort to better understand the dynamics of complex networks, scientists have developed a mathematical model to describe interactions within ecological food webs. This research, performed by Northwestern University physics professor Adilson Motter and his student, Sagar Sahasrabudhe, is published in the January 25 issue of Nature Communications. The work illustrates how human intervention may effectively aid species conservation efforts…
Neuroscientists learn how channels fine-tune neuronal excitability
— 19:22 GMT | HealthScientists in the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, have discovered a new mechanism that nerve cells (neurones) use to fine-tune their electrical output. The exciting discovery, published this week in the prestigious journal Nature Neuroscience, provides new insights about how the activity of the nervous system is regulated at the cellular level…
Dynamic systems in living cells break the rules
— 19:19 GMT | BiologyThere is considerable interest in understanding transport and information pathways in living cells. It is crucial for both the transport of, for example, medicine into cells, the regulation of cell life processes and their signalling with their environment. New research in biophysics at the Niels Bohr Institute shows surprisingly that the transport mechanisms do not follow the expected pattern. The results have been published in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters…
UCLA researchers eliminate major roadblock in regenerative medicine
— 19:16 GMT | HealthIn regenerative medicine, large supplies of safe and reliable human embryonic stem (hES) cells are needed for implantation into patients, but the field has faced challenges in developing cultures that can consistently grow and maintain clinical-grade stem cells…
Physicists take new look at the atom
— 19:13 GMT | PhysicsMeasuring the attractive forces between atoms and surfaces with unprecedented precision, University of Arizona physicists have produced data that could refine our understanding of the structure of atoms and improve nanotechnology. The discovery has been published in the journal Physical Review Letters…
Evolution by mistake
— 19:10 GMT | BiologyCharles Darwin based his groundbreaking theory of natural selection on the realisation that genetic variation among organisms is the key to evolution…
The world can be powered by alternative energy, using today's technology, in 20-40 years
— 19:07 GMT | TechnologyIf someone told you there was a way you could save 2.5 million to 3 million lives a year and simultaneously halt global warming, reduce air and water pollution and develop secure, reliable energy sources - nearly all with existing technology and at costs comparable with what we spend on energy today - why wouldn't you do it?…
Heart-targeting Listeria increase cardiac disease risk
— 19:04 GMT | HealthCertain strains of the food pathogen Listeria are uniquely adapted to infect heart tissues and may put people at a higher risk from serious cardiac disease, according to a new study published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology. Developing new diagnostic tests to identify these potentially fatal strains could protect those most at risk, such as those with heart valve replacements…
Star performer in basic biology labs diagnosed with first virus
— 19:01 GMT | BiologyA workhorse of modern biology is sick, and scientists couldn't be happier. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the Jacques Monod Institute in France and Cambridge University have found that the nematode C. elegans, a millimetre-long worm used extensively for decades to study many aspects of biology, can be targeted by naturally occurring viral infections. The discovery means C. elegans is likely to help scientists study the way viruses and their hosts interact. The findings will be published next week in the online, open access journal PLoS Biology…
Traces of the Martian past in the Terby crater
Mercury featured in colour!