Latest News

Sun is ok, says latest neutrino experiment

The sun is healthy and strong, but physicists will have to change some of the basic assumptions they have made about how the universe works.

These are the results released today from the latest study of neutrinos made with a detector buried a half mile under a Japanese mountain. LSU physicist Bob Svoboda, who worked on an earlier ground-breaking experiment in the same mountain, was construction supervisor on this one.

Basically, scientists were trying to understand why the s

Sunlight and serotonin underlie seasonal mood disorders

Authors of a research letter in this week’s issue of THE LANCET provide further evidence that the effect of sunlight on neurotransmitters in the brain plays a significant role in seasonal mood disorders.

The success of phototherapy (ultraviolet light therapy to stimulate brain neurotransmitter activity) and drugs that prevent the reuptake of the neurotransmitter serotonin have suggested that serotonin itself has a role in the development of seasonal depression. However, concentrations

The tapeworm contraceptive

A tapeworm may be the unlikely source of a new contraceptive – 100% effective in either sex!

Despite intensive research, scientists have so far failed to find the perfect contraceptive for women – let alone men. However, a study in freshwater fish of the carp family has found a parasite, Ligula intestinalis, that makes the fish infertile. The infertility appears to be caused by a compound released by the parasite, which suppresses the production of eggs in females and sperm in males. P

New System Created by Rensselaer Researchers Speeds the Mapping of Blood Vessel Networks in Live Tumors

Rensselaer researchers have developed an automated system, called RPI-Trace3D, that can swiftly map capillaries in a live tumor. What used to take days of manually tracing the vessels, now takes two minutes. The diagnostic tool, in use at Harvard Medical School and at Northeastern University, is a boon to oncologists who aim to understand how blood vessels form in tumors.

For the first time, medical scientists can quickly and precisely measure blood vessel properties to quantify the effects

Studies dispute ultraviolet effect on amphibian population declines

For several years it has been widely believed that increased ultraviolet-B radiation because of thinning of atmospheric ozone was a major culprit in deforming amphibian offspring and dwindling populations.

Now two new studies cast serious doubt on that assumption, and the lead author of one says the belief could have had negative impacts on efforts to save amphibians.

“All of the concentration on UV might have misdirected our conservation and research priorities,” said Wendy Palen,

Robot Space Cowboys

A unique University of Southern California design for self-organizing robots controlled by “hormonal” software is moving toward space.

At the Robosphere 2002 conference held at the NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley November 14-15, Wei-Min Shen of the USC School of Engineering’s Information Sciences Institute (ISI) presented an overview of an audacious project to have pieces of the proposed half-mile-long Space Solar Power System satellite put themselves together–self-a

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Physics and Astronomy

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe makes history with closest pass to Sun

Operations teams have confirmed NASA’s mission to “touch” the Sun survived its record-breaking closest approach to the solar surface on Dec. 24, 2024. Breaking its previous record by flying just…

Largest magnetic anisotropy of a molecule measured at BESSY II

At the Berlin synchrotron radiation source BESSY II, the largest magnetic anisotropy of a single molecule ever measured experimentally has been determined. The larger this anisotropy is, the better a…

Breaking boundaries: Researchers isolate quantum coherence in classical light systems

LSU quantum researchers uncover hidden quantum behaviors within classical light, which could make quantum technologies robust. Understanding the boundary between classical and quantum physics has long been a central question…

Life Sciences and Chemistry

Nanotechnology: Light enables an “impossibile” molecular fit

Exploiting an ingenious combination of photochemical (i.e., light-induced) reactions and self-assembly processes, a team led by Prof. Alberto Credi of the University of Bologna has succeeded in inserting a filiform…

Sensors for the “charge” of biological cells

A team led by plant biotechnologist Prof Markus Schwarzländer from the University of Münster and biochemist Prof Bruce Morgan from Saarland University has developed new biosensors with which the ratio…

Molecular gardening: New enzymes discovered for protein modification pruning

How deubiquitinases USP53 and USP54 cleave long polyubiquitin chains and how the former is linked to liver disease in children. Deubiquitinases (DUBs) are enzymes used by cells to trim protein…

Materials Sciences

Spintronics memory innovation: A new perpendicular magnetized film

Long gone are the days where all our data could fit on a two-megabyte floppy disk. In today’s information-based society, the increasing volume of information being handled demands that we…

Materials with a ‘twist’ show unexpected electronic behaviour

In the search for new materials that can enable more efficient electronics, scientists are exploring so-called 2-D materials. These are sheets of just one atom thick, that may have all…

Layer by Layer

How simulations help manufacturing of modern displays. Modern materials must be recyclable and sustainable. Consumer electronics is no exception, with organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) taking over modern televisions and portable…

Information Technology

NTU and NUS spin-off cutting-edge quantum control technology

AQSolotl’s quantum controller is designed to be adaptable, scalable and cost-efficient. Quantum technology jointly developed at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) and National University of Singapore (NUS) has now…

Microelectronics Science Research Centers to lead charge on next-generation designs and prototypes

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to contribute leadership to national effort in microelectronics design and development. Microelectronics run the modern world. Staying ahead of the development curve requires an investment that…

Laser-based artificial neuron mimics nerve cell functions at lightning speed

With a processing speed a billion times faster than nature, chip-based laser neuron could help advance AI tasks such as pattern recognition and sequence prediction. Researchers have developed a laser-based…