Latest News

Deft diving turtle tactics

How do turtles survive long trips across the ocean? At the Society for Experimental Biology conference on Friday 12 April Ms Corinne Martin (University of Wales Swansea) will present evidence of energy-saving diving patterns adopted by green turtles to survive long ocean trips.

The turtles breed at Ascension Island, undertaking long-distance migrations greater than 2 300 km between the island and their feeding grounds on the Brazilian coast. During their trip across the ocean they don’t feed

Nicorandil Could Improve Outcome For Angina Patients

Results of a UK study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET suggest that the antianginal drug nicorandil could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease associated with angina.

Angina occurs in 10% of men aged older than 60 years in the UK (10-15 years later in women), and is a common underlying cause of coronary heart disease (CHD). Aspirin, angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, and statins reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in subgroups of patients with stable angina; however,

Would you like gene chips with your salad?

The first public release of plant gene chip information is being launched at the Society for Experimental Biology conference in Swansea on Friday 12th April. Scientists from the Nottingham Arabidopsis Stock Centre (NASC), part of a multi-million pound resource network, will announce a newly accessible plant gene chip database which is available through the internet.

Unlike in GATTACA, where a drop of Ethan Hawke`s blood or an eyelash could tell you what genes he had, gene chips can tell you

Gorilla regains sight in ground-breaking operation by Bristol Zoo Gardens

Romina, a female Western lowland gorilla at Bristol Zoo Gardens, has successfully undergone pioneering surgery to restore her sight in the first ever cataract operation performed in Europe on an adult gorilla. Born with cataracts, 21-year-old Romina underwent the two-hour procedure at the University of Bristol`s Veterinary Hospital in March and, for the first time in her life, she can now see the world around her clearly.
Romina was born at Rome Zoo and hand-reared. Before her arrival in the UK

Explaining Tsavo’s Maneless Man-Eaters

The phrase “king of the jungle” invariably conjures up the image of a majestic, tawny cat with a fluffy mane framing its face. But in fact not all male lions have big hair. In Kenya’s Tsavo National Park–famed for the man-eating lions that reportedly terrorized railroad workers there in the late 1800s–a number of males lack manes altogether. Exactly why this should be the case–or why any lions should have manes, for that matter–has been difficult to explain. To that end, the results of a new

Asteroids pile up

New count doubles the rocks in asteroid belt.

There are twice as many asteroids between Mars and Jupiter as previously believed, according to the latest study. But the probability of a stray one colliding with Earth remains negligible.

Edward Tedesco of US research company TerraSystems Inc.and Francois-Xavier Désert of the Astrophysical Laboratory in Grenoble, France, found that there are between 1.1 million and 1.9 million asteroids swarming round the ’main asteroid belt’1.

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Physics and Astronomy

Breakthrough in photonic time crystals

… could change how we use and control light. The new discovery could dramatically enhance technologies like lasers, sensors and optical computing in the near future. An international research team…

Who moved my atom?

Researchers at the Technion Faculty of Physics have demonstrated controlled transfer of atoms using coherent tunneling between “optical tweezers”. An experimental setup built at the Technion Faculty of Physics demonstrates…

Fermium studied at GSI/FAIR

Researchers investigate nuclear properties of element 100 with laser light. Where does the periodic table of chemical elements end and which processes lead to the existence of heavy elements? An…

Life Sciences and Chemistry

In unity towards complex structures

When active filaments are exposed to localized illumination, they accumulate into stable structures along the boundaries of the illuminated area. Based on this fact, researchers at the Max Planck Institute…

How Immune Cells “Sniff Out” Pathogens

Immune cells are capable of detecting infections just like a sniffer dog, using special sensors known as Toll-like receptors, or TLRs for short. But what signals activate TLRs, and what…

Mothers Determine the Fate of Hybrid Seeds in Plants

Scientists Uncover Vital Role of Maternal Small RNAs in Plant Breeding. Plant breeders, aiming to develop resilient and high-quality crops, often cross plants from different species to transfer desirable traits….

Materials Sciences

Bringing Quantum Mechanics to Life

New ISTA assistant professor Julian Léonard makes abstract quantum properties visible. From the realm of the abstract to the tangible, the new assistant professor at the Institute of Science and…

Carpet fibers stop concrete cracking

Engineers in Australia have found a way to make stronger and crack-resistant concrete with scrap carpet fibres, rolling out the red carpet for sustainability in the construction sector. The research…

New material to make next generation of electronics faster and more efficient

With the increase of new technology and artificial intelligence, the demand for efficient and powerful semiconductors continues to grow. Researchers at the University of Minnesota have achieved a new material…

Information Technology

Storm in a laser beam

Physicists create “light hurricanes” that could transport huge amounts of data. Much of modern life depends on the coding of information onto means of delivering it. A common method is…

Flexible beam-shaping platform optimizes LPBF processes

A new approach to beam shaping will soon make additive manufacturing more flexible and efficient: Fraunhofer ILT has developed a new platform that can be used to individually optimize laser…

Breakthrough in energy-efficient avalanche-based amorphization

… could revolutionize data storage. The atoms of amorphous solids like glass have no ordered structure; they arrange themselves randomly, like scattered grains of sand on a beach. Normally, making…