How a Silly Putty ingredient could advance stem cell therapies
Ann Arbor MI (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
The sponginess of the environment where human embryonic stem cells are growing affects the type of specialized cells they eventually become, a University of Michigan study shows.
The researchers coaxed human embryonic stem cells to turn into working spinal cord cells more efficiently by growing the cells on a soft, utrafine carpet made of a key ingredient in Silly Putty. Their study is pub ...
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Water users can reduce the risk of spreading invasive species
Leeds, UK (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
Foreign species that are devastating water ecosystems could be "hitchhiking" around Britain on canoeists' and anglers' kit, according to a new study.
Invaders like the killer shrimp, zebra mussel and American signal crayfish have already caused extensive environmental damage and millions of pounds of economic costs.
The new research, led by the University of Leeds and the Centre for ...
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Puget Sound's rich waters supplied by deep, turbulent canyon
Seattle WA (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
The headwaters for Puget Sound's famously rich waters lie far below the surface, in a submarine canyon that draws nutrient-rich water up from the deep ocean. New measurements may explain how the Pacific Northwest's inland waters are able to support so many shellfish, salmon runs and even the occasional pod of whales.
University of Washington oceanographers made the first detailed measureme ...
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Greenland ice cores show industrial record of acid rain, success of US Clean Air Act
Seattle WA (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
The rise and fall of acid rain is a global experiment whose results are preserved in the geologic record. By analyzing samples from the Greenland ice sheet, University of Washington atmospheric scientists found clear evidence of the U.S. Clean Air Act. They also discovered a link between air acidity and how nitrogen is preserved in layers of snow, according to a paper published this week in the ...
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Neanderthals and Cro-magnons did not coincide on the Iberian Peninsula
Madrid, Spain (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
The meeting between a Neanderthal and one of the first humans, which we used to picture in our minds, did not happen on the Iberian Peninsula. That is the conclusion reached by an international team of researchers from the Australian National University, Oxford University, the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country, University of Maryland, Universitat de Girona and the University of Oviedo, af ...
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Study finds recent wolf-dog hybridization in Caucasus region
Washington DC (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
Dog owners in the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia might want to consider penning up their dogs more often: hybridization of wolves with shepherd dogs might be more common, and more recent, than previously thought, according to a recently published study in the Journal of Heredity.
Dr. Natia Kopaliani, Dr. David Tarkhnishvili, and colleagues from the Institute of Ecology at Ilia State Univers ...
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Pioneering findings on the dual role of carbon dioxide in photosynthesis
Umea, Sweden (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
Researchers at Umea University have found that carbon dioxide, in its ionic form bicarbonate, has a regulating function in the splitting of water in photosynthesis. This means that carbon dioxide has an additional role to being reduced to sugar. The pioneering work is published in the latest issue of the scientific journal PNAS.
It is well known that inorganic carbon in the form of carbon ...
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Faithful allies since the Cretaceous
Munich, Germany (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
Like humans, many animals depend on beneficial microbes for survival. Although such symbioses can persist for millions of years, the factors maintaining their long-term stability remain, in most cases, unknown. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology and the University of Regensburg, in collaboration with researchers in the USA, now discovered that certain wasps tightly con ...
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Plugging an ozone hole
Boston MA (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
Since the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole, scientists, policymakers, and the public have wondered whether we might someday see a similarly extreme depletion of ozone over the Arctic.
But a new MIT study finds some cause for optimism: Ozone levels in the Arctic haven't yet sunk to the extreme lows seen in Antarctica, in part because international efforts to limit ozone-depleting chemi ...
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Nutrient-rich forests absorb more carbon
Laxenburg, Austria (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
The ability of forests to sequester carbon from the atmosphere depends on nutrients available in the forest soils, shows new research from an international team of researchers, including IIASA.
The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, showed that forests growing in fertile soils with ample nutrients are able to sequester about 30% of the carbon that they take up during ph ...
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New technique takes cues from astronomy and ophthalmology to sharpen microscope images
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
The complexity of biology can befuddle even the most sophisticated light microscopes. Biological samples bend light in unpredictable ways, returning difficult-to-interpret information to the microscope and distorting the resulting image. New imaging technology developed at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Farm Research Campus rapidly corrects for these distortions and sharpens high- ...
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Researchers bolster development of programmable quantum computers
Chicago IL (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
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 part ...
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Engineers develop new materials for hydrogen storage
San Diego CA (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
Engineers at the University of California, San Diego, have created new ceramic materials that could be used to store hydrogen safely and efficiently.
The researchers have created for the first time compounds made from mixtures of calcium hexaboride, strontium and barium hexaboride. They also have demonstrated that the compounds could be manufactured using a simple, low-cost manufacturing m ...
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Cork trees offer greener source of polyester
Washington DC (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
On the scale of earth-friendly materials, you'd be hard pressed to find two that are farther apart than polyester (not at all) and cork (very). In an unexpected twist, however, scientists are figuring out how to extract a natural, waterproof, antibacterial version of the first material from the latter. Their new technique, which could have applications in medical devices, appears in the ACS jour ...
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Scientists achieve first direct observations of excitons in motion
Boston MA (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
A quasiparticle called an exciton - responsible for the transfer of energy within devices such as solar cells, LEDs, and semiconductor circuits - has been understood theoretically for decades. But exciton movement within materials has never been directly observed.
Now scientists at MIT and the City College of New York have achieved that feat, imaging excitons' motions directly. This could ...
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Genetically modified tobacco plants as an alternative for producing bioethanol
Navarre, Spain (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
Researchers at the NUP/UPNA-Public University of Navarre and the IdAB-Institute of Agrobiotechnology have conducted a study into genetically modified tobacco plants from which it is possible to produce between 20 and 40 per cent more ethanol; this would increase their viability as a raw material for producing biofuels.
Tobacco, a high-density crop which is mown several times throughout its ...
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First Liquefied Natural Gas Tank Rolls Off Assembly Line
New Orleans LA (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
Lockheed Martin's first Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tank has transitioned from the assembly line to the shipyard for integration with the Wartsila LNG propulsion system.
Weighing in at 250,000 pounds, this LNG tank built with U.S. steel is the first of its kind for Lockheed Martin and will soon be used for marine applications under contract to Wartsila, a Finnish power solution provider fo ...
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ORNL study pegs fuel economy costs of common practices
Oak Ridge YN (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
People who pack their cars and drive like Clark Griswold in National Lampoon's "Vacation" pay a steep penalty when it comes to fuel economy, according to a report by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
For the study, researchers tested a sport utility vehicle and a compact sedan with various configurations, including underinflated tires, open windows, and rooftop and ...
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Floating nuclear plants could ride out tsunamis
Boston MA (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
When an earthquake and tsunami struck the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant complex in 2011, neither the quake nor the inundation caused the ensuing contamination. Rather, it was the aftereffects - specifically, the lack of cooling for the reactor cores, due to a shutdown of all power at the station - that caused most of the harm.
A new design for nuclear plants built on floating platforms, ...
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Expanding energy access key to solving global challenges
Tempe AZ (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
Giving the poor access to reliable modern energy offers a better route to address global challenges, climate and energy, scholars say in a new report, Our High-Energy Planet.
The report is the first of the Climate Pragmatism project, led by Arizona State University's Consortium for Science, Policy, and Outcomes in partnership with The Breakthrough Institute.
"Climate change can't be ...
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New Self-healing Plastics Developed
Karlsruhe, Germany (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
Scratches in the car finish or cracks in polymer material: Self-healing materials can repair themselves by restoring their initial molecular structure after the damage. Scientists of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Evonik Industries have developed a chemical crosslinking reaction that ensures good short-term healing properties of the material under mild heating. The research results ha ...
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"RoboClam" hits new depths as robotic digger
London, UK (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
A digging robot inspired by the unique mechanisms employed by the Atlantic razor clam has been created by a group of researchers in the US. The robot, dubbed RoboClam, is able to dig with extreme efficiency by transforming the surrounding soil from a solid into a liquid, and could have a variety of applications from anchoring underwater robots to subsea cable installation and mine neutralization ...
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Study Says Renewables to Hit 16 percent by 2018
Washington DC (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
In a new 32-page study the SUN DAY Campaign challenges assertions by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) that renewable energy sources will provide only 16% of the nation's net electrical generation by the year 2040. Using EIA's own previously published data, the analysis shows that it's more likely the 16% level could be reached within five years.
In its "early release overvi ...
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New 'switch' could power quantum computing
Boston MA (SPX) Apr 17, 2014 -
Using a laser to place individual rubidium atoms near the surface of a lattice of light, scientists at MIT and Harvard University have developed a new method for connecting particles - one that could help in the development of powerful quantum computing systems.
The new technique, described in a paper published in the journal Nature, allows researchers to couple a lone atom of rubidium, a ...
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