Public Release: 19-Nov-2018 Michigan State University Your personal identity may fall at the mercy of sophisticated hackers on many websites, but when it comes to health data breaches, hospitals, doctors offices and even insurance companies are oftentimes the culprits. New… Read More ›
Technology
Widely used reference for the human genome is missing 300 million bits of DNA
Public Release: 19-Nov-2018 Johns Hopkins experts say additional reference genomes from different populations are needed for research Johns Hopkins Medicine For the past 17 years, most scientists around the globe have been using the nucleic acid sequence, or genome, an… Read More ›
How to mass produce cell-sized robots
Public Release: 23-Oct-2018 Technique from MIT could lead to tiny, self-powered devices for environmental, industrial, or medical monitoring.Technique from MIT could lead to tiny, self-powered devices for environmental, industrial, or medical monitoring Massachusetts Institute of Technology CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Tiny… Read More ›
World’s fastest camera freezes time at 10 trillion frames per second
Public Release: 11-Oct-2018 T-CUP makes it possible to see phenomena — and even light! — in extremely slow motion Institut national de la recherche scientifique – INRS IMAGE: The trillion-frame-per-second compressed ultrafast photography system. Credit: INRS What happens when a… Read More ›
Creating custom brains from the ground up
Public Release: 10-Oct-2018 Boston Children’s Hospital Scientists studying how genetics impact brain disease have long sought a better experimental model. Cultures of genetically-modified cell lines can reveal some clues to how certain genes influence the development of psychiatric disorders… Read More ›
The threat of Centaurs for the Earth
Public Release: 8-Oct-2018 Astrophysicists calculate the impact probability and crater size of impacts due to minor bodies University of Vienna The astrophysicists Mattia Galiazzo and Rudolf Dvorak from the University of Vienna, in collaboration with Elizabeth A. Silber (Brown University,… Read More ›
While seeking Planet X, astronomers find a distant solar system object
Public Release: 2-Oct-2018 The newly found object was announced by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center on October 1 University of Hawaii at Manoa Astronomers have discovered a new object at the edge of our solar system. The… Read More ›
Smart devices could soon tap their owners as a battery source
Public Release: 27-Sep-2018 University of Surrey The world is edging closer to a reality where smart devices are able to use their owners as an energy resource, say experts from the University of Surrey. In a study published by… Read More ›
How swarms of nanomachines could improve the efficiency of any machine
Public Release: 27-Sep-2018 University of Luxembourg Caption Density plot of the power output of an energy-converting network that consists of interacting nano-machines illustrated by the spheres. The power increases from red to blue color, thus in the synchronization phase… Read More ›
Impact of WWII bombing raids felt at edge of space
Public Release: 25-Sep-2018 European Geosciences Union IMAGE: Bombing of a factory at Marienburg, Germany, on Oct. 9, 1943. Credit: US Air Force Bombing raids by Allied forces during the Second World War not only caused devastation on the ground… Read More ›
Diversity in the brain — how millions of neurons become unique
Public Release: 25-Sep-2018 How is it possible that so many different and highly specific neurons arise in the brain? A mathematic model developed by researchers from the University of Basel’s Biozentrum demonstrates that different variants of genes enable such… Read More ›
Famous theory of the living Earth upgraded to ‘Gaia 2.0’
Public Release: 13-Sep-2018 University of Exeter A time-honoured theory into why conditions on Earth have remained stable enough for life to evolve over billions of years has been given a new, innovative twist. For around half a century, the ‘Gaia’… Read More ›
Could AI robots develop prejudice on their own?
Public Release: 6-Sep-2018 Computer science and psychology experts suggest discrimination is also a non-human phenomenon that could make autonomous machines susceptible Cardiff University Showing prejudice towards others does not require a high level of cognitive ability and could easily be… Read More ›
Jumping to scientific conclusions challenges biomedical research
Public Release: 4-Sep-2018 Scientists are subject to same biases as undergraduates when interpreting data, finds a survey of graduate- to senior-level researchers Society for Neuroscience Caption Improving experimental design and statistical analyses alone will not solve the reproducibility crisis… Read More ›
Psycholinguists build eye-tracking database on reading in Russian
Public Release: 30-Aug-2018 National Research University Higher School of Economics Researchers from the Higher School of Economics, St. Petersburg State University, and the University of Potsdam have created the first ever database comprised of eye-tracking data collected during reading… Read More ›
Russian scientists have increased the Internet speed up to one and a half times
Public Release: 31-Aug-2018 The algorithm proposed by the scientists will make it possible to participate in the experiments on the hadron collider level Samara University A joint article of the scientists of the Samara University and the University of… Read More ›
Research brief: Researchers 3D print prototype for ‘bionic eye’
Public Release: 28-Aug-2018 University of Minnesota IMAGE: Researchers at the University of Minnesota have fully 3D printed an image sensing array on a hemisphere, which is a first-of-its-kind prototype for a “bionic eye. ” Credit: University of Minnesota, McAlpine… Read More ›
Scientists identify a new kind of human brain cell
Public Release: 27-Aug-2018 ‘Rosehip’ neurons not found in rodents, may be involved in fine-level control between regions of the human brain Allen Institute IMAGE: This is a digital reconstruction of a rosehip neuron in the human brain. Credit: Tamas… Read More ›
Genetically engineered virus spins gold into beads
Public Release: 23-Aug-2018 The discovery could make production of some electronic components cheaper, easier, and faster University of California – Riverside IMAGE: Electron microscope image of M13 spheroid-templated spiky gold nanobead with corresponding graphical illustration. Credit: Haberer Lab, UC Riverside… Read More ›
Scientists discover first direct evidence of surface exposed water ice on the moon
Public Release: 21-Aug-2018 University of Hawaii at Manoa IMAGE: This image shows the surface exposed water ice (green and blue dots) in the lunar polar regions overlain on the annual maximum temperature (darker=colder, brighter=warmer). Credit: Shuai Li, University… Read More ›
Laziness helped lead to extinction of Homo erectus
Public Release: 10-Aug-2018 Australian National University IMAGE: This is Dr. Seri Shipton in the Arabian Peninsula. Image: ANU. Credit: ANU New archaeological research from The Australian National University (ANU) has found that Homo erectus, an extinct species of primitive humans,… Read More ›
A kernel of promise in popcorn-powered robots
Public Release: 2-Aug-2018 Cornell University ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell University researchers have discovered how to power simple robots with a novel substance that, when heated, can expand more than 10 times in size, change its viscosity by a factor… Read More ›
‘Strange metals’ just got stranger
Public Release: 2-Aug-2018 A material already known for its unique behavior is found to carry current in a way never before observed Florida State University TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Scientists at the Florida State University-headquartered National High Magnetic Field Laboratory have… Read More ›
Study reveals the Great Pyramid of Giza can focus electromagnetic energy
Public Release: 30-Jul-2018 Scientists created a model of the pyramid resonant electromagnetic response ITMO University An international research group applied methods of theoretical physics to investigate the electromagnetic response of the Great Pyramid to radio waves. Scientists predicted that under… Read More ›
Energy-intensive Bitcoin transactions pose a growing environmental threat
Public Release: 31-Jul-2018 New study assesses tax and regulatory options to incentivize the development of ‘green’ blockchain technologies and discourages use of polluting applications Elsevier Caption Bitcoin’s peer-to-peer transaction verification is a polluting process, requiring machine hardware around… Read More ›
Artificial intelligence can predict your personality … simply by tracking your eyes
Public Release: 27-Jul-2018 University of South Australia It’s often been said that the eyes are the window to the soul, revealing what we think and how we feel. Now, new research reveals that your eyes may also be an indicator… Read More ›
Possible death of the Universe scenario proposed
Public Release: 25-Jul-2018 A paper by Sergey Odintsov and Vasilis Oikonomou appeared in Physical Review D Kazan Federal University Caption These are the trajectories in the x1-x2 plane for x3=2, for various initial conditions near (x1,x2)=(?1,0) (upper right). The… Read More ›
Huge reservoir of liquid water detected under the surface of Mars
Public Release: 25-Jul-2018 American Association for the Advancement of Science Providing resolution to a decades-long debate over whether liquid water is present on Mars, researchers using radar to probe the planet’s polar ice caps have detected a lake of liquid… Read More ›
An underwater pokéball for capturing sea creatures
Public Release: 18-Jul-2018 Folding polyhedron sampler enables easy capture and release of delicate marine organisms Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard The open ocean is the largest and least explored environment on Earth, estimated to hold up to… Read More ›
Neurons can carry more than one signal at a time
Public Release: 18-Jul-2018 Study sheds light on how the brain encodes complex information Duke University DURHAM, N.C. — Back in the early days of telecommunications, engineers devised a clever way to send multiple telephone calls through a single wire… Read More ›
A dozen new moons of Jupiter discovered, including one ‘oddball’
Public Release: 17-Jul-2018 This brings Jupiter’s total number of known moons to a whopping 79 — the most of any planet in our solar system Washington, DC–Twelve new moons orbiting Jupiter have been found–11 “normal” outer moons, and one that… Read More ›
How does the sun’s rotational cycle influence lightning activity on earth?
Public Release: 17-Jul-2018 Researchers use records from the 1700s to find the answer Research Organization of Information and Systems IMAGE: This is the original copy of the Diary of Hirosaki Clan Government Office preserved at the Hirosaki City Library. Credit:… Read More ›
Emotional robot lets you feel how it’s ‘feeling’
Public Release: 16-Jul-2018 Cornell University ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell University researchers have developed a prototype of a robot that can express “emotions” through changes in its outer surface. The robot’s skin covers a grid of texture units whose shapes change… Read More ›
‘Cataclysmic’ collision shaped Uranus’ evolution
PUBLIC RELEASE: 2-JUL-2018 DURHAM UNIVERSITY Uranus was hit by a massive object roughly twice the size of Earth that caused the planet to tilt and could explain its freezing temperatures, according to new research. Astronomers at Durham University, UK, led… Read More ›
More clues that Earth-like exoplanets are indeed Earth-like
Public Release: 28-Jun-2018 Research into spin dynamics suggests they have regular seasons and stable climates Georgia Institute of Technology IMAGE: The artist’s depiction of Kepler-186f. Credit: Image credit: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle A new study from the Georgia Institute of… Read More ›
Why bacteria survive in space — UH biologists discover clues
Public Release: 27-Jun-2018 Hardy organisms threaten interplanetary contamination University of Houston In professor George Fox’s lab at the University of Houston, scientists are studying Earth germs that could be contaminating other planets. Despite extreme decontamination efforts, bacterial spores from Earth… Read More ›
TNT could be headed for retirement after 116 years on the job
Public Release: 14-Jun-2018 Los Alamos National Laboratory and the US Army working on a replacement for toxic TNT DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory IMAGE: Oxadiazole has a calculated detonation pressure 50 percent higher than that of TNT. Credit: LANL LOS ALAMOS,… Read More ›
Computer program looks five minutes into the future
Public Release: 13-Jun-2018 Software developed at the University of Bonn can accurately predict future actions University of Bonn IMAGE: This is Prof. Jürgen Gall (right) and Yazan Abu Farha from the Institute of Computer Science at the University of Bonn…. Read More ›
An artificial nerve system gives prosthetic devices and robots a sense of touch
Public Release: 31-May-2018 Stanford University Stanford and Seoul National University researchers have developed an artificial sensory nerve system that can activate the twitch reflex in a cockroach and identify letters in the Braille alphabet. The work, reported May 31 in… Read More ›
Cometh the cyborg: improved integration of living muscles into robots
Public Release: 30-May-2018 Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo Tokyo – The new field of biohybrid robotics involves the use of living tissue within robots, rather than just metal and plastic. Muscle is one potential key component… Read More ›
Could a multiverse be hospitable to life?
Public Release: 13-May-2018 Durham University A Multiverse – where our Universe is only one of many – might not be as inhospitable to life as previously thought, according to new research. Questions about whether other universes might exist as part… Read More ›
Researchers hide information in plain text
PUBLIC RELEASE: 10-MAY-2018 FontCode embeds hidden information in ordinary text by imperceptibly changing the shapes of fonts in text. Method could prevent document tampering, protect copyrights, and embed QR codes and other metadata without altering the look or layout of… Read More ›
Yale physicists find signs of a time crystal
Public Release: 2-May-2018 Yale University IMAGE: Yale physicists looked for a signature of a discrete time crystal within a crystal of monoammonium phosphate. Credit: Michael Marsland/Yale University New Haven, Conn. – Yale physicists have uncovered hints of a time… Read More ›
Einstein’s ‘spooky action’ goes massive
Public Release: 25-Apr-2018 The elusive quantum mechanical phenomenon of entanglement has now been made a reality in objects almost macroscopic in size Aalto University Caption This is an illustration of the 15-micrometre-wide drumheads prepared on silicon chips used in the… Read More ›
By 2040, artificial intelligence could upend nuclear stability
Public Release: 24-Apr-2018 RAND Corporation A new RAND Corporation paper finds that artificial intelligence has the potential to upend the foundations of nuclear deterrence by the year 2040. While AI-controlled doomsday machines are considered unlikely, the hazards of artificial… Read More ›
A cosmic gorilla effect could blind the detection of aliens
Public Release: 10-Apr-2018 FECYT – Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology IMAGE: Inside the Occator crater of the dwarf planet Ceres appears a strange structure, looking like a square inside a triangle. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech A well-known experiment with… Read More ›
Russian physicists make toy asteroids and blast them with a laser (Actual Technical Illustration: Courtesy Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology)
Public Release: 13-Mar-2018 Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology IMAGE: This is an image of asteroid destruction. A large team of Russian researchers from Rosatom, joined by three MIPT physicists, has modeled the impact of a nuclear explosion on an… Read More ›
Eye of Sauron, Jupiter Style
Public Release: 7-Mar-2018 First look at Jupiter’s poles show strange geometric arrays of storms University of Chicago Caption Five massive storms form a pentagon around a storm at the center of Jupiter’s south pole-the first look we’ve ever… Read More ›
Unclassified version of new report predicts small drone threats to infantry units
Public Release: 6-Mar-2018 The emergence of inexpensive small unmanned aircraft systems (sUASs) that operate without a human pilot, commonly known as drones, has led to adversarial groups threatening deployed U.S. forces, especially infantry units. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering,… Read More ›
Private browsing gets more private
Public Release: 23-Feb-2018 New system patches security holes left open by web browsers’ private-browsing Massachusetts Institute of Technology CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Today, most web browsers have private-browsing modes, in which they temporarily desist from recording the user’s browsing history…. Read More ›
Engineering Evil 