Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography Offbeat: Earth and Climate
Published

Better understanding on the way to a carbon-neutral economy      (via sciencedaily.com) 

What role could rifted margins play in the transition to a carbon-neutral economy? Researchers summarize the current state of knowledge about the so-called rifting of continents. Rifting is the term researchers use to describe the process by which continental plates break and new oceans are formed.

Computer Science: Encryption Computer Science: General Engineering: Nanotechnology Mathematics: Puzzles Offbeat: Computers and Math Physics: Optics
Published

Chromo-encryption method encodes secrets with color      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In a new approach to security that unites technology and art, E researchers have combined silver nanostructures with polarized light to yield a range of brilliant colors, which can be used to encode messages.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Can clay capture carbon dioxide?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have been using powerful computer models combined with laboratory experiments to study how a kind of clay can soak up carbon dioxide and store it.

Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Packaged DNA: New method to promote bone growth      (via sciencedaily.com) 

DNA can help to stimulate bone healing in a localized and targeted manner, for example after a complicated fracture or after severe tissue loss following surgery. Scientists have developed a new process in which they coat implant materials with a gene-activated biomaterial that induces stem cells to produce bone tissue.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Fossil Fuels Engineering: Nanotechnology Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

'Game-changing' findings for sustainable hydrogen production      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Hydrogen fuel could be a more viable alternative to traditional fossil fuels, according to University of Surrey researchers who have found that a type of metal-free catalysts could contribute to the development of cost-effective and sustainable hydrogen production technologies.

Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

New Zealand one of few island nations with potential to produce enough food in a nuclear winter, researchers say      (via sciencedaily.com) 

New Zealand is one of only a few island nations that could continue to produce enough food to feed its population in a nuclear winter, researchers have found.

Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate
Published

Why icicles are rippled      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Winter is coming to an end; the last nights of below zero temperatures are here. In the morning, one still spots the occasional icicle on a gutter or car bumper. When you look at these icicles carefully, you may notice that they show a characteristic pattern of ripples -- always around one centimetre wide. What causes these ripples? Using an icicle machine of their own design, physicists and chemists investigated this question, and discovered that salt plays an important part in the formation process of the ripples.

Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate
Published

Nematodes can help us detect indoor air impurities      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Good quality indoor air is crucial to our well-being, while impurities in the air can compromise our working capacity and health. Researchers have developed a new method for measuring indoor air quality, making use of fluorescent strains of nematodes.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Technology Engineering: Nanotechnology Geoscience: Environmental Issues Physics: Optics
Published

Passive radiative cooling can now be controlled electrically      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Energy-efficient ways of cooling buildings and vehicles will be required in a changing climate. Researchers have now shown that electrical tuning of passive radiative cooling can be used to control temperatures of a material at ambient temperatures and air pressure.

Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Smart stitches could reduce infection and simplify post op monitoring      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new antimicrobial suture material that glows in medical imaging could provide a promising alternative for mesh implants and internal stitches.

Geoscience: Severe Weather Offbeat: Earth and Climate
Published

Far-off storms fuel sneaker waves along Pacific Northwest coast, new research suggests      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Sneaker waves are likely fueled by a specific type of wave condition generated by far-off storms and paired with just the right conditions closer to shore, a new study has found.

Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Transforming the way cancer vaccines are designed and made      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new way to significantly increase the potency of almost any vaccine has been developed. The scientists used chemistry and nanotechnology to change the structural location of adjuvants and antigens on and within a nanoscale vaccine, greatly increasing vaccine performance in seven different types of cancer. The architecture is critical to vaccine effectiveness, the study shows.

Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Fishing in synchrony brings mutual benefits for dolphins and people in Brazil, research shows      (via sciencedaily.com) 

By working together, dolphins and net-casting fishers in Brazil each catch more fish, a rare example of an interaction by two top predators that is beneficial to both parties, researchers have concluded following 15 years of study of the practice.

Biology: Developmental Engineering: Nanotechnology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

This groundbreaking biomaterial heals tissues from the inside out      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new biomaterial that can be injected intravenously, reduces inflammation in tissue and promotes cell and tissue repair. The biomaterial was tested and proven effective in treating tissue damage caused by heart attacks in both rodent and large animal models. Researchers also provided proof of concept in a rodent model that the biomaterial could be beneficial to patients with traumatic brain injury and pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research Environmental: Biodiversity Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

A fairy-like robot flies by the power of wind and light      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The loss of pollinators, such as bees, is a huge challenge for global biodiversity and affects humanity by causing problems in food production. Researchers have now developed the first passively flying robot equipped with artificial muscle. Could this artificial fairy be utilized in pollination?

Energy: Technology Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Researchers demo new type of carbon nanotube yarn that harvests mechanical energy      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Nanotechnology researchers have made novel carbon nanotube yarns that convert mechanical movement into electricity more effectively than other material-based energy harvesters.

Biology: Evolutionary Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

What crocodile DNA reveals about the Ice Age      (via sciencedaily.com) 

What drives crocodile evolution? Is climate a major factor or changes in sea levels? Determined to find answers to these questions, researchers discovered that while changing temperatures and rainfall had little impact on the crocodiles' gene flow over the past three million years, changes to sea levels during the Ice Age had a different effect.

Computer Science: General Energy: Technology Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Spin transport measured through molecular films now long enough to develop spintronic devices      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research group has succeeded in measuring spin transport in a thin film of specific molecules -- a material well-known in organic light emitting diodes -- at room temperature. They found that this thin molecular film has a spin diffusion length of approximately 62 nm, a length that could have practical applications in developing spintronics technology. In addition, while electricity has been used to control spin transport in the past, the thin molecular film used in this study is photoconductive, allowing spin transport control using visible light.

Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Incorporation of water molecules into layered materials impacts ion storage capability      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have experimentally detected the structural change of hydration water confined in the tiny nano-scale pores of layered materials such as clays. Their findings potentially open the door to new options for ion separation and energy storage.

Biology: Microbiology Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

New nanoparticles deliver therapy brain-wide, edit Alzheimer's gene in mice      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers describe a new family of nano-scale capsules made of silica that can carry genome-editing tools into many organs around the body and then harmlessly dissolve.