A new look at Hubble images of galaxies could be a step toward illuminating the elusive nature of dark matter, the unobservable material that makes up the majority of the universe, according to a study published online today in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Utilizing Hubble’s past observations of six massive galaxy … Read more
Droplet microfluidics has revolutionized single-cell RNA sequencing, offering a low-cost, high-throughput method for single-cell genomics. However, this method has been limited in its ability to capture complete RNA transcription information. Researchers at Cornell—led by Iwijn De Vlaminck, assistant professor in the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering—have come up with an elegant, low-cost method that solves … Read more
The strange class of materials known as quasicrystals has a new member. In a paper published on Thursday, Dec. 20, in Science, researchers from Brown University describe a quasicrystalline superlattice that self-assembles from a single type of nanoparticle building blocks. This is the first definitive observation of a quasicrystalline superlattice formed from a single component, … Read more
Researchers at the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines (IRIM) of the Georgia Institute of Technology have recently proposed a new framework for aggressive driving using only a monocular camera, IMU sensors and wheel speed sensors. Their approach, presented in a paper pre-published on arXiv, combines deep learning-based road detection, particle filters and model predictive … Read more
Our first glimpses into the physics that exist near the centre of a black hole are being made possible using “loop quantum gravity”—a theory that uses quantum mechanics to extend gravitational physics beyond Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Loop quantum gravity, originated at Penn State and subsequently developed by a large number of scientists worldwide, … Read more
Researchers have demonstrated that an amoeba a single-celled organism consisting mostly of gelatinous protoplasm has unique computing abilities that may one day offer a competitive alternative to the methods used by conventional computers. The researchers, led by Masashi Aono at Keio University, assigned an amoeba to solve the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP). The TSP is … Read more
Exercise may be as effective as prescribed drugs to lower high (140 mm Hg) blood pressure, suggests a pooled analysis of the available data, in what is thought to be the first study of its kind, and published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. But there is no direct head to head comparative … Read more
Researchers from RIKEN and JAXA have used observations from the ALMA radio observatory located in northern Chile and managed by an international consortium including the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) to measure, for the first time, the strength of magnetic fields near two supermassive black holes at the centers of an important type of … Read more
When a bird in flight lands, it performs a rapid pitch-up manoeuvre during the perching process to keep from overshooting the branch or telephone wire. In aerodynamics, that action produces a complex phenomenon known as dynamic stall. Although many fixed-wing aircraft can withstand similar rapid pitch-up manoeuvres, a vehicle subject to this dynamic stall process … Read more
Different eras of civilization are defined by the discovery of new materials, as new materials drive new capabilities. And yet, identifying the best material for a given application, like catalysts, light-harvesting structures, biodiagnostic labels, pharmaceuticals and electronic devices, is traditionally a slow and daunting task. The options are nearly infinite, particularly at the nanoscale (a … Read more
When it comes to flirting, animals know how to put on a show. In the bird world, males often go to great lengths to attract female attention, like peacocks shaking their tail feathers and manakins performing complex dance moves. These behaviours often stimulate multiple senses, making them hard for biologists to quantify. Hummingbirds are no … Read more
Scientists have discovered a new genetic regulator that plays a big role in determining whether a baby is born male or female, as well as whether or not their reproductive system is likely to develop differently after birth. In the standard course of events, an embryo with two X chromosomes becomes a girl, while an … Read more
Researchers have discovered that ‘fully detailed’ memories are stored in the brain, but people access this information at different speeds and levels of detail, with people accessing memories ‘forward’ that is recalling older information first. They quickly skip episodic blocks of information when recalling events in summary, for example, telling a friend about the plot of … Read more
The ghosts of harvesting can haunt today’s conservation efforts. Conserving or overharvesting a renewable resource like fish or other wildlife is often determined by habits and past decisions, according to a Rutgers-led study that challenges conventional expectations that the collapse of fast-growing natural resources is unlikely. Lead author Edward W. Tekwa, a post-doctoral associate in the … Read more
New NASA research confirms that Saturn is losing its iconic rings at the maximum rate estimated from Voyager 1 & 2 observations made decades ago. The rings are being pulled into Saturn by gravity as a dusty rain of ice particles under the influence of Saturn’s magnetic field. “We estimate that this ‘ring rain’ drains … Read more