CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois researchers have combined two molecular imaging technologies to create an instrument with incredible sensitivity that provides new, detailed insight into dynamic molecular processes.
Physics professors Taekjip Ha and …
Tag Archives | postdoctoral researcher
Combined molecular study techniques reveal more about DNA proteins
Study finds common ground for ecosystems and fishing in Northwest Mexico
Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have completed a new study on the geography of commercial fisheries in Northwest Mexico and the results could have far-ranging implications for the sustainable future of marine w…
Rhythmic vibrations guide caste development in social wasps
MADISON — Future queen or tireless toiler? A paper wasp’s destiny may lie in the antennal drumbeats of its caretaker.
While feeding their colony’s larvae, a paper wasp queen and other dominant females periodically beat their antennae in a …
Lake Erie hypoxic zone doesn’t affect all fish the same, study finds
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Large hypoxic zones low in oxygen long have been thought to have negative influences on aquatic life, but a Purdue University study shows that while these so-called dead zones have an adverse affect, not all species ar…
First strawberry genome sequence promises better berries
DURHAM, N.H. — An international team of researchers, including several from the University of New Hampshire, have completed the first DNA sequence of any strawberry plant, giving breeders much-needed tools to create tastier, healthier strawberries…
College students lack scientific literacy, study finds
Most college students in the United States do not grasp the scientific basis of the carbon cycle – an essential skill in understanding the causes and consequences of climate change, according to research published in [...]
Young female chimpanzees appear to treat sticks as dolls
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The must-have gift for young female chimpanzees this holiday season might be in the Christmas tree, not under it.
That’s the finding of scientists at Harvard University and Bates College, who say female chimpanzees appear to tr…
Team of scientists predicts continued death of forests in southwestern US due to climate change
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — – If current climate projections hold true, the forests of the Southwestern United States face a bleak future, with more severe — — and more frequent — — forest fires, higher tree death rates, more insect infest…
Pure nanotube-type growth edges toward the possible
New research at Rice University could ultimately show scientists the way to make batches of nanotubes of a single type.
A paper in the online journal Physical Review Letters unveils an elegant formula by Rice University physicist Boris Yakobson an…
Giants among us: Paper explores evolution of the worlds largest mammals
Athens, Ga. — The largest mammal that ever walked the earth¬ — Indricotherium transouralicum, a hornless rhinoceros-like herbivore that weighed approximately seventeen tons and stood about eighteen feet high at the shoulder — lived in Eurasia a…
Female fish — and humans? — lose interest when their male loses a slugfest
You may think of your love for your mate as the noble emotion of a pure heart, but some primitive parts of your brain are taking a decidedly more pragmatic approach to the subject, according to Stanford biologists.
In experiments with African ci…
Developing countries often outsource deforestation, study finds
In many developing countries, forest restoration at home has led to deforestation abroad, according to a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The authors say their findings could have significant implicat…
Young children sensitive to others’ behaviors and intentions
Young children’s helpfulness is tempered when they see that the person they intend to help has harmed another person. But it also diminishes when they see that the object of their attention meant to harm another, even if no harm was done.
That’s t…
Pitt-led team develops nanoscale light sensor compatible with ‘Etch-a-Sketch’ nanoelectronic platform
PITTSBURGH — University of Pittsburgh researchers have created a nanoscale light sensor that can be combined with near-atomic-size electronic circuitry to produce hybrid optic and electronic devices with new functionality. The team, which also invo…
Oil will run dry before substitutes roll out
At the current pace of research and development, global oil will run
out 90 years before replacement technologies are ready, says a new
University of California, Davis, study based on stock market
expectations.
The forecast was published online…
Main squeeze not needed for boa mom
In a finding that upends decades of scientific theory on reptile reproduction, researchers at North Carolina State University have discovered that female boa constrictors can squeeze out babies without mating.
More strikingly, the finding sho…
Computational model of swimming fish could inspire design of robots or medical prosthetics
Scientists at the University of Maryland and Tulane University have developed a computational model of a swimming fish that is the first to address the interaction of both internal and external forces on locomotion. The interdisciplinary research …
Giant star goes supernova — and is smothered by its own dust
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A giant star in a faraway galaxy recently ended its life with a dust-shrouded whimper instead of the more typical bang.
Ohio State University researchers suspect that this odd event — the first one of its kind ever viewed …
Brown University chemists simplify biodiesel conversion
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — As the United States seeks to lessen its reliance on foreign oil, biodiesel is expected to play a role. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a branch of the Department of Energy, biodi…
New artificial skin could make prosthetic limbs and robots more sensitive
The light, tickling tread of a pesky fly landing on your face may strike most of us as one of the most aggravating of life’s small annoyances. But for scientists working to develop pressure sensors for artificial skin for use on prosthetic limbs …
Drug holds promise to halt debilitating condition of diabetes
LAWRENCE — A drug developed at the University of Kansas has the potential to stop a debilitating condition of diabetes that often leads to pain in the extremities and even amputations, KU researchers have found.
The researchers recently publish…
Tropical forests slashed for farmland
Global agricultural expansion cut a wide swath through tropical forests during the 1980s and 1990s. Over half a million square miles of new farmland — an area roughly the size of Alaska — was created in the developing world between 1980 and 200…
Scientists identify molecules involved in touch and other mechanically activated systems
LA JOLLA, CA — September 2, 2010 — Scripps Research Institute scientists have identified two proteins with potential to be important targets for research into a wide range of health problems, including pain, deafness, and cardiac and kidney dysfu…
Scientists find link in humans between nerve cell production, memory
Production of new nerve cells in the human brain is linked to learning and memory, according to a new study from the University of Florida. The research is the first to show such a link in humans. The findings, published online and in an upcoming pr…
Healthy ears hear the first sound, ignoring the echoes
Voices carry, reflect off objects and create echoes. Most people rarely hear the echoes; instead they only process the first sound received. For the hard of hearing, though, being in an acoustically challenging room can be a problem. For them,…
Sensor important to understanding root, seedling development
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A biosensor utilizing black platinum and carbon nanotubes developed at Purdue University will help give scientists a better understanding of how the plant hormone auxin regulates root growth and seedling establishment….
Quick action by astronomers leads to new insights on mysterious gamma-ray bursts
Scientists “arriving quickly on the scene” of an October 4 gamma-ray burst have announced that their rapid accumulation of data has provided new insights about this exotic astrophysical phenomenon. The researchers have seen, for the first time, ongoing energizing of the burst afterglow for more than half an hour after the initial explosion. The findings support the “collapsar” model, in which the core of a star 15 times more massive than the sun collapses into a black hole. The black hole’s spin, or magnetic fields, may be acting like a slingshot, flinging material into the surrounding debris.
Gravity test confines string theory
Researchers have conducted the most sensitive search to date for gravitational-strength forces between masses separated by only twice the diameter of a human hair, but they have observed no new forces. The results rule out a substantial portion of parameter space for new forces with a range between one-tenth and one-hundredth of a millimeter, where theoretical physicists using string theory have proposed that “moduli forces” might be detected, according to the researchers.
Surfactant curtails nanotube clumping in water, removing barrier to applications
Scientists have long touted carbon nanotubes as a futuristic means of delivering drugs, fortifying brittle materials and conducting current in miniaturized circuits. But attempts to introduce actual nanotubes into these roles have often been stopped in their tracks by the slender filaments’ stubborn and unhelpful tendency to clump together in solution. Now scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have found that a readily available chemical, a surfactant called sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (NaDDBS), disperses nanotubes in water with remarkable efficiency. The discovery, described in a paper published this month in the journal Nanoletters, represents an important step towards wider applications of nanotubes.
Beer, yeast offer new insight into evolution
Researchers studying yeast reproductive habits have for the first time observed a rapid method for the creation of new species, shedding light on the way organisms evolve. “Most models of speciation require gradual change over a very long period of time, and geographic or ecological isolation for a new species to arise,” says University of Houston biologist Michael Travisano. “Our study suggests that mating two separate species to produce hybrids can result in a new species readily and relatively quickly, at least in yeast, but possibly in other organisms as well.”