Graphene — a sheet of carbon atoms linked in a hexagonal, chicken wire structure — holds great promise for microelectronics. Only one atom thick and highly conductive, graphene may one day replace conventional silicon microchips, making device…
Cambridge, MASS- When your brain encounters sensory stimuli, such as the scent of your morning coffee or the sound of a honking car, that input gets shuttled to the appropriate brain region for analysis. The coffee aroma goes to the olfactory cortex…
Nanometre-scale gold particles are currently intensively investigated for possible applications in catalysis, sensing, photonics, biolabelling, drug carriers and molecular electronics. The particles are prepared in a solution from gold salt…
AMES, Iowa — A research team led by Edward Yu of Iowa State University and the Ames Laboratory has identified and described two parts of the three-part system that pumps toxins from bacteria and allows them to resist antibiotics.
The discove…
In chemical terms, nanoparticles have different properties from their «big brothers and sisters»: they have a large surface area in relation to their tiny mass and at the same time a small number of atoms. This can produce quantum effects that lea…
New research gives the first accurate estimate of how much faster the Earth’s core is rotating compared to the rest of the planet.
Previous research had shown that the Earth’s core rotates faster than the rest of the planet. However, scienti…
Using a method based on geographic positioning systems that allowed them to characterize the topography of the bats’ molars in a way similar to how geographers characterize mountain surfaces, the researchers calculated a measure of dental complexity…
In fact, according to new research from Johns Hopkins, the fusion of muscle cells is a power struggle that involves a smaller mobile antagonist that points at, pokes and finally pushes into its larger, stationary partner using a newly identified …
An international team of astronomers has identified for the first time a thick stellar disc in the Andromeda galaxy, the nearest large spiral galaxy to our own Milky Way.
The discovery of the thick disc, a major result from a five-year investiga…
Using mathematical concepts, Princeton researchers have developed a method of discovering new drugs for a range of diseases by calculating which physical properties of biological molecules may predict their effectiveness as medicines.
The techn…
When a laboratory rat learns how to reach for and grab a food pellet — a pretty complex and unnatural act for a rodent — the acquired knowledge significantly alters the structure of the specific brain cells involved, which sprout a whopping …
Nacre, commonly known as mother-of-pearl, is the iridescent material lining many mollusk shells. It is part of a two-layer armor system that protects the animal from predators. The brittle outer layer of the shell absorbs the initial impact, but i…