texas tech university
Found: First complete remains of early sauropod dinosaur
Boulder, CO, USA – Scientists have discovered in China the first complete skeleton of a pivotal ancestor of Earth’s largest land animals — the sauropod dinosaurs. The new species, tentatively dubbed Yizhousaurus sunae, lived on the flood p…
Long-life contact lenses
A Texas scientist has discovered that a special metal coating could allow contact lens wearers to keep their lenses in for longer periods of time. Coating contacts with a one-molecule-thick layer of selenium, an antibacterial metal, keeps them bacteria-free for at least two months, says Ted Reid of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock. Although selenium can be toxic to humans in large quantities, these lenses would apparently be safe, with less selenium than you’d find in an average lunch. Reid hopes the coating could be used on other internal devices, like heart valves and catheters, and even suggests selenium-coated molecules could be used to keep people exposed to HIV from becoming infected. In other eye news, new eye-tracking software developed by scientists at Cambridge University could help computer users with disabilities write more quickly, accurately, and comfortably than before.