245 articles from WEDNESDAY 6.1.2021

Researchers fabricate arrays of atomically smooth iron-coated silicon pyramids with unusual magnetic properties

Ultra-small integrated circuits have revolutionized mobile phones, home appliances, cars, and other everyday technologies. To further miniaturize electronics and enable advanced functions, circuits must be reliably fabricated in three dimensions. Achieving ultrafine 3-D shape control by etching into silicon is difficult, because even atomic-scale damage reduces device performance. Researchers at...

A prognostic Alzheimer's disease blood test in the symptom-free stage

Using a blood test, a research team has predicted the risk of Alzheimer's disease in people who were clinically diagnosed as not having Alzheimer's disease but who perceived themselves as cognitively impaired (Subjective Cognitive Declined, SCD). The researchers analyzed blood samples from an SCD cohort. Using a newly developed test, they identified all 22 subjects at study entry who developed...

Neuronal circuits for fine motor skills

Writing, driving a screw or throwing darts are only some of the activities that demand a high level of skill. How the brain masters such exquisite movements has now been described. A map of brainstem circuits reveals which neurons control the fine motor skills of the arm and hand.

Competitive athletics: Detecting CRISPR/Cas gene doping

All athletes want to be at the top of their game when they compete, but some resort to nefarious approaches to achieve peak muscle growth, speed and agility. Recent developments in gene editing technology could tempt athletes to change their DNA to get an edge. Now, researchers demonstrate first steps toward detecting this type of doping both in human plasma and in live mice.

EU approves Moderna jab amid tensions over slow rollout of vaccines

Move should ease frustrations over low supplies of Pfizer vaccine and EU’s longer authorisation process Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe European Medicines Agency has approved the Moderna vaccine, making it the second coronavirus shot to be cleared for general use across the EU, as tensions continued to rise over the slow progress of vaccination programmes in the...

Britain could be mass-producing its Covid shot. Shame we junked our industrial base | Aditya Chakrabortty

The dire state of UK manufacturing has left us dependent on other nations. We may soon find out why some call this a ‘national security risk’Everything now hinges on a vaccine: how many more Britons die, whether the NHS finally breaks, how long the UK stays locked down. All depends on how fast the country can get vaccinated against this plague. Yet we’re in this position in large part...

Ineffective 'learning styles' theory persists in education

A new review by Swansea University reveals there is widespread belief, around the world, in a teaching method that is not only ineffective but may actually be harmful to learners. For decades educators have been advised to match their teaching to the supposed 'learning styles' of students. However, a new paper by Professor Phil Newton, of Swansea University Medical School, highlights that this...

Newly observed monovalent calcium ion displays unexpected metallicity and ferromagnetism

Calcium ions are present in rocks, bones, shells, biominerals, geological deposits, ocean sediments, and many other important materials. Calcium ions also play major roles in the retention of carbon dioxide in natural waters, water hardness, signal transduction and tissue generation. As one of the alkaline earth metals, the calcium atom has two valence electrons according to the octet rule. Up to...

Researchers discover a novel mechanism of recruiting ARF family proteins

The small GTPases of the ADP-ribosylation factor (Arf) family are key initiators of various physiological processes including secretion, endocytosis, phagocytosis and signal transduction. Arf family proteins function to mediate recruitment of cytosolic effectors to specific subcellular compartments. This process facilitates Arf effectors to perform cargo recognition, lipid modification or other...

A bit too much: Reducing the bit width of Ising models for quantum annealing

Given a list of cities and the distances between each pair of cities, how do you determine the shortest route that visits each city exactly once and returns to the starting location? This famous problem is called the 'traveling salesman problem' and is an example of a combinatorial optimization problem. Solving these problems using conventional computers can be very time-consuming, and special...

The revelation of the crustal geometry of the western Qilian Mountains, NE Tibetan Plateau

As the largest orogenic plateau on Earth, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was caused by a complex crustal deformation process during the continuous collision and compression process between the Indian and Eurasian continents starting at least 60-50 Ma ago. The formation of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau records the collision of the two continents and the deformation process and mechanism within the...

The new face of the Antarctic

In the future, the Antarctic could become a greener place and be colonized by new species. At the same time, some species will likely disappear. 25 researchers recently presented these and many other findings in a major international project, in which they analyzed hundreds of articles on the Antarctic published in the past ten years. By doing so, the team have provided an exceptionally...

Producing milk from yeast that looks and tastes like cow's milk

Might a new technological development of researchers from Tel Aviv University soon revolutionize the dairy products we consume? The initiators of the development believe that in the not-too-distant future we will be able to buy dairy products in the supermarket that are identical in taste and color to the ordinary dairy products that we consume today, but with one small difference: the dairy...