202 articles from FRIDAY 14.5.2021

Synthesizing a new class of bio-inspired, light-capturing nanomaterials

Inspired by nature, researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), along with collaborators from Washington State University, created a novel material capable of capturing light energy. This material provides a highly efficient artificial light-harvesting system with potential applications in photovoltaics and bioimaging.

New technology enables rapid sequencing of entire genomes of plant pathogens

Next-generation sequencing technology has made it easier than ever for quick diagnosis of plant diseases. "It's really exciting to see how sequencing technologies have evolved and how this new technology facilitates sequencing of entire genomes in such a short amount of time," said Yazmín Rivera, a plant pathologist with the United States Department of Agriculture's Plant Protection and...

Interested in Becoming a NASA Citizen Scientist?

Eyebrow: Citizen Science NewsBody: Meet Us Virtually at CitSciCon Learn how you can help NASA conduct scientific research at CitSciCon, a virtual event with interactive activities taking place May 21 – 22, 2021.  Link: Learn...

Teachers' gender, sexuality, and age affect perceptions of sexual misconduct of students

The United States has witnessed a steep rise in reports, arrests, and media coverage of teachers' sexual misconduct with students. A new study investigated the impact of perpetrators' gender, sexuality, and age on perceptions of teacher sexual misconduct. The study found that responses to teachers' misconduct varied according to certain characteristics, which can influence whether victims report...

New cyanobacteria species spotlights early life

Cyanobacteria are one of the unsung heroes of life on Earth. They first evolved to perform photosynthesis about 2.4 billion years ago, pumping tons of oxygen into the atmosphere—a period known as the Great Oxygenation Event—which enabled the evolution of multicellular life forms.

New research shows: Antoni van Leeuwenhoek led rivals astray

A microscope used by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek to conduct pioneering research contains a surprisingly ordinary lens, as new research by Rijksmuseum Boerhaave Leiden and TU Delft shows. It is a remarkable finding, because Van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) led other scientists to believe that his instruments were exceptional. Consequently, there has been speculation about his method for making lenses for...

Fibre-optics used to take the temperature of Greenland Ice Sheet

Scientists have used fibre-optic sensing to obtain the most detailed measurements of ice properties ever taken on the Greenland Ice Sheet. Their findings will be used to make more accurate models of the future movement of the world's second-largest ice sheet, as the effects of climate change continue to accelerate.

Virtual reality warps your sense of time

Psychology researchers found that playing games in virtual reality creates an effect called 'time compression,' where time goes by faster than you think. The research team compared time perception during gameplay using conventional monitors and virtual reality to determine that this effect is uniquely linked to the virtual reality format.

Our dreams' weirdness might be why we have them, argues new AI-inspired theory of dreaming

Why we dream is a divisive topic within the scientific community, and the neuroscience field is saturated with hypotheses. Inspired by techniques used to train deep neural networks, a neuroscience researcher argues for a new theory of dreams: the overfitted brain hypothesis. The hypothesis suggests that the strangeness of our dreams serves to help our brains better generalize our day-to-day...

Mammals can use their intestines to breathe

Rodents and pigs share with certain aquatic organisms the ability to use their intestines for respiration, finds a study publishing May 14th in the journal Med. The researchers demonstrated that the delivery of oxygen gas or oxygenated liquid through the rectum provided vital rescue to two mammalian models of respiratory failure.

Researchers develop 3D-printed jelly

3D-printable gels with improved and highly controlled properties can be created by merging micro- and nano-sized networks of the same materials harnessed from seaweed. The findings could have applications in biomedical materials - think of biological scaffolds for growing cells - and soft robotics.

Above the noise: Nanopore sensing

Researchers use deep learning to reduce noise in the electrical current data collected from nanopores, which may lead to higher precision measurements when working with very tiny experiments or medical diagnostics.