139 articles from WEDNESDAY 24.11.2021

Scans can detect brain injury after repeated head impacts in sport

Study of former American footballers offers hope that damage could be diagnosed more easilyBrain scans of former American football players reveal signs of white matter injury, according to research into the lasting effects of repetitive head impacts in sport.The finding is viewed as significant because until now it has been difficult to identify such damage in the brain until after death. The...

A new way to generate electricity from waste heat: Using an antiferromagnet for solid devices

Researchers have discovered a giant thermoelectric effect in an antiferromagnet. The study shows, surprisingly, that antiferromagnets can have the same value of the anomalous Nernst effect as conventional ferromagnets, but without any stray magnetic fields that would otherwise affect surrounding devices. The newly discovered recipe for generating large Nernst voltages opens a new research...

Endangered deer's prion gene could protect it from chronic wasting disease

China's Père David's deer was nearly gone in the late 1800s. Just 18 deer -- the very last of their kind -- were brought into captivity after the rest had been hunted to extinction. When 11 of the deer reproduced, the species had a chance. Today, after centuries of reintroductions and breeding under human care, the population sits at around 3,000. It's a success story. But that success could come...

Over the top: Car jump study turns over old physics problem

If an automobile is moving at a steady speed over a hill in the shape of a vertical circular arc, what is the maximum speed it can attain without losing contact with the road at the crest of the hill? New research demonstrates that, despite numerous textbook references stating otherwise, a car will leave the ground on the downside of a peak. The study presents three cases to illustrate the nuances...

Electrons set the stage for neutrino experiments

Neutrinos may be the key to finally solving a mystery of the origins of our matter-dominated universe, and preparations for two major, billion-dollar experiments are underway to reveal the particles' secrets. Now, a team of nuclear physicists have turned to the humble electron to provide insight for how these experiments can better prepare to capture critical information.

Enhancing the workhorse: Artificial intelligence, hardware innovations boost confocal microscope’s performance

To push confocal imaging to an unprecedented level of performance, scientists have invented a 'kitchen sink' confocal platform that borrows solutions from other high-powered imaging systems, adds a unifying thread of 'Deep Learning' artificial intelligence algorithms, and successfully improves the confocal's volumetric resolution by more than 10-fold while simultaneously reducing phototoxicity.

Shifting colors for on-chip photonics

Researchers have developed highly efficient, on-chip frequency shifters that can convert light in the gigahertz frequency range. The frequency shifters are easily controlled, using continuous and single-tone microwaves.

A new artificial material mimics quantum entangled rare earth compounds

Physicists have created a new ultra-thin two-layer material with quantum properties that normally require rare earth compounds. This material, which is relatively easy to make and does not contain rare earth metals, could provide a new platform for quantum computing and advance research into unconventional superconductivity and quantum criticality.

New ultrahard diamond glass synthesized

An international research team that synthesized a new ultrahard form of carbon glass with a wealth of potential practical applications for devices and electronics. It is the hardest known glass with the highest thermal conductivity among all glass materials.

Hubble witnesses shock wave of colliding gases in Running Man Nebula

Mounded, luminous clouds of gas and dust glow in this Hubble image of a Herbig-Haro object known as HH 45. Herbig-Haro objects are a rarely seen type of nebula that occurs when hot gas ejected by a newborn star collides with the gas and dust around it at hundreds of miles per second, creating bright shock waves. In this image, blue indicates ionized oxygen (O II) and purple shows ionized magnesium...

Collapse of ancient Liangzhu culture caused by climate change

Referred to as 'China's Venice of the Stone Age', the Liangzhu excavation site in eastern China is considered one of the most significant testimonies of early Chinese advanced civilization. More than 5000 years ago, the city already had an elaborate water management system. Until now, it has been controversial what led to the sudden collapse. Massive flooding triggered by anomalously intense...

Study determines whether cultures play games that correspond to how cooperative they are

Play is important for the development of complex social, emotional, physical, and cognitive skills. Play provides young individuals with a safe space to practice new behaviors without grave repercussions. While most animals engage in play, only humans engage in rule-based games. Which kinds of games people play—competitive or cooperative—may depend on their cultural background. In a new study,...

Collapse of ancient Liangzhu culture caused by climate change

Referred to as China's Venice of the Stone Age, the Liangzhu excavation site in eastern China is considered one of the most significant testimonies of early Chinese advanced civilisation. More than 5000 years ago, the city already had an elaborate water management system. Until now, the cause of the sudden collapse has been a subject of debate. Massive flooding triggered by anomalously intense...

New ultrahard diamond glass synthesized

Carnegie's Yingwei Fei and Lin Wang were part of an international research team that synthesized a new ultrahard form of carbon glass with a wealth of potential practical applications for devices and electronics. It is the hardest known glass with the highest thermal conductivity among all glass materials. Their findings are published in Nature.

A better estimate for tick numbers with 'citizen science' data

Apps and websites like eBird and iNaturalist encourage members of the public to report their observations on everything from songbird migration patterns to the presence of new planets. The result is massive datasets that far outmatch what professionally trained scientists could collect, at least in terms of quantity. However biases in the quality of data collected by "citizen scientists" sometimes...

Hubble spots a swift stellar jet in Running Man Nebula

A jet from a newly formed star flares into the shining depths of reflection nebula NGC 1977 in this Hubble image. The jet (the orange object at the bottom center of the image) is being emitted by the young star Parengo 2042, which is embedded in a disk of debris that could give rise to planets. The star powers a pulsing jet of plasma that stretches over two light-years through space, bending to...

Endangered deer's prion gene could protect it from chronic wasting disease

China's Père David's deer was nearly gone in the late 1800s. Just 18 deer—the very last of their kind—were brought into captivity after the rest had been hunted to extinction. When 11 of the deer reproduced, the species had a chance. Today, after centuries of reintroductions and breeding under human care, the population sits at around 3,000.

Astronomers discover ancient brown dwarf with lithium deposits intact

Brown dwarfs, also known as "coffee colored dwarfs" or "failed stars" are the natural link between stars and planets. They are more massive than Jupiter but now sufficiently to burn hydrogen, which is the fuel the stars use to shine. For that reason these substellar objects were not observed until observers detected them in the mid 1990's. They are particularly interesting because it was predicted...

Sun compass on demand

Monarch butterflies are famous for their annual long-distance migration, which takes them over several thousand kilometers from the north of the USA to their overwintering habitat in central Mexico. On their migration, the conspicuously orange-black-white colored butterflies use sun information as main orientation reference.

Tempera painting probed on the molecular scale

In contrast to the oil painting technique that supplanted it at the end of the 15th century, tempera painting, practiced on wood panels, walls or canvas has received little attention on the physico-chemical scale. This painting technique, which has been practiced since Antiquity, is characterized by pigments applied in a water-based binding-medium, often egg-yolk.

On-chip frequency shifters in the gigahertz range could be used in next generation quantum computers and networks

The ability to precisely control and change properties of a photon, including polarization, position in space, and arrival time, gave rise to a wide range of communication technologies we use today, including the Internet. The next generation of photonic technologies, such as photonic quantum networks and computers, will require even more control over the properties of a photon.

Fluorescence lifetime imaging to study DNA compaction and gene activities

Optical imaging is useful to investigate the structure and function of cellular genomes, but it is nevertheless challenging to image the immensely convoluted and irregular compacted DNA polymer. In a new report now published on Nature, Light: Science & Applications, Svitlana M. Levchenko and a team of researchers in China, Poland, and the U.S., developed fluorescence life-time imaging (FLIM) to...

New breakthrough in surface-based groundwater measurement

Based on recent breakthroughs in instruments and data modeling, researchers from the Department of Geoscience and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Aarhus University have collaborated to develop an effective technology to measure groundwater accurately from the surface.