feed info

30 articles from ScienceDaily

Making nanodiamonds out of bottle plastic

What goes on inside planets like Neptune and Uranus? To find out, an international team conducted a novel experiment. They fired a laser at a thin film of simple PET plastic and investigated what happened using intensive laser flashes. One result was that the researchers were able to confirm their earlier thesis that it really does rain diamonds inside the ice giants at the periphery of our solar...

Artificial intelligence can be used to better monitor Maine's forests

Researchers have developed a novel method of using artificial intelligence and machine learning to make monitoring soil moisture more energy and cost efficient. The software learns over time how to make the best use of available network resources, which helps produce power efficient systems at a lower cost for large scale monitoring compared to the existing industry standards.

How historical precedents impeded recognition of airborne COVID-19 transmission

A comprehensive historical assessment of knowledge and beliefs about disease transmission sheds light on why influential institutions worldwide took too long to recognize that COVID-19 is primarily airborne. The authors trace this deadly resistance one hundred years back in history, to the rejection of sickly air called 'miasma,' the rise of germ theory and our own stubborn tendency to retain...

From wound healing to regeneration

The phenomenon of regeneration was discovered over 200 years ago in the freshwater polyp Hydra. Until now, however, it was largely unclear how the orderly regeneration of lost tissues or organs is activated after injury. In its investigations of Hydra, an interdisciplinary research team was able to show how wound healing signals released upon injury are converted into specific signals of pattern...

Study raises red flags about corporatization of health care, researcher says

New research reveals private equity firms that acquire physician-owned medical practices appear to be imposing measures to squeeze out more profits. It's not clear whether these practices hurt clinical outcomes for patients. However, the findings raise concerning parallels with the rapid growth of private equity acquisition of nursing homes and hospital systems.

Quantum materials: Entanglement of many atoms discovered

Be it magnets or superconductors: materials are known for their various properties. However, these properties may change spontaneously under extreme conditions. Researchers have discovered an entirely new type of such phase transitions. They display the phenomenon of quantum entanglement involving many atoms, which previously has only been observed in the realm of few atoms.

Did primitive cetaceans feed like marine reptiles?

Did the first ancestors of whales pick up where the mosasaurs left off 66 million years ago, after the extinction of all the large predatory marine reptiles? A study has looked into the possible convergences in morphology and behavior that may exist between these two groups of large marine predatory animals.

New treatment could result in more donor lungs

A large amount of lungs donated cannot be used for transplantation. Researchers have conducted an animal study bringing hope that more donor lungs could be used in the future. The researchers have launched a pilot study to investigate whether the treatment will have the same positive effects on human beings.

COVID rekindled an appreciation of nature for many

The pandemic has impacted our lives in a multitude of ways, many of which will no doubt be felt for years to come. While many of those effects are clearly negative, researchers have identified at least one positive impact -- our perception of natural spaces changed.

New method to systematically find optimal quantum operation sequences for quantum computers developed

Computer scientists have succeeded in developing a method for systematically finding the optimal quantum operation sequence for a quantum computer. They have developed a systematic method that applies optimal control theory (GRAPE algorithm) to identify the theoretically optimal sequence from among all conceivable quantum operation sequences. This method is expected to become a useful tool for...

Untangled blinking: Fluorescence patterns aid medical diagnostics

Researchers have partners detected unique fluorescence blinking patterns in experiments of electron transfer to single DNA molecules. They used these patterns to identify mRNA glioma point mutations in cell culture. The results of this work could help simplify surgical biopsies, enable real-time targeted therapy, and advance scientific understanding of cancer progression.