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55 articles from PhysOrg

'Virtual pillars' separate and sort blood-based nanoparticles

Engineers at Duke University have developed a device that uses sound waves to separate and sort the tiniest particles found in blood in a matter of minutes. The technology is based on a concept called "virtual pillars" and could be a boon to both scientific research and medical applications.

Study indicates SARS-CoV-2 variants are still transmissible between species

Scientists believe bats first transmitted SARS-CoV-2 to humans in December 2019, and while the virus has since evolved into several variants such as delta and omicron, a new study indicates the virus is still highly transmissible between mammals. Researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) developed computer simulations that show the coronaviruses use their spike proteins to attach...

Is that turtle legal? Fighting wildlife trafficking with stable isotopes

Wildlife trafficking is a well-known threat to biodiversity, with many species imperiled by poachers working in the illegal pet trade. Worse still, when traffickers are caught in the act, they often evade prosecution through animal "laundering"—erroneously claiming that the confiscated wildlife was bred in captivity.

Researchers boost accuracy of home-based continuous glucose monitoring

Home-based continuous glucose monitoring for diabetics up to now has had to trade ease of use, low cost, and portability for a somewhat lower sensitivity—and thus accuracy—compared to similar systems in clinics or hospitals. A team of researchers has now developed a biosensor for such monitors that involves "zero-dimensional" quantum dots (QDs) and gold nanospheres (AuNSs), and no longer has...

Broken symmetries provide opportunities for thermal emission management

Radiative heat transfer is a ubiquitous physical process in our universe. Any object with a temperature above absolute zero exchanges thermal energy with the environment. In physics, thermal emission originates from electromagnetic radiation induced by the thermal motion of charged particles inside materials.

Zapped, infrared-heated lentils are more nutritious and 'greener' to process

By combining heat from microwaves and infrared energy, University of Saskatchewan (USask) researchers have uncovered a new, more energy efficient way to process lentils, making them more nutritious and digestible. The findings may result in more value for consumers, food processors, ingredient manufacturers, and producers.

How language impacts political opinions

Words have power, but so does the language in which they're spoken, according to Margit Tavits, the Dr. William Taussig Professor in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

Metallurgist explains the surprising properties of aluminum

Despite being the most abundant metal on Earth, constituting over 8% of the Earth's core mass, aluminum was only discovered in the 1820s, by Danish physicist Hans Christian Ørsted. This is partly explained because pure aluminum doesn't exist in nature as it binds easily with other elements like oxygen.

Mosquito alert app: How to track invasive mosquitoes

Have you ever been bitten by a tiger? A tiger mosquito, that is. This invasive species and other close Asian species have found their way to Europe. But thanks to an ingenious smartphone app developed by the COST Action Aedes Invasive Mosquitoes (AIM), you can do more to bring this insect under control than simply swinging your flyswatter.

Wildlife study: Cheetah marking trees are hotspots for communication among other species as well

Marking trees are important hotspots of communication for cheetahs: Here they exchange information with and about other cheetahs via scent marks, urine and scats. A team from the Cheetah Research Project of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) now showed that several mammalian species on farmland in Namibia maintain a network for intra- and interspecific communication...

Call to protect Australian tenants with pets

With the national squeeze in rental accommodation, Flinders University researchers say it's more important than ever that the South Australian Parliament legislate to uphold the rights of tenants with pets.