feed info

43 articles from ScienceDaily

Physicists model cell migration to learn how cancer cells navigate tissue

This migration mode is one of the ways cancer cells navigate tissue during metastasis. In a new study researchers have explored mesenchymal migration through cell simulations and mathematical modeling. Their aim: to learn more about how cancer cells size up surrounding tissue for stiffness and adapt their gecko-like movements in response.

Now on the molecular scale: Electric motors

Electric vehicles, powered by macroscopic electric motors, are increasingly prevalent on our streets and highways. Now a multidisciplinary team has made an electric motor you can't see with the naked eye: an electric motor on the molecular scale. This early work -- a motor that can convert electrical energy into unidirectional motion at the molecular level -- has implications for materials science...

New levers for controlling plant biochemistry

Plant biochemists have discovered a new level of regulation in the biochemical 'machinery' that plants use to convert organic carbon derived from photosynthesis into a range of ring-shaped aromatic molecules. The research suggests new strategies for controlling plant biochemistry for agricultural and industrial applications.

Some hospitalized patients' infections may develop from their own bacteria

The opportunistic bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii rarely sickens healthy people but causes serious infections in hospitalized patients. A study in mice suggests that Acinetobacter can hide undetected in bladder cells and then reactivate when stimulated by medical intervention. The findings suggest that patients may bring Acinetobacter into hospitals and that screening patients could supplement...

Research team builds framework to quantify brain's control costs

The brain performs various cognitive and behavioral functions in everyday life, flexibly transitioning to various states to carry out these functions. Scientists view the brain as a system that performs these numerous functions by controlling its states. To better understand the properties of this control in the brain, scientists look for ways to estimate the difficulty of control, or control...

Developing mucosal vaccines for respiratory viruses

Vaccines that provide long-lasting protection against influenza, coronaviruses and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) have proved exceptionally difficult to develop. Researchers now explore the challenges and outline approaches to improved vaccines.

Can neuroimaging reveal the roots of psychiatric disorders? Not just yet

Neuroimaging technology has been shown to hold great promise in helping clinicians link specific symptoms of mental health disorders to abnormal patterns of brain activity. But a new study shows there are still kinks to be ironed out before doctors can translate images of the brain to psychiatric disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

A big step toward 'green' ammonia and a 'greener' fertilizer

Synthesizing ammonia, the key ingredient in fertilizer, is energy intensive and a significant contributor to greenhouse gas warming of the planet. Chemists designed and synthesized porous materials -- metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs -- that bind and release ammonia at more moderate pressures and temperatures than the standard Haber-Bosch process for making ammonia. The MOF doesn't bind to any of...

Discovery of a new form of carbon called Long-range Ordered Porous Carbon (LOPC)

The most well-known forms of carbon include graphite and diamond, but there are other more exotic nanoscale allotropes of carbon as well. These include graphene and fullerenes, which are sp2 hybridized carbon with zero (flat-shaped) or positive (sphere-shaped) curvatures. Researchers now report the discovery of a new form of carbon formed by heating fullerenes with lithium nitride.

Managing river restoration and coastal erosion

A team has developed a more accurate formula to calculate how much sediment a fluid can push across a granular bed, which could help engineers manage river restoration and coastal erosion. The key to the new formula comes down to the shape of the sediment grains.

Ethical ancient DNA research must involve descendant communities, say researchers

The analysis of ancient DNA allows scientists to trace human evolution and make important discoveries about modern populations. The data revealed by ancient DNA sampling can be valuable, but the human remains that carry this ancient DNA are often those of the ancestors of modern Indigenous groups, and some communities have expressed concerns about the ethics of sampling by outside parties. A group...

Humidity may be the key to super-lubricity 'switch'

A material state known as super-lubricity, where friction between two contacting surfaces nearly vanishes, is a phenomenon that materials researchers have studied for years due to the potential for reducing the energy cost and wear and tear on devices, two major drawbacks of friction. However, there are times when friction is needed within the same device, and the ability to turn super-lubricity...

A new ultrafast camera with multiple applications

Researchers are developing a new ultrahigh-speed single-pixel camera. This new device, called single-pixel imaging accelerated via swept aggregate patterns (SPI-ASAP) is capable of streaming video at 12,000 frames per second using light modulation, giving it great flexibility. This work represents a breakthrough in ultra-high-speed single-pixel imaging.