182 articles from THURSDAY 30.3.2023

Fluid flow in the brain can be manipulated by sensory stimulation

Researchers report that the flow of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain is linked to waking brain activity. The study demonstrates that manipulating blood flow in the brain with visual stimulation induces complementary fluid flow. The findings could impact treatment for conditions like Alzheimer's disease, which have been associated with declines in cerebrospinal fluid flow.

Thread-like pumps can be woven into clothes

Researchers have developed fiber-like pumps that allow high-pressure fluidic circuits to be woven into textiles without an external pump. Soft supportive exoskeletons, thermoregulatory clothing, and immersive haptics can therefore be powered from pumps sewn into the fabric of the devices themselves.

AI predicts enzyme function better than leading tools

A new artificial intelligence tool can predict the functions of enzymes based on their amino acid sequences, even when the enzymes are unstudied or poorly understood. Researchers said the AI tool, dubbed CLEAN, outperforms the leading state-of-the-art tools in accuracy, reliability and sensitivity. Better understanding of enzymes and their functions would be a boon for research in genomics,...

Shedding light on the sun

As questions abound about the Earth's closest star, scientists are seeking answers critical to forecasting solar flares that threaten satellites and other electronics.

Cryptomarkets increasingly infuse illicit drug trade, says study

Cryptomarkets—marketplaces on the dark web that can facilitate the sale of illicit goods between vendors and buyers—are proving to be attractive alternatives to traditional in-person drug dealing, according to Simon Fraser university researchers, who say machine learning and tracking markets through web crawlers may help curb the growing trend.

Using operando Raman spectroscopy to investigate converting carbon dioxide to ethanol on Ag nanowires

In a study, published in the journal Science China Chemistry and led by Prof. Pingping Fang (School of Chemistry, Zhejiang University) and Prof. Jianfeng Li (College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University), experiments were performed by using an Xplora Raman spectrometer with a 50x microscope objective and an excitation wavelength of 638 nm from a He–Ne laser.

The current status and future trends of forest understory vegetation

A review published in the journal Forestry Research focuses on understory vegetation biodiversity, regeneration, biomass, nutrient content and storage, carbon and nitrogen relationships, functional traits, litter decomposition, and interactions with overstory trees. It also covers the ecological effects of understory vegetation on soil chemistry, soil microbial communities, and soil and water...

The first JWST spectrum of the GRB 221009A afterglow

Gamma-ray bursts are the most energetic and luminous events known to occur in the Universe. Short-lived flashes of gamma rays that typically last from a a tenth of a second to less than an hour, gamma-ray bursts may for a brief period of time outshine entire galaxies. The explosions are believed to be caused by the collapse of massive stars, the collision of neutron stars, or the merging of a...

Revealing the pattern between frontal polymerization and natural convection

A self-propagating chemical reaction can transform a liquid monomer into a solid polymer, and the interaction between the propagating front and the reaction's natural convection leads to patterns in the resulting solid polymeric material. New University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign work has shown how the coupling between natural convection and frontal polymerization leads to those observed...

Exploiting dark autoionizing states for enhancing extreme ultraviolet lasers

An international research team led by Professors Tsuneyuki Ozaki and François Légaré at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), has developed a unique method to enhance the power of a laser source emitting extreme ultraviolet light pulses. The underlying mechanism of the newly observed phenomenon involves the unique role of dark-autoionizing states through coupling with other...

Removing cancer-causing heavy metals from wastewater with photocatalysts

Toxic heavy metals found in wastewater have health and safety ramifications for communities affected by pollution. Hexavalent chromium is a dangerous, cancer-causing byproduct of industrial processes that is known to cause birth defects, severe diarrhea, and is linked to kidney, bladder, and liver cancers. Famously, it was the center of the lawsuit dramatized in the film "Erin Brockovich."

Review: Iridium-based catalysts look set to boost efficiency of green hydrogen production

Hydrogen production powered by wind and solar energy is still too expensive if it is to play a role in the clean transition via energy storage and to help decarbonize hard-to-electrify sectors. Much effort in reducing its cost focuses on enhancing production efficiency by improving the performance of iridium-based catalysts that can speed up the oxygen-related part of the electrochemical reaction...

The value of human choice in HR decisions

Human resources managers are frequently turning to artificial intelligence to help make employment decisions, leaning on recommendations from algorithms to decide who to interview and who to hire. Traditional interviews can be costly and prior behavioral research suggests humans are poor predictors of performance and fit.

New research reveals COVID lessons for employers to better support working parents

With more than a third of UK workers saying they'd quit if their job demanded a full-time return to the office, and working parents facing the third-most expensive childcare system in the world when juggling career with family, research published today by Queen Mary University of London details how flexible working lessons from the pandemic can foster more family-friendly work practices.