Brain signals can be used to detect how much pain a person is experiencing, which could overhaul how we treat certain chronic pain conditions, a new study has suggested. The research, published in Nature Neuroscience today, is the first time a human’s chronic-pain-related brain signals have been recorded. It could aid the development of personalized Read more about Brain waves can tell us how much pain someone is in[…]
Environmental DNA sampling is nothing new. Rather than having to spot or catch an animal, instead the DNA from the traces they leave can be sampled, giving clues about their genetic diversity, their lineage (e.g. via mitochondrial DNA) and the population’s health. What caught University of Florida (UoF) researchers by surprise while they were using Read more about Human DNA can be pulled from the air: A Boon For Science, While Terrifying Others[…]
Research has shown that a thin cellulose film can inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 virus within minutes, inhibit the growth of bacteria including E. coli, and mitigate contact transfer of pathogens. The coating consists of a thin film of cellulose fiber that is invisible to the naked eye, and is abrasion-resistant under dry conditions, making it suitable Read more about The ‘invisible’ cellulose coatings that mitigate surface transmission of pathogens (kills covid on door handles)[…]
When neuropsychologist Bernhard Sabel put his new fake-paper detector to work, he was “shocked” by what it found. After screening some 5000 papers, he estimates up to 34% of neuroscience papers published in 2020 were likely made up or plagiarized; in medicine, the figure was 24%. Both numbers, which he and colleagues report in a Read more about Fake scientific papers are alarmingly common and becoming more so[…]
Finding, cultivating, and bioengineering organisms that can digest plastic not only aids in the removal of pollution, but is now also big business. Several microorganisms that can do this have already been found, but when their enzymes that make this possible are applied at an industrial scale, they typically only work at temperatures above 30°C. Read more about Scientists discover microbes in the Alps and Arctic that can digest plastic at low temperatures[…]
[…] an alarming new study has found that even when plastic makes it to a recycling center, it can still end up splintering into smaller bits that contaminate the air and water. This pilot study focused on a single new facility where plastics are sorted, shredded, and melted down into pellets. Along the way, the Read more about Yet another problem with recycling: It spews microplastics[…]
[…] a team of researchers from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) successfully developed a machine-learning algorithm that can decode a mouse’s brain signals and reproduce images of what it’s seeing. […] The mice were shown a black and white movie clip from the 1960s of a man running to a car and then Read more about Researchers See Through a Mouse’s Eyes by Decoding Brain Signals[…]
[…] Toucan, a browser extension, is trying a different approach, and it might just be the thing that finally clicks for you. How Toucan works With Toucan installed for either Chrome, Edge, or Safari, the first time you visit a website or click on an article, you’ll notice something strange: Some of the words on the Read more about Toucan Teaches You a New Language While You Browse the Internet[…]
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Researchers said on Wednesday they have discovered that parts of the brain region called the motor cortex that govern body movement are connected with a network involved in thinking, planning, mental arousal, pain, and control of internal organs, as well as functions such as blood pressure and Read more about Scientists Identify Mind-Body Nexus In Human Brain[…]
A survey of plastic waste picked up in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre—aka the Giant Pacific Garbage Patch—has revealed that the garbage is providing a home to species that would otherwise not be found in the deep ocean. Over two-thirds of the trash examined plays host to coastal marine species, many of which are clearly Read more about Pacific garbage patch providing a deep ocean home for coastal species[…]
[…] Debashis Chanda, a nanoscience researcher with the University of Central Florida, and his team have created a way to mimic nature’s ability to reflect light and create beautifully vivid color without absorbing any heat like traditional pigments do. Chanda’s research, published in the journal Science Advances, explains and explores structural color and how people Read more about Scientists create structural paint that stays cool underneath, doesn’t fade, extremely light and no toxins[…]
Scientists using data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope in Chile have made a detailed map of dark matter’s distribution across a quarter of the sky. The map shows regions the distribution of mass extending essentially as far we can see back in time; it uses the cosmic microwave background as a backdrop for the dark Read more about New Map of Dark Matter Supports Einstein’s Theory of Gravity[…]
Researchers have discovered that in the exotic conditions of the early universe, waves of gravity may have shaken space-time so hard that they spontaneously created radiation. […] a team of researchers have discovered that an exotic form of parametric resonance may have even occurred in the extremely early universe. Perhaps the most dramatic event to Read more about Physicists Discover that Gravity Can Create Light[…]
The experiment relies on materials that can change their optical properties in fractions of a second, which could be used in new technologies or to explore fundamental questions in physics. The original double-slit experiment, performed in 1801 by Thomas Young at the Royal Institution, showed that light acts as a wave. Further experiments, however, showed Read more about Double-slit experiment done using time instead of space[…]
What does a stressed plant sound like? A bit like bubble-wrap being popped. Researchers in Israel report in the journal Cell on March 30 that tomato and tobacco plants that are stressed—from dehydration or having their stems severed—emit sounds that are comparable in volume to normal human conversation. The frequency of these noises is too Read more about Stressed plants emit airborne sounds that can be detected from more than a meter away[…]
A mammoth meatball has been created by a cultivated meat company, resurrecting the flesh of the long-extinct animals. The project aims to demonstrate the potential of meat grown from cells, without the slaughter of animals, and to highlight the link between large-scale livestock production and the destruction of wildlife and the climate crisis. The mammoth Read more about Meatball from long-extinct mammoth created by food firm[…]
Computer scientists found the holy grail of tiles. They call it the “einstein,” one shape that alone can cover a plane without ever repeating a pattern. And all it takes for this special shape is 13 sides. In the world of mathematics, an “aperiodic monotile”—also known as an einstein based off a German phrase for Read more about 13-Sided Shape That never repeats discovered[…]
The number of exploding stars (supernovae) has significantly influenced marine life’s biodiversity during the last 500 million years. This is the essence of a new study published in Ecology and Evolution by Henrik Svensmark, DTU space. Extensive studies of the fossil record have shown that the diversity of life forms has varied significantly over Read more about A persistent influence of supernovae on biodiversity[…]
[…] The invention, by a University of Bristol physicist, who gave it the name “counterportation,” provides the first-ever practical blueprint for creating in the lab a wormhole that verifiably bridges space, as a probe into the inner workings of the universe. By deploying a novel computing scheme, revealed in the journal Quantum Science and Technology, Read more about ‘Counterportation’: Quantum breakthrough paves way for world-first experimental wormhole[…]
[…] “The image was captured on a summer evening in São José dos Campos [in São Paulo state] while a negatively charged lightning bolt was nearing the ground at 370 km per second. When it was a few dozen meters from ground level, lightning rods and tall objects on the tops of nearby buildings produced Read more about Unique image obtained by scientists with high-speed camera shows how lightning rods work[…]
[…] An interdisciplinary team of scientists have released a complete reconstruction and analysis of a larval fruit fly’s brain, published Thursday in the journal Science. The resulting map, or connectome, as its called in neuroscience, includes each one of the 3,016 neurons and 548,000 of the synapses running between neurons that make up the baby Read more about First Complete Map of a Fly Brain Has Uncanny Similarities to AI Neural Networks[…]
Drop a flat piece of paper and it will flutter and tumble through the air as it falls, but a well-fashioned paper airplane will glide smoothly. Although these structures look simple, their aerodynamics are surprisingly complex. Researchers at New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences conducted a series of experiments involving paper airplanes to Read more about Experiments with paper airplanes reveal surprisingly complex aerodynamics[…]
Geology textbooks almost inevitably include a cutaway diagram of the Earth showing four neatly delineated layers: a thin outer shell of rock that we live on known as the crust; the mantle, where rocks flow like an extremely viscous liquid, driving the movement of continents and the lifting of mountains; a liquid outer core of Read more about Does the Earth’s core have an innermost core?[…]
Think of bringing a pot of water to the boil: As the temperature reaches the boiling point, bubbles form in the water, burst and evaporate as the water boils. This continues until there is no more water changing phase from liquid to steam. This is roughly the idea of what happened in the very early Read more about The bubbling universe: A previously unknown phase transition in the early universe resolves Hubble (constant) tension[…]
Eight years ago, a patient lost her power of speech because of ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, which causes progressive paralysis. She can still make sounds, but her words have become unintelligible, leaving her reliant on a writing board or iPad to communicate. Now, after volunteering to receive a brain implant, the woman has been Read more about An ALS patient set a record communicating through a brain implant: 62 words per minute[…]