Science News from around the Web
- Physicists beat Lorentz reciprocity for microwave transmissionNew device could boost telecommunications and be adapted for photonics... Read more »
- Japan’s SuperKEKB set for first particle collisionsRevamped accelerator will soon be smashing electrons and positrons together... Read more »
- Wood-based 'supermaterial' is stronger and tougher than steelNew material is made by compressing treated wood... Read more »
- Three photons bind together to make a ‘molecule’ of lightTechnique could be used to create quantum-information systems... Read more »
- Nuclear excitation by electron capture seen at long lastBreakthrough could lead to new type of energy source... Read more »
- Antibodies linked to heart attacksLevels of antiphospholipid antibodies, which are associated with rheumatic diseases, are also elevated in myocardial infarction without any autoimmune co-morbidity, a study reports.... Read more »
- Brain wave device enhances memory functionThe entrainment of theta brain waves with a commercially available device not only enhances theta wave activity, but also boosts memory performance, according to new research.... Read more »
- Mars: Oxygen-rich, life-supporting liquid water?Given the right circumstances, water on Mars could hold more oxygen than previously believed, theoretically enough to support aerobic respiration, new research suggests.... Read more »
- NASA's first image of Mars from a CubeSatNASA's MarCO mission was designed to find out if briefcase-sized spacecraft called CubeSats could survive the journey to deep space. Now, MarCO -- which stands for Mars Cube One -- has Mars in sight.... Read more »
- How rants on social media can come back to haunt youCognitive scientist used millions of chat room messages to study how positive and negative messages reflected back to their senders.... Read more »
- The smell of lavender is relaxing, science confirms(Frontiers) A new review reveals how lavender mellows us out -- and why some day psychiatrists and surgeons might be prescribing patients a whiff of the purple stuff.... Read more »
- Ferroelectricity -- an 80-year-old mystery solved(Linköping University) Only now in 2018 have researchers successfully demonstrated that hypothetical 'particles' that were proposed by Franz Preisach in 1935 actually exist. In an article published in Nature Communications, scientists from the universities in Linköping and Eindhoven show why ferroelectric materials act as they do.... Read more »
- Inexpensive chip-based device may transform spectrometry(Massachusetts Institute of Technology) An advance by MIT researchers could make it possible to produce tiny spectrometers that are just as accurate and powerful as their benchtop counterparts but could be mass produced using standard chip-making processes.... Read more »
- Collaboration yields possible treatment for rare neurodegenerative disorder(St. Jude Children's Research Hospital) Read how a discovery in bacteria in the 1980s led to a promising new class of compounds for treatment of PKAN, a progressive neurodegenerative disease.... Read more »
- New kind of compound shows early promise against prostate cancer(NYU Langone Health / NYU School of Medicine) A new type of molecule blocks the action of genes that drive the growth of therapy-resistant prostate cancer.... Read more »
- Oxygen-Rich Liquid Water May Exist on MarsBrines suffused with the life-giving gas could offer hope for past and even present microbes on the Red Planet, according to a new study -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com ... Read more »
- Scientists Double Down on Landing Sites for Sample-Collecting Mars RoverNASA’s Mars 2020 mission could visit two locations where microbial life may once have thrived -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com ... Read more »
- Saber-Toothed Cats May Have Roared Like LionsSmall throat bones from the prehistoric feline Smilodon suggest it used fearsome vocalizations to communicate -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com ... Read more »
- When Times Are Good, the Gender Gap GrowsA study shows growing national wealth and gender equality accentuates differences in the types of choices men and women make -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com ... Read more »
- What Makes Human Brain Cells Unique?New findings reveal distinctive electrical properties of human neurons that may give us a boost in computing power -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com ... Read more »
- Stephen Hawking, my father: “Harry Potter has magic, we have science”On the publication of Stephen Hawking's final book, his daughter Lucy Hawking reflects on their shared experiences and coming to terms with his death... Read more »
- 2019 Breakthrough Prize winners set to receive share in $22 millionSilicon valley’s Breakthrough Prize reveals the 21 scientists who have been recognized this year for work in drug design, biology, astrophysics, and mathematics... Read more »
- Gravitational waves from black hole pairs could act like tractor beamsWhen two black holes orbit one another, they create a swirling vortex of gravitational waves that could trap any nearby objects like a sci-fi tractor beam... Read more »
- Sneak peek at Hawking’s last book, Brief Answers to the Big QuestionsDo black holes eat information or do zero-energy particles nicknamed "hairs" somehow store it instead? Before he died, Stephen Hawking was working on new ideas, as this exclusive extract shows... Read more »
- Don’t miss – a dance of death, musical exploration and maps from lightEntertain and inform yourself at the Manchester Science Festival, lap up Bach, the universe and everything in London, or delve into a new book on the lasers that are transforming the world... Read more »
- Tiny supercomputers could be made from the skeleton inside your cellsBuilding a computer out of the skeletons that hold our cells together could make them smaller and far more energy efficient... Read more »
- Hot baths could improve depression as much as physical exerciseTaking a hot bath twice a week may help relieve mild depression. It may work by resetting circadian rhythms, which are often disrupted in people with depression... Read more »
- Salty Martian groundwater may have enough oxygen to support lifeMars gets its red colour from oxygen rusting its surface, and it may be hiding even more oxygen in underground brine, which could help microorganisms survive... Read more »
- 7 explanations for why mysterious radio bursts are coming from spaceAstronomers are scratching their heads over extremely fast radio bursts. Now they're making a list of all the theories for what - or who - is making them... Read more »
- AI tries to help you protect your children from cyberbullyingArtificial intelligence is being trained to spot cyberbullying on social media so that hurtful posts can be removed before they reach vulnerable teens... Read more »