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A potentially game changing drug developed by scientists at Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University infiltrates the cells from glioblastoma, the most aggressive type of brain tumor, and causes them to literally explode. Trials so far have been made only on mice whose tumor growth was reversed and survival was prolonged considerably. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is […]
The backbone of today’s modern telecommunication industry is held by fiber optic cables. These information highways have accelerated data transfer and help people all over the globe stay connected, but that’s not all they’re good for. A group of international researchers are exploring the idea of using fiber optics as a lab-on-chip device. The tubes […]
A team of Harvard engineers has developed a way of producing color that could produce paint that never fades, and displays that never go dark. How color works If you’ve never wondered how color works, it’s a pretty nifty thing. The color we usually see, like on paints and trees works by absorbing certain wavelengths […]
As a kid, looking at the Predator movies gave me goosebumps; it wasn’t the physical superiority of the Predator, but the technological advantages. I mean, he has all that shooting stuff, and teleportation and camouflage, and the vision… it was all too much! But the way science is crazily developing, we’re already starting to experiment […]
Many people are worried that touching the poles or the stability handles or straps on buses and trains can expose you to a myriad of germs. Surprisingly enough, there hasn’t really been a lot of research on this issue, but I have to concede that there is at least some room for concern here. But […]
Technology and feelings Technology has gotten pretty good at understanding how we feel, being basically able to read at least the seven universal emotions a person is feeling: fear, anger, joy, sadness, disgust, surprise, or suspicion. This has become useful in medicine and psychology, marketing, police investigations, and more recently… driving safety. EPFL researchers, in […]
Using relatively simple perforated sheets of plastic and an extensive amount computation, Duke University researchers have created the world’s first sound invisibility cloak. The cloak diverts sound waves in a way that it conceals both itself, and anything hidden beneath it. The device is, of course, 3D, and it works in the same way, no […]
The human body is littered with free ions and salts, which goes to explain why so much of our physiology is controlled by electrical signals, from neural pathways to muscle articulation. Very related, researchers at UC Berkeley have shown for the first time that direct current can be used to deliberately guide migration of a sheet […]
Imagine going to a meeting, flipping your phone on the table and then instantly project your slide presentation or traveling to a remote location, where there aren’t any displays or projectors, and use nothing but your phone to project a multimedia application [a movie, a video game, etc.]. Such ideas are being currently manipulated by […]
A freak accident left Jason Barnes without his left arm below the elbow – a disheartening matter by all means, made worse when considering he also used to be a drummer. The young man did not despair, however, and as an Atlanta Institute of Music and Media student he sought to fill in his missing arm as best […]
Considering population growth and increased life expectancy, experts estimate that by 2050 some 115 million people will be afflicted by Alzheimer’s disease – a prevailing neurodegenerative disease that needs no introduction. There’s no cure to Alzheimer’s, but there are treatments that help mild symptoms or prolong sanity before the point of no return is reached. All […]
It may be the birth of a new supermaterial – not long ago, spider silk materials were considered science fiction. Despite being a bio-material and basically a protein, spider silk has some amazing properties: it is by weight five times stronger than steel and three times tougher than Kevlar. Just so we’re clear, strength is […]
It’s been well established that smoking substantially affects health for more than a century (a bit less than that in official gov records), yet its long term effects on future generations may be more dangerous than anyone might have guessed. The perils of second hand smoke have been proven for a while, but scientists will have […]
A Silicon Valley start-up have developed a machine capable of a biblical feat: turning water into wine. They call it the Miracle Machine: “the world’s first accelerated winemaking device for the home”. Pricing in at $500, the Miracle Machine looks like a cross between a vase and a Goa’uld communication device, but it comes pretty […]
Exploiting both the latest in 3D printing and stretchable electronics, scientists at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Washington University in St. Louis have devised a new electronic membrane that could replace pacemakers. The membrane is designed to ‘cloth’ the heart and constantly delver electrical shocks to maintain a constant heart beat rate, avoiding arrhythmia and minimizing […]
You may not find many interesting things to see when glaring into a chicken’s eye, but after closely studying its retina researchers at Washington University have come across a most fascinating discovery. It seems chicken eyes bear a never before seen state of matter in biology, an arrangement of particles that is both ordered and […]
The common saying “think before you speak” is often used after a person spoke something inappropriate. It implies that the person in question has not given enough thought to the consequences of his spoken words. Obviously we can’t speak without thinking, though, so naturally the question arises: how do we plan out our utterances? Researchers […]
Ultra strong, a fantastic electrical conductor, and even suitable for better beer storage, graphene is dazzling the w0rld with its potential applications. Now, it seems there’s another use to add for the growing list of applications for the atom thick hexagon carbon structure. Scientists at Queen Mary University of London and the Cambridge Graphene Centre found that […]
Typically in physics, your calculations and such are as precise as your use of constants. Meaning, if you have a skewed value for your constant, this will obviously affect all the computations where this constant is used. Today, all the important physical constants are rather precisely known, whether we’re talking about the speed of light […]
Using two different dating technique, geologists have come across what they believe to be the oldest piece of Earth discovered thus far. The zircon crystal, found on a sheep ranch in Western Australia , was confirmed to be 4.4 billion years old and offers tantalizing clues and insights on how our planet must have looked like in […]
Reliable, well supplied and with years and years of manufacturing experience behind it, copper is the most widespread material used for delivering electrical charge. Some applications warrant more efficient materials, though, and researchers at Rice recently showed that carbon nanotubes spun into fiber can carry four times as much electrical charge than copper cables of […]
Sometimes, I come across stories or various research that make me wonder “why the heck hasn’t anyone else thought of this before?” We should be grateful, nevertheless, that researchers from University of Texas at Dallas have found a way to manufacture artificial muscle that is up to 100 times stronger than the flimsy tissue that […]
Researchers at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor have recently reached some arguable findings, after an analysis of statistical data showed that there’s an uncanny link between the people who show up at the hospital for cat bites related wounds and depression. Also, most people who had been both diagnosed with depression at some point in their […]
Bees are one of the most intelligent insects, and their resourcefulness is well recognized. Despite bee populations as a whole are facing die-offs all around the world, most likely due to pesticides, a number of bee species show amazing adaptability. For instance, in Canadian urban environments biologists and animal behaviorists have surprised many hives which […]
The genome sequence of the Ice Age skeletal remains of a 1-year-old boy gave scientists tantalizing proof that the first settlers in North American originated in Asia, and not from Europe as some theories might suggest. The boy belong to a group of people known as the Clovis, the direct ancestors of modern day North […]
A new stretchable and transparent electrical conductor has been created at last, one that could finally allow entirely foldable tech to be made. Finding a material that meets all three conditions was thought impossible until recently, although there are plenty of materials that meet two of the three. We know of materials, for instances, that are […]
In popular view, the scientists is a white, skinny male, clothed in a white lab coat, wearing glasses. Of course, in reality it’s not always the case, but there’s no question that a certain gender, race and social upbringing dominates positions in science. Are females and minorities discriminated or is the lack of a balanced […]
Right on the English coast, near Happisburgh, scientists discovered what so far are the earliest footprints discovered thus far in Europe, dated 800,000 years old. Some five human ancestors left these historical footprints in mud on the bank of an ancient river estuary. Perfect timing and the geological circumstances of the time allowed the prints […]
Dennis Aabo Sørensen is the first amputee in the world to feel sensory rich information (in real time), thanks to a prosthetic hand hard-wired into the nerves in his upper arm. After nine years ago he lost his left hand, Dennis Aabo Sørensen got lucky. Silvestro Micera and his team at EPFL (Switzerland) and SSSA […]
It’s estimated that some 8 million people in the United States suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), causing great angst, depression and poor social integration. There are numerous therapies and techniques designed to help patients recover and banish the specters that lurk in the deepest recesses of their minds, haunting them. A common psychotherapy is fighting […]
It’s always depressing when we hear stories of dogs attacking people, more so when injuries lead to death. As always after such an unfortunate, yet statistically isolated, event there’s always a massive group of people bantering and calling for “something to be done.” In some countries, public pressure can rule death sentences for thousands of […]
One of the biggest arguments against renewable energy deployment on the truly massive scale is their unreliability. Justly so, wind doesn’t always blow at desired velocities and the sun fluctuates in sunshine throughout the day. With this in mind, if you don’t have a back-up storage medium, intermittent renewables will always be an alternative – […]
Who would have thought snooping into people’s private lives pisses them off? A new study by North Carolina State University researchers found that job candidates who found out their social media profiles were being peered through by employers were less likely to view the hiring process as fair. In consequence, these people are less likely to […]
A lot of hype has been going D-Wave’s way in the past decade or so. The company is considered by many the leading quantum computing company in the world, boasting clients such as Lockheed Martin or Google. Before munching up on the hype, though, it’s important to understand that to this day no one has […]
While happiness and meaningfulness often overlap, the two are distinct states of being. A Stanford project looked into the lives of various people inline between the two and found some key differences based on how people choose spend their time and what experiences they cultivate. The findings may surprise some of you, while others will choose […]
In the movie “Back to the Future”, Marty McFly almost ends up erasing himself from existence after nearly having prevented his parents from falling in love. This idea is often referred to as the “grandfather paradox” – if you traveled back in time and killed your grandfather, then your father or mother would have never […]
Whenever you buy an electronic, that ‘Made in [country]‘ label only shows where it was maufactured or put together – there’s no way of knowing where the materials for it came from; usually, they come from troubled countries, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo. But today Intel CEO Brian Krzanich promised at the Consumer […]
Every dog owner can attest that canines are remarkable navigators, like some sort of living, breathing compasses. For some time, researchers have suspected that they can sense Earth’s magnetic field and use it in turn for navigation. A recent study confirmed this as a fact, however the findings came after studying the dogs in one […]
In nature, organisms communicate in various ways, be it through acoustic or biological signals. Insects, for instance, communicate and relay important information, such as a threat to a hive, using pheromones – an excreted chemical with a particular signature. Scientists at the University of Warwick in the UK and the York University in Canada have […]
Reading this paper just blew my mind – and I’m still not sure I fully understand it. As a matter of fact, I think only a handful of people worldwide can understand exactly how something like this works – but I’ll do my best to explain. Most computers (especially laptops) emit a high-pitched noise during […]
The fact that chimpanzees are extremely intelligent should no longer surprise anyone. Most people also know that they have their own social cues and are very sensitive to them, but even so, they usually refuse to conform to what the majority of group members are doing, preferring to stick with their personal preferences. However, now, […]
Carbon nanotubes are cylindrical nanostructures with a myriad of potential applications. They are the strongest and stiffest materials yet discovered in terms of tensile strength and elastic modulus, they can withstand immense pressures and also have very interesting electrical properties. Now, thanks to work from researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, […]
This is the cat That killed the rat That ate the malt They say it’s easy to train a cat only to do whatever it wants – but cats have come a long way since their wilderness days. Thousands of years before they were immortalized in this lovely English lullaby, cats were doing just fine […]
Medicine and 3-d printing fit together like a glove. Imagine how many transplants and surgical procedures are so difficult to make or downright impossible because you can’t find a matching tissue or body part for the patient at hand. With 3-D printers, you can even make new bones – identical to those modeled from a […]
Every business out-there, be it a corporate giant or a small shop, has it in its mind that it needs to employ highly original and market disruptive leaders in order to grow and prosper. A study that studied Chinese workplaces found that leaders don’t need to be transformational to lead a highly productive group. Instead, managers […]
Prosthetics have come a long way in recent years alone, mainly due to advancements in brain-machine interfaces. Incredibly articulated artificial limbs can now allow a disabled individual to move an artificial hand (with up to seven degrees of freedom!) and individual fingers just by thinking about the movement the person wants the limb to perform). While an artificial hand […]
Biking to work or downtown when the weather allows it is one of the greenest things you can do – not only does it prevent the gases you would be emitting by driving, but it’s also a great way to keep in shape. But a new concept unveiled in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, could take things […]
With just one footstep, you can illuminate a thousand LED bulbs – with no batteries or power cord; the energy comes from rubbing two different materials together to create static electricity. A researcher called Zhong Lin Wang has finally learned how to harvest this power and put it to work. Triboelectricity? What’s that ?! A […]
Playing an instrument comes with a wide range of benefits, especially for children. It teaches them discipline and how to focus on an important task at hand. It also fuels creativity. There’s a well constructed myth, however, that playing an instrument makes you smarter, as in it improves your cognitive abilities somehow. This idea is […]
The way people play Battlefield or Call of Duty could change forever by bringing the heat of action to your living room. More specifically, by making action video games into real-life action as the gamer’s movements are tracked and reflected in the virtual world. The idea isn’t new, but a new 3-D positioning system developed […]
