New explosion gas-signature models can help locate and identify underground nuclear tests

18-Mar-2016 - Through experiments and computer models of gas releases, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists have simulated signatures of gases from underground nuclear explosions (UNEs) that may be carried by winds far from the detonation. The work will help international inspectors locate and ...

Aphids as biosensors

17-Mar-2016 - Do plants have some kind of nervous system? This is difficult to establish as there are no suitable measurement methods around. Plant researchers from Würzburg used aphids for this purpose – and discovered that plants respond differently to different kinds of damage. When a plant is mechanically ...

Researchers develop new lens for terahertz radiation

16-Mar-2016 - Terahertz radiation is a relatively unexplored slice of the electromagnetic spectrum, but it holds the promise of countless new imaging applications as well as wireless communication networks with extremely high bandwidth. The problem is that there are few off-the-shelf components available for ...

Hydrocarbon storage, fracking and lightning risk

16-Mar-2016 - Fires caused by lightning strikes on hydrocarbon storage plants are a century-old, yet to be addressed, problem. In the era of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, this is becoming an even more poignant issue for the fossil fuel industry. Sterling Rooke of X8 Inc in Crofton, Maryland, and Miroslaw ...

World's thinnest lens to revolutionize cameras

15-Mar-2016 - Scientists have created the world's thinnest lens, one two-thousandth the thickness of a human hair, opening the door to flexible computer displays and a revolution in miniature cameras. Lead researcher Dr Yuerui (Larry) Lu from The Australian National University (ANU) said the discovery hinged ...

Scientists realize quantum simulation of the Unruh effect

15-Mar-2016 - Quantum mechanics and relativity theory are two pillars of modern physics. With their amalgamation, many novel phenomena have been identified. For example, the Unruh effect is one of the most significant outcomes of the quantum field theory. This effect serves as an important tool to investigate ...

Researchers dig up new molecular details on 'the other type' of stem cells

15-Mar-2016 - Scientists Nareg J. Djabrayan and Jordi Casanova from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and CSIC, have identified two molecular signals and the pathway of events that allows cells in a tissue that are already specialized to regain their behaviour as stem cells. The study ...

A virus common among livestock depends on a micro-RNA to replicate

15-Mar-2016 - In the ongoing arms race between pathogenic viruses and the cells they infect, each side needs every advantage it can get. One way wily viruses can get a leg up is by subverting the microRNAs (miRNAs) of their host. These miRNAs are small stretches of RNA made by host cells to regulate gene ...

To Prevent Cancer in Butterfly Disease Patients

How a rare genetic skin condition causes aggressive skin tumours

14-Mar-2016 - Fragile skin that blisters easily: 90 percent of the patients that suffer from the skin condition recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) develop rapidly progressing cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas, a type of skin cancer, by the age of 55. 80 percent of these patients will die due to ...

Down the rabbit hole

How electrons travel through exotic new material

14-Mar-2016 - Researchers at Princeton University have observed a bizarre behavior in a strange new crystal that could hold the key for future electronic technologies. Unlike most materials in which electrons travel on the surface, in these new materials the electrons sink into the depths of the crystal ...