Singularities such as those at the centre of black holes, where density becomes infinite, are often said to be places where physics 'breaks down'. However, this doesn't mean that 'anything' could happen, and physicists are interested in which laws could break down, and how. Now, a research team from Imperial College London and the Cockcroft Institute and Lancaster University have proposed a way that singularities could violate the law of conservation of charge. Their theory is published in Annalen der Physik. Co-author Professor Martin McCall, from the Department of Physics at Imperial, said: "'Physics breaks down at a singularity' is one of the most famous statements in pop-physics. But by ...

To make computer chips, technologists around the world rely on atomic layer deposition (ALD), which can create films as fine as one atom thick. Businesses commonly use ALD to make semiconductor devices, but it also has applications in solar cells, lithium batteries and other energy-related fields. Today, manufacturers increasingly rely on ALD to make new types of films, but figuring out how to tweak the process for each new material takes time. Part of the problem is that researchers primarily use trial and error to identify optimal growth conditions. But a recently published study -- one of the first in this scientific field -- suggests that using artificial intelligence (AI) can be more efficient. In the ACS Applied ...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Like two superheroes finally joining forces, Sandia National Laboratories' Z machine -- generator of the world's most powerful electrical pulses -- and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility -- the planet's most energetic laser source -- in a series of 10 experiments have detailed the responses of gold and platinum at pressures so extreme that their atomic structures momentarily distorted like images in a fun-house mirror. Similar high-pressure changes induced in other settings have produced oddities like hydrogen appearing as a metallic fluid, helium in the form of rain and sodium a transparent metal. But until now there has been no way to accurately calibrate these pressures and responses, the first step to ...

Tsukuba, Japan - Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are widely used in display technology and are also being investigated for lighting applications. A comprehensive understanding of these devices is therefore important if their properties are to be harnessed to their full potential. Researchers from the University of Tsukuba have directly observed the photoexcited electron dynamics in an organic film using time-resolved photoelectron emission microscopy. Their findings are published in Advanced Optical Materials . OLED displays are popular because they are bright, lightweight, and do not consume a lot of power. Their output is generated when an exciton--a combination of an electron and an electron hole--releases its energy. However, this ...

Tokyo, Japan - A cell is composed of numerous organelles, each with a unique role that helps contribute to its overall functionality. The lysosome is an organelle that contains digestive enzymes and functions as a molecular garbage disposal and recycling center. Since the role of lysosome is crucial to maintain the cellular homeostasis, the lysosomal dysfunction causes neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases, cancer, as well as lysosomal storage disorders. In a new article published in Autophagy, researchers at Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) performed a novel type of structural analysis to demonstrate how a certain molecular interaction is crucial for one lysosomal membrane protein to perform effectively. LAMP1 (lysosomal-associated ...

LA JOLLA, CA--Chemists at Scripps Research have solved a long-standing problem in their field by developing a method for making a highly useful and previously very challenging type of modification to organic molecules. The breakthrough eases the process of modifying a variety of existing molecules for valuable applications such as improving the potency and duration of drugs. The flexible new method, for "directed C--H hydroxylation with molecular oxygen," does what only natural enzymes have been able to do until now. It's described in a paper this week in Science. "We ...

James Cook University scientists in Australia believe they have made a breakthrough in the science of keeping premature babies alive. As part of her PhD work, JCU engineering lecturer Stephanie Baker led a pilot study that used a hybrid neural network to accurately predict how much risk individual premature babies face. She said complications resulting from premature birth are the leading cause of death in children under five and over 50 per cent of neonatal deaths occur in preterm infants. "Preterm birth rates are increasing almost everywhere. In neonatal intensive care units, assessment of mortality risk assists in making difficult decisions regarding which treatments should be used and if and when treatments are working effectively," said Ms Baker. ...

RICHLAND, Wash.--Earth bears many signs of human influence, from warming that exceeds pre-industrial temperatures to a rising sea. Add to that list, now, the human influence on the timing of Earth's water cycle, revealed by a new study led by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The research, published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change, peels back layers of climatological noise to uncover a clear signal: from 1979 to 2019, increases in greenhouse gases and reductions in human-generated aerosols triggered an approximate four-day delay in seasonal rainfall over tropical land and the Sahel. The lag could mean delayed crop production, ...

We can generally recognize an object, even if it is presented for a very brief time. However, if another object appears immediately following the first object, the perception on the first object is impaired such that we do not notice its existence. This perceptual phenomenon, called "visual backward masking," is used in vision science to study how visual perception is processed in the brain. Interestingly, this phenomenon occurs even if the second object does not spatially overlap the first object, such as a contour or four dots surrounding the object. The occurrence of this phenomenon is assumed to be due to a disruption of "feedback processing." When we see something, visual ...

In 2021 Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B (APSB) is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The journal was founded with the goal of creating a global high-level forum centred around drug discovery and pharmaceutical research/application. APSB was included by Chemical Abstracts in 2011, accepted by PubMed Central in 2015, indexed by Science Citation Index in 2017 and has evolved to become one of the most important international journals in the field of pharmaceutical sciences. Volume 11, issue 6 is a special issue marking the beginning of a series of celebratory events ...

The development of therapeutic drugs for inflammatory bowel disease, an intractable immune disease, and multiple sclerosis - an autoimmune disorder - is gaining traction. A research team from the Department of Life Sciences at POSTECH and a joint research team at ImmunoBiome Inc. have uncovered that a yeast-derived polysaccharide mixture inhibits the onset and progression of immune disorders. The number of cases of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis - both inflammatory bowel diseases - in Korea was about 18,000 and 37,000 respectively as of 2019, increasing about 2.3 times ...

With a goal of breeding resilient crops that are better able to withstand drought and disease, University of California San Diego scientists have developed the first CRISPR-Cas9-based gene drive in plants. While gene drive technology has been developed in insects to help stop the spread of vector-borne diseases such as malaria, researchers in Professor Yunde Zhao's lab, along with colleagues at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, demonstrated the successful design of a CRISPR-Cas9-based gene drive that cuts and copies genetic elements in Arabidopsis plants. Breaking ...

Tsukuba, Japan - The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people eat, work, shop and go to school. Now, researchers from Japan have found surprising differences in the way people use healthcare services--including house calls from doctors. In a study published this month in BMC Emergency Medicine, researchers from the University of Tsukuba have revealed that patterns in illness type and severity did change during the pandemic--with unexpected trends that may tell us about how people use health care services when personal contact carries inherent risk. In Tokyo, private after-hours house call services (AHHC) provide in-home medical service outside of regular ...

Quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor particles only a few nanometers across that, thanks to their small size, exhibit peculiar optical and electronic properties due to quantum mechanics. With existing and foreseen applications in screens, lighting, lasers, and energy harvesting, research in quantum dots has been steadily progressing. In particular, colloidal QDs (CQDs) have been in the nanotechnology spotlight for over a decade. CQDs are semiconductor nanocrystals that can be produced easily from solution-based processes, which make them suitable for mass production. However, for CQD-based devices to operate at their best, the quantum dots should be monodisperse--that is, ...

The contemporary materials industry raises the problem of creating a microscopic theory that allows to describe the observed physicochemical properties of a wide class of substances which are in demand in modern industry, medicine, and agriculture. A general and consistent theory will help to obtain reliable information from experimental data on the structure of matter, existing interactions and dynamic processes occurring in it, which can help in the synthesis and quality control of prospective materials. The study of the molecular structure of a substance and its intermolecular interactions is one of the most important and interesting tasks facing modern science. Of particular ...

Medical materials that can be inserted into the human body have been used for decades in the field of regenerative medicine - for example, stents that can help dilate clogged blood vessels and implants that can replace teeth or bones. The prolonged use of these materials can result in serious adverse effects and loss of various functions - for example, inflammatory responses, generation of fibrous tissues around the material, and generation of blood clots that block blood vessels. Recently, a Korean research team has drawn attention for developing a technology to reduce ...

Curtin University research has found tiny amounts of gold can be trapped inside pyrite, commonly known as 'fool's gold', which would make it much more valuable than its name suggests. This study, published in the journal Geology in collaboration with the University of Western Australia and the China University of Geoscience, provides an in-depth analysis to better understand the mineralogical location of the trapped gold in pyrite, which may lead to more environmentally friendly gold extraction methods. Lead researcher Dr Denis Fougerouse from Curtin's School of Earth and Planetary Sciences ...

Effective diagnostics, therapies and treatments for diseases and infections could increasingly involve re-engineering the body's internal biomechanisms at their most basic chemical and molecular foundations. Growing knowledge about the body's biological processes is increasing the possibilities for restoring human health, says Xiao Wang, an associate professor of biomedical engineering in Arizona State University's Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. He and a team of researchers are exploring ways to trigger and control cell differentiation and transition to unlock properties that may change bioengineers' approach to diagnostics, ...

PITTSBURGH, June 25, 2021 - It is widely assumed that Americans' sexual activity took a nosedive during the early chaotic months of the coronavirus pandemic. But a new study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine challenges this popular narrative. In a research letter published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, scientists from Pitt and UPMC found that some people were having more sex during the pandemic than ever before. That group? Older men with erectile dysfunction. "People's sexual lives contribute to the psychosocial fabric of society," said senior author Benjamin Davies, M.D., director of the Urologic Oncology Program at ...

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Wavsens LLC have developed a method for using radio signals to create real-time images and videos of hidden and moving objects, which could help firefighters find escape routes or victims inside buildings filled with fire and smoke. The technique could also help track hypersonic objects such as missiles and space debris. The new method, described in Nature Communications, could provide critical information to help reduce deaths and injuries. Locating and tracking first responders indoors is a prime goal for the public safety ...

A new University of Liverpool study could help scientists mitigate the future spread of zoonotic and livestock diseases caused by existing viruses. Researchers have used a form or artificial intelligence (AI) called machine-learning to predict more than 20,000 unknown associations between known viruses and susceptible mammalian species. The findings, which are published in Nature Communications, could be used to help target disease surveillance programmes. Thousands of viruses are known to affect mammals, with recent estimates indicating that less than 1% of mammalian viral diversity has been discovered to date. ...

Canadian researchers at The Ottawa Hospital, the University of Ottawa, the Bruyère Research Institute and ICES have built and validated an online calculator that empowers individuals 55 and over to better understand the health of their brain and how they can reduce their risk of being diagnosed with dementia in the next five years. Their process was published today in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, and the calculator is available at projectbiglife.ca. Dementia is an umbrella term for loss of memory and other thinking abilities severe enough to interfere with daily life. Every year, 76,000 new cases of dementia are diagnosed ...

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) significantly affected more Black and Latino children than white children, with Black children at the highest risk, according to a new observational study of 124 pediatric patients treated at Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C. Researchers also found cardiac complications, including systolic myocardial dysfunction and valvular regurgitation, were more common in MIS-C patients who were critically ill. Of the 124 patients, 63 were ultimately diagnosed with MIS-C and were compared with 61 patients deemed controls who presented with similar symptoms but ultimately had an alternative diagnosis. In the study, published ...

Burnout is a widespread reality in today's NHS Current NHS workforce plans are "a smart looking car minus the engine" An editorial published by The BMJ today raises important concerns about the health and wellbeing of the NHS workforce after a parliamentary report found "burnout is a widespread reality in today's NHS." Commenting on the report, Suzie Bailey of the King's Fund says: "Excessive workloads need to be dealt with at every level of the health and care system." She suggests that ineffective workforce planning is partly to blame, citing evidence ...

New research has discovered that common artificial sweeteners can cause previously healthy gut bacteria to become diseased and invade the gut wall, potentially leading to serious health issues. The study, published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, is the first to show the pathogenic effects of some of the most widely used artificial sweeteners - saccharin, sucralose, and aspartame - on two types of gut bacteria, E. coli (Escherichia coli) and E. faecalis (Enterococcus faecalis). Previous studies have shown that artificial sweeteners can change the number and type of bacteria in the gut, but this new molecular research, led by academics from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), has demonstrated that sweeteners can also make ...