The press release
archive.

Energy17 Apr 2014

Surprising material could play role in saving energy

One strategy for addressing the world's energy crisis is to stop wasting so much energy when producing and using it, which can happen in coal-fired power plants or transportation. Nearly two-thirds of energy input is lost as waste heat. Now Northwestern University scientists have discovered a surprising material that is the best in the world at converting waste heat to useful electricity. This outstanding property could be exploited in solid-state thermoelectric devices in a variety of industries, with potentially enormous energy savings. An interdisciplinary team led ...

Read the release

Science17 Apr 2014

How vision makes sure that little fish do not get carried away

This news release is available in German. Our eyes not only enable us to recognise objects; they also provide us with a continuous stream of information about our own movements. Whether we run, turn around, fall or sit still in a car – the world glides by us and leaves a characteristic motion trace on our retinas. Seemingly without effort, our brain calculates self-motion from this "optic flow". This way, we can maintain a stable position and a steady gaze during our own movements. Together with biologists from the University of Freiburg, scientists from the Max Planck ...

Read the release

Medicine17 Apr 2014

Massage therapy improves circulation, eases muscle soreness

VIDEO: Massage therapy improves general blood flow and alleviates muscle soreness after exercise, according to a study by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Click here for more information. Massage therapy improves general blood flow and alleviates muscle soreness after exercise, according to a study by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The study, reported online in advance of print in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, ...

Read the release

Science17 Apr 2014

Food shortages could be most critical world issue by mid-century

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The world is less than 40 years away from a food shortage that will have serious implications for people and governments, according to a top scientist at the U.S. Agency for International Development. "For the first time in human history, food production will be limited on a global scale by the availability of land, water and energy," said Dr. Fred Davies, senior science advisor for the agency's bureau of food security. "Food issues could become as politically destabilizing by 2050 as energy issues are today." Davies, who also is a Texas A&M AgriLife ...

Read the release

Science17 Apr 2014

Internet use may cut retirees' depression

Spending time online has the potential to ward off depression among retirees, particularly among those who live alone, according to research published online in The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences. In the article "Internet Use and Depression Among Retired Older Adults in the United States: A Longitudinal Analysis," the authors report that Internet use reduced the probability of a depressed state by 33 percent among their study sample. Late-life depression affects between 5 and 10 million Americans age 50 and older. This new ...

Read the release

Space17 Apr 2014

A cross-section of the universe

An image of a galaxy cluster taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope gives a remarkable cross-section of the Universe, showing objects at different distances and stages in cosmic history. They range from cosmic near neighbours to objects seen in the early years of the Universe. The 14-hour exposure shows objects around a billion times fainter than can be seen with the naked eye. This new Hubble image showcases a remarkable variety of objects at different distances from us, extending back over halfway to the edge of the observable Universe. The galaxies in this image ...

Read the release

Science17 Apr 2014

Researcher looks at public perceptions around newborn testing

TORONTO, April 17, 2014—While 94 per cent of Canadians surveyed said they would participate in public health programs that screen newborns for a specific number of genetic conditions, only 80 per cent said they would be willing to participate in screening that would sequence their newborns' genomes. Most newborns in North America have a "heel prick test" in their first day or two of life in which a tiny amount of blood is taken from their heels and tested for about five to 54 conditions, depending on the state or province. Some conditions commonly tested for include cystic ...

Read the release

Medicine17 Apr 2014

Adrenaline does little to increase patient's survival after cardiac arrest

TORONTO, April 17, 2014— Giving patients adrenaline after they suffer a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital does not increase their prospects of surviving long-term, according to new research conducted at St. Michael's Hospital. "The vast number of patients who have a cardiac arrest get adrenaline, which has been the drug recommended in treating cardiac arrest for decades," said Dr. Steve Lin, an emergency physician and trauma team leader at St. Michael's. "Yet, despite advances in medical treatment, long-term survival rates of patients who suffer a cardiac outside a ...

Read the release

Medicine17 Apr 2014

Animal study provides first evidence that gel can prevent multiple virus transmission in vagina/rectum

NEW YORK (17 April 2014)— Population Council scientists and their partners have found that their proprietary microbicide gel is safe, stable, and can prevent the transmission of multiple sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in both the vagina and rectum in animals: HIV, herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2), and human papillomavirus (HPV). The USAID-funded study also provides the first data that the gel is effective against multiple strains of HIV, and has a window of efficacy in the vagina against all three viruses of at least eight hours prior to exposure. A Phase 1 safety ...

Read the release

Science17 Apr 2014

Wireless power transfer achieved at 5-meter distance

Daejeon, Republic of Korea, April 17, 2014 – The way electronic devices receive their power has changed tremendously over the past few decades, from wired to non-wired. Users today enjoy all kinds of wireless electronic gadgets including cell phones, mobile displays, tablet PCs, and even batteries. The Internet has also shifted from wired to wireless. Now, researchers and engineers are trying to remove the last remaining wires altogether by developing wireless power transfer technology. Chun T. Rim, a professor of Nuclear & Quantum Engineering at KAIST, and his team ...

Read the release

Science17 Apr 2014

Fear of the cuckoo mafia

This news release is available in German. If a restaurant owner fails to pay the protection money demanded of him, he can expect his premises to be trashed. Warnings like these are seldom required, however, as fear of the consequences is enough to make restaurant owners pay up. Similarly, mafia-like behaviour is observed in parasitic birds, which lay their eggs in other birds' nests. If the host birds throw the cuckoo's egg out, the brood parasites take their revenge by destroying the entire nest. Consequently, it is beneficial for hosts to be capable of learning and ...

Read the release

Science17 Apr 2014

East African honeybees are safe from invasive pests… for now

Several parasites and pathogens that devastate honeybees in Europe, Asia and the United States are spreading across East Africa, but do not appear to be impacting native honeybee populations at this time, according to an international team of researchers. The invasive pests include including Nosema microsporidia and Varroa mites. "Our East African honeybees appear to be resilient to these invasive pests, which suggests to us that the chemicals used to control pests in Europe, Asia and the United States currently are not necessary in East Africa," said Elliud Muli, senior ...

Read the release

Environment17 Apr 2014

Drought and fire in the Amazon lead to sharp increases in forest tree mortality

Ongoing deforestation and fragmentation of forests in the Amazon help create tinderbox conditions for wildfires in remnant forests, contributing to rapid and widespread forest loss during drought years, according to a team of researchers. The findings show that forests in the Amazon could reach a "tipping point" when severe droughts coupled with forest fires lead to large-scale loss of trees, making recovery more difficult, said Jennifer Balch, assistant professor of geography, Penn State. "We documented one of the highest tree mortality rates witnessed in Amazon forests," ...

Read the release

Social Science17 Apr 2014

Classifying cognitive styles across disciplines

Educators have tried to boost learning by focusing on differences in learning styles. Management consultants tout the impact that different decision-making styles have on productivity. Various fields have developed diverse approaches to understanding the way people process information. A new report from psychological scientists aims to integrate these disciplines by offering a new, integrated framework of cognitive styles that bridges different terminologies, concepts, and approaches. "This new taxonomy of cognitive styles offers a clear categorization of different types ...

Read the release

Medicine17 Apr 2014

Unraveling the 'black ribbon' around lung cancer

It's not uncommon these days to find a colored ribbon representing a disease. A pink ribbon is well known to signify breast cancer. But what color ribbon does one think of with lung cancer? Although white has been identified as the designated color, for many suffering from the disease, black may be the only one they think fits. A Michigan State University study consisting of lung cancer patients, primarily smokers between the ages of 51 to 79 years old, is shedding more light on the stigma often felt by these patients, the emotional toll it can have and how health providers ...

Read the release

Medicine17 Apr 2014

Some immune cells defend only 1 organ

Scientists have uncovered a new way the immune system may fight cancers and viral infections. The finding could aid efforts to use immune cells to treat illness. The research, in mice, suggests that some organs have the immunological equivalent of "neighborhood police" – specialized squads of defenders that patrol only one area, a single organ, instead of an entire city, the body. Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that the liver, skin and uterus each has dedicated immune cells, which they call tissue-resident natural killer ...

Read the release

Science17 Apr 2014

Deaths from viral hepatitis surpasses HIV/AIDS as preventable cause of deaths in Australia

The analysis was conducted by Dr Benjamin Cowie and Ms Jennifer MacLachlan from the University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, and was presented at The International Liver Congress in London earlier this month. "Liver cancer is the fastest increasing cause of cancer deaths in Australia, increasing each year by 5 per cent, so by more than seventy people each year. In 2014 there was an estimated number of deaths of around 1,500 from liver cancer. The predominant cause is chronic viral Hepatitis," Dr Cowie said. Hepatitis refers to the inflammation of the liver. Chronic ...

Read the release

Earth Science17 Apr 2014

Ancient sea-levels give new clues on ice ages

International researchers, led by the Australian National University (ANU), have developed a new way to determine sea-level changes and deep-sea temperature variability over the past 5.3 million years. The findings will help scientists better understand the climate surrounding ice ages over the past two million years, and could help determine the relationship between carbon dioxide levels, global temperatures and sea levels. The team from ANU, the University of Southampton (UoS) and the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) in the United Kingdom, examined oxygen isotope ...

Read the release

Medicine17 Apr 2014

Scientists find new way to fight malaria drug resistance

An anti-malarial treatment that lost its status as the leading weapon against the deadly disease could be given a new lease of life, with new research indicating it simply needs to be administered differently. The findings could revive the use of the cheap anti-malarial drug chloroquine in treating and preventing the mosquito-bourne disease, which claims the lives of more than half a million people each year around the world. The parasite that causes malaria has developed resistance to chloroquine, but research carried out at the Australian National University (ANU) ...

Read the release

Science17 Apr 2014

Newlyweds, be careful what you wish for

A statistical analysis of the gift "fulfillments" at several hundred online wedding gift registries suggests that wedding guests are caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to buying an appropriate gift for the happy couple. The details reported in the International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing suggest that most people hope to garner social benefits of buying an expensive gift that somehow enhances their relationship with the newlyweds while at the same time they wish to limit monetary cost and save money. Yun Kyung Oh of the Department of ...

Read the release

Medicine17 Apr 2014

More research called for into HIV and schistosomiasis coinfection in African children

Researchers from LSTM have called for more research to be carried out into HIV and schistosomiasis coinfection in children in sub-Saharan Africa. In a paper in The Lancet Infectious Diseases LSTM's Professor Russell Stothard, working with colleagues in the department of Parasitology and researchers from Cape Western Reserve University, in Cleveland Ohio, University of Cambridge and the Royal Veterinary College looked at previous research into the joint burden of HIV/AIDS and schistosomiasis of children, and found that while disease-specific control interventions are continuing, ...

Read the release

Medicine17 Apr 2014

Biomedical applications of shape-memory polymers: How practically useful are they?

Polymers that exhibit shape-memory effect (SME) are an important class of materials in medicine, especially for minimally invasive deployment of devices. Professor Subbu Venkatraman and his group from School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University presented a review article surveying the clinical applications of the SME and addressing critically the question of its utility in implantable devices. Their work, entitled "Biomedical applications of shape-memory polymers: How practically useful are they?", was published in SCIENCE CHINA Chemistry.2014, ...

Read the release

Medicine17 Apr 2014

More effective kidney stone treatment, from the macroscopic to the nanoscale

Researchers in France have hit on a novel method to help kidney stone sufferers ensure they receive the correct and most effective treatment possible. Kidney stones represent a major medical problem in the western and developing world. If left untreated, apart from being particularly painful, they can lead to renal failure and other complications. In many patients treated successfully, stone recurrence is also amajor problem. Clearly a more effective pathological approach to diagnosis and treatment needs to be identified to ensure successful eradication of stones. Worldwide ...

Read the release

Science17 Apr 2014

Structure of sodium channels different than previously believed

Sodium channels are implicated in many serious conditions such as heart disease, epilepsy and pain, making them an important potential target for drug therapies. Unfortunately, there is still much scientists do not know about the molecules. New Cambridge research provides fresh and unexpected insight into the structure of sodium channels and, specifically, one of its components - β-subunit molecules - which are responsible for 'fine-tuning' the activity of the channel. The research is published in the most recent edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Nerves ...

Read the release

Energy17 Apr 2014

Chiral breathing: Electrically controlled polymer changes its optical properties

Electrically controlled glasses with continuously adjustable transparency, new polarisation filters, and even chemosensors capable of detecting single molecules of specific chemicals could be fabricated thanks to a new polymer unprecedentedly combining optical and electrical properties. An international team of chemists from Italy, Germany, and Poland developed a polymer with unique optical and electric properties. Components of this polymer change their spatial configuration depending on the electric potential applied. In turn, the polarisation of transmitted light is ...

Read the release