Hematopoietic stem cells — the precursors to blood cells — have been notoriously difficult to grow in a dish, a critical tool in basic research. Scientists at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have identified the underlying issue and developed a method to keep cultured cells healthy. These findings, they say, are positive […]

Researchers are revisiting an age-old question in baseball: Do batters actually keep their eye on the ball? A review of the few film- and lab-based studies on the subject suggests that yes, indeed, batters’ eyes are watching the pitched ball. But they’re moving their heads, and not their eyes, to direct their gaze. And then, […]

Researchers have shown that human-caused climate change will have important consequences for how volcanic gases interact with the atmosphere. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge and the UK Met Office, say that large-magnitude eruptions will have greater effects as the climate continues to warm. However, the cooling effects of small- and medium-sized eruptions could […]

California condors have the starring role in one of the nation’s greatest conservation success stories, fruitfully returning to the wild after nearly going extinct in the 1980s. A team of researchers at UC San Francisco have recently sequenced the condor genome, shining light on the species’ history and opening the door to a better understanding […]

Engineers at Caltech and JPL have developed a material inspired by chain mail that can transform from a foldable, fluid-like state into specific solid shapes under pressure. The material has potential applications as a smart fabric for exoskeletons, or as an adaptive cast that adjusts its stiffness as an injury heals, or even as a […]

The pandemic has had a major impact on academics affecting their research and mental health, and raising concerns over future career prospects, according to a new survey. The Careers Research and Advisory Centre surveyed researchers between February and March this year. The 1347 respondents had taken part in an earlier survey in June 2020. At […]

Scientists produced the first dissolvable smartwatch. While not as sleek as current devices, it has similar performance and capabilities. The watch is resistant to sweat but disintegrates within 40 hours when submerged in water. Electronic waste is difficult and hazardous to recycle so is often not worth doing for small electronics. To reduce this waste, […]

Researchers in Japan have created a protecting group that will be useful for making complicated biomolecules. Based on the commonly used fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc) group, the new 2-(2-ethynylphenyl)-2-(5-methylfuran-2-yl)-ethoxycarbonyl (Epoc) group is initially stable in the basic conditions known to cleave Fmoc groups, but it can be activated using gold(iii) catalysis to restore Fmoc-like lability in basic […]

Trapping a polymer in a tiny dark space between two mirrors is all it takes to profoundly change the way it self-assembles – forming flakes instead of the usual fibres. The tiny mirrored box provides so-called vibrational strong coupling between molecules and the vacuum field, the boiling quantum mechanical soup that fills the universe with […]

Potato-sized clumps of metal at the bottom of the deepest oceans might aid our fight against climate change, but mining these could also damage a world we know very little about. More than 150 years after French author Jules Verne released his Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, the classic tale of deep-sea exploration, we know […]