Applying high temperatures and pressure to buckminsterfullerene C60 produces amorphous carbon materials with a compressive strength similar to diamond, scientists have found. Amorphous materials have no long-range order and can be made by compressing sp2 carbon precursors. Under ambient conditions, C60 remains stable at pressure up to 25GPa. But at temperatures above 800˚C it compresses […]

Neural networks (NNs) are increasingly being used to predict new materials, the rate and yield of chemical reactions, and drug-target interactions, among others. For these applications, they are orders of magnitude faster than traditional methods such as quantum mechanical simulations.  The price for this agility, however, is reliability. Because machine learning models only interpolate, they […]

In the face of grave concerns about misinformation, social media networks and news organizations often employ fact-checkers to sort the real from the false. But fact-checkers can only assess a small portion of the stories floating around online. A new study by MIT researchers suggests an alternate approach: Crowdsourced accuracy judgements from groups of normal […]

Recent research in Arabia – a collaboration between scientists at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany, the Heritage Commission of the Saudi Ministry of Culture, and many other Saudi and international researchers – has begun to document the incredibly rich prehistory of Saudi Arabia, the largest country in […]

In March 2020, not long after the first cases of COVID-19 were reported locally, health officials in the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County issued emergency public health orders intended to reduce interactions between people and slow the transmission of the novel respiratory virus. Such action likely saved thousands of lives in the […]

Unchecked climate change may leave some Arctic predators surviving off of marine “junk food,” according to a new UBC study. It found that transformations to the makeup and distribution of fish species—as well as the size of fish in Hudson Bay—will begin to accelerate by 2025, and become progressively more extreme unless action is taken to […]

McGill University researchers identify proteins that drive cancer stem cells. Targeting and supressing a particular protein called galectin1 could provide a more effective treatment for glioblastoma, in combination with radiation therapy. Due to its resistance to therapy, glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive cancerous brain tumour in adults. It grows fast and spreads quickly. […]

Drawing inspiration from nature, a team of international scientists have invented a smart device for personalized skin care modeled after the male diving beetle. This tool collects and monitors body fluids while sticking to the skin’s surface, paving the way for more accurate diagnostics and treatment for skin diseases and conditions like acne. The team […]

A new mechanism that stops the progression of Huntington’s disease in cells has been identified by scientists at the University of Cambridge and UCL, as part of their research groups at the UK Dementia Research Institute. Researchers say the breakthrough study, published in Cell Reports, could lead to much needed therapies for the rare genetic disease, […]

Invasive shrubs in Northeastern forests that sprout leaves earlier in the spring and keep them longer in the fall not only absorb more sunlight than native shrubs, but their foliage lowers air temperatures on the forest floor, likely giving them another competitive advantage. That’s the conclusion of Penn State researchers who conducted a three-year study […]