Ultra-uniform nanodiamonds – which have important applications in areas like drug delivery, sensors and quantum computer processors – have been made without resorting to explosions. The work was presented at the American Chemical Society’s spring conference held virtually and in-person in San Diego, US. The traditional way of growing nanodiamonds is by detonating an explosive […]

Refining metals, manufacturing fertilizers and powering fuel cells for heavy vehicles are all processes that require purified hydrogen. But purifying, or separating, that hydrogen from a mix of other gases can be difficult, with several steps. A research team led by Chris Arges, Penn State associate professor of chemical engineering, demonstrated that the process can […]

At least hundreds of so-far unidentified species of mammals are hiding in plain sight around the world, a new study suggests. Researchers found that most of these hidden mammals are small bodied, many of them bats, rodents, shrews, and moles. These unknown mammals are hidden in plain sight partly because most are small and look […]

Since its invention, chemotherapy has proven to be a valuable tool in treating cancers of many kinds, but it has a big downside. In addition to killing cancer cells, it can also kill healthy cells like the ones in hair follicles, causing baldness, and those that line the stomach, causing nausea. Scientists at Caltech may […]

Despite their reputation as living fossils, scorpions have remained evolutionarily nimble — especially in developing venom to fend off the rise of mammal predators. A new genetic analysis of scorpions’ toxin-making reveals recent evolutionary steps and may actually be a boon for researchers studying scorpion venom’s benefits to human health. An international team of researchers […]

Similar to a light switch, RNA switches (called riboswitches) determine which genes turn “on” and “off.” Although this may seem like a simple process, the inner workings of these switches have confounded biologists for decades. Now researchers led by Northwestern University and the University at Albany discovered one part of RNA smoothly invades and displaces […]

Knowledge valorisation puts research results to work for a greener, fairer society We look at some successful approaches used to bring top quality research from the lab into business, society and our homes. © tadamichi, Shutterstock While knowledge itself is good, it’s even better when it’s applied to help solve the big challenges facing our […]

Standard image sensors, like the billion or so already installed in practically every smartphone in use today, capture light intensity and color. Relying on common, off-the-shelf sensor technology – known as CMOS – these cameras have grown smaller and more powerful by the year and now offer tens-of-megapixels resolution. But they’ve still seen in only […]

A brain imaging study of young people at high risk of developing bipolar disorder has for the first time found evidence of weakening connections between key areas of the brain in late adolescence. Up until now, medical researchers knew that bipolar disorder was associated with reduced communication between brain networks that are involved with emotional […]

As we age, our immune system works less well. We become more susceptible to infections and vaccinations no longer work as effectively. A research team led by Dario Riccardo Valenzano investigated whether short-lived killifish undergo aging of the immune system. Indeed, they found that already at four months of age, killifish have less diverse circulating […]