Researchers have developed a new approach to machine learning that ‘learns how to learn’ and out-performs current machine learning methods for drug design, which in turn could accelerate the search for new disease treatments. The method, called transformational machine learning (TML), was developed by a team from the UK, Sweden, India and Netherlands. It learns […]

The avocado is considered a nutrient-dense plant food. In a novel study, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science conducted a randomized controlled trial comparing the potential health effects between families that consumed a low allotment of avocados (three per […]

Ovarian cancer patient Carol Giandonato admits to being apprehensive when her oncologist told her he wanted to make her cancer cells turn fluorescent green. “Am I going to glow in the dark? Will I be green?” she asked him. Her surgeon explained that when viewing the cancer site, the cancerous lesions would be illuminated with […]

Today’s quantum computers are complicated to build, difficult to scale up, and require temperatures colder than interstellar space to operate. These challenges have led researchers to explore the possibility of building quantum computers that work using photons — particles of light. Photons can easily carry information from one place to another, and photonic quantum computers […]

A new study by researchers at the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University found that people who reported higher rates of anxiety and depression — but not loneliness — were more likely to use emerging digital sexual technologies, or “sextech,” including sending sexually explicit images or videos and visiting erotic webcam sites. The researchers said this suggests that […]

Traces of the earliest-known cases of mercury poisoning, dating back almost 5000 years, have been discovered in ancient tombs in Spain and Portugal. They’re thought to have been caused by the extensive use of cinnabar – mercury sulfide – as a bright red pigment in prehistoric times. Analysis of human bones from more than 50 […]

A silicone device that can change skin tissue into blood vessels and nerve cells has advanced from prototype to standardized fabrication, meaning it can now be made in a consistent, reproducible way. As reported in Nature Protocols, this work, developed by researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine, takes the device one step closer to potential […]

The Amsterdam building that was once physical chemist Jacobus Henricus van ’t Hoff’s lab has been declared a chemical landmark by the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society. From 1877 until 1891, van ’t Hoff conducted groundbreaking experiments in the small space, including discovering the laws of chemical dynamics and osmotic pressure, which would win him the […]

Researchers have identified a new phenomenon dubbed triple Leidenfrost effect that explains why two droplets of different liquids bounce off each other when placed on a hot surface instead of merging. The Leidenfrost effect can be observed when a droplet is placed on a surface much hotter than the liquid’s boiling point. The liquid at […]

Imagine you could cure cancer by targeting one tiny gene. Imagine that same gene occurred in every major cancer, including breast, prostate, lung, liver and colon. Imagine that the gene is not essential for healthy activity, so you could attack it with few or no negative side effects. Cancer biologist Yibin Kang has spent more […]