Science Trends

Left: The 23 pairs of chromosomes of cells in which autophagy is functioning look normal and healthy with no structural or numerical aberrations (each color represents a unique chromosome pair). Right: the chromosomes of cells in which autophagy is not functioning bypass crisis, showing both structural and numerical aberrations, with segments added to, deleted from, and/or swapped between chromosomes--a hallmark of cancer. Just as plastic tips protect the ends of shoelaces and keep them from fraying when we tie them, molecular tips called telomeres protect the ends of chromosomes and keep them from fusing when cells continually divide and duplicate their DNA. But while losing the plastic tips may lead to messy laces, telomere loss may lead to cancer. Salk Institute scientists studying the relationship of telomeres to cancer made a surprising discovery: a cellular recycling process called autophagy -- generally thought of as a survival mechanism -- actually promotes the death...

A researcher from ICMAB-CSIC holds a sample of the new thermoelectric cellulose produced by bacteria. Thermoelectric materials, capable of transforming heat into electricity, are very promising when converting residual heat into electrical energy, since they allow us to utilize hardly usable or almost lost thermal energy in an efficient way. Researchers at the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) have created a new concept of thermoelectric material, published in the journal  Energy & Environmental Science . It is a device composed of cellulose, produced in situ in the laboratory by bacteria, with small amounts of a conductive nanomaterial, carbon nanotubes, using a sustainable and environmentally friendly strategy. "Instead of making a material for energy, we cultivate it" explains Mariano Campoy-Quiles, a researcher of this study. "Bacteria, dispersed in an aqueous culture medium containing sugar and carbon nanotubes, produce the na...

Concept illustration (stock image). In a s cientific first, Columbia neuroengineers have created a system that translates thought into intelligible, recognizable speech. By monitoring someone's brain activity, the technology can reconstruct the words a person hears with unprecedented clarity. This breakthrough, which harnesses the power of speech synthesizers and artificial intelligence, could lead to new ways for computers to communicate directly with the brain. It also lays the groundwork for helping people who cannot speak, such as those living with as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or recovering from stroke, regain their ability to communicate with the outside world. These findings were published today in  Scientific Reports . "Our voices help connect us to our friends, family and the world around us, which is why losing the power of one's voice due to injury or disease is so devastating," said Nima Mesgarani, PhD, the paper's senior author a...

Are you a heavy drinker? Take note. Besides alcohol taking a toll on your health  in many ways, it may also trigger a long-lasting genetic change resulting in an even greater craving for alcohol. “We found that people who drink heavily may be changing their  DNA  in a way that makes them crave alcohol even more,” said Dipak K Sarkar, professor at  Rutgers University  in the US. “This may help explain why alcoholism is such a powerful addiction, and may one day contribut e to new ways to treat alcoholism or help prevent at-risk people from becoming addicted.” For the study, researchers focused on two genes implicated in the control of drinking behaviour:  PER2 , which influences the body’s biological clock, and POMC, which regulates our stress-response system. By comparing groups of moderate, binge and heavy drinkers, the team found that the two genes had changed in binge and heavy drinkers through an alcohol-influenced  gene  modifica...

Scientists have made a huge breakthrough that allows them to convert radio signals into power. The discovery could allow for phones and other devices that don’t use batteries — as well as entirely new ways of using smart technologies. Scientists in the US developed the device, known as a “rectenna”, from a semiconductor just a few atoms thick. Wi-fi signals captured by an  integrated  antenna are transformed into a DC current suitable for electronic circuits. The device could be used to provide battery-less power for smartphones, laptops, medical devices and  wearable technology , according to the US-led team. Because of its flexibility, it could also be fabricated to cover large areas. This has major implications for the future of “electronic intelligence”, say the scientists. Professor Tomas Palacios, director of the  Massachusetts  Institute of Technology said: “What if we could develop electronic systems that we wrap around a bridge or c...

Single Night Of Sleep Deprivation Reduces A Person’s Pain Threshold By Over 15%: Study  Public Roads Administrat Veteran insomniacs know in their bones what science has to say about sleep deprivation and pain: that the two travel together, one fuelling the other. For instance, people who develop chronic pain often lose the ability to sleep well, and quickly point to a bad back, sciatica or arthritis as the reason. The loss of sleep, in turn, can make a bad back feel worse, and the next night’s slumber even more difficult. Why sleep deprivation amplifies pain is not fully worked out, but it has to do with how the body responds to an injury. First, it hurts, as nerves send a blast up the spinal cord and into the brain. There, a network of neural regions flares in reaction to the injury and works to manage, or blunt, the sensation. In a sleep-lab experiment, the researchers found that a single night of sleep deprivation reduced a person’s pain threshold by over 15% and le...

Probiotics didn’t shorten bouts of stomach flu in kids, two large studies found. There’s no sorrier sight than a puking preschooler. That’s the conclusion I recently reached around 2 a.m. as my poor 4-year-old heaved into the dim abyss. Luckily, her bout with the stomach flu was brief, and she was feeling better by the next day. Stomach flu, also known as gastroenteritis, is a common affliction caused by bacteria or viruses that inflame the gut. Though mercifully short, the misery this brings is complete, for both the sufferer and the person charged with scrubbing chunks out of sheets, carpet and a stuffed toy cupcake. So when presented with something that could potentially cut short the puking, any parent would jump at the chance. That’s the promise of probiotics, “good” bacteria (typically in pill form) that some people think might help restore the irritated gut and get kids feeling better faster. But according to two big studies (here and here) of puking ...

Schematic of vertically aligned and connected ceramic channels for enhancing ionic conduction. In the left figure, ceramic particles are randomly dispersed in the polymer matrix, where ion transport is blocked by the polymer matrix with a low conductivity. In the right one, vertically aligned and connected structure facilitates ion transport, which can be realized by the ice-templating method. Yuan Yang, assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Columbia Engineering, has developed a new method that could lead to lithium batteries that are safer, have longer battery life, and are bendable, providing new possibilities such as flexible smartphones. His new technique uses ice-templating to control the structure of the solid electrolyte for lithium batteries that are used in portable electronics, electric vehicles, and grid-level energy storage. The study is published online April 24 in Nano Letters. Liquid electrolyte is currently used in commercial lithium ...

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have designed the first fully flexible, battery-free “rectenna” — a device that converts energy from Wi-Fi signals into electricity — that could be used to power flexible and wearable electronics, medical devices, and sensors for the “internet of things.” Imagine a world where smartphones, laptops, wearables, and other electronics are powered without batteries. Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have taken a step in that direction, with the first fully flexible device that can convert energy from Wi-Fi signals into electricity that could power electronics. Devices that convert AC electromagnetic waves into DC electricity are known as "rectennas." The researchers demonstrate a new kind of rectenna, described in a study appearing in Nature, that uses a flexible radio-frequency (RF) antenna that captures electromagnetic waves -- including those carrying Wi-Fi -- as AC waveforms. The antenna is then connected to a novel device ma...