Science Trends

Huge leap in breast-cancer survival rate Women diagnosed since 2010 have a much lower risk of dying than those diagnosed in the 1990s. Mammograms can be used to diagnose breast cancer. Credit: Michael Hanschke/DPA Picture Alliance/Avalon The number of people who die after a breast-cancer diagnosis has decreased by two-thirds since the 1990s, a study of more than half a million women in England has shown. The research has taken ten years to complete, says Carolyn Taylor, lead author and oncologist at the University of Oxford, UK. The analysis includes the 512,447 women in England who were diagnosed with early invasive breast cancer between January 1993 and December 2015; the researchers tracked the women until December 2020 using data from the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service. Women who were diagnosed in 1993–99 had a 14.4% risk of dying within 5 years. This fell to 4.9% for women diagnosed in 2010–15 (see ‘Improved odds’). The results were published 1  on 13 June i...

Novel Jell-O-like material could replace metals in pacemakers, cochlear implants Do an image search for "electronic implants," and you'll draw up a wide assortment of devices, from traditional pacemakers and cochlear implants to more futuristic brain and retinal microchips aimed at augmenting vision, treating depression, and restoring mobility. Some implants are hard and bulky, while others are flexible and thin. But no matter their form and function, nearly all implants incorporate electrodes -- small conductive elements that attach directly to target tissues to electrically stimulate muscles and nerves. Implantable electrodes are predominantly made from rigid metals that are electrically conductive by nature. But over time, metals can aggravate tissues, causing scarring and inflammation that in turn can degrade an implant's performance. Now, MIT engineers have developed a metal-free, jelly-like material that is as soft and tough as biological tissue and can conduct ...

  For over a century, researchers have thought that the patterns of brain activity that define our experiences, hopes and dreams are determined by how different brain regions communicate with each other through a complex web of trillions of cellular connections. Now, a study led by from researchers at Monash University's Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health has examined more than 10,000 different maps of human brain activity and found that the overall shape of a person's brain exerts a far greater influence on how we think, feel and behave than its intricate neuronal connectivity. The study, published today in the journal,  Nature  draws together approaches from physics, neuroscience and psychology to overturn the century-old paradigm emphasising the importance of complex brain connectivity, instead identifying a previously unappreciated relationship between brain shape and activity. Lead author and Research Fellow Dr James Pang, from the Turner Institute and Mona...

  The 'breath' between atoms—a new building block for quantum technology Date: June 1, 2023 Source: University of Washington Summary: Researchers have discovered they can detect atomic 'breathing,' or the mechanical vibration between two layers of atoms, by observing the type of light those atoms emitted when stimulated by a laser. The sound of this atomic 'breath' could help researchers encode and transmit quantum information. University of Washington researchers have discovered they can detect atomic "breathing," or the mechanical vibration between two layers of atoms, by observing the type of light those atoms emitted when stimulated by a laser. The sound of this atomic "breath" could help researchers encode and transmit quantum information. The researchers also developed a device that could serve as a new type of building block for quantum technologies, which are widely anticipated to have many future applications in fields such as comput...