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• How confined protons migrate
• Stretching the capacity of flexible energy storage
• High-energy shape memory polymer could someday help robots flex their muscles
• Massive new animal species discovered in half-billion-year-old Burgess Shale
• How land birds cross the open ocean
• Insect protein has great potential to reduce the carbon footprint of European consumers
• Safeguarding clean water for spaceflight missions
• Scientists unravel the mysteries of irreversibility in electrochromic thin films
• Walking with coffee is a little-understood feat of physics
• Emoji are proposed as a powerful way for patients and doctors to communicate
• Scientists grow miniature brains that mimic the major pathological features of Parkinson’s disease
• Scientists develop films with tunable elongation and fracture for various uses
• Surroundings affect rhythm of an individual’s walk, according to new study
• New research shows a link between cell identities and childhood cancer type neuroblastoma
• Bird malaria spreading via global ‘hotspots’
• Scientists discover chemical signals in starfish that stop them eating
• Scientists discover two new species and new genus of freshwater mussels in Borneo
• New study puts focus on early symptoms of Huntington’s disease
• Officials leading hurricane response need ‘risk literacy’
• Under loading ceramics self-heal cracks by forming kink-bands
• Water-repellent nanomaterial inspired by nature
• Dental implant surfaces play major role in tissue attachment, warding off unwanted bacteria
• Chemotherapy drug puts young children with cancer at high risk of hearing loss
• Tea time gets flavor boost from thin film, impure water
• Ethnic studies increases student engagement and high school graduation
• New filtering method promises safer drinking water, improved industrial production
• Schizophrenia study suggests advanced genetic scorecard cannot predict a patient’s fate

How confined protons migrate Posted: 08 Sep 2021 03:04 PM PDT Protons in aqueous solution can usually migrate very quickly -- much faster compared to other ions. However, this only applies when they are in a space greater than two nanometers, as a new study shows. In confined spaces the so-called Grotthuss mechanism no longer works, in which protons diffuse faster than ions.

Stretching the capacity of flexible energy storage Posted: 08 Sep 2021 05:40 AM PDT Some electronics can bend, twist and stretch in wearable displays, biomedical applications and soft robots. While these devices' circuits have become increasingly pliable, the batteries and supercapacitors that power them are still rigid. Now, researchersreport a flexible supercapacitor with electrodes made of wrinkled titanium carbide -- a type of MXene nanomaterial -- that maintained its ability to store and release electronic charges after repetitive stretching.

High-energy shape memory polymer could someday help robots flex their muscles Posted: 08 Sep 2021 05:15 AM PDT When stretched or deformed, shape memory polymers return to their original shapes after heat or light is applied. These materials show great promise for soft robotics, smart biomedical devices and deployable space structures, but until now they haven't been able to store enough energy. Now, researchers have developed a shape memory polymer that stores almost six times more energy than previous versions.

Massive new animal species discovered in half-billion-year-old Burgess Shale Posted: 08 Sep 2021 03:25 AM PDT Palaeontologists have uncovered the remains of a huge new fossil species, an estimated length of half a meter, belonging to an extinct animal group, in the half-a-billion-year-old Cambrian rocks from Kootenay National Park in Canada.

How land birds cross the open ocean Posted: 07 Sep 2021 05:39 PM PDT Migrating birds choose routes with the best wind and uplift conditions, helping them to fly nonstop for hundreds of kilometers over the sea.

Insect protein has great potential to reduce the carbon footprint of European consumers Posted: 07 Sep 2021 05:39 PM PDT The use of insects as food for humans and animals has both the potential to reduce European consumers' carbon footprint and contribute to reducing incentives for continued soybean cultivation in the Amazon rainforest. However, when compared to feeding insects to farm animals, the direct human consumption of insects has the biggest potential to reduce our consumption-based carbon footprint.

Safeguarding clean water for spaceflight missions Posted: 07 Sep 2021 02:53 PM PDT In a first study of its kind, scientists characterized different bacterial populations isolated over time from potable (drinking) water from the International Space Station (ISS).

Scientists unravel the mysteries of irreversibility in electrochromic thin films Posted: 07 Sep 2021 02:53 PM PDT Tungsten oxide, an electrochromic (EC) material with immense potential for technical applications such as in smart windows, has attracted much interest for its energy-saving qualities. However, after multiple cycles, such EC devices exhibit degradation in optical modulation and reversibility owing to lithium-ion trapping. Now, scientists have adopted a quantitative approach to understand the irreversibility of lithium intercalated tungsten oxide films, laying the groundwork for developing superior electrochromic materials and devices.

Walking with coffee is a little-understood feat of physics Posted: 07 Sep 2021 02:53 PM PDT A new article expands on the coffee-cup-holding paradigm to examine how humans manipulate a complex object. The research has the potential to revolutionize design of smart prosthetics and will have an impact on manufacturing and animation.

Emoji are proposed as a powerful way for patients and doctors to communicate Posted: 07 Sep 2021 02:53 PM PDT Emoji could particularly enhance interaction with young children, people with disabilities, and patients who speak other languages, a physician and others argue in a new commentary. The opportunity exists for medical societies and physician committees to proactively shape emoji that best represent their fields, then work with the standards-setting body for emoji to get them approved and put into practice.

Scientists grow miniature brains that mimic the major pathological features of Parkinson’s disease Posted: 07 Sep 2021 01:07 PM PDT Recreating major pathological features of Parkinson's disease in a lab-grown, human mini-brain will help researchers to explore new treatments. This is the first time that Lewy bodies, a hallmark of Parkinson's disease in patients' brains, have been produced in the laboratory, offering new insights into the disease.

Scientists develop films with tunable elongation and fracture for various uses Posted: 07 Sep 2021 01:06 PM PDT Elastic polymers, or 'elastomers,' have various applications, including in car tires and shock absorbers, and their properties are governed by the density of cross-linked polymer chains. However, these properties are usually not modifiable, leading to excessive synthesis requirements. Now, scientists have come up with a novel elastomer film whose elasticity can be 'tuned' in a post-preparation manner, enabling unique elongation and fracture properties, and opening doors to flexible displays and soft robotics.

Surroundings affect rhythm of an individual’s walk, according to new study Posted: 07 Sep 2021 01:06 PM PDT Stepping patterns become slower and more variable if a person is uncomfortable with their surroundings, researchers have found.

New research shows a link between cell identities and childhood cancer type neuroblastoma Posted: 07 Sep 2021 01:06 PM PDT Neuroblastoma is a type of childhood cancer that develops in infants and young children. Whilst it is a relatively rare form of cancer, it is still responsible for approximately 15 percent of all cancer deaths in children. Researchers have discovered that low-risk and high-risk neuroblastoma have different cell identities, which can affect the survival rate.

Bird malaria spreading via global ‘hotspots’ Posted: 07 Sep 2021 01:06 PM PDT Bird species across the globe are suffering and dying from a type of malaria and, while these strains are not infectious to humans, they're spreading quickly through global transmission hotspots.

Scientists discover chemical signals in starfish that stop them eating Posted: 07 Sep 2021 01:06 PM PDT Like humans, starfish produce chemicals that tell them they're full and to stop eating, according to a new study.

Scientists discover two new species and new genus of freshwater mussels in Borneo Posted: 07 Sep 2021 01:06 PM PDT Researchers have discovered two new species and a new genus of freshwater mussel in Borneo for the first time in almost 100 years.

New study puts focus on early symptoms of Huntington’s disease Posted: 07 Sep 2021 01:06 PM PDT Psychiatric and cognitive symptoms emerge at an early stage in Huntington's disease. However, research so far has mainly focused on movement impairment, a symptom associated with the more advanced stages of the disease. A new study now shows that the emotional brain - the limbic system - is affected earlier in the course of the disease, and should therefore be given more attention in the development of new treatments.

Officials leading hurricane response need ‘risk literacy’ Posted: 07 Sep 2021 01:06 PM PDT New research shows that the most numerate officials were almost twice as likely as less numerate ones to provide additional evacuation times to their coastal communities during a hurricane. Less numerate ones, on the other hand, gave their communities less advance warning, and when they finally did issue evacuations, over-evacuated tens of thousands more people.

Under loading ceramics self-heal cracks by forming kink-bands Posted: 07 Sep 2021 01:06 PM PDT Ceramics are resilient to heat and extreme environments but they are fragile and crack easily. Researchers have discovered a self-healing mechanism within a type of ceramics, called MAX phases. They have shown that these engineered ceramics form natural faults or kink-bands during loading that can not only effectively stop cracks from growing, but can also close and heal them, thereby preventing catastrophic failure.

Water-repellent nanomaterial inspired by nature Posted: 07 Sep 2021 01:06 PM PDT Researchers have created a new nanomaterial that repels water and can stay dry even when submerged underwater. The discovery could open the door to the development of more efficient water-repellent surfaces, fuel cells and electronic sensors to detect toxins.

Dental implant surfaces play major role in tissue attachment, warding off unwanted bacteria Posted: 07 Sep 2021 01:05 PM PDT The surface of implants, as well as other medical devices, plays a significant role in the adsorption of oral proteins and the colonization by unwanted microorganisms (a process known as biofouling), according to a new study.

Chemotherapy drug puts young children with cancer at high risk of hearing loss Posted: 07 Sep 2021 08:07 AM PDT A chemotherapy drug known to cause hearing loss in children is more likely to do so the earlier in life children receive it, new UBC research has found. Cisplatin is a life-saving treatment for many children with cancer, but the study shows that the hearing of very young children is impacted early during treatment and is affected to a greater extent than that of older children.

Tea time gets flavor boost from thin film, impure water Posted: 07 Sep 2021 08:07 AM PDT Researchers describe how they applied rheology to the seemingly quaint purpose of improving the quality of a cup of black tea. They describe the interfacial phenomenon in a cup left to cool after steeping, when a thin film at the air-water interface can form, and assess the mechanical properties of the film, the formation of which is affected by water hardness, acidity, sugar or milk, tea concentration, and brewing temperature.

Ethnic studies increases student engagement and high school graduation Posted: 06 Sep 2021 12:15 PM PDT New research shows that enrolling 9th graders who are struggling academically in an ethnic studies course greatly improves the likelihood those students will graduate from high school and enroll in college.

New filtering method promises safer drinking water, improved industrial production Posted: 06 Sep 2021 12:14 PM PDT Researchers create thin film polymer membranes capable of separating fluoride from chloride and other ions. Targeted ion selectivity by the filtering membranes could have important implications for water purification, environmental remediation and industrial production.

Schizophrenia study suggests advanced genetic scorecard cannot predict a patient’s fate Posted: 06 Sep 2021 08:13 AM PDT Researchers found that a tool commonly used in research for evaluating a person's genetic risk for a disease, called a polygenic risk score, was no better at predicting the outcome of a schizophrenia patient's disease over time than written reports. The results raise important questions about the use of polygenic risk scores in real-world, clinical situations, and also suggest that a doctor's written report may be an untapped source of predictive information.

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