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Public Release: 2-Aug-2013
Researchers create 'soft robotic' devices using water-based gels Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new technique for creating devices out of a water-based hydrogel material that can be patterned, folded and used to manipulate objects. The technique holds promise for use in "soft robotics" and biomedical applications. Contact: Mick Kulikowski Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Novel 3-D simulation technology helps surgical residents train more effectively A novel interactive 3-dimensional simulation platform offers surgical residents a unique opportunity to hone their diagnostic and patient management skills, and then have those skills accurately evaluated according to a new study appearing in the Aug. issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Contact: Dan Hamilton Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
NASA looks at Tropical Storm Jebi in South China Sea Tropical Storm Jebi developed on July 31 and NASA satellite data on Aug. 1 shows the storm filling up at least half of the South China Sea. Contact: Rob Gutro Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
NASA sees Hurricane Gil being chased by developing storm On July 31, NASA's TRMM satellite saw Tropical Storm Gil intensifying and the storm became a hurricane. NASA's Aqua satellite and NOAA's GOES-15 satellite captured views of Gil on Aug. 1 as it was being chased by another developing tropical system. Contact: Rob Gutro Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
NASA seeing which way the wind blows The autonomous and compact High-altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Profiler, or HIWRAP, a dual-frequency conical-scanning Doppler radar, will hang under NASA's aircraft's belly as it flies above hurricanes to measure wind and rain and to test a new method for retrieving wind data. Contact: Ellen Gray Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Sounding rocket to study active regions on the sun At NASA's White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, N.M., a sounding rocket is being readied for flight. Due to launch on Aug. 8, 2013, the VERIS rocket, short for Very high Resolution Imaging Spectrometer, will launch for a 15-minute trip carrying an instrument that can measure properties of the structures in the sun's upper atmosphere down to 145 miles across, some eight times clearer than any similar telescope currently in space. Contact: Karen Fox Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Las Cumbres Observatory 'Sinistro' astronomy imager captures first light The Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope has captured its first on-sky images with the production Sinistro CCD camera. Contact: David Petry Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
August 2013 story tips from Oak Ridge National Laboratory The following are story ideas from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory for August 2013. Contact: Ron Walli Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Light that moves and molds gels Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have demonstrated a biomimetic response using hydrogels -- a material that constitutes most contact lenses and microfluidic or fluid-controlled technologies. Their study, published in Advanced Functional Materials, is the first to show that these gels can be both reconfigured and controlled by light, undergoing self-sustained motion -- a uniquely biomimetic behavior. Contact: B. Rose Huber Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Catching cancer early by chasing it Reaching a clinic in time to receive an early diagnosis for cancer -- when the disease is most treatable -- is a global problem. And now a team of Chinese researchers proposes a global solution: have a user-friendly diagnostic device travel to the patient, anywhere in the world. Contact: Jason Socrates Bardi Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
A new tool for brain research Physicists and neuroscientists from The University of Nottingham and University of Birmingham have unlocked one of the mysteries of the human brain, thanks to new research using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging and electroencephalography. Contact: Emma Rayner Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Study highlights possible new approach to prostate cancer treatment A study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry identifies a new therapeutic approach to treat prostate cancer. The research shows that expression of the FoxM1 protein is essential for prostate cancer to develop in mouse models. The study also shows that depletion of FoxM1 in prostate epithelial cells inhibits tumor cell proliferation, the process by which new blood vessels are formed, and metastasis -- the spread of cancer to other organs of the body. Contact: Nick Miller Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
An app to lead the blind A smartphone app that keeps track of your location and distance walked from home or hotel and warns you when you are likely to be caught out after dark has been developed by researchers in Pakistan to help sufferers of the debilitating disease night blindness. The app can also help travelers with the disease pinpoint hotels should they find themselves too far from base to get home safely. Contact: Albert Ang Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Modeling of congenital amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia using iPS cell technology Researchers has conducted a study in which iPS cells generated from a patient with congenital amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia were induced to differentiate into blood cells in vitro and then used to undertake a detailed study of the differences between these and cells from healthy subjects. They found that, in humans, thrombopoietin receptors are essential not only to the maintenance of the multipotent hematopoietic progenitor population and the production of platelets, but also to erythropoiesis. Contact: Akemi Nakamura Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
CU-Boulder team develops new water splitting technique that could produce hydrogen fuel A University of Colorado Boulder team has developed a radically new technique that uses the power of sunlight to efficiently split water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen, paving the way for the broad use of hydrogen as a clean, green fuel. Contact: Alan Weimer Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
New target for the fight against cancer as a result of excessive blood vessel formation New blood vessel formation (angiogenesis) stimulates the growth of cancer and other diseases. Anti-angiogenic inhibitors slow down cancer growth by disrupting the blood supply to the tumor. To date, the success of these treatments is limited by resistance, poor efficiency and harmful side effects. In the leading scientific journal Cell, Peter Carmeliet (VIB-KU Leuven) and his team reported that sugar metabolism (a process that we call glycolysis) also plays an essential role in the formation of new blood vessels. Contact: Kris Van der Beken Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
'Soft' approach leads to revolutionary energy storage Monash University researchers have brought next generation energy storage closer with an engineering first -- a graphene-based device that is compact, yet lasts as long as a conventional battery. Contact: Emily Walker Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Ultrasound patch heals venous ulcers in human trial In a small clinical study, researchers administered a new method for treating chronic wounds using a novel ultrasound applicator that can be worn like a band-aid. The applicator delivers low-frequency, low-intensity ultrasound directly to wounds, and was found to significantly accelerate healing in five patients with venous ulcers. Contact: Margot Kern Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Bacteria hold the clues to trade-offs in financial investments and evolution Scientists have found that bacteria have the potential to teach valuable investment lessons. The research, published in the journal Ecology Letters, takes advantage of the fact that bacteria, like humans, have limited resources and are constantly faced with investment decisions. Contact: Jo Bowler Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
2 dimensions of value: Dopamine neurons represent reward but not aversiveness The experiments reported here show that dopamine neurons are sensitive to the value of reward but not punishment (like the aversiveness of a bitter taste). This demonstrates that reward and aversiveness are represented as two discrete dimensions (or categories) in the brain. Contact: Lan Yoon Public Release: 31-Jul-2013
Binding together repelling atoms New theoretical predictions show that the combination of a repelling force and controlled noise from an environment can also have the surprising effect of leading to a bound state, although one with quite exotic properties. Contact: Peter Reuell Public Release: 31-Jul-2013
Key factors for wireless power transfer What happens to a resonant wireless power transfer system in the presence of complex electromagnetic environments, such as metal plates? A team of researchers explored the influences at play in this type of situation, and they describe in the American Institute of Physics' journal AIP Advances how efficient wireless power transfer can indeed be achieved in the presence of metal plates. Contact: Jason Socrates Bardi Public Release: 31-Jul-2013
Robots strike fear in the hearts of fish The latest in a series of experiments testing the ability of robots to influence live animals shows that bio-inspired robots can not only elicit fear in zebrafish, but that this reaction can be modulated by alcohol. These findings may pave the way for new methodologies for understanding anxiety and other emotions, as well as substances that modulate them. Contact: Kathleen Hamilton Public Release: 31-Jul-2013
Tiny, brightly shining silicon crystals could be safe for deep-tissue imaging Tiny silicon crystals caused no health problems in monkeys three months after large doses were injected, marking a step forward in the quest to bring such materials into clinics as biomedical imaging agents, according to a new study. Contact: Charlotte Hsu Public Release: 31-Jul-2013
UT Austin researchers successfully spoof an $80 million yacht at sea A radio navigation research team from The University of Texas at Austin successfully discovered they could subtly coerce a 65-meter superyacht off its course, using a custom-made GPS device. The purpose of the experiment was to measure the difficulty of carrying out a spoofing attack at sea and to determine how easily sensors in the ship's command room could identify the threat. Contact: Sandra Zaragoza |