Reports and Proceedings

9-Jun-2022

The link between wildfires and drinking water contamination

American Chemical Society
Reports and Proceedings

Following a devastating wildfire in 2018 that raged through Paradise, California, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were found to be contaminating the town’s water—and scientists suggest this problem may be widespread in other fire-prone areas. A feature article in Chemical & Engineering News, an independent news outlet of the American Chemical Society, examines how plastic pipes may be a key source of contamination and explores what can be done to protect vulnerable communities.

Journal: Chemical & Engineering News

9-Jun-2022

Keeping web-browsing data safe from hackers

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Reports and Proceedings

MIT researchers analyzed a powerful machine-learning-assisted cyberattack and uncovered a security vulnerability that an attacker can exploit to predict the website a user is browsing with almost perfect accuracy. Then, they developed two mitigation strategies that dramatically reduce the attacker’s chances of success.

Funder: National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab

9-Jun-2022

Pour me a glass

Carnegie Mellon University
Reports and Proceedings

Water presents a tricky challenge for robots because it is clear. Robots have learned how to pour water before, but previous techniques like heating the water and using a thermal camera or placing the glass in front of a checkerboard background don't transition well to everyday life. An easier solution could enable robot servers to refill water glasses, robot pharmacists to measure and mix medicines, or robot gardeners to water plants. A team in the institute's Robots Perceiving and Doing Lab to use AI and image translation to solve the problem.

Meeting: International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

9-Jun-2022

Central Bank Digital Currencies will create evolution, not revolution, in international payments systems – new research

University of Bath
Reports and Proceedings

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) may offer a route towards improving and simplifying the complex ecosystem of international and domestic payments but are not likely to replace established conventional payments systems for the foreseeable future, new research shows.

8-Jun-2022

Scientists offer solutions to global phosphorus crisis that threatens food and water security

UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Reports and Proceedings

A major new report by scientists warns that global mismanagement of phosphorus is causing twin crises, brought into sharp focus with fertilizer prices skyrocketing in recent months. Global food security remains threatened as many farmers struggle to afford sufficient phosphorus fertilizer for their crops. Meanwhile, overuse of fertilizers and sewage pollution pump millions of tonnes of phosphorus into lakes and rivers each year, damaging biodiversity and affecting water quality.

Funder: United Nations Environment Programme, Natural Environment Research Council, Global Environment Facility, European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform

8-Jun-2022

Analysis finds little evidence of heart problems in men undergoing testosterone treatment

The Endocrine Society
Reports and Proceedings

Previous clinical trials have provided insufficient evidence to decide whether testosterone causes heart problems in men during the first year of treatment, according to research being presented Monday at ENDO 2022, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga., and published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity.

Journal: The Lancet Healthy Longevity
Funder: National Institute of Health & Care Research

8-Jun-2022

NASA's Webb telescope: Engineered to endure micrometeoroid impacts

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Reports and Proceedings

Micrometeoroid strikes are an unavoidable aspect of operating any spacecraft, which routinely sustain many impacts over the course of long and productive science missions in space. Between May 23 and 25, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope sustained an impact to one of its primary mirror segments. After initial assessments, the team found the telescope is still performing at a level that exceeds all mission requirements despite a marginally detectable effect in the data.

8-Jun-2022

More than 90% of cyberattacks are made possible by human error

Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC)
Reports and Proceedings

Five cybersecurity challenges beyond technology

8-Jun-2022

Bluetooth signals can be used to identify and track smartphones

University of California - San Diego
Reports and Proceedings

A team of engineers at the University of California San Diego has demonstrated for the first time that the Bluetooth signals emitted constantly by our mobile phones have a unique fingerprint that can be used to track individuals’ movements.

Meeting: IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy

8-Jun-2022

Minimally invasive treatment could allow more women to conceive without fertility treatments

Society of Interventional Radiology
Reports and Proceedings

A simple diagnostic procedure, followed by an interventional radiology treatment known as fallopian tube recanalization, could allow a high percentage of women struggling with infertility from blocked fallopian tubes to conceive with less involved or, in some cases, no further invasive fertility procedures, according to new research to be presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology Annual Scientific Meeting. Researchers said that most women with with blocked fallopian tubes could have their condition easily corrected.

Meeting: Society of Interventional Radiology 2022 Annual Scientific Meeting

8-Jun-2022

Early study suggests a new, injectable gel may greatly reduce chronic low back pain

Society of Interventional Radiology
Reports and Proceedings

An experimental formulation of a hydrogel, injected into spinal discs, proved safe and effective in substantially relieving chronic low back pain caused by degenerative disc disease (DDD), according to new research to be presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology Annual Scientific Meeting, in Boston. Hydrogels have been used for a number of years to treat DDD, but the current study is the first test of this particular gel in humans.

Meeting: Society of Interventional Radiology 2022 Annual Scientific Meeting

8-Jun-2022

New study cites a possible breakthrough treatment in pain management

Society of Interventional Radiology
Reports and Proceedings

Damaged nerves can be regenerated with the application of a frozen needle under advanced imaging guidance, according to new research to be presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology Annual Scientific Meeting in Boston.

Meeting: Society of Interventional Radiology 2022 Annual Scientific Meeting