The Mediterranean fruit fly, or medfly, is an invasive species that is now endemic to Western Australia. The female medfly “stings” fresh fruit and then lays her eggs in the puncture site. The hatching larvae then feast on the decomposing fruit. A British bioengineering firm called Oxitec has created genetically modified medflies that, when released into the environment, could mate with wild fruit flies and pass on a gene that would prevent their female offspring from reaching adulthood which wo...

US scientists have bred a genetically modified mosquito that is incapable of spreading malaria to humans, according to reports. A gene editing technique called Crispr was used to alter the genetic makeup of the insect, making it resistant to Plasmodium falciparum, one of the parasites that causes malaria in humans. Crucially, the GM mosquitoes passed on their anti-malarial DNA strain to 99.5% of their offspring, raising the prospect of the altered species being released in the wild one day to co...

Genome sequencing confirms that myxozoans, a diverse group of microscopic parasites that infect invertebrate and vertebrate hosts, are actually “highly reduced” cnidarians, the phylum that includes jellyfish, corals and sea anemones. “This is a remarkable case of extreme degeneration of an animal body plan,” said Paulyn Cartwright, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at KU and principal investigator on the research project. “First, we confirmed they’re cnidarians. Now we need...

According to a study published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, a team of researchers led by Bas Oldenburg, MD, PhD, University Medical Center Utrecht, analyzed data on 1,273 IBD patients (34% Crohn’s disease, 63% ulcerative colitis, and 3% unclassified) who had experienced a total of 4,327 surveillance colonoscopies between January 1, 2000 and January 1, 2014. Surveillance is recommended for patients with long-term inflammatory bowel disease because they have an incre...

Li-fi is a new means of delivering data using visible spectrum as against the radio waves used by most other methods. This new technology has already been tested in a functional office. What makes Li-fi stand apart is the astonishing speed at which can deliver access to the internet, often 100 times faster compared to Wi-fi at a mind-boggling speed of 1Gbps. You need a light source similar to an LED bulb, a photo detector and an internet connection to use Li-fi. The visible spectrum of light use...

This miracle berry that grows in West Africa contains Miraculin, a glycoprotein which was first extracted back in 1968. The local population knew the effects for much longer and chewed the fruit pulp to make sour maize bread tastier. The surface of our tongue is covered by a multitude of different receptors to detect tastes from sweet to umami. Just like sugar and artificial sweeteners like aspartame, the miraculin in the berry binds to your sweet taste receptors, but far more strongly. The acid...

Chen Levin has designed a small dishwasher powered by human kinetic energy that can fit in even the smallest of spaces. It is estimated that 75 percent of the global population will live in urban areas by 2050. While this urbanization presents great opportunities, it will be an enormous challenge to ensure that energy and space is distributed efficiently and equitably for who will call the city their home. This Independent dishwasher will hopefully help meet the demands of a dense urban future. ...

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the chief cause of death and disability among children and adults from 1 to 44 years of age in the United States, leading to more than two million emergency department visits annually. A brain protein is thought to be the source of long-term cognitive impairments in those who have had seemingly mild, concussion-type head injuries, and a blood test may one day be available to predict such damage. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of...

This was the finding of a study led by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, MD, and published in the journal Environmental Research. Previous research has already established that the DNA of cord blood from newborns is altered if the mother smokes during pregnancy. The difference is not in the genetic code itself but in the presence of "epigenetic" marks left on the DNA at 26 locations of the genome. Epigenetic markers are molecules that attach to genes and influence the...

Lighting is something that we take for granted in the developed world, but there are still many areas around the globe where people lack reliable access to light at night. Around one-fifth of the world’s population has no access to electricity. They often use kerosene lamps, which contribute to indoor pollution and have to be refilled with oil regularly. Also they are bad for the environment and human health. To solve this problem, an engineering start-up called SALt(Sustainable Alternative Ligh...

ANAMORPHIC ILLUSIONS Creating and Printing Your Own Anamorphic Illusions ANAMORPHIC ILLUSIONS a form of an optical illusion. If you’re looking for something fun and creative to do and want to spend some quality time with your printer, anamorphic illusions are just the thing for you. An anamorphic illusion is an optical illusion whose effect is based on the viewing angle; in other words what seems like a perfectly normal, two-dimensional printed image becomes a stunning, three-dimensional imag...

Stress is a common trigger for many health condition. Stress and anxiety sometimes make you feel short of breath and may cause your asthma symptoms to become worse. You cannot avoid stress; it is part of daily life. However, developing effective ways to manage stress and learning to relax can help you prevent shortness of breath and avoid panic. The physical effects of stress and a gush of emotions can act as asthma triggers. When people cry or get anxious and upset, breathing becomes hard...

Researcher have revealed the ultimate window one that can block out sound, but let fresh air in. It could be the answer to any city dweller's dreams. The double glazed windows have holes designed to let air in but block the most annoying frequencies. That tends to be the range of artificial sounds, leaving the natural sounds in the 0-500 Hz range largely undisturbed. After sending sound waves of 80 decibels, which is louder than a vacuum cleaner, through both windows, the pair discovered that th...

Over the past couple of hundred years, the strength of the Earth’s geomagnetic field has been waning, leading scientists to wonder if our planet’s polarity is on the verge of flipping. A new study suggests this won’t happen in the near future and that the intensity of today’s field is uncharacteristically strong. Predicting a geomagnetic flip is important for two primary reasons, one biological, one technological. The Earth’s magnetic field deflects solar wind and cosmic rays, so with a weakened...

There are more jeans in the world than people. That sparked an idea in the mind of University of Sheffield chemist Tony Ryan. Why not use people’s penchant for wearing denim to help purify the air? With thoughts of reducing pollutants such as the nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds emitted by vehicles, power plants, residential heating, cooking and various consumer products, Ryan, in partnership with former fashion designer Helen Storey, came up with the concept of “Catalytic Clothing...

Ants are well-known for building with their bodies, but a new study has shown that army ants can optimize traffic flow using bridges that move. Army ants are a predatory nomadic species, they raid other insect colonies and are always on the move, without a permanent nest. In this lifestyle, finding the shortest foraging path with sufficient workforce left over is crucial. The new research shows they adjust their bridges to find that balance. A gap in an ant’s path might be a daunting obstacle fo...

In an international study, Northwestern Medicine scientists and colleagues have identified a novel strategy for reducing the side effects of uncontrolled movement caused by the drug levodopa, commonly used to treat the stiffness, tremors and poor muscle control of Parkinson’s disease. These unwanted movements caused by levodopa significantly diminish the quality of life for Parkinson’s disease patients. A team lead by D. James Surmeier, PhD, chair and Nathan Smith Davis Professor of Physiology f...

Scientists suggest that global warming could progress faster than was previously believed because increased temperatures influence natural greenhouse gas emissions. Numerous studies from the Swedish research team over the past two years have determined that natural greenhouse gas emissions will increase when the climate gets warmer, Linköping University reported.  Now, their most recent study has backed up these findings. "Everything indicates that global warming caused by humans leads to increa...

ESO’s VISTA survey telescope has spied a horde of previously hidden massive galaxies that existed when the Universe was in its infancy. By discovering and studying more of these galaxies than ever before, astronomers have, for the first time, found out exactly when such monster galaxies first appeared. Just counting the number of galaxies in a patch of sky provides a way to test astronomers’ theories of galaxy formation and evolution. However, such a simple task becomes increasingly hard as astr...

Xerox on Wednesday announced a pair of printed packaging labels with embedded memory designed to help curb counterfeiting. Also known as printed memory, the labels are equipped with up to 36 bits of rewritable memory. That may not sound like much in a world that deals largely in gigabytes and terabytes but according to Xerox, it’s enough to store up to 68 billion points of data. The product line-up is made up of the aforementioned Xerox Printed Memory and the second offering is the same except t...

A new study shows that a certain type of protein can be used to determine if a lung cancer patient will respond positively to chemotherapy. While prognosis for the most common form, adenocarcinoma, has remained poor, new research has shown a link between the absence of a specific protein and improved patient outcomes. Scientists at Lawson Health Research Institute have found that patients who undergo chemotherapy and surgery experience significantly improved survival rates when their tumor is la...

Dr Ken Caldeira of Carnegie Institution and Dr Michael Rampino of New York University offer new support linking the age of these craters with recurring mass extinctions of life, including the demise of the dinosaurs. Mass extinctions occurring over the past 260 million years were likely caused by comet and asteroid showers. Specifically, they show a cyclical pattern over the studied period, with both impacts and extinction events taking place every 26 million years. This cycle has been linked...

In many ways stars are like living beings. They’re born, they live, they die and they even have a heartbeat. Using a novel technique, astronomers have detected thousands of stellar “pulses” in the galaxy Messier 87 (M87). Their measurements offer a new way of determining a galaxy’s age. We tend to think of stars as stable and unchanging. However, late in life stars like the Sun undergo a significant transformation. They become very bright and swell up to an enormous size, swallowing any planets ...

A garnet crystal only one micrometre in diameter was instrumental in a University of Alberta team of physicists creating a route to “lab-on-a-chip” technology for magnetic resonance, a tool to simplify advanced magnetic analysis for device development and interdisciplinary science. “To most, a gem so tiny would be worthless, but to us, it’s priceless,” says Mark Freeman, University of Alberta physics professor and Canada Research Chair in condensed matter physics. “It was the perfect testbed for...

MIT researchers have developed a biomedical imaging system that could ultimately replace a $100,000 piece of a lab equipment with components that cost just hundreds of dollars. The system uses a technique called fluorescence lifetime imaging, which has applications in DNA sequencing and cancer diagnosis, among other things. So the new work could have implications for both biological research and clinical practice. “The theme of our work is to take the electronic and optical precision of this big...

Engineers at the University of California, San Diego developed a new technology that uses an oscillating electric field to easily and quickly isolate drug-delivery nanoparticles from blood. The technology could serve as a general tool to separate and recover nanoparticles from other complex fluids for medical, environmental, and industrial applications. Nanoparticles, which are generally one thousand times smaller than the width of a human hair, are difficult to separate from plasma, the liquid ...

Mars’ largest moon, Phobos, is slowly falling toward the planet, but rather than smash into the surface, it likely will be shredded and the pieces strewn about the planet in a ring like the rings encircling Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. Mars could gain a ring in 10-20 million years when its moon Phobos is torn to shreds by Mars gravity. Though inevitable, the demise of Phobos is not imminent. It will probably happen in 20 to 40 million years, leaving a ring that will persist for anywhere ...

Researchers in the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Queen’s, along with colleagues at the University of Liverpool, UK, and other, international partners, have invented the new liquid and found that it can dissolve unusually large amounts of gas, which are absorbed into the ‘holes’ in the liquid. Porous materials, as their name would suggest, are materials with holes. These are materials that look totally solid to the naked eye, but on a molecular level, contain lots of empty space...

Pluto may have two ice volcanoes that spew water ice, nitrogen, ammonia, and methane onto the dwarf planet's surface, NASA announced today. The potential volcanoes were spied near Pluto's South Pole, in images taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft during its July flyby. NASA scientists used the photos to measure the mountains, they are several miles high and tens of miles wide, with large holes in their summits. "On Earth that generally means one thing a volcano," said Oliver White, New Horizo...

A team of researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) has long believed that wireless signals like WiFi can be used to see things that are invisible to the naked eye. Since 2013, CSAIL researchers have been developing technologies that use wireless signals to track human motion. The team has shown that it can detect gestures and body movements as subtle as the rise and fall of a person’s chest from the other side of a house, allowing a mother to monitor a baby’s...