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...

Sea-dwelling mollusks called chitons have armor-plated eyes embedded in their shells, and this incredible feature could provide a model for protective armor that could be used by the army and workers exposed to dangerous conditions. The chitons, or Acanthopleura granulates, have hundreds of these armored eyes on the surface of their shells, MIT reported. Unlike most eyes in the biological world that are made primarily of protein, these eyes are made of the mineral aragonite, but can still form f...

Researchers have developed a process to remove contaminants from oil sands wastewater using only sunlight and nanoparticles that is more effective and inexpensive than conventional treatment methods. Frank Gu, a professor in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo and Canada Research Chair in Nanotechnology Engineering, is the senior researcher on the team that was the first to find that photocatalysis , a chemical reaction that involves the absorption of light by nanoparticles ...

Many nanotherapeutics are currently being tested in clinical trials and several have already been clinically approved to treat cancers. But the ability to predict which patients will be most responsive to these treatments has remained elusive. Now, a collaboration between investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) has led to a new approach that uses an FDA-approved, magnetic nanoparticle and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to identify tumors mos...

San Francisco startup Chronos is aiming its new device for people who prefer pretty analog watches to be the things on their wrists but would really like them to have the most basic features of a fitness tracker and a smart device. “We have developed a small, tiny disc that gives you all the very best of today’s wearable tech, but let’s you keep the watch you already wear,” Chronos founder and CEO Mark Nichol said. The metal Chronos disc is designed to resemble watch casing, so that it largely d...

UW-Madison scientists have grown human vocal cord tissue in a dish, which made sound when transplanted into voice boxes from cadaver dogs, a development that could lead to better treatments for people with voice disorders. Such implants likely won’t be ready for human testing for years. But re-creating the tissue, known as a vocal fold, and showing it was functional in dog larynges and was not rejected by a mouse model of the human immune system are significant steps, the researchers said. “We n...

Scientists at MIT and the Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) have leveraged videogame technology to generate broadcast quality 3D video of soccer and football  matches from a 2D source in real time. The resulting video can reportedly be enjoyed with any 3D TV or virtual reality headset, and could lead to much more 3D content becoming available in the near future. When working to full effect, 3D technology can deliver highly immersive user experiences, but the content on these platforms is...

New study proves that sense of taste is hardwired in the brain, independent of learning or experience. Most people probably think that we perceive the five basic tastes sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami (savory) with our tongue, which then sends signals to our brain “telling” us what we’ve tasted. However, scientists have turned this idea on its head, demonstrating in mice the ability to change the way something tastes by manipulating groups of cells in the brain. “Taste, the way you and I th...

A new mobile phone app designed to help aid workers predict where hunger may strike and provide help in good time was launched by Austrian scientists on Thursday. The app, which is free to use, combines and analyses satellite data and information collected through crowdsourcing using mobile phones, and creates a map highlighting areas at risk of food shortages and malnutrition. Useful information includes how often people in an area eat or whether there is civil unrest that might prevent people ...

Old laptop batteries still have enough life in them to power homes in slums, researchers have said. An IBM study analyzed a sample of discarded batteries and found 70% had enough power to keep an LED light on more than four hours a day for a year. Researchers said using discarded batteries is cheaper than existing power options, and also helps deal with the mounting e-waste problem. The IBM team created what they called an UrJar, a device that uses lithium-ion cells from the old batteries to ...

An international team of 158 scientists found that depending on the degree to which deforestation comes under control in the next 35 years, between 36 and 57 percent of the 16,000 tree species in the tropical rainforest area would be considered threatened. A first-of-its-kind examination of the Amazon's trees found that as many as half the species may be threatened with extinction or heading that way because of massive deforestation. Among the more than 5,000 tree species in deep trouble, the on...

Robotics technology benefits the customers and employees in many ways. San Jose's Orchard Supply Hardware, a subsidiary of Lowe's has brought in the Oshbot robot. About the size of small refrigerator, the talking robot can guide you through the aisles to the item you want. It even uses its 3D camera to determine the make and model of that rusty hinge you brought from home. "There's no way that every sales associate could know the exact number and location of every single item we sell," Kyle Nel,...

Riding horses in low light poses some obvious dangers, particularly in areas where they're forced to share the road with drivers who could become easily distracted. Sadly, for Tail Lights creator Sami Gros, it took a near-tragedy to inspire a solution. "I was out riding my two horses with my best friend, and a car hit my friend and my horse. My friend was OK, but my horse suffered injuries that has made him unridable to this day," Gros said. "I searched the internet for a product that would allo...

A team of Swedish researchers, by using living roses, has created analogue and digital electronic circuits inside living plants, calling them "electronic plants". The experiment demonstrates wires, digital logic and displays elements fabricated inside the plants that could develop new applications for organic electronics and new tools in plant science. The group at Linkoping University in Sweden, under the leadership of professor Magnus Berggren, used the vascular system of living roses to build...

A team from Rice University has developed single-molecule nanosubmarines that could eventually be used to deliver medicines directly inside the body. Back in 2006, this same group developed nanocars, a single-molecule vehicle with four wheels, axles, and independent suspensions that could be “driven” across a terrestrial surface. Unfortunately, many of the nano-scale devices developed since then either required or emitted toxic chemicals. Several years ago, however, a new motor developed by a gr...

Passive house (Passivhaus in German) refers to a rigorous, voluntary standard for energy efficiency in a building, reducing its ecological footprint. It results in ultra-low energy buildings that require little energy for space heating or cooling. A building standard that is truly energy efficient, comfortable, affordable and ecological at the same time. Passive House is not a brand name, but a construction concept that can be applied by anyone and that has stood the test of practice. Yet...

Technology that can scan large areas to find which buildings are leaking heat and wasting energy. The latest news from MIT is regarding Essess bringing “drive-by” innovations to energy efficiency in homes and businesses. Over the past few years, Essess Inc. has deployed cars mounted with imaging sensors to drive around the U.S. creating heat maps that show which homes aren’t sealed properly, wasting energy and their owners’ money. The startup deploys cars with thermal-imaging rooftop rigs tha...

A compound that blocks the synthesis of hyaluronan, a substance generally found in in all body tissue, protects mice from getting Type 1 diabetes.Nadine Nagy and Paul Bollyky and their colleagues found that a drug helped prevent the onset of Type 1 diabetes in mice. They hope to find out if the drug will work similarly in humans. Type 1 diabetes, formerly called juvenile diabetes, afflicts one in 300 people in the United States. A compound that blocks the synthesis of hyaluronan, a substance ...

With Moox Bike, you can pedal like a traditional bicycle or use the patented platform design to glide and scoot. The Moox Bike begs to be noticed. Its innovative design and striking colors not only make it fun to ride and glide, but turns heads along the way. Its design, construction and architecture provide an extremely comfortable and fluid ride. The Moox Bike is structurally sound with no-fuss. It will last for years with minimal maintenance. Each Moox Bike is individually tested and adheres ...

Nature has developed innovative ways to solve a sticky challenge. Mussels and barnacles stubbornly glue themselves to cliff faces, ship hulls, and even the skin of whales. Likewise, tendons and cartilage stick to bone with incredible robustness, giving animals flexibility and agility. The natural adhesive in all these cases is hydrogel, a sticky mix of water and gummy material that creates a tough and durable bond. Engineers at MIT have developed a method to make synthetic, sticky hydrogel th...

MIT has developed a new and more efficient way to desalinate water. The process, called shock electrodialysis, filters water through a material made of small glass particles, according to an MIT News report. When an electric current is introduced to the system, the water divides into areas of high or low salt concentration. Once the current reaches a certain point, a shockwave is produced that divides the streams and allows the salty and fresh waters to be separated by a physical barrier. The pr...

The discovery of two exoplanet "companions" provides insight into the hot Jupiter solar system, discovered from data collected by the K2 mission. Out of the some 300 hot Jupiters that have been spotted over the past two decades, these new objects are the first close-in planets to be discovered. Discovery of two close-in planet companions sheds new light on planet formation. For the past 20 years, astronomers peered into the night sky, puzzled about a type of planet called hot Jupiters. As they a...

A study released Thursday says that two ocean fish the big-eyed scad and the lookdown have fine-tuned a method of avoiding predators by hiding in light. Elements in their silvery skin render them nearly impossible to see. The Navy funded the study as part of an effort understand how fish do this, and how it could be used to the Navy's advantage. Although the study focused mostly on just two types of fish, the scad and lookdown are members of a family called the Carangidae, a bountiful clan that ...

Building on wireless technology that has the potential to interfere with pain, scientists have developed flexible, implantable devices that can activate and, in theory, block pain signals in the body and spinal cord before those signals reach the brain. The researchers, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said the implants one day may be used in different parts of the body to fight pain that doesn’t respond to other therapi...