Daily News chosen by Anchor Science
Updated: 03-February-2012, 11:13
Announced on 02-03-2012 :
Self-assembling nanorods: Researchers obtain 1-, 2- and 3-D nanorod arrays and networks
Researchers have developed a relatively fast, easy and inexpensive technique for inducing nanorods to self-assemble into aligned and ordered macroscopic structures. This technique should enable more effective use of nanorods in solar cells, magnetic storage devices and sensors, and boost the electrical and mechanical properties of nanorod-polymer composites.
Sun delivered curveball of powerful radiation at Earth
A potent follow-up solar flare, which occurred Jan. 17, 2012, just days after the Sun launched the biggest coronal mass ejection seen in nearly a decade, delivered a powerful radiation punch to Earth's magnetic field despite the fact that it was aimed away from our planet.
Scientists help define structure of exoplanets
Using models similar to those used in weapons research, scientists may soon know more about exoplanets, those objects beyond the realm of our solar system. Astronomers have come up with new methods for deriving and testing the equation of state of matter in exoplanets and figured out the mass-radius and mass-pressure relations for materials relevant to planetary interiors.
Scientists confirm first 'frequency comb' to probe ultraviolet wavelengths
Physicists have created the first "frequency comb" in the extreme ultraviolet band of the spectrum, high-energy light less than 100 nanometers in wavelength. Laser-generated frequency combs are the most accurate method available for precisely measuring frequencies, or colors, of light. The new tool can aid in the development of "nuclear clocks" based on ticks in the nuclei of atoms, and measurements of previously unexplored behavior in atoms and molecules.
Spider web's strength lies in more than its silk
A study that combines experimental observations of spider webs with complex computer simulations has shown that web durability depends not only on silk strength, but on how overall web design compensates for damage and the response of individual strands to continuously varying stresses.
Bacterial plasmids -- the freeloading and the heavy-lifters -- balance the high price of disease
Studying self-replicating genetic units, called plasmids, found in one of the world's widest-ranging pathogenic soil bacteria -- the crown-gall-disease-causing microorganism Agrobacterium tumefaciens -- biologists are showing how freeloading, mutant derivatives of these plasmids benefit while the virulent, disease-causing plasmids do the heavy-lifting of initiating infection in plant hosts. The research confirms that the ability of bacteria to cause disease comes at a significant cost that is only counterbalanced by the benefits they experience from infected host organisms.
Sleep deprivation tied to increased nighttime urination in preadolescence
A new study sheds light on why some children may need to urinate more often during the rest cycle. Researchers found sleep deprivation caused healthy children, ages 8-12, to urinate significantly more frequently, excrete more sodium in urine, have altered regulation of the hormones important for excretion.
New 'biopsy in a blood test' to detect cancer
Scientists and cancer physicians have successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of an advanced blood test for detecting and analyzing circulating tumor cells -- breakaway cells from patients' solid tumors -- from cancer patients. The findings show that the highly sensitive blood analysis provides information that may soon be comparable to that from some types of surgical biopsies.
How to tell apart the forgetful from those at risk of Alzheimer’s disease
It can be difficult to distinguish between people with normal age-associated memory loss and those with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). However people with aMCI are at a greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and identification of these people would mean that they could begin treatment as early as possible. New research shows that specific questions, included as part of a questionnaire designed to help diagnose AD, are also able to discriminate between normal memory loss and aMCI.
Scientists coax shy microorganisms to stand out in a crowd
Scientists have advanced a method that allowed them to single out a marine microorganism and map its genome even though the organism made up less than 10 percent of a water sample teeming with many millions of individuals from dozens of identifiable groups of microbes.
Research ethics: Coercive citation in academic publishing
Scientists have examined the unethical practices of some journal publications, articulating results from their research to show that some editors coerce authors into adding unnecessary citations to articles in the same journal that is considering publishing the submitted work. Journal editors want to increase the number of times articles within their journals are cited by researchers -- because it raises the journal ranking and is used to make claims of prestige and importance.
[News of the Week] Around the World
In science news around the world this week, an Italian official will also be a defendant in the earthquake trial, Japanese experts have questioned the safety of—and need for—nuclear power, biodiversity in the Andes is threatened, and Nobelists are lobbying for a gigantic neutrino experiment.
[News of the Week] Random Samples
Thomas Edison is still number one when it comes to invention. Researchers think they know why the male orb-web spider will often voluntarily break off his whole sex organ while it's still lodged in the female's abdomen: It continues to transfer sperm into the female long after the male has fled or been consumed. A British seismologist has a geologic twist on the classic nightstand "word-a-day" calendar: the daily rock. And this week's numbers quantify the price offered for DNA sequencing company Illumina and the percentage of plant collectors who have found more than 50% of the world's known species.
[News of the Week] Newsmakers
This week's Newsmakers are Janet Rowley of the University of Chicago, Brian Druker of the Oregon Health & Science University, Nicholas Lydon of Blueprint Medicines, and Masato Sagawa of Intermetallics Co., winners of the Japan Prizes; Scott Doney, whose nomination to be chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been withdrawn by the White House; Johannes Vogel, an expert on fern genetics, who took over as director of Berlin's Natural History Museum this week; and Paul Alivisatos of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Charles Lieber of Harvard University, Jacob Bekenstein of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ronald Evans of the Salk Institute, Michael Aschbacher of the California Institute of Technology, and Luis Caffarelli of the University of Texas, Austin, winners of the Wolf Prizes.