Medicine & TechnologyIf only the world were as unified as the field of particle physics, what a grand world it would be...
Over 5,000 of them have come together in what is the largest scientific collaboration on record. Their paper, which was published on May 14th in Physical Review Letters, is a joint effort between members from ATLAS and CMS, two teams that operate detectors at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), as they attempt to unravel the mysteries of our universe.
An exciting breakthrough in stem cell research was just announced by the University of Toronto. Using a gel-like biomaterial, scientists were able to prolong the lives of stem cells, improve their integration in living tissues, improve motor coordination following stroke, and even restore partial vision to the blind.
As scientists around the world work feverishly to meet the 2030 deadline for sending humans to Mars, one of their most critical issues - oxygen production - may be solved by two very basic organisms: bacteria and algae.
In the cold waters off the California coast, researchers have discovered something no one ever knew existed: a warm-blooded fish. Not only can this large fish regulate its body temperature, but it does it through a truly unique mechanism.
A California bill that abolishes the "personal belief exemption" for vaccinations is one step closer to becoming a law. The bill, SB 277, passed 25-10 in the California Senate on Thursday. Its next stop is clearing the Assembly before being signed into law and if it is, it will make it that much harder for parents to avoid vaccinating their children; good news for the fight against infectious disease.
The mighty mandibles of the trap-jaw ants are legendary in the animal kingdom. Members of the genus Odontomachus have specialized spring-loaded jaws that can snap shut at speeds of 60 meters per second, with forces that exceed 300 times their body weight. But in four species, those powerful jaws are not only great at catching prey, they can also aid in the ant's escape.
Outwitting a drug test just got harder. Instead of relying on blood or urine, which can be switched, researchers at the University of Surrey have devised a technique that uses fingerprints to test for cocaine. And it not only tests whether a person has handled the drug; this new technique confirms cocaine actually entered the body.
In an attempt to understand the social dynamics among our hunter-gatherer ancestors, anthropologists sometimes begin in the present and work backwards. And what the researchers at University College London have found adds another dimension to the unique social structure of hunter-gatherer society.
Recent news from the hacking world reveals a new device that can solve the combination of Master Locks in under five minutes. And if that's not fast enough for a clean getaway, there's a speedier technique that will crack the code in under thirty seconds.
It was once believed that tool use was one of the signifying traits distinguishing humans from the rest of the animal world, but research has shown that is simply not the case. Chimps crack nuts, gorillas build rudimentary bridges, and dolphins use sponges to stir up the ocean floor, just to name a few. Scientists can now add macaques to the list, for it turns out they are quite handy with a hammer.
Cancer's deadly calling card has always been its cells' ability to replicate with abandon. Scientists continue to seek effective means of destroying cancer cells, while at the same time, protecting the healthy cells of the body.
New research may have found a way to do just that. By stripping the malignant cells of their immortality.
College rivalries are nothing new. Some even reach legendary proportions. USC vs. Notre Dame, Alabama vs. Auburn, Army vs. Navy. They make for great football. Not so much when it comes to technological rights, as we're discovering in the ongoing battle between UC Berkeley and MIT, as they wrestle over the patent for a machine that just might revolutionize genetic engineering.
Just months after the White House announced plans to normalize relations with Cuba, an exciting research partnership is in the works, which just might prolong the lives of those suffering from lung cancer.
Just as the Ebola threat wanes, a new pathogen is reaching epidemic proportions across parts of Africa. To make matters worse, it's resistant to traditional antibiotics.