SciTech Daily

April 29, 2013

Preprogrammed Immune Cells Can Fight Specific Pathogens

A new study from Cornell University demonstrates a way to grow preprogrammed immune cells that can fight specific pathogens, potentially transforming the methods used to prevent infectious disease. Immune cells in newborns appear to be more ready to do battle than previously thought. New Cornell research shows that small populations of preprogrammed immune cells can [...]

April 29, 2013

0 Comments

Natural Dental Wear Protects Teeth Against Fatigue Failure

In a newly published study, researchers analyzed modern human teeth, finding that material loss protects teeth against fatigue failure. Scientists of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig and the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt together with dental technicians have digitally analyzed modern human teeth using an engineering approach, finite element method, to [...]

April 29, 2013

1 Comment

New ScienceCast Video Explores the Possibility That Signs of Dark Matter Have Been Detected

The below four minute ScienceCast video explores the possibility that the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer onboard the International Space Station has detected signs of dark matter. In science fiction, finding antimatter on board your spaceship is not good news. Usually, it means you’re moments away from an explosion. In real life, though, finding antimatter could lead [...]

April 29, 2013

0 Comments

Researchers Discover Autism Risk in Abnormal Placentas

Scientists from the Yale School of Medicine, with research collaborators at the MIND Institute, have found that abnormal placental folds and abnormal cell growths called trophoblast inclusions are key markers to identify newborns that are at risk for autism. Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine have figured out how to measure an infant’s risk [...]

April 29, 2013

0 Comments

PS1-10afx Supernova Magnified by Gravitational Lensing

Researchers from the Kavli IPMU have used gravitational lensing to identify a distant Type Ia supernova, named PS1-10afx, that exploded over 9 billion years ago. Kashiwa Japan – A team of researchers at the Kavli IPMU led by Robert Quimby has identified what may prove to be the first ever Type Ia supernova (SNIa) magnified [...]

April 26, 2013

0 Comments

Magnetic Imaging of Living Cells with Sub-Cellular Spatial Resolution

In a new study, researchers present a method for resolving the magnetic structure of living biological specimens at a sub-cellular level. Magnetic field measurement techniques have long enabled scientists to probe the internal structure of biological and material samples. For example, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides information about the structure and function of tissue inside [...]

April 26, 2013

2 Comments

LED Streetlight Design Reduces Light Pollution, Saves Energy

In a new study, a team of researchers report the development of a new street lighting design that harnesses high-efficiency LEDs and ensures they shine only where they’re needed, cutting light pollution and glare and saving energy. Washington — Streetlights illuminate the night, shining upon roadways and sidewalks across the world, but these ubiquitous elements [...]

April 26, 2013

0 Comments

Spintronics Device Captures Wasted Heat, Uses it to Power Devices

In a newly published study, researchers at UCLA demonstrate how to add power to a spintronics device by harnessing excess heat and converting it for practical use. FINDINGS: Imagine how much you could save on your electricity bill if you could use the excess heat your computer generates to actually power the machine. Researchers at [...]

April 26, 2013

0 Comments

Astronomers Use “Characterization by Proxy” to Learn the Nature of Kepler-61

Using “characterization by proxy” and observations from the Kepler Space Telescope, researchers take a closer look at Kepler-61b, a planet orbiting near the inner edge of the habitable zone of the low-mass star Kepler-61. A University of Washington astronomer is using Earth’s interstellar neighbors to learn the nature of certain stars too far away to [...]

April 26, 2013

0 Comments

Observations of a Pulsar and Its White Dwarf Companion Back General Theory of Relativity

Observations of a newly discovered pulsar and its white dwarf companion, orbiting each other once every two and a half hours, show that the binary’s orbital decay is consistent with Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. A strange stellar pair nearly 7,000 light-years from Earth has provided physicists with a unique cosmic laboratory for studying the [...]

April 26, 2013

0 Comments

Cassini Observes Meteors Colliding with Saturn’s Rings

Using NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, astronomers observed meteors colliding with Saturn’s rings. Pasadena, California — NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has provided the first direct evidence of small meteoroids breaking into streams of rubble and crashing into Saturn’s rings. These observations make Saturn’s rings the only location besides Earth, the moon and Jupiter where scientists and amateur astronomers [...]

April 25, 2013

0 Comments

Evidence that Local Starbursts Impact the Bulk of the Gas Around Their Host Galaxy

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers observed 20 nearby galaxies, some of which were known to be undergoing a starburst, finding that the winds accompanying these star formation processes were capable of ionizing gas up to 650,000 light-years from the galactic center. Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have shown for the first time [...]