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Soft, self-healing devices mimic biological muscles![]() Boulder CO (SPX) Jan 31, 2018 In the basement of the Engineering Center at the University of Colorado Boulder, a group of researchers is working to create the next generation of robots. Instead of the metallic droids you may be imagining, they are developing robots made from soft materials that are more similar to biological systems. Such soft robots contain tremendous potential for future applications as they adapt to dynamic environments and are well-suited to closely interact with humans. A central challenge in this field k ... read more |
Jumping around for good healthParis (ESA) Jan 29, 2018 Simple yet efficient: intensive jumping might be a panacea for strong bones, muscles and hearts. A European study has confirmed the benefits of making giant leaps not only for astronauts, but also f ... more
Human genome decoded with pocket-sized deviceParis (AFP) Jan 29, 2018 Scientists used a portable device no bigger than a cellphone to sequence the most complete human genome ever assembled with a single technology, according to a study published Monday. ... more
Plague outbreak in Madagascar revived dread of a killerAntananarivo (AFP) Jan 26, 2018 Most inhabitants of Madagascar thought the plague was a footnote of medical history until the disease dramatically returned last year, slaying more than 200 people. ... more
'Programmable droplets' could enable high-volume biology experimentsBoston MA (SPX) Jan 25, 2018 MIT researchers have developed hardware that uses electric fields to move droplets of chemical or biological solutions around a surface, mixing them in ways that could be used to test thousands of r ... more |
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| Previous Issues | Feb 03 | Feb 02 | Feb 01 | Jan 31 | Jan 30 |
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Potential brain-machine interface for hand paralysisWashington DC (SPX) Jan 16, 2018 A brain-machine interface that combines brain stimulation with a robotic device controlling hand movement increases the output of pathways connecting the brain and spinal cord, according to a study ... more
Women who work nights face higher cancer risk: studyMiami (AFP) Jan 8, 2018 Women who regularly work the night shift in Europe and North America may face a 19 percent higher risk of cancer than those who work during the day, said a study Monday. ... more
Stingray soft robot could lead to bio-inspired roboticsLos Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 15, 2018 UCLA bioengineering professor Ali Khademhosseini has led the development of a tissue-based soft robot that mimics the biomechanics of a stingray. The new technology could lead to advances in bio-ins ... more
Life-saving NASA Communications System Turns 20Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 10, 2018 NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS) don't just enable data from spacecraft to reach Earth - they provide internet and even telemedicine to researchers at the South Pole. The South Pole ... more
With headbands, sensor socks, wearable tech seeks medical inroadsLas Vegas (AFP) Jan 12, 2018 Want to manage your stress? A "neurofeedback" headband could help. Need to be sure your elderly father is taking his medication? Attach a sensor to his sock. ... more |
![]() TSRI scientists discover workings of first promising Marburg virus treatment
Pharmaceuticals are triggering microbial resistance in urban streamsWashington (UPI) Jan 9, 2018 Microbial communities in urban streams are developing resistance to drugs as a result of pharmaceutical pollution. ... more |
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MSF warns of mounting cholera cases in flood-hit KinshasaKinshasa (AFP) Jan 9, 2018 Floods and mudslides in the Democratic Republic of Congo's chaotic capital Kinshasa have caused cholera cases to rise over five-fold to more than 100 a week, medical charity MSF said Tuesday. ... more
Weightlessness increases astronauts' body temperatureBerlin, Germany (SPX) Jan 08, 2018 Astronauts float weightlessly through space, and the condition of weightlessness is something many would love to experience. However, in addition to producing both physical and psychological stress, ... more
Congress demands action from VA on allegations of doctors with revoked licensesWashington (UPI) Jan 3, 2018 More than two dozen members of Congress sent a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs before the Christmas break demanding the agency take swift action on allegations it has illegally hired doctors with revoked medical licenses. ... more
DR Congo mourns flood victims as cholera fears mountKinshasa (AFP) Jan 8, 2018 DR Congo started two days of national mourning Monday for 48 people killed by floods and mudslides in the capital Kinshasa amid concerns of a cholera outbreak in the vast city of 10 million. ... more
Preventing the next epidemic in MadagascarWashington DC (SPX) Jan 05, 2018 The peak epidemic season for plague in Madagascar is fast approaching and the severity of these outbreaks could be significantly reduced with improvements to their public health system, argues Matth ... more |
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Researchers identify 'anxiety cells' inside the brains of mice Washington (UPI) Jan 31, 2018
Scientists have identified a new group of cells associated with the fight-or-flight response of mice. Researchers detailed their discovery of the so-called anxiety cells this week in the journal Neuron.
"We call these anxiety cells because they only fire when the animals are in places that are innately frightening to them," Rene Hen, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Irvi ... more |
Europe claims 100 million users for Galileo satnav system Paris (AFP) Feb 06, 2018
The Galileo satellite navigation system, Europe's rival to the United States' GPS, has nearly 100 million users after its first year of operation, the French space agency CNES said Thursday.
The system, seen as strategically important to Europe, went live in December 2016, having taken 17 years at more than triple the original budget to get there.
Initial services offered only a weak sig ... more |
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Lasers reveal ancient Mayan civilization hiding beneath Guatemalan canopy Washington (UPI) Feb 2, 2018 A series of LiDAR surveys has revealed some 60,000 ancient Mayan structures hiding under the jungle canopy in Guatemala.
The hundreds of houses, palaces and roads identified by the surveys have offered new insights into the sophisticated organization of the Mayan civilization at the height of their cultural and political dominance between 250 and 900 AD.
LiDAR stands for "Light D ... more |
Indonesian orangutan 'beheaders' claim self-defence: police Jakarta (AFP) Feb 1, 2018 Two Indonesian men arrested for shooting an orangutan multiple times and then decapitating it before tossing the corpse into a river, have told investigators they acted in self-defence, police said Thursday.
The suspects, both rubber plantation workers on the island of Borneo, admitted they killed the critically endangered male Bornean orangutan whose headless body was found last month.
... more |
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Plague outbreak in Madagascar revived dread of a killer Antananarivo (AFP) Jan 26, 2018
Most inhabitants of Madagascar thought the plague was a footnote of medical history until the disease dramatically returned last year, slaying more than 200 people.
Fear and anxiety rippled across the Indian Ocean island nation.
"People were afraid to come to hospital - they were afraid of catching the plague," recalled Professor Mamy Randria, head of the infectious diseases service at ... more |
Vatican's delicate China mission runs into trouble Vatican City (AFP) Feb 2, 2018 Pope Francis is facing a complex row over the Vatican's warming ties with Communist China, which have sparked a new war of words with a Hong Kong cardinal and growing bitterness among some Chinese faithful.
Beijing and the Vatican severed diplomatic relations in 1951, and although ties have improved in recent years as China's Catholic population has grown, they remain at odds over which side ... more |
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Thai navy says 11 million pill haul a record from Laos Bangkok (AFP) Jan 25, 2018
Thailand's navy has seized 11 million meth pills from traffickers crossing from Laos via the Mekong River, a record bust from a communist state that is emerging as a key Asian drug route.
Authorities pounced as the boat landed in Nakhon Phanom on the Thai side of the Mekong, which acts as a natural border with Laos.
Poor and remote, Nakhon Phanom is a notorious hub for smuggling of peopl ... more |
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China urges Trump to drop 'Cold War mentality' Beijing (AFP) Jan 31, 2018
Beijing criticised the "outdated Cold War mentality" of the United States Wednesday after President Donald Trump named China among threats to American values in his State of the Union address.
In recent weeks, US officials have laid the groundwork for a strategic pivot that envisions a world of renewed great power competition with the likes of Russia and China.
In his State of the Union ... more |
Cutting-Edge Technology Enhances Virgo Gravitational-Wave Detector Hannover, Germany (SPX) Feb 01, 2018
A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute, AEI) in Hannover and from the Institute for Gravitational Physics at Leibniz Universitat Hannover has developed an advanced squeezed-light source for the gravitational-wave detector Virgo near Pisa.
Now, the Hannover scientists have delivered the setup, installed it, and handed it over ... more |
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Data doom: 5 steps from Davos to digital dystopia Davos, Switzerland (AFP) Jan 26, 2018
Intelligent robots and all-knowing online networks threaten to drag humanity into a "totalitarian" nightmare of mind control, mass unemployment and children hooked on smartphones, experts warned at this week's Davos summit.
Online retailers and social networks collect so much data about us that they can watch us, control us and will transform us entirely, said Yuval Noah Harari, the Israeli ... more |
Book culture returns to Mosul; Iraq lists 60 most-wanted jihadists and Baathists Mosul, Iraq (AFP) Feb 3, 2018 Literary cafes, poetry readings and pavement bookstalls - Mosul's cultural scene is back in business, months after Iraqi forces ousted the Islamic State group from the city following three years of jihadist rule.
At the "Book Forum" cafe, men and women, young and old, sit passionately debating literature, music, politics and history.
Drinking tea, coffee and juice, some smoke nargileh w ... more |
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China in talks over military base in remote Afghanistan: officials Kabul (AFP) Feb 2, 2018
Worried about militants sneaking into a restive Chinese region from war-torn Afghanistan, Beijing is in talks with Kabul over the construction of a military base, Afghan officials say, as it seeks to shore up its fragile neighbour.
The army camp will be built in Afghanistan's remote and mountainous Wakhan Corridor, where witnesses have reported seeing Chinese and Afghan troops on joint patro ... more |
New York unveils plans for fossil fuel divestment New York (AFP) Jan 10, 2018 New York announced plans Wednesday to sell off $5 billion in fossil fuel investments from city pension funds after suing for billions of dollars in damages from oil companies to help fund protection against climate change.
While other cities in Europe and the United States have already taken similar steps, New York hailed its move as significant as it is the biggest metropolis in the country ... more |
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Learn to value your food, says Brazil's top chef Sao Paulo (AFP) Jan 31, 2018
Brazil may produce much of the world's food as a commodities exporter but needs to pay more attention to its own taste buds, the country's top chef Alex Atala says.
In an interview with AFP, the French-trained chef who draws inspiration from the Amazon rainforest urged his homeland to start valuing its hidden culinary riches, rather than just export food in bulk.
"Food is given to us by ... more |
New research suggests toward end of Ice Age, human beings witnessed fires larger than dinosaur killers Lawrence KS (SPX) Feb 02, 2018
On a ho-hum day some 12,800 years ago, the Earth had emerged from another ice age. Things were warming up, and the glaciers had retreated.
Out of nowhere, the sky was lit with fireballs. This was followed by shock waves.
Fires rushed across the landscape, and dust clogged the sky, cutting off the sunlight. As the climate rapidly cooled, plants died, food sources were snuffed out, and ... more |
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