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Three physicists in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, together with their colleagues from the Southern University of Science and Technology and Sun Yat-sen University in China, have successfully modified a semiconductor to create a superconductor.

Professor and Department Head Hanno Weitering, Associate Professor Steve Johnston, and PhD candidate Tyler Smith were part of the team that made the breakthrough in fundamental research, which may lead to unforeseen advancements in technology.

Semiconductors are electrical insulators but conduct electrical currents under special circumstances. They are an essential component in many of the electronic circuits used in everyday items including mobile phones, digital cameras, televisions, and computers.

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are critical effectors of gene expression, and as such their malfunction underlies the origin of many diseases. RBPs can recognize hundreds of transcripts and form extensive regulatory networks that help to maintain cell homeostasis. System-wide unbiased identification of RBPs has increased the number of recognized RBPs into the four-digit range and revealed new paradigms: from the prevalence of structurally disordered RNA-binding regions with roles in the formation of membraneless organelles to unsuspected and potentially pervasive connections between intermediary metabolism and RNA regulation. Together with an increasingly detailed understanding of molecular mechanisms of RBP function, these insights are facilitating the development of new therapies to treat malignancies. Here, we provide an overview of RBPs involved in human genetic disorders, both Mendelian and somatic, and discuss emerging aspects in the field with emphasis on molecular mechanisms of disease and therapeutic interventions.

An international team of scientist from the United States, the United Kingdom and Taiwan has developed the world’s smallest memristor. Their results appear in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

In the new work, the researchers reduced the size even further, shrinking the cross section area down to just a single square nanometer.

Scholars have a nifty way of alerting colleagues to lengthy treatises that they find simply not worth their time to read.

They tag such documents “tl;dr”—too long, didn’t read.

It’s kind of a 21st century spin on the 420-year-old notion Shakespeare’s Polonius relayed to the king and queen in “Hamlet”: “Brevity,” he suggested, “is the soul of wit.”

Might interest some as it mentions telomeres.


The historic NASA Twins Study investigated identical twin astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly and provided new information on the health effects of spending time in space.

Colorado State University Professor Susan Bailey was one of more than 80 scientists across 12 universities who conducted research on the textbook experiment; Mark remained on Earth while Scott orbited high above for nearly one year. The massive effort was coordinated by NASA’s Human Research Program.

Bailey has continued her NASA research and now joins more than 200 investigators from dozens of academic, government, aerospace and industry groups to publish a package of 30 scientific papers in five Cell Press journals on Nov. 25.