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The tests detect damage to proteins often found in people with autism.

In recent years, a brain-computer interface (BCI) developed by the US BrainGate consortium has allowed people to control a robotic arm and to type, using only their thoughts. Now, a group of paralyzed volunteers has utilized the technology to perform various functions on a tablet.

A new test to spot where the ability to exploit the power of quantum mechanics has evolved in nature has been developed by physicists at the University of Warwick.

Magnetic reconnection takes place when the magnetic field lines embedded in a plasma—the hot, charged gas that makes up 99 percent of the visible universe—converge, break apart and explosively reconnect. This process takes place in thin sheets in which electric current is strongly concentrated.

According to conventional theory, these sheets can be highly elongated and severely constrain the velocity of the magnetic field lines that join and split apart, making fast reconnection impossible. However, observation shows that rapid reconnection does exist, directly contradicting theoretical predictions.

Asymmetry plays a major role in biology at every scale: think of DNA spirals, the fact that the human heart is positioned on the left, our preference to use our left or right hand … A team from the Institute of biology Valrose (CNRS/Inserm/Université Côte d’Azur), in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania, has shown how a single protein induces a spiral motion in another molecule. Through a domino effect, this causes cells, organs, and indeed the entire body to twist, triggering lateralized behaviour. This research is published in the journal Science on November 23, 2018.

Earth’s natural resources largely determine the global economy’s ebb and flow. As such, the effects of climate change continue to cause concern among economists and environmentalists alike.

In 2018, professors William Nordhaus and Paul Romer won the Nobel Prize in Economics for their work exploring how climate change affects economic stability. Ultimately, the pair’s research found the phenomena to be closely linked. The case for investment in sustainable ventures is clear: Without such commitments, both the planet and the global economic ecosystem will suffer.

Sustainable investments may jump start the slow process of changing consumer habits. Below, we examine the economy-boosting benefits of environmentally friendly business models — and how sustainable investment plays an important role.

Researchers have combined a form of graphene with a seaweed-derived substance to create a whole new smart material with multiple uses.

A number of biomedical applications have begun to adopt hydrogel materials made from alginate, a natural material derived from seaweed. Yet in their current form, these hydrogels are incredibly fragile, meaning they’re not very useful in the long term.

However, researchers at Brown University have found a way to drastically improve their strength – in addition to making them more intricate in shape – using graphene oxide (GO) and 3D printing.

Continue reading “When graphene and seaweed combine, something amazing happens” »

Sir Aaron Klug, OM, who has died aged 92, won the 1982 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his development of crystallographic electron microscopy and his work in charting the infinitely complex structures of chromosomes, the body’s largest molecules.

Human genes are made of nucleic acids such as DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). The acids are too small to be seen with an ordinary microscope and too large to be studied by examining them under X-rays.

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