An annual influenza season forecasting challenge issued by the US Centers for Disease Control provides unique insight into epidemic forecasting, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports. The study, conducted by a large team of researchers, including biocomplexity scientist Matteo Convertino of Japan’s Hokkaido University, analysed the forecasts of 14 predictive models…
Researchers in the College of Science and College of Engineering have discovered that a high-strength polymer called “PBDT” has a rare double helix structure, opening possibilities for use in a variety of applications. This discovery, recently published in Nature Communications, comes as an extension of the development of a polymer ion-gel, which promises to outperform…
When we listen to loud sounds, our hearing may become impaired for a short time. Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, have discovered a mechanism that helps to explain how this happens. Their results are presented in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS. “Most people have experienced that their hearing is impaired…
Combining an atomically thin graphene and a boron nitride layer at a slightly rotated angle changes their electrical properties. Physicists at the University of Basel have now shown for the first time the combination with a third layer can result in new material properties also in a three-layer sandwich of carbon and boron nitride. This…
A comprehensive analysis of sewage collected in 74 cities in 60 countries has yielded the first, comparable global data, which show the levels and types of antimicrobial resistant bacteria that are present in mainly healthy people in these countries. The National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, headed the study, which was conducted by an…
Surface wear describes the process of material loss when two surfaces come into contact with each other. It has significant economic, social and health consequences — just think of the fine particles emitted by moving vehicles. What’s more, it can be observed at all levels, from the nanoscale up to the scale of tectonic faults,…
Researchers examined the visual response of 113 individuals when observing prehistoric ceramics belonging to different styles and societies. The ceramics analysed cover 4,000 years (from 4000 B.C. to the change of era) of Galician prehistory (north-west Iberia), and are representative of ceramic styles, such as bell-beaker pottery, found throughout Europe. The results indicate that the…
Researchers at Duke University and Aalto University (Finland) have constructed a “meta-mirror” device capable of perfectly reflecting sound waves in any direction. The proof-of-principle demonstration is analogous to looking directly into a mirror and only seeing the person next to you instead of your own face. The research appeared online on February 15 in the…
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and Soroka University Medical Center researchers have determined that it is as safe to give birth after age 50 as age 40 without endangering the mother or the baby. The paper was recently presented at the Society for Maternal and Fetal Medicine 39th Annual Pregnancy Meeting in Las Vegas.…
University at Buffalo physicists are using innovative tools to study the properties of a bizarre class of molecules that may play a role in disease: proteins that cluster together to form spherical droplets inside human cells. The scientists’ latest research sheds light on the conditions that drive such droplets to switch from a fluid, liquidy…