Researchers at The University of Manchester in the UK, led by Dr Artem Mishchenko, Prof Volodya Fal’ko and Prof Andre Geim, have discovered the quantum Hall effect in bulk graphite — a layered crystal consisting of stacked graphene layers. This is an unexpected result because the quantum Hall effect is possible only in so-called two-dimensional…
Without following a particular diet, overweight people who tracked daily food consumption using a free smartphone app lost a significant amount of weight in a new Duke University study. The results were achieved using automated, free tools, rather than expensive in-person interventions, suggesting a possible low-cost route to effective weight loss. “Free and low-cost weight…
Electronic cigarette use (“vaping”) is associated with wheezing in adults, according to a new study published in the journal Tobacco Control. People who vaped were nearly twice as likely to experience wheezing compared to people who didn’t regularly use tobacco products. Wheezing, which is caused by narrowed or abnormal airways, is often a precursor to…
Researchers have discovered that fat tissue releases a lipid-filled particle that has a role in immune function and metabolism. The study, in mice, was published online in the journal Science. Why it matters Obesity appears to activate the immune system, contributing to type 2 diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and other disorders. Understanding how fat…
Medical marijuana may bring relief to older people who have symptoms like pain, sleep disorders or anxiety due to chronic conditions including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, neuropathy, spinal cord damage and multiple sclerosis, according to a preliminary study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 71st Annual Meeting in…
Researchers at American University have developed a new, highly sensitive rapid genetic test that can determine whether bacteria carries a gene that causes resistance to two common antibiotics used to treat strep throat and other respiratory illnesses. The scientists show that the new method works as accurately as culture-based methods but gives results in minutes,…
What do tiny specks of silicon carbide stardust, found in meteorites and older than the solar system, have in common with pairs of aging stars prone to eruptions? A collaboration between two Arizona State University scientists — cosmochemist Maitrayee Bose and astrophysicist Sumner Starrfield, both of ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration — has…
A team led by a plant pathologist at the University of California, Riverside, has identified a regulatory, genetic mechanism in plants that could help fight bacterial infection. “By better understanding this molecular mechanism of regulation, we can modify or treat crops to induce their immune response against bacterial pathogens,” said Hailing Jin, a professor of…
Automated programs can identify which sick infants in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) have sepsis hours before clinicians recognize the life-threatening condition. A team of data researchers and physician-scientists tested machine-learning models in a NICU population, drawing only on routinely collected data available in electronic health records (EHRs). “Because early detection and rapid intervention…
Materials that are hybrid constructions (combining organic and inorganic precursors) and quasi-two-dimensional (with malleable and highly compactable molecular structures) are on the rise in several technological applications, such as the fabrication of ever-smaller optoelectronic devices. An article published in the journal Physical Review B describes a study in this field resulting from the doctoral research…