For example, many insects such as bees and ants will instinctively remove dead members from the hive, seemingly to keep the nest clear of any potential pathogens. Research from a team at University of Michigan describes a similar aversion for decedents among the roundworm C. elegans. They’ve discovered that the…
Science
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A faster, more reliable method for simulating the plasmas used to make computer chips
Plasma — the electrically charged fourth state of matter — is at the heart of many important industrial processes, including those used to make computer chips and coat materials. Simulating those plasmas can be challenging, however, because millions of math operations must be performed for thousands of points in the…
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Escape from the Wonder Killer
Going into nature, how long does it take till you feel like you’re there? There meaning not sending emails in your head and not wincing at shifts of temperature or humidity when sun turns to rain? There’s a comfort that comes over you. Hands and the heart are no longer…
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Brain drain? More like brain gain: How high-skilled emigration boosts global prosperity
As the national debate intensifies around immigration, a new study from the University of California School of Global Policy and Strategy is challenging conventional wisdom about “brain drain” — the idea that when skilled workers emigrate from developing countries, their home economies suffer. Published in Science, the paper reveals high-skilled…
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Charge radius of Helium-3 measured with unprecedented precision
A research team led by Professor Randolf Pohl from the Institute of Physics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has achieved a significant breakthrough in determining fundamental properties of atomic nuclei. For the first time, the team conducted laser spectroscopy experiments on muonic helium-3 at the Paul Scherrer Institute in…
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First vascularized model of stem cell islet cells
Researchers led by Maike Sander, Scientific Director of the Max Delbrück Center, have developed a vascularized organoid model of hormone secreting cells in the pancreas. The advance, published in Developmental Cell, promises to improve diabetes research and cell-based therapies. An international team of researchers led by Max Delbrück Center Scientific…
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Efficiency upgrade for OLED screens: A route to blue PHOLED longevity
Blue phosphorescent OLEDs can now last as long as the green phosphorescent OLEDs already in devices, University of Michigan researchers have demonstrated, paving the way for further improving the energy efficiency of OLED screens. “This moves the blues into the domain of green lifetimes,” said Stephen Forrest, the Peter A.…
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Ice Skating: an Overanalysis
Skating monster by Hieronymus Bosch, Wikimedia Commons This first ran January 3, 2019. I don’t know if Emily ever bought disability insurance or not. — Ed. “This is a nightmare,” I said to my boyfriend as we walked up to a skating rink in El Dorado Hills, California. The “Family…
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When the sea moves inland: A global climate wake-up call from Bangladesh’s Delta
As sea levels climb and weather grows more extreme, coastal regions everywhere are facing a creeping threat: salt. Salinization of freshwater and soils adversely affects 500 million people around the world, especially in low-lying river deltas. A new study led by researchers at the University of Portsmouth, in partnership with…
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The Increase in Infant Milk Formulas and Why It Matters
Breastfeeding can play an especially important role in early-life nutrition. It can benefit children’s future school performance and economic prospects in later life, as well as the mother’s health. Health authorities across the world endorse the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation that newborns should where possible exclusively breastfeed from the…