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Computer simulations conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) could help scientists make sense of a recently observed and puzzling wrinkle in one of nature's most important chemical processes. It turns out that calcium carbonate-the ubiquitous compound that is a major component of seashells, limestone, concrete, antacids and myriad other naturally and industrially produced substances-may momentarily exist in liquid form as it crystallizes from solution.

A new chemical discovery will lead to better monitoring and treatment for cancers and degenerative diseases, according to latest research by scientists. In a paper published today in ChemComm an international team of researchers from the Universities of Birmingham, Bath and the East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai outline a new approach to detecting 'reactive oxygen' using fluorescence.

Star formation is an even more intense and dynamic process than previously thought, according to research based on data from one of the world's newest and most powerful telescopes. As stars form in clouds of gas and dust, they shoot powerful jets of gas and other raw material outward. Analysis of fresh high-resolution images of fast-moving emissions from a well-known protostar refines the existing picture of the outflows' size, shape, and motion, and shows that they are moving at greater velocities than previously measured, researchers report Aug.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Genetics may play a role in how people's taste receptors send signals, leading to a wide spectrum of taste preferences, according to Penn State food scientists. These varied, genetically influenced responses may mean that food and drink companies will need a range of artificial sweeteners to accommodate different consumer tastes.

UAlberta astrophysicist's 3-D rendering helps international researchers get unprecedented look at gases escaping from nearby galaxy. UAlberta astrophysicist Erik Rosolowsky created this 3-D rendering of carbon monoxide in the starburst galaxy NGC 253. A University of Alberta astrophysicist's 3-D computer animation is helping an international research team get an unprecedented look at star-forming gases escaping from a nearby galaxy.

Paper: "Emergent Properties of Nanosensor Arrays: Applications for Monitoring IgG Affinity Distributions, Weakly Affined Hypermannosylation, and Colony Selection for Biomanufacturing" Chemical engineers find that arrays of carbon nanotubes can detect flaws in drugs and help improve production. MIT chemical engineers have discovered that arrays of billions of nanoscale sensors have unique properties that could help pharmaceutical companies produce drugs - especially those based on antibodies - more safely and efficiently.

The presence of lignin in secondary plant cell walls can be visualized using specific dyes. On this cross section of an Arabidopsis stem, the lignin has been stained red. Photo: Wout Boerjan, VIB, Belgium For nearly a decade, scientists have thought that they understood how plants produce lignin - a compound that gives plant tissues their structure and sturdiness, but can limit their use as a source of biofuels.

Researchers at Umeå University, together with researchers at Uppsala University and Stockholm University, show in a new study how nitrogen doped graphene can be rolled into perfect Archimedean nano scrolls by adhering magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles on the surface of the graphene sheets. The new material may have very good properties for application as electrodes in for example Li-ion batteries.

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have designed a new material to make smart windows even smarter. The material is a thin coating of nanocrystals embedded in glass that can dynamically modify sunlight as it passes through a window.

Yale researchers report they may have found a key molecular messenger that links the stomach-to-brain reward circuits and signals the brain it has sufficient calories. Mice placed on a high-fat diet have a deficiency of dopamine, a key neurotransmitter involved in activating reward centers of the brain.

Berkeley Lab scientists have helped to develop a tiny chip that has big potential for quickly determining whether someone has been exposed to dangerous levels of ionizing radiation. The first-of-its-kind chip has an array of nanosensors that measure the concentrations of proteins that change after radiation exposure.

A new type of bone marrow stem cell in mice that is primed to produce large numbers of vital blood-clotting platelets has been discovered. The breakthrough could lead to the development of new treatments to restore platelets in patients who have undergone chemotherapy or a bone marrow transplant. A team funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), and led by scientists at Oxford University's MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, has reported the discovery in the journal Nature .

New research published in the 'Biochemical Journal' has identified molecules occurring naturally in fruit that may play an important role in the future treatment of heart disease. Molecules called flavanoids, which are found in citrus fruits - particularly grapefruit - have proven effective at reducing the inflammation which can lead to deadly cardiovascular disease.

Though placentas support the fetus and mother, it turns out that the organ grows according to blueprints from dad, says new Cornell research. The study shows that the genes in a fetus that come from the father dominate in building the fetal side of the placenta. Genes work in pairs: one from each parent.

The splash from rain hitting a windowpane or printer ink hitting paper all comes down to tiny droplets hitting a surface, and what each of those droplets does. Cornell researchers have produced a high-resolution "photo album" of more than 30 shapes an oscillated drop of water can take. The results, a fundamental insight into how droplets behave, could have applications in everything from inkjet printing to microfluidics.

Fuel cells that convert hydrogen into power and only produce pure water as a by-product have the potential to lead individual mobility into an environmentally friendly future.

We should see new materials and solar cells that make use of this very soon Akshay Rao Organic solar cells, a new class of solar cell that mimics the natural process of plant photosynthesis, could revolutionise renewable energy - but currently lack the efficiency to compete with the more costly commercial silicon cells.

Organic solar cells that convert light to electricity using carbon-based molecules have shown promise as a versatile energy source but have not been able to match the efficiency of their silicon-based counterparts. Now, researchers have discovered a synthetic, high-performance polymer that behaves differently from other tested materials and could make inexpensive, highly efficient organic solar panels a reality.

An iconic moment in the history of Hollywood movie magic was born in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz when Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale stepped out of the black and white world of Kansas into the rainbow colored world of Oz. An iconic moment in the history of infrared imaging may have been born with the announcement of the first technique to offer full color IR tomography.

Posted under: Health and Medicine , News Releases , Research , Science , Technology Between ages 3 and 10, children with autism spectrum disorder exhibit distinct brain chemical changes that differ from children with developmental delays and children with typical development, according to a new study led by University of Washington researchers.