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May 18 | News
A
new study, using experimentation with a highly advanced spectrometer
for molecular rotational spectroscopy, has removed some of the mystery
about the elusive structure of water. For the first time, researchers
have a physical picture of what water molecules put together look like,
and it turns out they adopt three different geometries.
May 18 | News
An
international team of researchers has discovered how adding trace
amounts of water can tremendously speed up chemical reactions—such as
hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis—in which hydrogen is one of the
reactants, or starting materials. Previous research had indicated this
phenomenon, but until now the true importance of water to its effect has
eluded chemists.
May 14 | News
A
team of mathematical physics experts has found that the task of mapping
geometric patterns linking structures to functions in plant leaves was
made considerably easier after studying a specific vascular pattern of
microscopic loops within loops that is found in the leaves of many
plants. This formula, which helps plants redirect nutrients after
injury, could illuminate complex structures elsewhere.
May 10 | News
A new essay in the journal PLoS Biology,
examines what really constitutes “life” and the probability of
discovering new life forms. Gerald Joyce, from The Scripps Research
Institute, discusses in the essay the basic requirements for a life form
to exist, and how it might fit into the forms alien life could take.
May 9 | News
The
overwhelming majority of proteins and other functional molecules in our
bodies display chirality: They can exist in two distinct forms that are
mirror images of each other. Seeking out a reason for why biological
systems express chiral preferences, researchers used lithography to make
achiral triangles with no handedness. Then physical entropic forces
took over and scientists were completely surprised.
Apr 10 | News
A
new analysis by biologists, physicists, and engineers at Brown
University reveals the subtle but important degree to which efficiency
has shaped the flapping wings of bats. Their studies have revealed the
inertial energy conserved by the act of folding the wings inward to the
body during an upstroke. The findings could inform designers of
artificial wings.
Mar 30 | News
The
conventional image about the inside of the brain is that it resembles a
bowl of spaghetti noodles. A research team say they have now discovered
that a more uniformed grid-like pattern makes up the connections of the
brain, and the pathways can be described as woven sheets of fiber
running two directions.
Mar 27 | News
Researchers
from the University of Michigan Health System and the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology report they have created the first full 3-D
images of B12 and its partner molecules twisting and contorting as part
of a crucial reaction called methyltransfer. The reaction is crucial to
biological systems and has implications for fuel development.
Mar 26 | News
Searching
for the simplest 3-D structure that could take advantage of mechanical
instability to collapse reversibly, a group of engineers at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University discovered
the “buckliball”, acollapsible, spherical toy that resembled the
structures they’d been exploring, but with a complex layout of 26 solid
moving elements and 48 rotating hinges.
Mar 22 | News
According
to NASA scientist Dr. Nicholas Schmerr, a layer of partially molten
rock about 22 to 75 miles underground can't be the only mechanism that
allows continents to gradually shift their position over millions of
years. He contends that because his research has revealed this melt-rich
layer to be spotty, another cause must exist for the movement of plates
over the mantle.
