Welcome to the Sunday edition of “Hawaii Science Digest”. This Hawaii Island blog focuses on science, technology, medicine, health, the environment, cyber security, and artificial intelligence (AI). Content provided by https://phys.org–an official publication of the Science X Network.
Accessed on 03 February 2019, 1625 UTC.
Source: https://phys.org
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Spotlight Science News
‘Inkjet’ solar panels poised to revolutionise green energy
What if one day all buildings could be equipped with windows and facades that satisfy the structure’s every energy need, whether rain or shine?
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Love it and leave it: Social media effects explored by researchers
The ‘stuff’ of the universe keeps changing
The composition of the universe—the elements that are the building blocks for every bit of matter—is ever-changing and ever-evolving, thanks to the lives and deaths of stars.
Novel hypothesis goes underground to predict future of Greenland ice sheet
The Greenland ice sheet melted a little more easily in the past than it does today because of geological changes, and most of Greenland’s ice can be saved from melting if warming is controlled, says a team of Penn State researchers.
Researchers create first carbon fibers with uniform porous structure
A professor in Virginia Tech’s College of Science wants to power planes and cars using energy stored in their exterior shells. He may have discovered a path toward that vision using porous carbon fibers made from what’s known …
Suicide can’t be predicted by asking about suicidal thoughts, major Australian study shows
The majority of people who die by suicide deny having suicidal thoughts when asked by doctors in the weeks and months leading up to their death, a ground-breaking UNSW Sydney study has found.
Grad student finds adding fresh carbon to permafrost triggers carbon loss
Permafrost underlies nearly 85 percent of Alaska and nearly a quarter of the landmass in the northern hemisphere. This perennially frozen soil contains twice as much carbon as is found in the Earth’s atmosphere. Since the …
Implementing kick control on simulated and real-world wheeled robots
A team of researchers at Babes-Bolyai University, in Romania, and Goethe University Frankfurt have recently collaborated on a study exploring implementations of kick control on both simulated and real-world wheeled robots. …
Palm oil not the only driver of forest loss in Indonesia
Large-scale agriculture, primarily for growing oil palms, remains a major cause of deforestation in Indonesia, but its impact has diminished proportionately in recent years as other natural and human causes emerge, a new …
Scientists ‘hijack’ open-access quantum computer to tease out quantum secrets
The rules of quantum mechanics describe how atoms and molecules act very differently from the world around us. Scientists have made progress toward teasing out these rules—essential for finding ways to make new molecules …
Microbes help make the coffee
When it comes to processing coffee beans, longer fermentation times can result in better taste, contrary to conventional wisdom. Lactic acid bacteria play an important, positive role in this process. Other species of microbes …
‘Quiet’ light
Spectrally pure lasers lie at the heart of precision high-end scientific and commercial applications, thanks to their ability to produce near-perfect single-color light. A laser’s capacity to do so is measured in terms of …
Magnetic graphene switches between insulator and conductor
Researchers have found that certain ultra-thin magnetic materials can switch from insulator to conductor under high pressure, a phenomenon that could be used in the development of next-generation electronics and memory storage …
Magnetic teeth hold promise for materials and energy
A mollusk with teeth that can grind down rock may hold the key to making next generation abrasion-resistant materials and nanoscale materials for energy.
Researchers find new clues to controlling HIV
The immune system is the body’s best defense in fighting diseases like HIV and cancer. Now, an international team of researchers is harnessing the immune system to reveal new clues that may help in efforts to produce an HIV …
Microbes hitched to insects provide a rich source of new antibiotics
Medicine was transformed in the 20th century by the discovery and development of antibiotics, the vast majority of which came from one source: soil bacteria.
Lettuce show you how to restore oil-soaked soil
Rice University engineers have figured out how soil contaminated by heavy oil can not only be cleaned but made fertile again.
A correlation found between psychiatric disorders and events during the prenatal stage
Particular genetic variants in the human genome that are important for the development of the brain early in the life of the foetus are frequently found in psychiatric disorders. This is shown by a study carried out by iPSYCH.
Variations in seafloor create freak ocean waves
Florida State University researchers have found that abrupt variations in the seafloor can cause dangerous ocean waves known as rogue or freak waves—waves so catastrophic that they were once thought to be the figments of …
Virtual lens improves X-ray microscopy
With X-ray microscopes, researchers at PSI look inside computer chips, catalysts, small pieces of bone, or brain tissue. The short wavelength of the X-rays makes details visible that are a million times smaller than a grain …
Nanoparticles may promote cancer metastasis
Nanoparticles can be found in processed food (e.g. food additives), consumer products (e.g. sunscreen) and even in medicine. While these tiny particles could have large untapped potential and novel new applications, they …
Current generation via quantum proton transfer
NIMS and Hokkaido University jointly discovered that proton transfer in electrochemical reactions is governed by the quantum tunneling effect (QTE) under the specific conditions. In addition, they made a first ever observation …
An overview of microbiome research
A trio of medical researchers, two with Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, the other with the Weizmann Institute of Science, has published a Focus piece in the journal Science Translational Medicine as part of the journal’s …
Researchers report advances in stretchable semiconductors, integrated electronics
Researchers from the University of Houston have reported significant advances in stretchable electronics, moving the field closer to commercialization.
Exploring the dark side of the genome
Research has shown a direct relationship between mutations in introns and variability in human populations.
MRI scans reveal how brain protects memories
Two distinct parts of the human brain—the neocortex and the hippocampus (a part of the brain involved in higher-order brain functions) – have been shown to help protect our memories from interfering with one another.
Gene therapy cassettes improved for muscular dystrophy
Experimental gene therapy cassettes for Duchenne muscular dystrophy have been modified to deliver better performance. The cassettes, which carry the therapy into muscle cells, contain newer versions of a miniaturized treatment …
Directed evolution of a designer enzyme with an unnatural catalytic amino acid
The impressively high conversion rates of natural enzymes partly result from increasing the catalytic activity of a selected few amino acid side chains through precise positioning within the protein binding cavity. Scientists …
Intuition and failure are valuable ingredients in chemistry
When researchers make a new discovery, they tend to only publish the results of their successful experiments. But just as informative are all the experiments that didn’t work – the failed trials and incorrect hypotheses, …
How predatory plankton created modern ecosystems after ‘Snowball Earth’
Around 635 to 720 million years ago, during Earth’s most severe glacial period, the Earth was twice almost completely covered by ice, according to current hypotheses. The question of how life survived these “Snowball Earth’ …
Feb 01, 2019 in Earth Sciences