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Flexible electronics could transform the way we make and use electronic devices
A good wire for nanoelectronics
Researchers Uncover New Pathways in Bacterial Intercellular Competition
Study finds that hot and cold senses interact
Couch Potatoes May Be Genetically Predisposed to Being Lazy
Nearly Half of Breast Cancer Patients at High Risk of Carrying BRCA Mutations Do Not Receive Genetic Testing Recommendations from Physicians
Research advances therapy to protect against dengue virus
Using x-ray tomography to screen lithium ion battery electrodes and ion transport
Bird flu mutation study offers vaccine clue

Flexible electronics could transform the way we make and use electronic devices

Posted: 09 Apr 2013 07:26 AM PDT

Nearly everyone knows what the inside of a computer or a mobile phone looks like: A stiff circuit board, usually green, crammed with chips, resistors, capacitors and sockets, interconnected by a suburban sprawl of printed wiring.

But what if our printed circuit board was not stiff, but flexible enough to bend or even fold?

It may sound like an interesting laboratory curiosity, but not to Enrique Gomez, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at Penn State. "It could transform the way we make and use electronic devices," he says.

A good wire for nanoelectronics

Posted: 09 Apr 2013 07:11 AM PDT

Nanoelectronics has taken another step forward. An international team including researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics in Halle has discovered an effect which can be used to produce silicon nanowires with particularly attractive electrical and morphological properties. These nanowires are grown in an elegant way with aluminium as the catalyst.

Researchers Uncover New Pathways in Bacterial Intercellular Competition

Posted: 08 Apr 2013 02:48 PM PDT

There's an epic battle taking place that's not on the national radar: intercellular competition. While it's not an Olympic event, new research from UC Santa Barbara demonstrates that this microscopic rivalry can be just as fierce as humans going for the gold.

Study finds that hot and cold senses interact

Posted: 08 Apr 2013 02:48 PM PDT

A study from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine offers new insights into how the nervous system processes hot and cold temperatures. The research led by neuroscientist Mark J. Zylka, PhD, associate professor of cell biology and physiology, found an interaction between the neural circuits that detect hot and cold stimuli: cold perception is enhanced when nerve circuitry for heat is inactivated.

Couch Potatoes May Be Genetically Predisposed to Being Lazy

Posted: 08 Apr 2013 02:30 PM PDT

Studies show 97 percent of American adults get less than 30 minutes of exercise a day, which is the minimum recommended amount based on federal guidelines. New research from the University of Missouri suggests certain genetic traits may predispose people to being more or less motivated to exercise and remain active. Frank Booth, a professor in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, along with his post-doctoral fellow Michael Roberts, were able to selectively breed rats that exhibited traits of either extreme activity or extreme laziness.

Nearly Half of Breast Cancer Patients at High Risk of Carrying BRCA Mutations Do Not Receive Genetic Testing Recommendations from Physicians

Posted: 08 Apr 2013 12:20 PM PDT

Only 53 percent of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients who were at high risk of carrying a BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 mutation – based on age, diagnosis, and family history of breast or ovarian cancer – reported that their doctors urged them to be tested for the genes, according to a research team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Research advances therapy to protect against dengue virus

Posted: 08 Apr 2013 12:13 PM PDT

Nearly half of the world’s population is at risk of infection by the dengue virus, yet there is no specific treatment for the disease. Now a therapy to protect people from the virus could finally be a step closer, thanks to a team at MIT.

In a paper published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers, from MIT’s Koch Institute of Integrative Cancer Research, present a novel approach to developing a dengue therapy using mutated antibodies.

Using x-ray tomography to screen lithium ion battery electrodes and ion transport

Posted: 08 Apr 2013 08:41 AM PDT

ETH-Zurich researchers use x-ray tomography to screen lithium ion battery electrodes and can reconstruct the microstructure in high resolution. This helps to understand the discharging and charging process better and develop optimised electrodes.

Bird flu mutation study offers vaccine clue

Posted: 08 Apr 2013 08:30 AM PDT

Scientists have described small genetic changes that enable the H5N1 bird flu virus to replicate more easily in the noses of mammals.

So far there have only been isolated cases of bird flu in humans, and no widespread transmission as the H5N1 virus can’t replicate efficiently in the nose. The new study, using weakened viruses in the lab, supports the conclusions of controversial research published in 2012 which demonstrated that just a few genetic mutations could enable bird flu to spread between ferrets, which are used to model flu infection in humans.