Using images from NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft, planetary researchers have discovered a broad valley in the southern hemisphere of the planet Mercury. Using colorized topography, Mercury’s ‘great valley’ (dark blue) and Rembrandt impact basin (purple, upper right) are revealed in this high-resolution digital elevation …
Read More »Researchers Identify Cause of Visual Impairment in Long-Duration Mission Astronauts
Astronauts on long-duration flights experience visual impairments due to volume changes in cerebrospinal fluid, the clear fluid that helps cushion the brain and spinal cord while circulating nutrients and removing waste materials, according to a study led by Noam Alperin, professor of radiology and biomedical engineering at the University of …
Read More »Researchers develop ‘breathalyzer’ that can detect diabetes
Breathalyzers to detect alcohol intoxication have existed for years, as the relationship between blood-alcohol content and alcohol in the breath is well understood. The same principles may soon be applied to diabetes screening. A team of researchers from Oxford University have succeeded in building a device that can flag patients …
Read More »Researchers identify autism-linked receptor that initiates synaptic pruning
Synaptic pruning is a little like sleep. We know both processes are important to healthy brain function, but we don’t know exactly how they happen, nor how to reliably treat problems in the system. Disruptions in the delicate process of synaptic pruning are associated with disorders like schizophrenia and autism, …
Read More »Researchers find no evidence ‘brain training’ games offset aging, cognitive decline
Several years ago, so-called “brain training” games from companies like Luminosity were all the rage. The various companies that brought these products to market claimed they could be used to offset the aging process by slowing or even reversing age-related cognitive declines. In 2014, two groups of scientists released two …
Read More »Researchers discover a virus that makes the toxin from black widow spider venom
Biotechnologists have discovered some horrifying new consequences of lateral gene transfer: a virus that started making the toxin from black widow spider venom, all by itself. This might be the single combination humanity needed least. No matter what the permutation, viruses plus black widows add up to a whole lot …
Read More »Researchers simulate a dog nose to help smell bombs, cancer, pizza
Like most of us, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology had always wondered why dogs had wet noses. Further, they wondered why they could sense vapors better, allowing them to sniff out bombs, drugs, and even cancer. They tested the second question by 3D printing a dog’s …
Read More »Microsoft researchers sound off on the next decade in tech
It’s Computer Science Education Week, in case you didn’t know, and in honor of this hallowed period Microsoft is publishing the thoughts of a few of its scientists and engineers on what will change in the tech world over the next decade. Seventeen women were asked to chime in — …
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