Technology News

Despite a deep understanding of the properties of individual atoms — the 'ingredients' that make up a crystal — scientists found that, when they are combined they often display new, unanticipated properties, making efforts to design new materials little more than guesswork. To make that process more predictable, scientists have produced a system to represent band structures — energy bands, similar to electron orbital, that run through solids — to quickly understand the properties of a given material.

Scientists advocate that researchers, manufacturers and administrators wanting to advance the nanoparticle manufacturing industry 'connect the dots' by considering shared quality control challenges broadly and tackling them collectively rather than individually.

Disasters are becoming more commonplace and complex, and the challenges for rescue and humanitarian organizations increase. Increasingly these groups turn to big data to help provide solutions. Researchers wished to examine how ICT tools and big data were being used in disaster responses. By conducting a structured literature search and developing a data extraction tool on the use of ICT and big data during disasters they showed that some important gaps exist which should be part of a future research focus.

Researchers report that their physics-based model of California earthquake hazards replicated estimates from the state's leading statistical model.

Researchers have built a robot, named Minnie, to serve as a reading buddy to middle school kids, and Minnie's new friends grew more excited about books and more attached to the robot over two weeks of reading together.

The palace-city of Samarra, capital of the former Abbasid Caliphate, was home to an advanced industry of glass production and trade, according to a new study.

Researchers have uncovered a destructive mechanism at the molecular level that causes a well-known phenomenon associated with obesity: leptin resistance. They found that mice fed a high-fat diet produce an enzyme named MMP-2 that clips receptors for the hormone leptin from the surface of neuronal cells in the hypothalamus. This blocks leptin from binding to its receptors. This in turn keeps the neurons from signaling that your stomach is full and you should stop eating.

In most of Europe, the rates of smoking initiation among older teens have declined since the 1970s, while 'new smoker' rates among younger teens have risen in recent years.

Parrots — highly intelligent and highly verbal — may also ruffle their head feathers and blush to communicate visually, according to a new study. The study extends the understanding of the complex social lives of these remarkable birds.

New research confirms the shape of tooth wear best indicates the kind of food modern koalas and kangaroos ate, not whether it was covered in dust and dirt.