The human brain is finely tuned not only to recognize particular sounds, but also to determine which direction they came from. By comparing differences in sounds that reach the right and left ear, the brain can estimate the location of a barking dog, wailing fire engine, or approaching car. MIT neuroscientists have now developed a […]

Northwestern University researchers have developed a new tool to harness immune cells from tumors to fight cancer rapidly and effectively. Their findings, to be published January 27 in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, showed a dramatic shrinkage in tumors in mice compared to traditional cell therapy methods. With a novel microfluidic device that could be […]

In a 38-year-old man who manifested mild symptoms of COVID-19 for 20 days, the novel coronavirus continued to be detected in his organism and to undergo mutations for 232 days. If he had not been given continuous medical care, maintained social distancing and worn a mask, he could have spread the virus throughout these seven […]

Light therapy may accelerate the healing of skin damage from radiation therapy by up to 50%, according to a recent University at Buffalo-led study. The research found that photobiomodulation – a form of low-dose light therapy –lowered the severity of skin damage from radionecrosis (the breakdown of body tissue after radiation therapy), reduced inflammation, improved […]

Shrimp shells, plant extracts and recycled plastic have helped KAUST researchers to build a sustainable thin-film composite membrane that could replace conventional membranes whose environmental toll is greater. Thin-film composite membranes are widely used in applications such as wastewater treatment, gas separation and chemicals production. They include a porous support topped by an ultrathin layer […]

Neural networks are sometimes called black boxes because, despite the fact that they can outperform humans on certain tasks, even the researchers who design them often don’t understand how or why they work so well. But if a neural network is used outside the lab, perhaps to classify medical images that could help diagnose heart […]

By analyzing disease mechanisms in human neurons, researchers led by the University of California San Diego developed a new method to screen drugs for treating Alzheimer’s disease. Their work sheds light on why Alzheimer’s drugs so far have been ineffective at curing or reversing the disease and identifies new targets for drug development. The findings, […]

A team mapping radio waves in the Universe has discovered something unusual that releases a giant burst of energy three times an hour, and it’s unlike anything astronomers have seen before. The team who discovered it think it could be a neutron star or a white dwarf—collapsed cores of stars—with an ultra-powerful magnetic field. Spinning […]

A new x-ray crystallography technique can better elucidate the structures of the many materials that don’t form tidy, single crystals. The method developed by a large, multi-institutional research collaboration could help investigate the structures of compounds such as solar absorbers and metal–organic frameworks. The new technique, dubbed small molecule serial femtosecond x-ray crystallography (smSFX), brings […]

Whoever said there’s nothing more boring than watching grass grow, wasn’t thinking about seagrass. Often confused with seaweeds and rarely receiving the attention they deserve, there’s nothing boring about seagrasses. In fact, they are one of the most productive ecosystems in the world. Next time you are swimming and enjoying the sea’s cool embrace look […]