Article archives

Brain mechanisms beneath prediction during speech perception

Brain mechanisms beneath prediction during speech perception

LanguageNeuroscience

By Invited Researcher

Author: Nicola Molinaro is an Ikerbasque Research Fellow at BCBL – Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language Research on language comprehension has always underscored the speed and precision with which the brain integrates and process the input while at the same performing multiple parallel tasks. This extreme efficiency is explained by the ability of […]

MI weekly selection #293

MI weekly selection #293

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Sea-level rise may spell doom for salt marshes in southeast England Salt marshes in southeast England could start to disappear beginning in 2040 due to sea-level rises. New Scientist Large, dark sarcophagus found in Egyptian tomb A large, dark sarcophagus has been found in a tomb in Alexandria, Egypt, alongside the bust of a man […]

Helium atom scattering can measure electron−phonon interaction properties of surfaces

Helium atom scattering can measure electron−phonon interaction properties of surfaces

Condensed matterMaterialsQuantum physics

By DIPC

Atom scattering at low energies has a long history as a useful probe of surface properties. The most common atomic projectiles are helium atoms formed into a monoenergetic beam directed toward the surface with energies in the thermal range, meaning kinetic energies less than 100 meV. From ordered surfaces the scattered spectra consist of sharp […]

Challenging predictions for the impact of elevated CO2 on eucalyptus woodlands

Challenging predictions for the impact of elevated CO2 on eucalyptus woodlands

EcologyPlant biology

By Invited Researcher

Author: Teresa E. Gimeno is an Ikerbasque Research Fellow at The Basque Centre for Climate Change One of the expected effects of rising atmospheric CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere is an increase in plant water use efficiency. This is due to the expected enhancement of photosynthesis under future atmospheric CO 2 concentrations, together with […]

MI weekly selection #292

MI weekly selection #292

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Uncertainties added to equation for alien life New research has included uncertainties of numbers in the equation used to determine how widespread alien life might be throughout the galaxy. “We can show that, given current scientific uncertainty, we get a distribution that could make both the optimists and pessimists happy at the same time: a […]

Solvent-induced reversible clustering of gold nanoparticles

Solvent-induced reversible clustering of gold nanoparticles

ChemistryCondensed matterMaterialsNanotechnology

By DIPC

Many methods can be used to synthesise non-molecular inorganic solids. Some solids can be prepared by a variety of routes but others, especially those that are not thermodynamically stable, may be much more difficult to prepare and may require special methods. Non-molecular inorganic solids can also be prepared in various forms, as fibres, films, foams […]

A new theory on the early building blocks of life

A new theory on the early building blocks of life

BiochemistryBiologyChemistryEvolution

By Isabel Perez Castro

From nucleic acids to proteins and sugar chains, all life is made up of polymers, large molecules made up of sequences of small units called monomers. However, how these macromolecules first appeared on the surface of Earth is still controversial. It is generally assumed that, right before life started, our planet was covered in very […]

MI weekly selection #291

MI weekly selection #291

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Researchers deliver cells to mice, zebrafish using tiny robots Magnetic microrobots about the width of a hair have delivered cells to preselected sites within living mice and zebrafish. Researchers say the technology may one day be used in cell therapy and regenerative medicine. The Scientist Survey locates previously unknown galaxy cluster A previously unknown galaxy […]