A topological insulator is a material in which there is order associated to topology, i.e., the surface can conduct electricity but the bulk of the material is an insulator. In these last years topological insulators have received the attention of a large area of the scientific community thanks to their exotic properties. They are promising […]
The identification of previously unknown proteins is a difficult task and often requires to follow unconventional thinking. In my previous post, I have described how the TRPV1 ion channel (formerly known as the capsaicin receptor) was discovered by combining the construction of a cDNA library from primary afferent neurons (DRG neurons) and the functional selection […]
Researchers do not know what influences have the stereotypical images of scientists, if any, on children’s perception of science. The most common technique for assessing children’s perceptions of scientists is the Draw-a-Scientist Test (DAST). David Wade Chambers firstly proposed it in 1983 , and its main aim was to identify at what age the stereotypic […]
Researchers tweak aging process in mice Researchers have reprogrammed adult cells in mice, causing the cells to revert to an embryonic like state, effectively reversing the aging process. By activating four specific genes, scientists expanded the life span of a mouse with a rapid-aging disease and revitalized damaged muscles in a middle-aged mouse. Scientific American […]
Here is an oversimplified vision of immigration: a substantial number of foreign unskilled workers enter the job market, causing a shift of the labor supply curve to the right (workers are suppliers of work), and changing the current equilibrium to another one with lower wages. This is does not need to be the case. Immigrants […]
Geometrical structure, lattice periodicity and atomic arrangement are subtly intertwined with the electronic properties of materials. Sub-angstrom changes in the atomic distance are sufficient to modify the physical and chemical properties, such as the band-structure, carrier mobility and the chemical reactivity. The deposition of two-dimensional layered crystals on mechanically stretchable or bendable substrates can produce […]
As we saw in the previous entries (1,2), the representational theory of measurement (RTM), mainly developed around the mid of the 20 th century, was one of the main warhorses of the by then vigorous positivist ideal of scientific knowledge. According to that theory, the application (and the applicability) of numbers and other mathematical concepts […]
Today is Monday morning and I am going to my laboratory in Niteroi by ferryboat. I took it from the XV Square of Rio de Janeiro. I am looking through the window of the ferryboat and I see one of the most beautiful pictures of the city – the Guanabara Bay (GB). Cariocas (people from […]
99M-year-old feathered dinosaur tail found in amber The feathered tail of a tiny nonavian dinosaur that lived 99 million years ago has been found encased in amber. Soft tissue and eight vertebrae were preserved in the amber along with the tail, allowing researchers to determine it likely belonged to a young theropod. The New York […]
Doing research in molecular biology is not straightforward, because most of the experimental work is based in the study of molecules which cannot be seen by the unaided eye. Instead, we rely on indirect evidence given by methods which are specific for each area of research. Let’s focus here as an illustrative example at someone […]