Article archives

Liquid crystals in motion mimic biological systems

Liquid crystals in motion mimic biological systems

ChemistryCondensed matterMaterials

By Mapping Ignorance

Liquid crystals are all around us, from cell phone screens and video game consoles to car dashboards and medical devices. Run an electric current through liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and they generate colours, thanks to the unique properties of these fluids: rearrange their shape, and they reflect different wavelengths of light. As the lab of […]

MI weekly selection #572

MI weekly selection #572

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

A strange seismological signal that persisted for nine days in 2023 explained Melting glacial ice set off a cascade of events in Greenland in September, ending in tsunami waves bouncing back and forth in a fjord for nine days, with waves reaching heights of 110 meters. The research describes the ice melt triggering a landslide […]

AINU, a powerful AI tool for studying cell heterogeneity

AINU, a powerful AI tool for studying cell heterogeneity

BiologyComputer scienceDIPC SupercomputingGenetics

By DIPC

Chromatin is a complex of DNA and histone, a protein, in the nucleus of a cell. One of the main functions of chromatin is to help DNA packing. Cellular phenotypic heterogeneity is a key determinant of many biological functions; yet, it is still not clear whether it stems from the modifications of the chromatin structure […]

Why do materials get stronger when they are deformed?

Why do materials get stronger when they are deformed?

Condensed matterMaterials

By Mapping Ignorance

Author: Leah Burrows, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences The earliest blacksmiths in the Bronze and Iron Ages figured out that when they deformed metal through bending or hammering, it became stronger. This process, known as work or strain hardening, is still used widely in metallurgy and manufacturing today to increase […]

Dissemination videos can enhance education in STEM disciplines

Dissemination videos can enhance education in STEM disciplines

Education

By Invited Researcher

Authors : Rubén Lijó , Global Training Coordinator at Hitachi Energy, Posdoctoral Researcher at Instituto para el Desarrollo Tecnológico y la Innovación en Comunicaciones (IDeTIC) / Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; Eduardo Quevedo , Institute for Applied Microelectronics (IUMA) / Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; and José Juan Castro , Department […]

MI weekly selection #571

MI weekly selection #571

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

New dinosaur species’ traits hint at ceratopsian migration Scientists have identified a previously unknown dinosaur species, Sasayamagnomus saegusai, that weighed about 10 kilograms and reached about 0.8 meters in length, based on fossil remains from southwestern Japan. The primitive member of the herbivorous ceratopsian group lacks the frills and horns of triceratops and other later […]

Inducing an antiferromagnetic exchange coupling at a hybrid metal–organic interface

Inducing an antiferromagnetic exchange coupling at a hybrid metal–organic interface

Condensed matterDIPC InterfacesMaterialsNanotechnologyQuantum physics

By DIPC

Molecular spintronics is an emerging field that combines ferromagnetic materials with organic or metal–organic semiconductors. It benefits from the unique and exceptional properties of organic molecules, which go beyond inorganic ones. The strong response of many organic molecules to electrical, optical, ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic stimuli bring new potential functionalities to the spintronic device. An effective […]

Do chimpanzees converse?

Do chimpanzees converse?

EthologyLanguage

By José Ramón Alonso

The list of things in which humans are unique is fascinating: art, shyness, spirituality, passion for technology, accumulation of objects. There are other activities that we share with other species, but in which we excel because of our ability, complexity and speed: communication and sociability are two good examples. Humans have the most sophisticated language […]