Article archives

MI weekly selection #444

MI weekly selection #444

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Feathery bridge between galaxy’s arms A bridge of gas resembling a feather has been observed between a pair of the Milky Way’s spiral arms. The Gangotri wave, observed using APEX telescope data, reaches from the Norma arm to the 3-kiloparsec arm near the galaxy’s center and features a sine-like wave. S cience News How to […]

The orderly growth of 5-armchair graphene nanoribbons

The orderly growth of 5-armchair graphene nanoribbons

ChemistryDIPC Interfaces

By DIPC

The advent of on-surface chemistry under vacuum has vastly increased our capabilities to synthesize carbon nanomaterials with atomic precision. Among the types of target structures that have been synthesized by these means, one-dimensional graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) have probably attracted the most attention, and for a good reason: t he enormous tunability of GNRs’ electronic properties […]

Increased density of synapses in autism spectrum disorders

Increased density of synapses in autism spectrum disorders

NeurobiologyNeuroscience

By José Ramón Alonso

At a synapse, the plasma membrane of the neuron transmitting the information (the presynaptic neuron) is in close proximity to the membrane of the target cell (postsynaptic) and the two are separated by a space known as the synaptic cleft. Both the presynaptic and postsynaptic sites contain extensive assemblies of molecular machinery that link the […]

Invasive species are threatening Antarctica’s fragile ecosystems

Invasive species are threatening Antarctica’s fragile ecosystems

BiologyEcology

By Invited Researcher

We tend to think Antarctica is isolated and far away – biologically speaking, this is true. But the continent is busier than you probably imagine, with many national programs and tourist operators crisscrossing the globe to get there. And each vessel, each cargo item, and each person could be harbouring non-native species, hitchhiking their way […]

MI weekly selection #443

MI weekly selection #443

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Massive simulation suite offers views of universe Astronomers have created AbacusSummit, a simulation suite of the universe that contains roughly 60 trillion particles across more than 160 simulations that model the ways dark matter and visible matter interact in a box-shaped environment. Universe Today Infection-fighting cells found in lungfish cocoons The cocoons that encase African […]

A path to systematically bridge the gap between molecular properties and solid-state material performance

A path to systematically bridge the gap between molecular properties and solid-state material performance

DIPC Computational and Theoretical Chemistry

By DIPC

Cromophores are generally groups of atoms having delocalized electrons. Covalent assemblies of conjugated organic chromophores provide the opportunity to engineer new excited states with novel properties. A team of researchers has now used a novel cage architecture for creating them. The properties of organic electronic materials being determined by the interactions between their conjugated subunits […]

The Evolution of Murder

The Evolution of Murder

Prepared to kill

By Invited Researcher

The American evolutionary psychologist David Buss contends in his 2005 book The Murderer Next Door: Why the Mind Is Designed to Kill that the evolutionary process humans acquired psychological adaptations to facilitate homicide. Natural selection, it is hypothesized, winnowed and perfected psychological mechanisms that solved certain problems by facilitating homicidal behavior. Of course, to solve […]

MI weekly selection #442

MI weekly selection #442

ScienceWeekly Selection

By César Tomé

Carbon generated by sea-dwelling microbes Microbes living deep in the ocean have been found to produce amorphous carbon, according to findings detailed in Science Advances. Scientists collected and cultured microbes over a number of years, noticing the production of black specks that turned out to be pure carbon. The Scientist Black hole’s plasma jets revealed […]