Author: Ramón Muñoz-Chápuli has been Professor of Animal Biology in the University of Málaga until his retirement. He has investigated for forty years in the fields of developmental biology and animal evolution. Lungfish (Dipnoi) are fascinating animals. Despite having gills, they can breathe atmospheric air thanks to a pair of lungs. Their geographic distribution aligns […]
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 […]
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 […]
What would happen if humans dried out the Mediterranean sea, turning it into a giant salt lake? Would its wildlife survive, and if so, how long would it take to recover? These may seem like wildly theoretical questions, but not for Herman Sörgel, a Bavarian architect who dedicated much of his life to this exact […]
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 […]
Condensed matter • DIPC Interfaces • Materials • Nanotechnology • Quantum physics
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 […]
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 […]
Researchers at the University of Toronto are using artificial intelligence to accelerate scientific breakthroughs in the search for sustainable energy. They have used the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) to confirm that an AI-generated “recipe” for a new catalyst offered a more efficient way to make hydrogen fuel . To […]
Many (if not most) clinical trials end up failing, but given the bias towards positive results sometimes the reasons for their not working remain unclear. Luckily, a team at Open Targets and EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) have analysed the reasons for aborted clinical trials mentioned in Clinicaltrials.gov, the open-source register for clinical trials worldwide […]
Author: Tom Shand, Honorary Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau As the Olympics get going in earnest this week, not everyone’s attention is focused on host city Paris. Surf fans are heading to Tahiti, half a world away in French Polynesia. Why? Well, apart from the French […]