Category archives: Technology

“Junk” DNA in plants not needed to remain healthy So-called junk DNA is just that — junk, according to a study by researchers at the University of Buffalo in New York. In a study of the carnivorous bladderwort plant, they found that the part of the genome not responsible for coding proteins in plants is […]

Maples rely on wind, upward currents, and gusts to spread their seeds over long distances that can reach several kilometers. Maple seeds are able to autorotate because their center of gravity, determined by the position of the nut, is located at the base of the wing-shaped seed. It has been observed that, despite their small […]

Pear-shaped nuclei in some atoms may help explain antimatter Researchers have used a particle accelerator called REX-ISOLDE at CERN in Switzerland to discover an atom with pear-shaped nuclei. The discovery could lead scientists to extend the Standard Model in physics and help to explain why there is more matter than antimatter in the universe. LiveScience […]

Cryptography is, beyond any doubt, an important technology. Keeping the privacy of communications has many applications in modern societies. For instance, being able to send a message, as your credit card number, with the confidence that no one will understand it if it is intercepted, is a basic assumption for electronic transactions. Also, nowadays and […]

Jamestown settlers turned to cannibalism to survive, bones show The scarred skull of a 14-year-old girl reveals that English settlers in Jamestown, Va., may have engaged in cannibalism to survive. A brutal winter in 1609 brought a food shortage, killing off 80% of the population. Marks on the girl’s skull and tibia are the first […]

Nowadays we are getting more and more accustomed to making use of new technologies shortly after they have been developed. We like the idea of immediacy and our wishes coincide well with the commercial interests of industry. Nevertheless, there is a field in which this immediacy is almost impossible: the medical sector. Unfortunately, there is […]

Malaria reduced by preserving biodiversity of forests Researchers at Brazil’s University of Sao Paulo found that malaria could be kept from spreading while still preserving the biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest. The traditional view is that clearing such forests curbed the spread of the disease. Using a mathematical model, researchers found that the parasite causing […]

Unlike road vehicles, all rail vehicles run through exactly the same piece of track and they cannot drift away to avoid a bad quality rail. Moreover, the contact patch between wheel and rail is a steel-to-steel contact with a small area and huge loads, so the stress the material is subject to is extremely high […]

Could cellulose feed the world? Researchers have discovered a way to turn cellulose into starch, a technique that could be used to create more food to feed the hungry. Science Now Chun You eta al (2013) Enzymatic transformation of nonfood biomass to starch PNAS DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1302420110 Fire ants prefer shortest route in terms of time […]

An abrupt and widespread climate shift in the Sahara 5,000 years ago The Sahara Desert’s shift from lush grasslands to barren sands happened quickly and simultaneously across the entire region. Scientists say the brief African Humid Period began and ended suddenly, about 5,000 years ago. MIT news D. McGee, P.B. deMenocal, G. Winckler, J.-B. Stuut […]