Feature Channels: Story Ideas: Science

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A small molecule designed to detect cyanide in water samples works quickly, is easy to use, and glows under ultraviolet or "black" light. Although the fluorescent molecule is not yet ready for market, its Indiana University Bloomington creators report in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (now online) that the tool is already able to sense cyanide below the toxicity threshold established by the World Health Organization.

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Everyone listens to music at least now and then. For many of us, music is a casual experience, a moment's entertainment. But for those who practiced in a school orchestra or who play a musical instrument professionally, the musical experience can be something more.

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Although we assume we can see everything in our field of vision, the brain actually picks and chooses the stimuli that come into our consciousness. A new study in the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology’s Journal of Vision reveals that our brains can be trained to consciously see stimuli that would normally be invisible.

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OK, it takes two for human reproduction, and now it seems that plants and animals that can rely on either a partner or go alone by self-fertilization give their offspring a better chance for longer lives when they opt for a mate.

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New research indicates that astronauts will soon have their own gardens aboard the International Space Station with the ability to grow vitamin A-rich carrots in space, according to a study in the Journal of Food Science, published by the Institute of Food Technologists.

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A recent study from the Journal of Food Science, published by the Institute of Food Technologists, determined that smoking salmon at adequately high temperatures is a step in reducing the risk of Listeria monocytogenes in the fish.

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Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have won a $6.5 million grant to develop improved components that will boost the efficiency of electric propulsion systems that are used to control the positions of satellites and planetary probes.

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A University of Michigan survey released today shows widespread consumer interest in buying plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). But the cost of the cars is much more influential than environmental and other non-economic factors as a predictor of purchase probabilities.

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The scientists and engineers who introduced the world to tiny robots demonstrating soccer skills are creating the next level of friendly competition designed to advance microrobotics.

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NIST has issued a new publication aimed at strengthening the U.S. construction industry's efficiency and productivity in the next two to 10 years.

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Investigating mysterious data in ultracold gases of rubidium atoms, scientists have found that properly tuned radio-frequency waves can influence how much the atoms attract or repel one another, opening up new ways to control their interactions.

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Addressing the issue of producing large quantities of purified proteins for desired pharmaceuticals, a multi-institutional research team may have found a new solution in an enzymatic "food processor" they can activate at will.

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A simplified model cell not only sheds light on the way certain real cells generate electric voltages, but also acts as a tiny battery that could offer a practical alternative to conventional solid-state energy-generating devices.

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Jerusalem's geology has been crucial in molding it into one of the most religiously important cities on the planet, according to a new study.

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When authorities discover a “meth house,” they decontaminate it by removing chemicals, getting rid of carpeting, cleaning walls, and airing the place out for a few days. Dr. Glenn Morrison, an associate professor of environmental engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, is wondering if the decontamination methods are sufficient to protect future occupants from exposure to methamphetamine and other chemicals.

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Dr. Jeffery Volz, assistant professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, and his team have received $567,000 to explore how adding carbon fibers could improve the blast and impact resistance of conventional reinforced concrete. The research is funded by the through a cooperative agreement with the Leonard Wood Institute.

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A recent study examines the ways that public officials obtain information about debatable scientific issues, including agricultural biotechnology.

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Using data from Hurricane Katrina and four other destructive storms, researchers have found a way to accurately predict power outages in advance of a hurricane.

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Seismologists have found a new way to piece together the history of hurricanes in the North Atlantic - by looking back through records of the planet's seismic noise. It's an entirely new way to tap into the rich trove of seismic records, and the strategy might help establish a link between global warming and the frequency or intensity of hurricanes.

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Genetic information from an extinct species of bison preserved in permafrost for thousands of years could help improve modern agricultural livestock and breeding programs, according to University of Adelaide researchers.

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A group of researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology has developed a handheld camera that uses microwave signals to non-destructively peek inside materials and structures in real time.

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Biologists long have marveled at the ability of some animals to re-grow lost body parts. Newts, for example, can lose a leg and grow a new one identical to the original. Zebrafish can re-grow fins.

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“Geology of the Pacific NW makes an earthquake-triggered tsunami inevitable and imminent in geologic time,” says Yumei Wang, geotechnical engineer at the Oregon Dept. of Geology and Mineral Industries, “yet coastal towns in the northwest are woefully unprepared for such a large-scale natural disaster.”

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Research assembled over the last decade – now published in the Oct. 16 issue of Science – shows that high school students' pass rate on New York State standardized tests, called Regents examinations, can be significantly improved if they are among the lucky few to study under a teacher trained in Columbia University's Summer Research Program for Science Teachers.

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An international partnership of 54 countries led by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and including the Wildflower Center is celebrating a decade of work to set aside seeds for future generations from 10 percent of the world’s wild flowering species.

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Each of the 6.7 billion people on Earth has a signature body odor, and scientists are tracking down those odiferous arches, loops, and whorls in the “human odorprint” for purposes ranging from disease diagnosis to crime prevention. That’s the topic of an article in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News, ACS’ weekly newsmagazine.

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Economy-minded consumers who want protection from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays — but rather not pay premium prices for sun-protective clothing — should think blue and red, rather than yellow. The study is scheduled for the Nov. 4 issue of ACS’ Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, a bi-weekly journal.

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Scientists are reporting the first evidence that China’s sharp focus on reducing widespread damage to soil by acid rain by restricting sulfur dioxide air pollution may have an unexpected consequence: Gains from that pollution control program will be largely offset by increases in nitrogen emissions, which the country’s current policy largely overlooks. The study is scheduled for the Nov. 1 issue of ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.

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A mysterious basin off the coast of India could be the largest, multi-ringed impact crater the world has ever seen. And if a new study is right, it may have been responsible for killing the dinosaurs off 65 million years ago.

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Our body's activity levels fall and rise to the beat of our internal drums-the 24-hour cycles that govern fundamental physiological functions, from sleeping and feeding patterns to the energy available to our cells. Whereas the master clock in the brain is set by light, the pacemakers in peripheral organs are set by food availability. The underlying molecular mechanism was unknown.

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Medical researchers have long suspected that obscure bacteria living within the intestinal tract may help keep the human immune system in balance. An international collaboration co-led by scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center has now identified a bizarre-looking microbial species that can single-handedly spur the production of specialized immune cells in mice.

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Standing out in a crowd is better than blending in, at least if you're a paper wasp in a colony where fights between nest-mates determine social status.

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Prosthetic hand devices used by wounded soldiers have limited motor control and no sensory feedback. But a bioengineered interface, developed at the University of Michigan and made of muscle cells and a nano-sized polymer, could go a long way in creating prostheses that move like a normal hand. Animal studies show the interface may possibly restore a sense of touch.

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As the hurricane season shifts into fall a new study presents an improved analytical tool for predicting potential power outages and helping utility companies deploy repair crews in advance of hurricanes and other storm events.

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From detailed assessments of electronic structure, researchers at the University at Buffalo, Cornell University, Stony Brook University and Moscow State University discovered that unexpected hydrides violating standard valence rules, such as LiH6 and LiH8, become stable metals at a pressure approximately one quarter of that required to metalize pure hydrogen itself; findings that were published in an October 5, 2009 early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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1) Graphene, a single-layer sheet of graphite, has potential as a remarkable material, particularly for electronics and composite applications. 2) Information sharing technologies are being integrated into a freight tracking system that could revolutionize the industry.

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The Italian automaker is taking carbon-fiber material processing to new levels.

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Ever wonder how your eyes adjust during a blackout? When we go from light to near total darkness, cells in the retina must quickly adjust. Vision scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified an intricate process that allows the human eye to adapt to darkness very quickly. The same process also allows the eye to function in bright light.

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Urban grasslands are an extremely common, but poorly studied ecosystem type. Many receive high rates of fertilizer, creating concerns about nutrient runoff and greenhouse gas emissions. Recent research has been focused on long-term study plots to evaluate multiple ecological variables in different components of the urban landscape.

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A new crew survivability concept that would build military vehicles around a protected personnel compartment and use a sacrificial “blast wedge” to absorb energy from improvised explosive devices could improve safety for the occupants of future light armored patrol vehicles.

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Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have for the first time identified the genetic mechanisms involved in the formation and survival of L-form bacteria. L-form bacteria, which were first discovered in the 1930s, are morphological variants of classical bacteria that lack a cell wall. These bacteria are believed to form in response to cell wall stress from certain antibiotics or the body’s immune attack, and are suspected to be associated with antibiotic-resistant infections.

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The strikingly banded rocks scattered across the upper Midwest and elsewhere throughout the world are actually ambassadors from the past, offering clues to the environment of the early Earth more than 2 billion years ago.

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Certain common herbicides and lipid-lowering fibrate drugs act in humans to block a nutrient-sensing taste receptor also present in intestine and pancreas. These compounds were not previously known to act on the receptor, which influences glucose homeostasis and energy metabolism. The effect is specific to humans and not revealed during animal testing.

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University of Michigan mathematicians and their British colleagues say they have identified the signal that the brain sends to the rest of the body to control biological rhythms, a finding that overturns a long-held theory about our internal clock.

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How does a woman's voice differ from a man's? Can being a good listener help a whale survive? Do babies who briefly hear a foreign language start to babble in that language?

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Gasoline-powered, portable generators can be a lifeline during weather emergencies, but they emit poisonous carbon monoxide. New research from NIST shows that to prevent potentially dangerous levels of carbon monoxide, users may need to keep generators farther from the house than previously believed - perhaps as much as 25 feet.

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Researchers working at the NIST Center for Neutron Research have created a molecular magnetic 'monopole,' an analog to the elusive magnetic monopole particles theorized in 1931 by Paul Dirac - but never actually found.

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A fabric-covered, steel frame practice facility owned by the National Football League’s Dallas Cowboys collapsed under wind loads significantly less than those required under applicable design standards, according to a report released October 6 for public comment by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

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Using computer simulations, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers has identified some of the pathways through which single complementary strands of DNA interact and combine to form the double helix.

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The windswept deserts of northern China might seem an odd destination for studying the heavy monsoon rains that routinely drench the more tropical regions of Southeast Asia.