When is an aurora not an aurora?
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From University of California – Berkeley 13/12/23 The shimmering green, red and purple curtains of the northern and southern lights — the auroras — may be the best-known phenomena lighting up the nighttime sky, but the most mysterious are the mauve and white streaks called Steve and their frequent companion, a glowing green “picket fence.” […]
New bottlenose dolphin sense discovered: they feel electricity
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From Journal of Experimental Biology 04/12/23 Born tail first, bottlenose dolphin calves emerge equipped with two slender rows of whiskers along their beak-like snouts – much like the touch-sensitive whiskers of seals. But the whiskers fall out soon after birth, leaving the youngster with a series of dimples, known as vibrissal pits. Recently Tim Hüttner […]
Revolutionizing chemistry: innovators develop electric ‘switch’ to accelerate chemical reactions
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From Université de Genève 07/11/23 New pharmaceuticals, cleaner fuels, biodegradable plastics: in order to meet society’s needs, chemists have to develop new synthesis methods to obtain new products that do not exist in their natural state. A research group at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in collaboration with Cardiff University, has discovered how to use […]
Rice-engineered material can reconnect severed nerves
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From Rice University 29/10/23 Researchers have long recognized the therapeutic potential of using magnetoelectrics ⎯ materials that can turn magnetic fields into electric fields ⎯ to stimulate neural tissue in a minimally invasive way and help treat neurological disorders or nerve damage. The problem, however, is that neurons have a hard time responding to the […]