The European Union’s Human Brain Project was announced in January 2013. It, along with the Graphene Flagship, had won a multi-year competition for the extraordinary sum of one million euros each to be paid out over a 10-year period. (My January 28, 2013 posting gives the details available at the time.) At a little more than half-way through the project period, Ed Yong, in his July 22, 2019 article for The Atlantic, offers an update…

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This work from Germany is largely speculative. The scientists seem to be interested in exploring how engineered nanoparticles and naturally occurring nanoparticles in food affect your gut. From a January 29, 2019 news item on ScienceDaily, The intestinal microbiome is not only key for food processing but an accepted codeterminant for various diseases. Researchers led by the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) identified effects of nanoparticles on intestinal microorganisms. The ultra-small…

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The best part of this story is that they’re using biochar from rice hulls to create the nanocomposite catalyst. A July 19, 2019 news item on ScienceDaily reveals a few details about the research without discussing the rice hulls, The research team of Dr. Jae-woo Choi and Dr. Kyung-won Jung of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology’s (KIST, president: Byung-gwon Lee) Water Cycle Research Center announced that it has developed a wastewater treatment process…

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I’ve seen the argument before but this is the first time I’ve seen an academic supporting the thesis that digital piracy can be a boon for business. From a January 28, 2019 news item on phys.org, HBO’s popular television series “Game of Thrones” returns in April, but millions of fans continue to illegally download the program, giving it the dubious distinction of being the most pirated program.Many may wonder why the TV network hasn’t taken…

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A January 28, 2019 news item on ScienceDaily describes the possibilities for a skin replacement material, A new type of sensor could lead to artificial skin that someday helps burn victims ‘feel’ and safeguards the rest of us, University of Connecticut researchers suggest in a paper in Advanced Materials.Our skin’s ability to perceive pressure, heat, cold, and vibration is a critical safety function that most people take for granted. But burn victims, those with prosthetic…

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The work was done jointly by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and JILA (Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics), which is operated ‘jointly’ by NIST and the University of Colorado. On to buckyballs, a nickname for buckminsterfullerenes or C60. From a January 28, 2019 news item on ScienceDaily, JILA researchers have measured hundreds of individual quantum energy levels in the buckyball, a spherical cage of 60 carbon atoms. It’s the largest molecule…

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This work comes from Dartmouth College, an educational institution based on the US east coast in the state of New Hampshire. I hardly ever stumble across research from Dartmouth and I assume that’s because they usually focus their interests in areas that are not of direct interest to me, Rendering of the two designs of the cardiac energy harvesting device. (Cover art by Patricio Sarzosa) Courtesy: Dartmouth College For a change, we have a point…

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There is a video that accompanies the news but I strongly advise reading the press release first, unless you already know a lot about cells and tunneling nanotubes. A January 30, 2019 Institut Pasteur press release (also on EurekAlert but published Jan.31, 2019) announces the work, Cells in our bodies have the ability to speak with one another much like humans do. This communication allows organs in our bodies to work synchronously, which in turn,…

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I imagine that at some point the Washington State University’s (WSU) ‘elder care’ robot will be tested by senior citizens as opposed to the students described in a January 14, 2019 WSU news release (also on EurekAlert) by Will Ferguson, A robot created by Washington State University scientists could help elderly people with dementia and other limitations live independently in their own homes.The Robot Activity Support System, or RAS, uses sensors embedded in a WSU…

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A July 22, 2019 announcement (received via email) features an upcoming talk hosted by the local Café Scientifque community, Our next café will happen on TUESDAY, JULY 30TH [2019] at 7:30PM in the back room at YAGGER’S DOWNTOWN (433 W Pender). Our speaker for the evening will be DR. VAHID RAEESI.TARGETING HEAT FOR DISEASE TREATMENTVahid is a nanotechnologist specializing in the design and development of functional platforms for disease detection and treatment. He holds a…

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