ScienceDaily: Strange Science News |
- Nanoporous material's strange 'breathing' behavior
- Much longer survival for heart transplants across species
- Plastic proteins: Synthetic material mimics essential characteristics of natural proteins
- Supermassive black holes may be lurking everywhere in the universe
- So long lithium, hello bacteria batteries?
- Insect eyes enable drones to fly independently
- New type of symbiosis: Bacteria eat ammonia in fish gills
| Nanoporous material's strange 'breathing' behavior Posted: 06 Apr 2016 01:55 PM PDT High-tech sponges of the infinitely small, nanoporous materials can capture and release gaseous or liquid chemicals in a controlled way. Scientists have developed and described one of these materials, DUT-49, whose behavior is totally counterintuitive. When pressure is increased for a sample of DUT-49 to absorb more gas, the material contracts suddenly and releases its contents -- as if, when inhaling, the lungs contracted and expelled the air that they contained. This work makes it possible to envisage innovative behavior in materials science. |
| Much longer survival for heart transplants across species Posted: 06 Apr 2016 11:03 AM PDT A new immune-suppressing therapy has led to the longest survival yet for a cross-species heart transplant, according to new research. The study involved transplanting pig hearts into baboons. |
| Plastic proteins: Synthetic material mimics essential characteristics of natural proteins Posted: 06 Apr 2016 11:03 AM PDT Researchers hoping to design new materials for energy uses have developed a system to make synthetic polymers -- some would say plastics -- with the versatility of nature's own polymers, the ubiquitous proteins. Based on an inexpensive industrial chemical, these synthetic polymers might one day be used to create materials with functions as limitless as proteins, which are involved in every facet of life. |
| Supermassive black holes may be lurking everywhere in the universe Posted: 06 Apr 2016 10:36 AM PDT One of the largest supermassive black holes on record has been discovered in an unexpected place: a relatively sparse region of the local universe where massive galaxies -- the typical home of these huge black holes -- are few and far between. According new research, there could be many more such black holes -- quiescent quasars -- hiding in the universe's deserts. This one may be or once was a binary black hole. |
| So long lithium, hello bacteria batteries? Posted: 06 Apr 2016 09:49 AM PDT As renewable energy sources grow, so does the demand for new ways to store the resulting energy at low-cost and in environmentally friendly ways. Now scientists report a first-of-its-kind development toward that goal: a rechargeable battery driven by bacteria. |
| Insect eyes enable drones to fly independently Posted: 06 Apr 2016 09:49 AM PDT After studying how insects navigate through dense vegetation, researchers have come up with a system that can be applied to flying robots. By adapting the system to drones, they can be made to adjust their speed to their surroundings and fly on their own -- completely without human intervention and control. |
| New type of symbiosis: Bacteria eat ammonia in fish gills Posted: 06 Apr 2016 04:47 AM PDT Microbiologists and fish researchers have discovered an entirely new type of symbiosis: bacteria in the gills of fish that convert harmful ammonia into harmless nitrogen gas. Fish produce a lot of ammonia, which is a waste product from their protein metabolism. Ammonia also pollutes the water in which they live, and in excessive concentrations can even be deadly. "We humans excrete excess ammonia in our urine, through urea. Fish do so through their gills," explains a microbiologist. |
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