Applied Physics

Adult Brain Cells Rediscover Their Inner Child

You may not be able to relive your youth, but part of your brain can. Johns Hopkins researchers have found that newly made nerves in an adult brain's learning center experience a one-month period when they are just as active as the nerves in a develop ...

Article - News Staff - May 24 2007 - 1:28am

Biologically Active Paper Holds Promise For Improved Global Health

Next time there is a global pandemic, contaminated water caused by flooding, or questionable-looking meat in a supermarket, we may be reaching for a piece of paper. It won’t be just any type of paper but a Canadian-invented bioactive paper that contains th ...

Article - News Staff - May 24 2007 - 1:45am

MIT Researchers Probe Bones' Ability To 'fail Gracefully'

MIT researchers have undertaken a first-of-its-kind analysis of bone's mechanical properties and discovered new things about how a bone absorbs energy. The insights gained from this work could lead to the creation of new, tougher materials. MIT resear ...

Article - News Staff - May 24 2007 - 9:13pm

Researchers Uncover Malaria Mechanism

During the first 24 hours of invasion by the malaria-inducing parasite Plasmodium falciparum, red blood cells start to lose their ability to deform and squeeze through tiny blood vessels-one of the hallmarks of the deadly disease that infects nearly 400 mi ...

Article - News Staff - May 25 2007 - 9:29am

'Olympian Galaxy' Near Andromeda Gives Clues To How Galaxies Form

A newly discovered dwarf galaxy in the Local Group has been found to have formed in a region of space far from our own and is falling into our system for the first time in its history, according to new data obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory. An inter ...

Article - News Staff - May 28 2007 - 9:32pm

Conductive Plastics- From Soybeans

Polymer matrix composites with carbon black can be used as filler material and can beneficially modify the electrical and mechanical properties of the used matrixes. The polymer components of these composites are traditionally made using oleo-polymers; how ...

Article - News Staff - May 29 2007 - 12:28pm

Researchers Create New Nanotechnology Field

A University of Alberta research team has combined two fields of study in nanotechnology to create a third field that the researchers believe will lead to revolutionary advances in computer electronics, among many other areas. Dr. Abdulhakem Elezzabi and h ...

Article - News Staff - May 30 2007 - 10:34am

Brain Pacemakers Can Regulate Signals- And Erase Bad Ones

You might think it's something from the movie "Total Recall" but instead researchers are using brain "pacemakers" to regulate diseased signals in the brains of Parkinson's disease patients. These devices are FDA-approved and i ...

Article - News Staff - May 30 2007 - 11:47am

Magnificent Moms- Mule Deer Rescue Fawns, Even From Other Species

Mule deer are giving new meaning to watching out for other mothers' kids. Whitetail deer, not so much. An intriguing study of mule deer and whitetail deer conducted by the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada and the University of Lethbridge, als ...

Article - News Staff - May 30 2007 - 1:04pm

How Bayesian Math Can Help Us Understand The Brain

A team of biomedical engineers has developed a computer model that makes use of more or less predictable “guesstimates” of human muscle movements to explain how the brain draws on both what it recently learned and what it’s known for some time to anticipat ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 2 2007 - 12:18am