Drug-delivery microcapsules tagged with zirconium-89 can be tracked by PET imaging

University of Alabama at Birmingham polymer and radionuclide chemists report what they say "may represent a major step forward in microcapsule drug delivery systems."

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-drug-delivery-microcapsules-tagged-zirconium-tracked.html

Data science and computational mathematics unite to advance predictive methods in engineering

A well-known mathematical method, used as a predictive tool in engineering and the physical sciences for more than 70 years, has been radically redesigned in landmark research led by Cambridge engineers.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-science-mathematics-advance-methods.html

Point-of-care test developed for tumor marker in human saliva based on lanthanide nanoprobes

Salivary assay, emerging as a non-invasive alternative to blood assay in clinic analysis, holds great promise for early-stage cancer diagnostics with advantages of low cost, easy collection and facile processing. Therefore, point-of-care (POC) detection of tumor markers in the saliva is urgently demanded.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-point-of-care-tumor-marker-human-saliva.html

Proper geometry of leaflets is important for their movement in legumes

Most legume species have compound leaves with multiple joined units termed leaflets, and the geometry of leaflets (the spatial structure and organization of leaflets) largely determines the compound leaf shape, which has been broadly recognized in model compound-leafed species.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-proper-geometry-leaflets-important-movement.html

Researchers reveal effects of chemical lysis and mechanical lysis on quality of microbial DNA

Yield, purity and integrity, of microbial DNA extracted from digesta samples is crucial for downstream analysis of amplicon sequencing. These markers of quality are influenced by chemical and mechanical lysis. However, contributions of chemical and mechanical lysis have not been investigated in DNA extraction methodology.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-reveal-effects-chemical-lysis-mechanical.html

A closer look at how immune cells attack and heal

Macrophages—immune cells that both fight infections and fix the damage they cause—are often placed into two categories: those that increase inflammation (known as "M1") to attack, and those that decrease inflammation to begin the healing process ("M2").

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-closer-immune-cells.html

Juno maps water ice across northern Ganymede

Jupiter's moon Ganymede is the largest planetary satellite in the solar system. It's also one of the most intriguing: Ganymede is the only moon with its own magnetic field, it is the most differentiated of all moons, and it likely possesses a subsurface ocean of liquid water. It was studied by the early Jupiter flybys made by the Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft, but our understanding today rests largely on observations made by NASA's Galileo orbiter from 1995 to 2003.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-juno-ice-northern-ganymede.html

Defects may help scientists understand the exotic physics of topology

Real-world materials are usually messier than the idealized scenarios found in textbooks. Imperfections can add complications and even limit a material's usefulness. To get around this, scientists routinely strive to remove defects and dirt entirely, pushing materials closer to perfection. Now, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have turned this problem around and shown that for some materials defects could act as a probe for interesting physics, rather than a nuisance.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-defects-scientists-exotic-physics-topology.html

How clicks on a job platform can reveal bias

Scientists at ETH Zurich have leveraged big data from recruitment platforms and machine learning to study hiring discrimination. They show that discrimination against immigrants depends, among other things, on the time of day; and that both men and women face discrimination.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-clicks-job-platform-reveal-bias.html

Lake heatwaves may become hotter and longer, new study suggests

Lake heatwaves—periods of extreme warm surface water temperature in lakes—may become hotter and longer by the end of the 21st century, according to a study published in Nature, increasing the link between climate change and extreme events.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-lake-heatwaves-hotter-longer.html

Bio-in­spired ro­bot­ics: Learn­ing from drag­on­flies

It is a high-speed movement: within fractions of a second the mouthparts of the dragonfly larvae spring forwards to seize its prey. For decades, researchers had assumed that this action must have been driven primarily by hydraulic pressure. Now, for the first time, scientists at Kiel University (CAU) have completely decrypted the biomechanical functional principle of what is known as the labial mask of dragonfly larvae. A vital contribution to this discovery was made by the team led by Dr. Sebastian Büsse of the Zoological Institute in its development of a bio-inspired robot with the operating principle of the complex mouthparts adapted to test its own hypothesis—the technology used here could lead to a significant enhancement of agile robot systems. The results of the ambitious research project were published on Wednesday 20 January in the renowned specialist journal Science Robotics.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-bio-inspired-robotics-dragonflies.html

A breakthrough in chiral polymer thin films research could enable a new generation of devices

The 10,000th paper published by Diamond Light Source could fundamentally change the technology landscape by enabling a new generation of devices. This study presents a new way of looking at chirality in thin polymer films that are important for electronics. It presents disruptive insights into chiral polymer films, which emit and absorb circularly polarized light, and offers the promise of achieving important technological advances, including high-performance displays, 3-D imaging and quantum computing. These findings were published recently in Nature Communications.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-breakthrough-chiral-polymer-thin-enable.html

Astronomers see whirlwind around possible exoplanet in the making

An international team of astronomers led by researchers from the Netherlands has discovered a whirlwind of dust and debris in orbit around a young star. It is possible that a planet is forming within the debris. The scientists made the discovery during the time that designers and developers of an astronomical instrument get as a reward for their work. They will soon publish their findings in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-astronomers-whirlwind-exoplanet.html

Antibiotic resistance may spread even more easily than expected

Pathogenic bacteria in humans are developing resistance to antibiotics much faster than expected. Now, computational research at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, shows that one reason could be significant genetic transfer between bacteria in our ecosystems and to humans. This work has also led to new tools for resistance researchers.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-antibiotic-resistance-easily.html

Cancer can be precisely diagnosed using a urine test with artificial intelligence

Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers among men. Patients are determined to have prostate cancer primarily based on PSA, a cancer factor in blood. However, as diagnostic accuracy is as low as 30%, a considerable number of patients undergo additional invasive biopsy and thus suffer from resultant side effects, such as bleeding and pain.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-cancer-precisely-urine-artificial-intelligence.html

Whale carcass washes up on Bali beach

The rotting carcass of a nearly 14-metre (46-foot) whale washed up Thursday on Bali beach popular with tourists.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-whale-carcass-bali-beach.html

Restructuring Norwegian Air to get government support

Norway's government said Thursday it will help ailing low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle - a U-turn from its previous refusal to do so - as long as the company manages to raise 4.5 billion kroner ($529 million) from other investors.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-norwegian-air.html

Common pesticides stop bees and flies from getting a good night's sleep

Just like us, many insects need a decent night's sleep to function properly, but this might not be possible if they have been exposed to neonicotinoid insecticides, the most common form of insecticide used worldwide, suggests research by academics at the University of Bristol.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-common-pesticides-bees-flies-good.html

Rich nations 'hugely exaggerate' climate finance: study

Rich countries have over-reported finance to help countries adapt to the impacts of climate change by $20 billion over the last decade, leaving at-risk communities drastically underfunded, a new analysis showed Thursday.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-rich-nations-hugely-exaggerate-climate.html

California WeChat users claim China surveillance in lawsuit

California WeChat users sued its parent company Tencent on Wednesday, saying the mobile app is used for spying on and censoring users for the Chinese government.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-california-wechat-users-china-surveillance.html

Gray whale population drops by quarter off U.S. West Coast

Researchers say the population of gray whales off the West Coast of the United States has fallen by nearly one-quarter since 2016, resembling a similar die-off two decades ago.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-gray-whale-population-quarter-west.html

United Airlines posts $1.9 billion loss in pandemic-laden 4Q

United Airlines said Wednesday that it finished one of the worst years in its history by losing $1.9 billion in the last three months of 2020, and it predicted more of the same in the first quarter of this year.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-airlines-billion-loss-pandemic-laden-4q.html

Behind those dancing robots, scientists had to bust a move

The man who designed some of the world's most advanced dynamic robots was on a daunting mission: programming his creations to dance to the beat with a mix of fluid, explosive and expressive motions that are almost human.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-robots-scientists.html