(Chalmers University of Technology) When the tension rises, unexpected things can happen -- not least when it comes to gold atoms. Researchers from, among others, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have now managed, for the first time, to make the surface of a gold object melt at room temperature.
Physics
(BioMed Central) The black hole at the centre of our galaxy, Sagittarius A*, has been visualised in virtual reality for the first time. The details are described in an article published in the open access journal Computational Astrophysics and Cosmology.
(Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University) Drugs that inhibit a hormone that constricts blood vessels also help improve sodium excretion in blacks who hold onto too much sodium in the face of stress, investigators report.
(California Institute of Technology) A new method for learning the structures of small molecules, such as hormones, is 'like science fiction.'
(Johns Hopkins University) Astronomers have found what could be one of the universe's oldest stars, made almost entirely of materials spewed from the Big Bang.
(University of Alabama at Birmingham) In research to improve influenza therapies against H7N9 and other influenza strains, Chad Petit and his University of Alabama at Birmingham colleagues have detailed the binding site and mechanism of inhibition for two small-molecule experimental inhibitors of influenza viruses. Their report is published in the Journal of Biochemistry,
(Allen Institute) The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group, a division of the Allen Institute, today announces $13.5 million in Allen Distinguished Investigator (ADI) awards to ten researchers in the U.S., Canada and Portugal. Each ADI project will receive $1.5M over three years for studies that will expand our knowledge of lymphoma, our cells, our brains and the biology of aging.
(University of Utah) Bill Sutherland, emeritus professor of physics at the University of Utah, was awarded the 2019 Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics, and Distinguished emeritus professor Alexei Efros has received the 2019 Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize by the American Physical Society.
(National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)) NIST scientists have designed a vacuum gauge, based on ultracold trapped atoms, is small enough to deploy in commonly used vacuum chambers.
(Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology) Unicellular diatoms are able to adapt their behavior to different external stimuli based on an evaluation of their own needs. This was discovered by scientists of the Friedrich Schiller University and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, together with partners from Belgium. In experiments, Seminavis robusta diatoms directed their orientation either towards nutrient sources or mating partners, depending on the degree of starvation and the need to mate.
(DOE/Sandia National Laboratories) Sandia National Laboratories helped design the first generation of fueling stations for hydrogen-powered cars so that they're as safe as conventional gas stations. Now, Sandia is working to do the same for the next generation of hydrogen stations.
(Yokohama National University) Scientists at Yokohama National University and the University of Tokyo in Japan have designed an ion gel with excellent toughness and an ability to self-heal at ambient temperature without any external trigger or detectable change in the environment such as light or temperature. This new class of material has promising potential for building flexible electronic devices.
(Montana State University) The National Science Foundation grant will allow MSU assistant professor Amy Trowbridge to research the physiological and chemical response of pine trees in drought conditions.
(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) Breaking the bonds between oxygen and hydrogen in water could be a key to the creation of hydrogen in a sustainable manner, but finding an economically viable technique for this has proved difficult. Researchers report a new hydrogen-generating catalyst that clears many of the obstacles -- abundance, stability in acid conditions and efficiency.
(Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) A team of Harvard University researchers spent months shaking and rattling swarms of thousands of honey bees to better understand how bees collectively collaborate to stabilize structures in the presence of external loads.
(Carnegie Mellon University) Today, an international group of researchers, including Carnegie Mellon University's Rachel Mandelbaum, released the deepest wide field map of the three-dimensional distribution of matter in the universe ever made and increased the precision of constraints for dark energy with the Hyper Suprime-Cam survey (HSC).