IT engineers have developed a mathematical model that could help energy companies produce natural gas more efficiently and ensure a more reliable supply of this valuable fuel. The researchers are now collaborating with experts at Shell to apply the model to a natural gas production system in Malaysia.
An MIT researcher’s mathematical model explains for the first time the distinctive structure of collagen, a material key to healthy human bone, muscles and other tissues. The new model shows collagen’s structure from the atomic to the tissue scale. An improved understanding of nature’s most abundant protein could aid the search for cures to such ailments as osteoporosis and scurvy, all recognized as arising from diseased collagen.
Adolescents with a history of arrest are at greater risk for HIV infection than adolescents with no arrest history, according to a new study published in the November issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Researchers from the Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center and Brown Medical School attribute higher rates of substance abuse, sexual risk behaviors and mental-health issues to the increased risk of infection.
According to a recent study, predicting the impact of climate change on organisms is more complicated than simply looking at species northern and southern range limits. Studying the California Sea Mussel — Mytilus californianus — Brian Helmuth (University of South Carolina) and colleagues from the University of California-Santa Barbara, the University of British Columbia-Vancouver and Oregon State University measured body temperatures of this mussel along most of its range, from Washington to Southern California.
Stronger quadriceps muscles in the legs can help protect against cartilage loss behind the kneecap, according to Mayo Clinic researchers presenting preliminary study data at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting on Nov. 15.
In an effort to close the gap between organ supply and demand, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine, the University of Michigan and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons are studying ways to reimburse living donors for some of their out-of-pocket expenses when they choose to donate an organ.
During sleep, freshly minted memories move from the hippocampus, part of the “old” brain, to the neocortex, or “new” brain, for long-term storage. This has been the reigning theory for decades. Brown University research provides the strongest proof yet of this interaction between the old and new brains — and offers surprising evidence that challenges critical details of this theory of learning and memory. Results appear in Nature Neuroscience.
Just three days after catching a Siberian tiger in the Russian Far East, an international team led by biologists from the Wildlife Conservation Society captured another species last week that carries the dubious distinction of being the world’s most endangered big cat: an extremely Far Eastern leopard.
The best way to prevent airborne terrorist attacks may be to improve the baseline security screening of all air travelers rather than identifying and screening high-risk passengers, according to new research by experts at MIT and Harvey Mudd College.
Robert Kass, Ph.D., chairman of the department of Pharmacology at Columbia University Medical Center , will present the latest research on the discovery of a potential molecular culprit for atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common arrhythmias in the human heart, which can be a precursor for stroke.