Latest News Releases 13 May

A research team led by Lund University in Sweden has investigated a meteorite from Mars using neutron and X-ray tomography. The technology, which will probably be used when NASA examines samples from the Red Planet in 2030, showed that the meteorite had limited exposure to water, thus making life at that specific time and place unlikely.

The atmosphere that surrounds us is much more complex than we think. Among the well-known nitrogen, oxygen, and traces of other gases, it also contains far more harmful compounds than we can even imagine. Where do they come from? Indeed, their presence is caused by anthropogenic activities. However, their formation processes are complicated and depend on many parameters. Recently, researchers from the Institute of the Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, led by prof. Rafał Szmigielski, under collaboration with researchers from the Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S., unraveled the origins of nitrophenols – a cancerogenic compounds – in the air that we breathe in. So far, let’s look closer at why we should avoid barbeque.

Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have found a way to create biocement from waste, making the alternative to regular cement even greener and more sustainable. Biocement is a renewable form of cement that typically uses bacteria to form a hardening reaction that binds soil into a solid block. The NTU scientists have now managed to use two common waste materials, industrial carbide sludge and urea—from the urine of mammals—to create biocement. Their research makes biocement even more sustainable by using two types of waste material as its raw materials. In the long run, it will not only make it cheaper to manufacture biocement, but also reduce the cost involved for waste disposal.

Biologists and atmospheric scientists see a critical opportunity to explore methanogen and methanotroph population co-occurrence patterns and their influences on natural CH4 fluxes.

The long-term survival of adolescent and young adult (AYA) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) survivors was shorter than that of the general population, and the differences persisted for up to 30 years after diagnosis, according to results published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

The phenomenon of opposites repelling each other is observed in a numerical simulation known as the Schwinger model, which describes how particles interact in an electric field.

Scientist in China raised a novel strategy of combining the vertical matrix perovskite detector with machine learning algorithm for multi-energy X-ray discrimination and experimentally verified its effectiveness. The vertical matrix detector can "paint color" to black-and-white X-ray photos and provide more hidden information in applications such as disease diagnosis. It brings encouraging opportunities for next-generation low cost X-ray spectrometer with energy resolution, substance discrimination and imaging contrast enhancement.

The invention and improvement of terahertz (THz) imaging technology have brought great benefits in fundamental research and industrial fields. To further enhance the application ability of THz imaging, Scientists in China invented a new THz near-field microscopy based on an air-plasma dynamic aperture, which allow us to achieve THz sub-wavelength imaging without approaching the sample with any devices. This technique will open new avenues for the development and applications of THz near-field imaging.

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s (A*STAR) Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) and Bioinformatics Institute (BII), as well as the National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS), National University of Singapore (NUS), and pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk have signed an agreement to study the mechanisms underlying cardiovascular disease progression—especially the condition called heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).