Futurity.org » Stanford University

Purify water with tiny magnetic scavengers

Andrew Myers-Stanford — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:46:55 +0000

STANFORD (US) — Nanoparticles that can be removed quickly by magnet could offer a promising new way to disinfect water.

Similar existing technologies leave too many nanoscavengers behind for the water to be considered safe for human use.

Depressed people’s body clocks ‘out of sync’

U. Michigan — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:19:13 +0000

U. MICHIGAN (US) — A new brain study reveals that the circadian clocks of people with depression are altered at the cellular level.

Every cell in our bodies runs on a 24-hour clock, tuned to the night-day, light-dark cycles that have ruled us since the dawn of humanity. The brain acts as timekeeper, keeping the cellular clock in sync with the outside world so that it can govern our appetites, sleep, moods, and much more.

Earth’s iron core is not ‘rock solid’

Louis Bergeron-Stanford — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:49:45 +0000

STANFORD (US) — Researchers squeezed iron at pressures as high as 3 million times that felt at sea level to recreate conditions at Earth’s center. The results suggest the core is uneven, grainy, and weak.

The massive ball of iron sitting at the center of Earth is not quite as “rock-solid” as has been thought, say two mineral physicists. By conducting experiments that simulate the immense pressures deep in the planet’s interior, the researchers determined that iron in Earth’s inner core is only about 40 percent as strong as previous studies estimated.

Wait for it: Ants pick perfect time to forage

Bjorn Carey-Stanford — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:01:28 +0000

STANFORD (US) — A biologist’s decades-long study of the collective behavior of harvester ant colonies has provided a rare real-time look at natural selection at work.

In ancient Greece, the city-states that waited until their own harvest was in before attacking and destroying a rival community’s crops often experienced better long-term success.

Clawed frogs spread deadly amphibian fungus

Ruthann Richter-Stanford — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:37:27 +0000

STANFORD (US) — The African clawed frog, a species used around the world for biomedical research, is spreading an amphibian-killing fungus when they are released into the wild.

In a new study, researchers provide the first evidence that the frogs in California harbor a fungal infection that is decimating amphibian populations across the globe. Among 23 samples tested, the researchers identified three frogs, one found in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, that were carriers of the pathogen that has led to the decline or extinction of some 200 amphibian species worldwide.

The research was conducted on archived samples from the herpetology collection at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. The findings are published in PLOS ONE.

Heart monitor in a bandage

Thomas Sumner-Stanford — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:29:44 +0000

STANFORD (US) — Engineers hope the technology they developed for their ultra-sensitive, paper-thin heart monitor may soon be used in prosthetic limbs and to monitor newborn babies at risk.

Most of us don’t ponder our pulses outside of the gym, but doctors use the human pulse as a diagnostic tool to monitor heart health.

Zhenan Bao, a professor of chemical engineering at Stanford University, has developed a heart monitor thinner than a dollar bill and no wider than a postage stamp. The flexible skin-like monitor, worn under an adhesive bandage on the wrist, is sensitive enough to help doctors detect stiff arteries and cardiovascular problems.

Metamaterial could lead to ‘perfect lens’

Bjorn Carey-Stanford — Wed, 08 May 2013 10:25:09 +0000

STANFORD (US) — Engineers have designed a broadband metamaterial that more than doubles the range of wavelengths of light that can be manipulated.

The new material can exhibit a refractive index—the degree to which a material skews light’s path—well below anything found in nature.

How couples ‘click’ in just four minutes

Brooke Donald-Stanford — Mon, 06 May 2013 16:35:21 +0000

STANFORD (US) —When trying to make a love connection in just under five minutes, speed daters need to remember that it might be what you say, not what you look like, that matters most.

A new study that looks at how meaningful bonds are formed analyzes the conversations of heterosexual couples during speed dating encounters to find out why some people felt a sense of connection after the meeting and others didn’t.

“One of the key features of a community, social network or relationship is the sense that it’s meaningful, that there is some kind of force behind the relationship,” says Dan McFarland, associate professor of sociology at Stanford University. “We wanted to get at what the essence of the connection is, what makes people feel like they bonded.”

Did China’s agriculture sprout in Ice Age?

Bjorn Carey-Stanford — Mon, 06 May 2013 16:15:51 +0000

STANFORD (US) — The discovery of grinding stones pushes the origins of agriculture in China back 12,000 years, and suggests it evolved independently around the world.

The first evidence of agriculture appears in the archaeological record some 10,000 years ago. But the skills needed to cultivate and harvest crops weren’t learned overnight. Scientists have traced these roots back to 23,000-year-old tools used to grind seeds, found mostly in the Middle East.

Now, research led by Li Liu, professor of Chinese archaeology at Stanford University, reveals that the same types of tools were used to process seeds and tubers in northern China, setting China’s agricultural clock back about 12,000 years and putting it on par with activity in the Middle East. Liu believes that the practices evolved independently, possibly as a global response to a changing climate.

Redshirt hype? Most don’t delay kindergarten

Audrey Breen-Virginia — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 20:20:32 +0000

U. VIRGINIA (US) — Delaying a child’s entry into kindergarten—known as “redshirting”—is not as common as thought, but the percentage varies greatly depending on the child’s community.

Researchers found that only between 4 percent and 5.5 percent of children have their entries into kindergarten delayed.