Thursday 6 June 2019

Can racquet sports give you a fitter, longer life?

(HealthDay)—When you think of effective cardio exercise, the activities most likely to come to mind are aerobics classes, running, swimming and cycling. But racquet sports like tennis may hold even greater benefits, according to research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

* This article was originally published here

Argentine fossils take oak and beech family history far into Southern Hemisphere

One of the world's most important plant families has a history extending much farther south than any live or fossil specimen previously recorded, as shown by chinquapin fruit and leaf fossils unearthed in Patagonia, Argentina, according to researchers.

* This article was originally published here

Study illuminates how undifferentiated cells commit to their biological fate

From the light-sensing cones of the retina to the blood-pumping muscle of the heart to the waste-filtering units of the kidneys, the human body is made up of hundreds of cell types exquisitely specialized to perform their jobs with great precision.

* This article was originally published here

Organic electronics: A new semiconductor in the carbon-nitride family

Teams from Humboldt-Universität and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin have explored a new material in the carbon-nitride family. Triazine-based graphitic carbon nitride (TGCN) is a semiconductor that should be highly suitable for applications in optoelectronics. Its structure is two-dimensional and reminiscent of graphene. Unlike graphene, however, the conductivity in the direction perpendicular to its 2-D planes is 65 times higher than along the planes themselves.

* This article was originally published here

Tacoma-based Snopes, debunker of fake news, is locked in a nasty legal dispute

After more than two decades battling internet hoaxes, retouched photos, and other fake news, David Mikkelson, co-founder of Snopes, faces a much larger and more existential adversary.

* This article was originally published here

Discovery sheds light on synthesis, processing of high-performance solar cells

Halide perovskite solar cells hold promise as the next generation of solar cell technologies, but while researchers have developed techniques for improving their material characteristics, nobody understood why these techniques worked. New research sheds light on the science behind these engineering solutions and paves the way for developing more efficient halide perovskite solar cells.

* This article was originally published here

Autonomous boats can target and latch onto each other

The city of Amsterdam envisions a future where fleets of autonomous boats cruise its many canals to transport goods and people, collect trash, or self-assemble into floating stages and bridges. To further that vision, MIT researchers have given new capabilities to their fleet of robotic boats—which are being developed as part of an ongoing project—that lets them target and clasp onto each other, and keep trying if they fail.

* This article was originally published here

Heartburn drugs again tied to fatal risks

(HealthDay)—People who use common heartburn drugs for months to years may face heightened risks of dying from heart disease, kidney failure or stomach cancer, a new study suggests.

* This article was originally published here

Scientists recreate blood-brain barrier defect outside the body

Scientists can't make a living copy of your brain outside your body. That's the stuff of science fiction. But in a new study, they recreated a critical brain component, the blood-brain barrier, that functioned as it would in the individual who provided the cells to make it. Their achievement—detailed in a study published today in the peer-reviewed journal Cell Stem Cell—provides a new way to make discoveries about brain disorders and, potentially, predict which drugs will work best for an individual patient.

* This article was originally published here

Google buys analytics startup Looker to bolster its cloud

Google said Thursday it was buying data analytics startup Looker in a move aimed at bolstering its cloud services for business.

* This article was originally published here

Video: Cancer research using mini-organs from tumors and healthy tissue

Hans Clevers (Hubrecht Institute) and David Tuveson (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), experts in the field of stem cells and organoids, have written a review that summarizes the use of organoids in cancer research and shines a light on prospects for the future.

* This article was originally published here

Earthquake, flood, hurricane: Google Maps adds tools to help you navigate a crisis

Google is adding tools to Google Maps and search to help you survive a natural disaster.

* This article was originally published here

How to speed up the discovery of new solar cell materials

A broad class of materials called perovskites is considered one of the most promising avenues for developing new, more efficient solar cells. But the virtually limitless number of possible combinations of these materials' constituent elements makes the search for promising new perovskites slow and painstaking.

* This article was originally published here

Novel tools bridge the information gap between citizens and electricity grid operators

It's generally agreed that a low-carbon economy is important if we're to combat climate change. One obvious way to do this is to modernize our current power transmission grids so that we can make electricity more secure, affordable and sustainable. However, while this may seem straightforward in theory, in reality things aren't always so simple. New grid projects often face strong opposition by the organizations and communities they affect. When such opposition is added to the lengthy process of obtaining the necessary permits that can last up to 10 years, many of these projects are delayed or even canceled.

* This article was originally published here

The tell-tale clue to how meteorites were made, at the birth of the solar system

April 26, 1803 was an unusual day in the small town of L'Aigle in Normandy, France – it rained rocks.

* This article was originally published here

It pays to be free: No-cost products garner strong word-of-mouth recommendations

Consumers who get a web-based product or mobile app for free are more likely to give it a word-of-mouth boost than a product they buy, suggesting they feel "one good turn deserves another."

* This article was originally published here

Apple's new Photos app for iOS 13 may just be the tool you've been waiting for

We take more and more photos every year on our new and improved smartphones, but finding them is probably the greatest pain point consumers face.

* This article was originally published here

Opioid maker Insys agrees to pay $225 million over bribes

Insys Therapeutics has agreed to pay $225 million to settle criminal and civil probes of its unlawful marketing of an opioid painkiller, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

* This article was originally published here