Category: Science

Scientists trick the eye into seeing new color ‘olo’

Scientists trick the eye into seeing new color ‘olo’

Scientists have created a new platform called ‘Oz’ that uses laser light to control up to 1,000 photoreceptors in the eye at once. Using Oz, the researchers showed people images, videos and a new, ultra-saturated shade of green that they have named ‘olo.’ The platform could be used to probe the nature of color vision and provide new insight into human sight and vision loss. …read more

Skeletal evidence of Roman gladiator bitten by lion in combat discovered

Skeletal evidence of Roman gladiator bitten by lion in combat discovered

Bite marks found on a skeleton discovered in a Roman cemetery in York have revealed the first archaeological evidence of gladiatorial combat between a human and a lion. …read more

By 15 months, infants begin to learn new words for objects, even those they’ve never seen

By 15 months, infants begin to learn new words for objects, even those they’ve never seen

A new study by developmental scientists offers the first evidence that infants as young as 15 months can identify an object they have learned about from listening to language — even if the object remains hidden. …read more

Engineering a robot that can jump 10 feet high — without legs

Engineering a robot that can jump 10 feet high — without legs

Inspired by the movements of a tiny parasitic worm, engineers have created a 5-inch soft robot that can jump as high as a basketball hoop. Their device, a silicone rod with a carbon-fiber spine, can leap 10 feet high even though it doesn’t have legs. The researchers made it after watching high-speed video of nematodes pinching themselves into odd shapes to fling themselves forward and backward. …read more

Researchers identify pathway responsible for calciphylaxis, a rare and serious condition

Researchers identify pathway responsible for calciphylaxis, a rare and serious condition

The global burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is rising, with more than 800 million people affected worldwide. Vascular diseases in patients with CKD are unique and grouped as uremic vascular diseases. One of them, calciphylaxis, typically affects patients with end-stage, advanced kidney disease. It is a condition characterized by severe, painful and non-healing skin ulcers with no known cure. Researchers have now discovered a novel biological pathway, called the IL6 pathway, central to the skin lesion initiation and progression. Blocking this pathway they believe, will likely prevent progression of the skin ulcers and resolve the pain seen in patients with calciphylaxis. …read more

Robot see, robot do: System learns after watching how-to videos

Robot see, robot do: System learns after watching how-to videos

Researchers have developed a new robotic framework powered by artificial intelligence — called RHyME (Retrieval for Hybrid Imitation under Mismatched Execution) — that allows robots to learn tasks by watching a single how-to video. …read more

Trash talk: As plastic use soars, researchers examine biodegradable solutions

Trash talk: As plastic use soars, researchers examine biodegradable solutions

Researchers document a multi-faceted global snapshot of the environmental aspects and trends surrounding single-use plastics in a review article. The researchers state that the largest area of application for biodegradable plastic materials is the packaging segment, which accounts for about half of single-use plastic production. …read more

Major dust-up for water in the Colorado River

Major dust-up for water in the Colorado River

Dust-on-snow is a major threat to water in the Colorado River, yet no snowmelt forecasts integrate dust-accelerated melt. Using pioneering remote sensing techniques, new research is the first to capture how dust impacts the headwaters of the Colorado River system. The new method could help predict the timing and magnitude of snow darkening and impacts on melt rates on snowpacks, in real time. …read more

Novel treatment approach for language disorder shows promise

Novel treatment approach for language disorder shows promise

Neuroscientists have developed a new treatment approach for a language disorder that combines traditional speech therapy with noninvasive electrical stimulation of the brain. Brain stimulation helped induce neuroplasticity, the brain’s capacity to continue to reorganize and learn. …read more

High-fat, high-sugar diets impact cognitive function

High-fat, high-sugar diets impact cognitive function

New research links fatty, sugary diets to impaired brain function. The findings build on a growing body of evidence showing the negative impact of high-fat, high-sugar (HFHS) diets on cognitive ability, adding to their well-known physical effects. …read more