Statins may provide protection against depression

Statins have been hailed as a wonder drug; the cholesterol-lowering drugs have been prescribed to tens of millions of people since their approval in the late 1980s to prevent heart attack and stroke. But the drugs may yet have additional benefits, some…

New silicon nanowires can really take the heat

A research team has demonstrated an ultrathin silicon nanowire that conducts heat 150% more efficiently than conventional materials used in advanced chip technologies. The device could enable smaller, faster, energy-efficient microelectronics.

Study identifies cellular ‘chaperone’ for zinc

A team has described and characterized the first zinc metallochaperone: a protein that puts zinc into other ‘client’ proteins. The findings shed light on the public health issue of zinc deficiency and open an entirely new area of biology for exploration.