For The Better

Researchers have developed electrically-driven soft valves to control hydraulic soft actuators. These valves could be used in assistive and therapeutic devices, bio-inspired soft robots, soft grippers, surgical robots, and more.

Spectacular ice age landscapes beneath the North Sea have been discovered using 3D seismic reflection technology. Similar to MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) the images reveal in unprecedented detail huge seafloor channels – each one 10 times wider tha…

The conditions under which early members of the genus Homo dispersed outside Africa were analysed on a broader scale, across Europe during the Early and Middle Pleistocene. The model is based on the comparison of functional trait distribution of large …

Setting fire to forest and agricultural land in Southeast Asia to prepare it for cultivation or grazing causes air pollution that is contributing to an estimated 59,000 premature deaths a year, according to a new study.

Good sleep-time recovery is associated with a health-promoting diet and health-promoting eating habits, as well as with lower consumption of alcohol, according to a new study investigating psychological and physiological well-being among working-age Fi…

Results from a new study reinforce the notion that dementia with Lewy bodies can be pathologically classified into two different disease types.

Researchers induced substantial motion of oxide ions within perovskite crystals by using pulses of ultraviolet light. Such motion provides a means to store energy in the crystals. This development will help researchers improve the functionality of soli…

Researchers have developed a stretchable anisotropic conductive film (S-ACF) for electrical interfacing in high-resolution stretchable circuits.

Researchers have determined that enhanced bone resorption activity due to a faulty immune response may underpin multifocal osteomyelitis — painful, chronic bone infections — in children with MSMD, a rare genetic condition resulting from a range of im…

A new dinosaur from the lower Upper Cretaceous of Uzbekistan, Ulughbegsaurus uzbekistanensis, was described from a single maxilla fossil. The research team estimated that this carcharodontosaurian weighed over 1000 kg and measured 7.5–8.0 meters in le…

Pollinators — such as bees, butterflies and birds — are essential for agricultural production. However, natural pollination can also fail or be insufficient, which can lead to lower yields and poorer quality. This means alternative solutions are need…

Researchers have found that coating soybean plant leaves with cellulose nanofiber (CNF) gives protection against an aggressive fungal disease. The CNF coating changed leaf surfaces from water repellent to water absorbent, and suppressed pathogen gene e…

Inclusionary zoning policies that increase the supply of affordable housing may be good for the heart, according to new research. The study notes that such zoning programs were associated with lower rates of heart disease.

Protons in aqueous solution can usually migrate very quickly — much faster compared to other ions. However, this only applies when they are in a space greater than two nanometers, as a new study shows. In confined spaces the so-called Grotthuss mechan…