Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI)

Doctors have a new way of thinking about how to treat heart and skeletal muscle diseases. Body builders have a new way of thinking about how they maximize their power. Both owe their new insight to high-energy X-rays, a moth and cloud computing. The understanding of how muscles get their power has been greatly expanded

INSPIRED by nature, University of Huddersfield scientist Dr Jason Camp is pioneering the use of simple sugars to power chemical reactions.  It means that industries such as pharmaceuticals and agro-chemicals will have a renewable, inexpensive and non-toxic method of catalysis. The project has received financial backing from several leading firms. Dr Camp, who is a

The thermochromic liquid changing color in reaction to a change in temperature Nanowires that form and disperse as the temperature changes form the basis of a robust thermochromic liquid A smart liquid that darkens dramatically in response to rising temperature has been developed by researchers at A*STAR. The nanowire-based thermochromic liquid’s tunable color-changing behavior was

New approach for studying neural circuits offers advantages over both microelectrodes and fluorescence-based optical techniques that require genetic modifications. Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have developed ultrasensitive nanoscale optical probes to monitor the bioelectric activity of neurons and other excitable cells. This novel readout technology could enable scientists to study how neural circuits function at

Here come futuristic, plant-inspired microrobots that are powered simply through changes in environmental humidity — no batteries or electrical components at all Most efforts to develop bio-inspired robots center on mimicking the motions of animals: but plants move too — even if most of their motions are so slow they can’t be detected by the

The EPFL spin-off Gait Up just put an extremely thin motion sensor on the market. It can detect the risk of a fall in an older person and is equally useful for sports and physical therapy. Falls are a major problem for the elderly. “We found that each year, one third of adults over age

Some of the worms and germs we’ve been warding off may actually keep us well. One solution, some scientists say, is to welcome them back I met William Parker just two days before World Toilet Day, an international campaign to break taboos about, yes, potties. It’s a subject not many like to talk about. The cause

Whether you have taken a side or a backseat in the discussion, the “food versus fuel” debate affects us all. Some say growing more biofuel crops today will decrease greenhouse gas emissions, but will make it harder to produce food tomorrow, which has prevented the U.S. from maximizing the potential of environmentally beneficial biofuels. In

TrackingPoint claims to put jet fighter lock-and-launch technology onto a combat rifle, making sniper-level accuracy available to the average shooter TrackingPoint, Inc., a precision guided rifle development company operating out of Austin, Texas, has developed breakthrough technology that claims to put jet fighter lock-and-launch technology onto a combat rifle, making sniper-level accuracy available to the average