Friday 17 May 2019

Polymers jump through hoops on pathway to sustainable materials

Recyclable plastics that contain ring-shaped polymers may be a key to developing sustainable synthetic materials. Despite some promising advances, researchers said, a full understanding of how to processes ring polymers into practical materials remains elusive. In a new study, researchers identified a mechanism called "threading" that takes place when a polymer is stretched—a behavior not witnessed before. This new insight may lead to new processing methods for sustainable polymer materials.

* This article was originally published here

EU adopts powers to respond to cyberattacks

The European Union on Friday adopted powers to punish those outside the bloc who launch cyberattacks that cripple hospitals and banks, sway elections and steal company secrets or funds.

* This article was originally published here

Study describes TBI caregiver QOL measurement system

(HealthDay)—A new tool, the Traumatic Brain Injury Caregiver Quality of Life (TBI-CareQOL), combines five new measures and 10 existing measures and can identify health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among caregivers of individuals with TBI, according to a study published in the April issue of the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

* This article was originally published here

Missouri, latest US state to restrict abortion

The Missouri House passed a bill on Friday banning abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, making it the latest US state to pass restrictions on ending a pregnancy.

* This article was originally published here

Museum volunteers discover new species of extinct heron at North Florida fossil site

When the bones of an ancient heron were unearthed at a North Florida fossil site, the find wasn't made by researchers but by two Florida Museum of Natural History volunteers.

* This article was originally published here

A social perception scheme for behavior planning of autonomous cars

To navigate dynamic environments, autonomous vehicles (AVs) should be able to process all information available to them and use it to generate effective driving strategies. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have recently proposed a social perception scheme for planning the behavior of autonomous cars, which could help to develop AVs that are better equipped to deal with uncertainty in their surrounding environment.

* This article was originally published here

Making the best of sparse information

New findings reported by LMU researchers challenge a generally accepted model of echolocation in bats. They demonstrate that bats require far less spatial information than previously thought to navigate effectively.

* This article was originally published here

Thresholds found for unilateral optic nerve lesions in MS

(HealthDay)—A new anatomic threshold may be useful for identifying unilateral optic nerve lesions in patients with multiple sclerosis, according to a study published in the May issue of the Annals of Neurology.

* This article was originally published here

A new approach to targeting cancer cells

A University of California, Riverside, research team has come up with a new approach to targeting cancer cells that circumvents a challenge faced by currently available cancer drugs.

* This article was originally published here

A face-following robot arm with emotion detection

Researchers at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) have recently developed a face-following robotic arm with emotion detection inspired by Pixar Animation Studios' Luxo Jr. lamp. This robot was presented by Vernon Stanley Albayeros Duarte, a computer science graduate at UAB, in his final thesis.

* This article was originally published here

Black women more likely to die of breast cancer, especially in the South

When Felicia Mahone was 27, she felt her breast and found a mass. Breast cancer had killed nearly all the women in her family—her mother, two aunts and two cousins. Her doctor, though, downplayed the lump, assuring her everything would be all right.

* This article was originally published here

Exploring people's perception of geometric features, personalities and emotions in videos with virtual humans

Researchers at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul have recently carried out a study aimed at evaluating people's perceptions of geometric features, personalities and emotions presented in video sequences with virtual humans. Their study, outlined in a paper pre-published on arXiv, merges computer science tools with psychology research practices.

* This article was originally published here

German startup to offer electric air taxis 'by 2025'

German startup firm Lilium announced Thursday the maiden flight of its all-electric pilotless jet-powered 'air taxi' which it hopes to operate in various cities around the world 'by 2025'.

* This article was originally published here

Mining 25 years of data uncovers a new predictor of age of onset for Huntington disease

Investigators at the University of British Columbia (UBC)/Centre for Molecular Medicine & Therapeutics (CMMT) and BC Children's Hospital have examined more than 25 years of data to reveal new insights into predicting the age of onset for Huntington disease.

* This article was originally published here

Research looks to halt stress-induced seizures

For the over one million Canadians living with traumatic brain injury, the likelihood of developing epilepsy increases significantly because of their injury. When faced with stress or anxiety, that likelihood increases even more dramatically.

* This article was originally published here

Using information technology to promote health equity

An innovative health information technology (IT) program helps primary care providers to detect and manage depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in traumatized refugees, reports a study in a special June supplement to Medical Care.

* This article was originally published here

New laws of robotics needed to tackle AI: expert

Decades after Isaac Asimov first wrote his laws for robots, their ever-expanding role in our lives requires a radical new set of rules, legal and AI expert Frank Pasquale warned on Thursday.

* This article was originally published here

New machine learning algorithm can predict age and gender from just your Twitter profile

A new "demographic inference" tool developed by academics can make predictions based solely on the information in a person's social media profile (i.e. screen name, biography, profile photo, and name). The tool—which works in 32 languages—could pave the way for views expressed on social media to be factored in to popular survey methods.

* This article was originally published here

New Horizons team publishes first Kuiper Belt flyby science results

NASA's New Horizons mission team has published the first profile of the farthest world ever explored, a planetary building block and Kuiper Belt object called 2014 MU69.

* This article was originally published here

Stigma deterring elite athletes with mental health issues from seeking help

Stigma is the main reason why elite athletes with mental health issues don't seek the help they need, finds a summary of the available evidence, published in a special issue of the British Journal of Sports Medicine devoted to the topic.

* This article was originally published here