(PhysOrg.com) -- Oxford University spinoff company, Oxford Nonopore has announced at this year’s Advances in Genome Biology and Technology conference in Florida, two new machines for sequencing genes. Of particular note is the MinION, a machine small enough to fit in the hand which can be plugged into a laptop’s USB port. The other, the GridION, is a larger version that can be stacked to increase processing power. Both rely on a technology known as strand sequencing whereby a nanopore (engineered protein) is used to pull strands of DNA through a hole where a microchip measures minute changes in the electrical current in the membrane around it as individual bases, or pairs are pulled through. Because of the way it is done, much longer sections of DNA can be examined at once, doing away with the need to examine small sections independently and then knitting the results together with a computer afterwards.
(PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists in Italy have discovered the first evidence of a rare nucleus that doesn’t exist in nature and lives for just 10-10 seconds before decaying. It’s a type of hypernucleus that, like all nuclei, contains an assortment of neutrons and protons. But unlike ordinary nuclei, hypernuclei also contain at least one hyperon, a particle that consists of three quarks, including at least one strange quark. Hypernuclei are thought to form the core of strange matter that may exist in distant parts of the universe, and could also allow physicists to probe the inside of the nucleus.
Researchers carefully arrange two iron plates so that they become transparent …
Mouse skin cells can be converted directly into cells that become the three main parts of the nervous system, according to researchers at the Stanford
Researchers working at the US Department of Energy
Physicists have built an accurate model of part of the solar system inside a single atom. Scientists have shown that they could make an electron orbit the atomic nucleus in the same way that Jupiter
Researchers in the US have, for the first time, cloaked a three-dimensional object standing in free space, bringing the much-talked-about invisibility cloak one step closer to reality.
Researchers have succeeded in converting stem cells from umbilical cords into other types of cells, which may eventually lead to new treatment options for spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis, among other nervous system diseases.
Researchers have devised a proposal for the first conclusive experimental test of a phenomenon known as
Scientists have developed a new method for optical manipulation of matter at the nanoscale. Using ‘plasmonic hotspots’ – regions with electric current that heat up very locally – gold nanostructures can be melted and made to produce the smallest nanojets ever observed. The tiny gold nanodroplets formed in the nanojets, are perfectly spherical, which makes them interesting for applications in medicine.
An "artificial leaf" made by Daniel Nocera and his team, using a silicon solar cell with novel catalyst materials bonded to its two sides, is shown in a container of water with light (simulating sunlight) shining on it. The light generates a flow of electricity that causes the water molecules, with the help of the catalysts, to split into oxygen and hydrogen, which bubble up from the two surfaces.
Ali Aliev, the researcher have created a working invisibility cloak using one of nature's common yet bizarre phenomena -- the "mirage effect."In a video posted to YouTube, the strands are seen appearing and disappearing during a demonstration in Mr Aliev's lab.
UCF researchers have discovered a way to infuse the world's lightest carbon material with nanotubes. The results may lead to advances in robotic surgery, the detection of pollutants and even increase battery capacity!
NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has detected beams of antimatter launched by thunderstorms. Acting like enormous particle accelerators, the storms can emit gamma-ray flashes, called TGFs, and high-energy electrons and positrons. Scientists now think that most TGFs produce particle beams and antimatter.
Think Harry Potter movie magic: Researchers have demonstrated a
