Thursday 20 June 2019

Astronomers see 'warm' glow of Uranus's rings

The rings of Uranus are invisible to all but the largest telescopes—they weren't even discovered until 1977—but they're surprisingly bright in new heat images of the planet taken by two large telescopes in the high deserts of Chile.

* This article was originally published here

Spiders risk everything for love

University of Cincinnati biologist George Uetz long suspected the extravagant courtship dance of wolf spiders made them an easy mark for birds and other predators.

* This article was originally published here

Not always reaching your potential is okay, but overthinking it is a problem

Having aspirations helps us navigate life in a meaningful and fulfilling way, but it can also cause psychological distress when hopes are left unfulfilled.

* This article was originally published here

Google workers, labor advocates confront parent Alphabet over practices

Google workers, labor advocates, and local community members rallied outside parent company Alphabet Inc.'s annual meeting of company shareholders here on Wednesday, calling on the technology company to change its labor practices.

* This article was originally published here

Squeezing of blood vessels may contribute to cognitive decline in Alzheimer's

Reduced blood flow to the brain associated with early Alzheimer's may be caused by the contraction of cells wrapped around blood vessels, according to a UCL-led study that opens up a new way to potentially treat the disease.

* This article was originally published here

Scientists discover new method for developing tracers used for medical imaging

In an advance for medical imaging, scientists from University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered a method for creating radioactive tracers to better track pharmaceuticals in the body as well as image diseases, such as cancer, and other medical conditions.

* This article was originally published here

How you lock your smartphone can reveal your age: study

Older smartphone users tend to rely more on their phones' auto lock feature compared to younger users, a new UBC study has found. They also prefer using PINs over fingerprints to unlock their phones.

* This article was originally published here

Bank of England to mull access for likes of Facebook's Libra

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney is open to the idea of letting new payment services such as Facebook's upcoming Libra hold funds with the central bank—something previously limited to commercial banks.

* This article was originally published here

Researchers see around corners to detect object shapes

Computer vision researchers have demonstrated they can use special light sources and sensors to see around corners or through gauzy filters, enabling them to reconstruct the shapes of unseen objects.

* This article was originally published here

Pigs help scientists understand human brain

For the first time, researchers in the University of Georgia's Regenerative Bioscience Center have used an imaging method normally reserved for humans to analyze brain activity in live agricultural swine models, and they have discovered that pig brains are even better platforms than previously thought for the study of human neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

* This article was originally published here

From one brain scan, more information for medical artificial intelligence

MIT researchers have devised a novel method to glean more information from images used to train machine-learning models, including those that can analyze medical scans to help diagnose and treat brain conditions.

* This article was originally published here

Applying active inference body perception to a humanoid robot

A key challenge for robotics researchers is developing systems that can interact with humans and their surrounding environment in situations that involve varying degrees of uncertainty. In fact, while humans can continuously learn from their experiences and perceive their body as a whole as they interact with the world, robots do not yet have these capabilities.

* This article was originally published here

Algorithm quickly finds hidden objects in dense point clouds

A new MIT-developed technique enables robots to quickly identify objects hidden in a three-dimensional cloud of data, reminiscent of how some people can make sense of a densely patterned "Magic Eye" image if they observe it in just the right way.

* This article was originally published here

'DNA microscopy' offers entirely new way to image cells

Microscopy just got reinvented—again.

* This article was originally published here

Einstein's relativity document gifted to Nobel museum

The Nobel Museum in Stockholm has been gifted Albert Einstein's first paper published after he received the Nobel Prize in 1922 and discussing his then still controversial relativity theory.

* This article was originally published here

Sickle cell drug showing promise in clinical trial

An investigational drug for the treatment of sickle cell disease is showing early promise in clinical trials for impacting biomarkers of the disease in patients, reported UConn School of Medicine researchers at the European Hematology Association Congress in Amsterdam this week.

* This article was originally published here

Groundwater pumping has significantly reduced US stream flows

Groundwater pumping in the last century has contributed as much as 50 percent to stream flow declines in some U.S. rivers, according to new research led by a University of Arizona hydrologist.

* This article was originally published here