Science

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Improved nanoparticles deliver drugs into brain

The brain is a notoriously difficult organ to treat, but Johns Hopkins researchers report they are one step closer to having a drug-delivery system flexible enough to overcome some key challenges posed by brain cancer and perhaps other maladies affecting that organ.

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Real-time imaging of a rodent brain shows that nanoparticles coated with polyethylene-glycol (PEG) (green) penetrate farther within the brain than particles without the PEG coating (red)

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New Method for Synthesis of Noble Metal-Based Nanoparticles on Various Substrates

Iranian researchers at the University of Isfahan developed a simple yet efficient method for the synthesis of noble metal-based alloy nanoparticles on different types of substrates.

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Particularly tested for carbon based substrates such as carbon nanocabon tubes, the proposed method has enabled the synthesis of platinum-cobalt nanoparticles featuring lower dimensions, narrower size distributions and higher stabilities compared to the conventional methods.

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Kepler's Supernova Remnant: Was Kepler's Supernova Unusually Powerful?

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In 1604, a new star appeared in the night sky that was much brighter than Jupiter and dimmed over several weeks. This event was witnessed by sky watchers including the famous astronomer Johannes Kepler. Centuries later, the debris from this exploded star is known as the Kepler supernova remnant.

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NASA Observations Point to 'Dry Ice' Snowfall on Mars

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Observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have detected carbon-dioxide snow clouds on Mars and evidence of carbon-dioxide snow falling to the surface.

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Extreme Life Forms Might be Able to Survive on Eccentric Exoplanets

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A hypothetical planet is depicted here moving through the habitable zone and then further out into a long, cold winter.

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To Avoid Humans, Tigers Take Night Shift

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A tiger’s eyes glow during the night on the same foot paths and roads humans use during the day to collect wood and grasses.

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Sea Life Color Codes Food to Evade Danger

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An example of bioluminescence: light emitted from a deep sea brittle star

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NASA Mars Rover Curiosity's Arm Wields Camera Well

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This view of the lower front and underbelly areas of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity combines nine images taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 34th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Sept. 9, 2012).

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Penn Researchers Make First All-optical Nanowire Switch

Computers may be getting faster every year, but those advances in computer speed could be dwarfed if their 1's and 0's were represented by bursts of light, instead of electricity.

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Laser light is emitted from the end of a cadmium sulfide nanowire.

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Measuring mercury levels: Nano-velcro detects water-borne toxic metals

A strip of glass covered in hairy nanoparticles can cheaply and conveniently measure mercury, which attacks the nervous system, and other toxic metals in fluids.

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Coal plants like this one in West Chicago release mercury into the atmosphere which can end up in the water supply. This plant, the Crawford Generating Station, is among the last coal-fired plants to shut down in the city, and this move could help bring the already low mercury content in nearby Lake Michigan down even further.