Unnatural pandemic risks
The Covid-19 pandemic has caught healthcare systems, politicians and many virologists on the hop. Yet some scientists are now warning about a newer threat. Read more in C&I Magazine.
Activated fat
Researchers have discovered how to activate brown fat in humans, which may pave the way to new treatments for Type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Synthetic skin
An ‘electronic skin’ device able to tell the difference between a soft stress ball and a hard plastic ball has been demonstrated by researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS). The device could help people with prosthetic limbs to detect objects, as well as feel texture, or even temperature and pain. Read more in C&I Magazine.
Cyborg science
Fine tuning a familiar organic conducting polymer could help to improve communication between biomedical hardware and human tissues, researchers have discovered. Read more in C&I Magazine.
Agricultural sulfur
Scientists in the US have concluded that agricultural sulfur – and not coal-fired power stations – is now the most important source of the element to the environment, as large quantities are being added to farmland as fertilisers and pesticides (Nature Geoscience, doi: 10.1038/s41561-020-0620-3). Read the C&I article.
Cerium nanocoating for teeth
A novel dental coating based on cerium nanoparticles could one day help to fight tooth decay by preventing the formation of bacterial plaques that are a precursor to enamel loss and cavity formation. Read the article in C&I magazine.
Atlas of plastic exposure
Scientists have developed a method to quantify exposure of human organs to micro- and nanoplastics in the environment and introduced an online calculator to facilitate the creation of a global database for human plastics exposure, they reported at the ACS Fall 2020 meeting. Read more in C&I Magazine.