CALTECH (US)—Using a sheet of carbon just one atom thick, researchers have devised a new technique to visualize the structure of molecules. The approach, which was used to obtain the first direct images of how water coats surfaces at room temperature, can also be used to image a potentially unlimited number of other molecules, including antibodies [...]

U. MICHIGAN (US)—A 10-year study of an organic coffee farm in Mexico has uncovered a web of intricate interactions that buffers the farm against extreme outbreaks of pests and diseases. Details of the study are reported in the July/August issue of the journal BioScience. The major players in the system—several ant species, a handful of coffee pests, [...]

U. IOWA (US)—Parents may prefer nutritious foods for the entire family, but their preference for healthy foods is about 50 percent weaker when they’re selecting products for the kids, rather than for themselves. The likely explanation is that parents give in at the grocery store—or before they even get there, in the case of this study—compromising [...]

GEORGIA TECH (US)—A new class of electronic logic device generates a current-switching electric field by applying mechanical strain to zinc oxide nanowires. The strain could be as simple as pushing a button, or be created by the flow of a liquid, stretching of muscles, or the movement of a robotic component. The devices, which include transistors and [...]

MICHIGAN STATE (US)—A city’s size no longer is the key factor in building vibrant local economies. It’s all about connections to other places, a new study suggests. The rise of commercial aviation, high-speed rail, the Internet, and other technological advances have allowed smaller cities to compete with urban powers such as New York and Chicago, says [...]

U. COLORADO (US)—Astronomers have been able to measure the velocity and composition of “star guts” being ejected into space following the explosion of a nearby supernova, thanks to a newly refurbished Hubble Space Telescope. The team detected significant brightening of emissions from Supernova 1987A—the closest exploding star to Earth—which were consistent with some theoretical predictions about [...]

MICHIGAN STATE (US)—Contrary to popular belief, married couples do not become more similar over time. A new study suggests people tend to pick their spouse based on shared personality traits. Details are reported in the latest issue of the journal Personality and Individual Differences. “Existing research shows that spouses are more similar than random people,” says Mikhila [...]

U. CHICAGO (US)—A record number of U.S. workers are involuntarily working part-time due to reduced hours or the inability to find a full-time job. Hourly workers—the majority of the wage and salary workforce—are especially susceptible to reduced, irregular, and fluctuating hours—and the myriad of challenges associated with them—according to a new report. Although much has been made [...]

STANFORD (US)—Plain cotton cloth available at discount stores can be transformed into a high-speed, low-cost filter to purify water in the developing world. By dipping the cotton into a high-tech broth full of silver nanowire and carbon nanotubes, the filter allows bacteria to flow through with the water, instead of physically trapping it as most [...]

JOHNS HOPKINS (US)—Uninsured or minority pedestrians hit by cars are significantly more likely to die than insured whites with similar injuries. The death rate disparity is compounded by the fact that minority pedestrians are far more likely than white pedestrians to be struck by motor vehicles. “It’s a double whammy,” says Adil Haider, assistant professor of surgery [...]

MCGILL (CAN)—Chemists have discovered that a technique known as photoacoustic infrared spectroscopy could help identify the composition of pigments used in artwork that is decades or even centuries old. Details of the work are reported in the journal Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy. The technique is based on Alexander Graham Bell’s 1880 discovery that [...]

U. IOWA (US)—The disruption of a structural component in heart muscle cells associated with heart failure appears to occur even before heart function starts to decline, according to a new study. Researchers believe that understanding how the disruption occurs may lead to new ways to diagnose or treat heart failure. The structure is a highly organized network [...]

WASHINGTON U.-ST. LOUIS (US)—Being hungry may provide a way to stay awake without feeling groggy or mentally challenged, according to new research with fruit flies. Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis found that starvation allows the need for nourishment to push aside the need for sleep. The study appears online this week in PLoS Biology. Like [...]

U. MINNESOTA (US)—Delivering hot pepper concentrate right to the roots keeps pesky deer and mice from devouring plants before they make it to the dinner table. And unlike spray deterrents, it can’t wash off. Tom Levar, a forestry and horticulture specialist at the University of Minnesota, adapted a plant formulation of Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to move [...]

EMORY (US)—A chemical analysis of the bones of ancient Nubians shows that they were regularly consuming tetracycline, most likely in their beer. The finding is the strongest evidence yet that the art of making antibiotics, which officially dates to the discovery of penicillin in 1928, was common practice nearly 2,000 years ago. The research, led by Emory [...]

STANFORD (US)—Children being raised by same-sex couples have nearly the same educational achievement as children raised by married heterosexual couples, according to a new study that used data from the 2000 U.S. Census. “The census data show that having parents who are the same gender is not in itself any disadvantage to children,” says Michael Rosenfeld, [...]

STANFORD (US)—Engineers are developing a new sewage treatment process that would actually increase the production of two greenhouse gases—nitrous oxide (aka laughing gas) and methane—to be used to power the treatment plant. “Normally, we want to discourage these gases from forming,” says Craig Criddle, professor of civil and environmental engineering and senior fellow at Stanford University. “But [...]

U. MICHIGAN (US)—To best observe chemical transformations in solution, molecular spectators have to be close to the action. Scientists have known for decades that molecules that comprise the “first solvation shell” sense and dictate the fate of nearly every chemical reaction, but it has been virtually impossible to watch them respond for several reasons. First, fundamental steps [...]

VANDERBILT (US)—To track human prey, malaria mosquitoes use several different kinds of odor sensors, according to a new study. The discovery may help in the development of new and more effective forms of mosquito lures and repellents. The findings provide striking new evidence that Anopheles gambiae—the species of mosquito that spreads malaria that infects some 250 million [...]

CORNELL (US)—Exposure to even low-levels of cigarette smoke may put people at risk for future lung disease, including lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to a new study. The findings further support public smoking bans, researchers say. Details of the study, which is the first to show that even minimal exposure to tobacco smoke triggers [...]