Researchers are studying some common soil bacteria that "inhale" toxic metals and "exhale" them in a non-toxic form. The bacteria might one day be used to clean up toxic chemicals left over from nuclear weapons production decades ago.
By peering into the brain as it learns, scientists have found that the presence of a specific brain wave pattern predicts your ability to remember something. If it's there, you'll remember. If it's not, then, uh, you'll forget.
Video games that involve high levels of action, such as first-person-shooter games, increase a player's real-world vision, according to new research. The ability to perceive changes in shades of gray improves up to 58 percent.
Using aquatic microbes as their "canary-in-a-cage," scientists from Ohio are reporting that nanoparticles now being added to cosmetics, sunscreens, and hundreds of other personal care products may be harmful to the environment.
The intrinsic rotation of electrons -- the "spin" -- is a promising property for future electronics devices. Physicists have now succeeded in aligning electron spin, bringing it to a controlled "waver" and reading it out. The electron spin can also be realigned as required at any time using optical pulses.
A tiny microbe can take electricity and directly convert carbon dioxide and water to methane, producing a portable energy source with a potentially neutral carbon footprint, according to engineers. The process does not sequester carbon, but it does turn carbon dioxide into fuel, according to researchers.