Saturday 11 May 2019

Can recreational sports really make you a better student?

A new Michigan State University study adds to growing evidence that participating in recreational sports not only can help improve grades while attending college, but it also can help students return for another year.

* This article was originally published here

Can medical marijuana help kids with autism?

(HealthDay)—Medical marijuana extracts appear to help children with autism, reducing their disruptive behavior while improving their social responsiveness, a new Israeli clinical trial reports.

* This article was originally published here

Israel drugmaker Teva vows to fight US price-fixing lawsuit

Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva vowed Saturday to defend itself after being accused of orchestrating price-fixing among drugmakers in a US antitrust lawsuit.

* This article was originally published here

Lab builds autopilot software allowing UAVs to soar on thermals

A Navy scientist has re-engineered the software that allows long-endurance drones to powerlessly climb into the sky on bubbles of warm air.

* This article was originally published here

Smallest pixels ever created could light up color-changing buildings

The smallest pixels yet created—a million times smaller than those in smartphones, made by trapping particles of light under tiny rocks of gold—could be used for new types of large-scale flexible displays, big enough to cover entire buildings.

* This article was originally published here

Scientists introduce novel perspective in robotic capability

University of Illinois researcher Amy LaViers has introduced a new point of view from which to observe robotic capabilities in her paper, "Counts of Mechanical, External Configurations Compared to Computational, Internal Configurations in Natural and Artificial Systems," published today in PLOS ONE, a leading interdisciplinary research journal.

* This article was originally published here

Nanotubes enable travel of Huntington's protein

A toxic protein linked to Huntington's disease can move from neuron to neuron through a nanotube tunnel whose construction is initiated by a protein called Rhes, say scientists at Scripps Research.

* This article was originally published here

New recommendations developed for breast cancer screening

(HealthDay)—New recommendations have been developed for breast cancer screening based on a life-years-gained model; the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS) official statement was published online May 3.

* This article was originally published here

How to tell whether machine-learning systems are robust enough for the real world

MIT researchers have devised a method for assessing how robust machine-learning models known as neural networks are for various tasks, by detecting when the models make mistakes they shouldn't.

* This article was originally published here

Working to the beat: How music can make us more productive

Music makes us happy. Listening to music produces dopamine—nature's happy pill—in the brain. And music also makes us sad. Listening to Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle," Johnny Cash's version of "Hurt" or just about anything by Hank Williams produces tears. In fact, music can evoke every emotion known to man.

* This article was originally published here

Secrets of fluorescent microalgae could lead to super-efficient solar cells

Tiny light-emitting microalgae, found in the ocean, could hold the secret to the next generation of organic solar cells, according to new research carried out at the Universities of Birmingham and Utrecht.

* This article was originally published here

How much protein do you need for weight loss and muscle growth?

(HealthDay)—Low-carb, vegetarian, Mediterranean—whatever your diet, it's important to get enough protein.

* This article was originally published here

Google bucks soaring smartphone prices with new Pixel

Google bucked the soaring smartphone price trend Tuesday, unveiling a high-performance Pixel handset aimed at the middle of the market as part of a wide-ranging pitch to developers of its new hardware, software and privacy efforts.

* This article was originally published here

Post-bypass survival linked to civil status and class

Civil status, education, and income are factors shown to be clearly associated with duration of survival after a bypass operation. A postoperative patient aged 60 with a spouse or cohabiting partner, high educational attainment, and high income has a median life expectancy five years longer than a corresponding person with no live-in partner, a low education level, and low income.

* This article was originally published here

A friction reduction system for deformable robotic fingertips

Researchers at Kanazawa University have recently developed a friction reduction system based on a lubricating effect, which could have interesting soft robotics applications. Their system, presented in a paper published in Taylor & Francis' Advanced Robotics journal, could aid the development of robots that can efficiently manipulate objects under both dry and wet conditions.

* This article was originally published here

Doctors aware of patient difficulties affording medical care

(HealthDay)—Physicians are aware of patients' difficulty with affording medical care and consider out-of-pocket costs in their decision making, according to an article published in a supplement to the May 7 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

* This article was originally published here