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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 7, 2014 at 8:51am

Eco-friendly cement by recycling old ones
Discarded toilets, along with other ceramic waste such as basins, stoneware and bricks, can be recycled into an eco-friendly form of cement, scientists say.

The method involves grinding the ceramic waste and mixing it with an activator solution and water. The mixture is then poured into a mould and subjected to a high-temperature hardening process. Researchers conducted tests with items made from red-clay brick waste and found the cement was actually stronger than types that are currently in common use, 'Gizmag' reported. They are still evaluating the strength of cement made with other forms of ceramic waste.

Currently, researchers are using sodium hydroxide or sodium silicate as activators. The researchers, from Spain's Universitat Politecnica de Valencia and Universitat Jaume I de Castellon, Imperial College of London, and the Universidade Estadual Paulista of Sao Paulo in Brazil Spain, the UK and Brazil, are looking into using rice husk ash as an activator. If it could be used, the result would be a cement made entirely from waste materials. The eco-friendly cement could be used as an alternative to Portland cement, which is the world's most widely used form of cement, they said. Production of Portland cement releases large amounts of carbon dioxide, and the material is considered a major contributor to global warming.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Eco-friendly-cement...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 7, 2014 at 6:19am

Science does educational theatre with a bang
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26884833

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 7, 2014 at 6:17am

Depression increases heart failure risk by 40 percent
Moderate to severe depression increases the risk of heart failure by 40%, a study of nearly 63,000 Norwegians has shown. The findings were presented for the first time today at EuroHeartCare 2014.
"We found a dose response relationship between depressive symptoms and the risk of developing heart failure. That means that the more depressed you feel, the more you are at risk."
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2014/04/05/depression.increases.he...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 5, 2014 at 8:33am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 5, 2014 at 8:26am

The mammalian heart has generally been considered to lack the ability to repair itself after injury, but a 2011 study in newborn mice challenged this view, providing evidence for complete regeneration after resection of 10% of the apex, the lowest part of the heart. In a study published by Cell Press in Stem Cell Reports on April 3, 2014, researchers attempted to replicate these recent findings but failed to uncover any evidence of complete heart regeneration in newborn mice that underwent apex resection.

“Our results question the usefulness of the apex resection model for identifying molecular mechanisms underlying heart regeneration after damage and underscore the need for the scientific community to firmly establish whether or not the mammalian heart is capable of regeneration,” says lead study author Ditte Andersen of Odense University Hospital and the University of Southern Denmark.

- Cell Press

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 5, 2014 at 8:24am

A study published this week in PLOS ONE authored by Dr. Henry Sun and his postdoctoral student Dr. Gaosen Zhang of Nevada based research institute DRI provides new evidence that Earth bacteria can do something that is quite unusual. Despite the fact that these bacteria are made of left-handed (L) amino acids, they are able to grow on right-handed (D) amino acids. This DRI study, funded by the NASA Astrobiology Institute and the NASA Exobiology Program, takes a closer look at what these implications mean for studying organisms on Earth and beyond.

“This finding is important because D-amino acids are slowly produced in soils through geochemical transformation of L amino acids. If they were allowed to accumulate, they would poison the environment for plants and animals. Our research shows that it is the bacteria that prevent D-amino acids from accumulating to toxic levels,” explains Dr. Sun.
http://www.dri.edu/news/4633-bacteria-get-new-badge-as-planet-s-det...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 5, 2014 at 8:21am

For years, researchers have been interested in developing quantum computers—the theoretical next generation of technology that will outperform conventional computers. Instead of holding data in bits, the digital units used by computers today, quantum computers store information in units called “qubits.” One approach for computing with qubits relies on the creation of two single photons that interfere with one another in a device called a waveguide. Results from a recent applied science study at Caltech support the idea that waveguides coupled with another quantum particle—the surface plasmon—could also become an important piece of the quantum computing puzzle.

The work was published in the print version of the journal Nature Photonics the week of March 31.

http://www.nature.com/nphoton/index.html

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 5, 2014 at 5:31am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 4, 2014 at 8:53am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 4, 2014 at 8:45am

True age of moon is finally revealed
A new study has revealed the moon is 4.47 billion-years-old, after a team of planetary scientists discovered it was formed 95 million years after the birth of the solar system.
This makes the Earth's moon up to 60 million years younger than some previous estimates, a study published on Wednesday found.

Researchers used a new way to calculate the birthday of the planet's only natural satellite.

Astronomer John Chambers, with the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC, said the mega-asteroid that smashed into Earth, launching debris that later became the moon, occurred about 95 million years after the birth of the solar system.

"We think that the thing that hit Earth and ended up forming the moon, the lion's share of it stayed on Earth," he explained.

"A small fraction of its mass and some material from Earth was pushed off into space to form the moon. That was probably the last big event," he added.

The study, published in the journal Nature, is based on 259 computer simulations of how the solar system evolved.

The programs simulate the crashes and mergers of the small bodies until they meld into the rocky planets that exist today.

Earth's last big chuck came from a Mars-sized body that hit about 95 million years after the solar system's formation when measured by that geologic clock, the study showed.

At 99.9 per cent accurate, the study disputes some previous estimates that the moon-forming impact occurred as early as 30 million to 40 million years after the solar system's formation.
- The independent

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