3-4 cups of Coffee a day linked to Longer Life

Three or 4 cups a day confers greatest benefit, except in pregnancy and for women at risk of fracture. Drinking coffee is “more likely to benefit health than to harm it” for a range of health outcomes, say researchers in The BMJ today. They bring together evidence from over 200 studies and find that drinking 3 to 4 cups of coffee a day is associated with a lower risk of death and getting heart disease compared with drinking no coffee. Coffee drinking is also associated with lower risk of some cancers, diabetes, liver disease and dementia.

However, they say drinking coffee in pregnancy may be associated with harms, and may be linked to a very small increased risk of fracture in women...

Schematic illustration of a hybrid information network with two quantum nodes composed by a cold cloud of Rubidium (left red cloud) and a doped crystal with Praseodymium ions (right white cube). Credit: ICFO/Scixel

Researchers report the first demonstration of an elementary link of a hybrid quantum information network, using a cold atomic cloud and a doped crystal as quantum nodes as well as single telecom photons as information carriers. The study demonstrates the communication and transmission of quantum information between 2 completely different types of quantum nodes placed in different labs.

Recent research suggests that this quantum network revolution might be just around the corner...

Surface, ocean and core of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The illustration shows the ice shell, which is thinner at the polar regions, with the ocean underneath. The core of Enceladus is assumed to be porous and thus permeable to ocean water. The graphic is based on a new model used to produce a three-dimensional simulation of these processes under the influence of Saturn’s tidal forces. The orange “glowing” parts of the core represent the areas that reach temperatures of at least 90 degrees Celsius. Credit: Surface – NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute; Core – Choblet et al (2017); Graphic composition – ESA

A computer simulation shows how icy moon heats water in a porous rock core...

The dipstick can purify DNA and RNA from plant, animal and microbe samples in less than 30 seconds. Credit: Michael Mason

New dipstick technology that enables pathogen detection and the rapid diagnosis of human, animal and plant disease in even the most remote locations has been developed by University of Queensland scientists. School of Agriculture and Food Sciences researcher Professor Jimmy Botella said the technology could extract DNA and RNA from living organisms in as little as 30 seconds without specialised equipment or personnel.

“We have successfully used the dipsticks in remote plantations in Papua New Guinea to diagnose sick trees, and have applied it to livestock, human samples, pathogens in food, and in detecting environmental risks such as E...