Adult C. elegans worms can be seen with embryos inside them. Credit: Adam Klosin, CRG.

Scientists reveal that a fault in the process that copies DNA during cell division can cause epigenetic changes that may be inherited for up-to 5 generations. They also identified the cause of these epigenetic changes, which is related to the loss of a molecular mechanism in charge of silencing genes. Their results, which will be published in Science Advances on 16 August, will change the way we think about the impact of replication stress in cancer and during embryonic development, as well as its inter-generational inheritance.

There are two particular processes in which cell division is crucial: embryonic development and tumorigenesis...

Dual Contrast – Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting (DC-MRF): A Platform for Simultaneous Quantification of Multiple MRI Contrast Agents. Scientific Reports, 2017; 7 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-08762-9

New imaging method out of Case Western Reserve University elevates MRI capabilities. Current MRI techniques rely on a single contrast agent injected into a patient’s veins to vivify images. The new method uses two at once, which could allow doctors to map multiple characteristics of a patient’s internal organs in a single MRI. The strategy could serve as a research tool and even aid disease diagnosis.

Two contrast agents could include one specifically targeting diseased tissue, and one designed to show healthy tissue, for example...

Candy cane supercapacitor. Credit: Stoyan Smoukov

Supercapacitors promise recharging of phones and other devices in seconds and minutes as opposed to hours for batteries. But current technologies are not usually flexible, have insufficient capacities, and for many their performance quickly degrades with charging cycles. Researchers at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and University of Cambridge have found a way to improve all 3 problems in one stroke. Their prototyped polymer electrode, which resembles a candy cane achieves energy storage close to the theoretical limit, but also demonstrates flexibility and resilience to charge/discharge cycling.

The technique could be applied to many types of materials for supercapacitors and enable fast charging of mobile phones, smart clothes and ...

The cosmic velocity web is represented by surfaces of knots in red and surfaces of filaments in gray. The black lines with arrows illustrate local velocity flows within filaments and toward knots. The Laniakea Supercluster basin of attraction that includes our Milky Way galaxy is represented by a blue surface. The region being displayed extends across one billion light years. Credit: Daniel Pomarede, Yehuda Hoffman, R. Brent Tully and Helene Courtois. Credit: Daniel Pomarede, Yehuda Hoffman, R. Brent Tully, Helene Courtois

The cosmic web – the distribution of matter on the largest scales in the universe – has usually been defined through the distribution of galaxies. Now, a new study by a team of astronomers from France, Israel and Hawaii demonstrates a novel approach...