A mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH) section shows microglia (green) in contact with AgRP neurons (red), which are critical hypothalamic neurons in the regulation of food intake and body weight. Credit: Image by the Suneil Koliwad Lab

Diet study finds link between brain inflammation and obesity in mice. Immune cells in the brain trigger overeating and weight gain in response to diets rich in fat, according to a new study in mice led by researchers from UC San Francisco and the University of Washington Medical Center. Brain-resident microglia could be targets for obesity treatments that might avoid many side effects of the obesity drugs currently in clinical use.

“Microglia are not neurons, but they account for 10 to 15% of the cells in the brain,” said Suneil Koliwad, MD, PhD, assistant profess...

André Dankert, Saroj P. Dash. Electrical gate control of spin current in van der Waals heterostructures at room temperature. Nature Communications, 2017; 8: 16093 DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS16093

Graphene Flagship researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden have showed a graphene-based spin field-effect transistor operating at room temperature. Using the spin of the electrons in graphene and other layered material heterostructures they have produced working devices as a step towards integrating spintronic logic and memory devices. Current semiconductor logic devices within our computers use the flow and control of electronic charge for information processing. Spintronic memory devices use electron spin to store information...

1. An array of the temperature sensor chips is shown. 2, Near-zero-power temperature sensor runs on 113 picowatts of power. Photos by David Baillot/UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering

Electrical engineers at the UCSD have developed a temperature sensor that runs on only 113 picowatts of power – 628 times lower power than the state of the art and about 10 billion times smaller than a watt. This near-zero-power temperature sensor could extend the battery life of wearable or implantable devices that monitor body temperature, smart home monitoring systems, Internet of Things devices and environmental monitoring systems.

The technology could also enable a new class of devices that can be powered by harvesting energy from low-power sources, such as the body or the surrounding environment...