A Systematic Strategy for Discovering a Therapeutic Drug for Alzheimer’s Disease and Its Target Molecule. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2017; 8 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2017.00340

Japanese scientists have developed a method to isolate and identify active compounds in plant medicines, which accurately accounts for drug behavior in the body. Using the technique, they have identified several active compounds from Drynaria Rhizome, a traditional plant medicine, which improve memory and reduce disease characteristics in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease.

Traditional plant medicines have been used by humans for a long time, and these therapies are still popular in many countries...

1. Laser sintering was used to 3-D print objects made of graphene foam, a 3-D version of atomically thin graphene. At left is a photo of a fingertip-sized cube of graphene foam; at right is a close-up of the material as seen with a scanning electron microscope. (Image courtesy of Tour Group/Rice University)
2.3-D graphene foam objects are produced by shining a laser on a mixture of powdered sugar and nickel powder. The laser is moved back and forth to melt sugar in a 2-D pattern, and nickel acts as a catalyst to spur the growth of graphene foam. The process is repeated with successive layers of powder to build up 3-D objects. (Image courtesy of Tour Group/Rice University)

Nanotechnologists from Rice University and China’s Tianjin University have used 3D laser printing to fabricate centimete...

Biomimetic Architectured Graphene Aerogel with Exceptional Strength and Resilience

Versatile, light-weight materials that are both strong and resilient are crucial for the development of flexible electronics, such as bendable tablets and wearable sensors. Aerogels are good candidates for such applications, but until now, it’s been difficult to make them with both properties. Now, researchers report in ACS Nano that mimicking the structure of the “powdery alligator-flag” plant has enabled them to make a graphene-based aerogel that meets these needs.

Aerogels are light, porous materials that are already used in many applications, such as pollution control and insulation...

The different layers of Earth’s airglow can be seen from the International Space Station as it orbits Earth. The very thin green layer above the bottom of the window occurs 95 kilometers (59 miles) above Earth’s surface; the red region above is a different type of airglow. The rectangle represents the portion of the airglow measured in a single WINDII image. Credit: American Geophysical Union

Dating back to the first century, scientists, philosophers and reporters have noted the occasional occurrence of “bright nights,” when an unexplained glow in the night sky lets observers see distant mountains, read a newspaper or check their watch. A new study uses satellite data to present a possible explanation for these puzzling historical phenomena.
The authors suggest that when waves in the u...