Konstantinos Giapis has shown how molecular oxygen may be produced on the surface of comets using lab experiments. He and his postdoctoral scholar Yunxi Yao fired high-speed water molecules (left) at oxidized silicon and iron surfaces, observing the production of a plume that included molecular oxygen. Oxygen atoms are red, and hydrogen, blue. Giapis says similar conditions exist on the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, where the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission detected molecular oxygen.
Credit: Caltech

A Caltech chemical engineer has figured out how to explain a nagging mystery in space – why comets expel oxygen gas. The discovery that comets produce O2 – was announced in 2015 by researchers studying the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko with the Rosetta spacecraft...

First autonomously controlled ‘capsule robot’ explores colon

Researchers cite future role in improving acceptance, accuracy of colonoscopy. New research shows that an 18-mm magnetized capsule colonoscope, which can be paired with standard medical instruments, successfully performed intricate maneuvers inside the colon while guided by an external magnet attached to a robotic arm. Researchers believe this technology will reduce the potential discomfort of colonoscopies and lead to more people undergoing the life-saving screening test. Researchers hope the capsule robot, which is inserted rectally, could be used safely and effectively in the future on humans to identify and remove pre-cancerous lesions and tumors detected during colonoscopy.

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Ranallo, S. et al. “Antibody powered nucleic acid release using a DNA-based nanomachine.” Nature Communications, April 2017. doi: 10.1038/ncomms15150 (2017)

An international team from the University of Rome Tor Vergata and the University of Montreal has reported, in a paper published this week in Nature Communications, the design and synthesis of a nanoscale molecular slingshot made of DNA that is 20,000 times smaller than a human hair. This molecular slingshot could “shoot” and deliver drugs at precise locations in the human body once triggered by specific disease markers.

The molecular slingshot is only a few nanometres long and is composed of a synthetic DNA strand that can load a drug and then effectively act as the rubber band of the slingshot...

The Cito prototype rotates, hinges, translates, rises and orbits to add convenience for smartwatch users. Credit: Jun Gong

To make digital smartwatches more convenient for their users, researchers at Dartmouth College and University of Waterloo have produced a prototype watch face that moves in 5 different directions. With the ability to rotate, hinge, translate, rise and orbit, the model dramatically improves functionality and addresses limitations of today’s fixed-face watches. The concept, named Cito, will be presented on May 10 at the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Denver, Colorado.

Most smartwatch research primarily addresses how users can more easily input information...