A study, published in Journal of Neuroscience, shows that white matter connectivity, the tissue through which the different areas in the central nervous system communicate, is essential to understand why we like or dislike music. Also, it shows that brain reward structures have to work with perception structures so that people enjoy music.

There’s a new innovative and revolutionary microfluidic system which allows the mixing and extracting operations to be carried out using a mini glass chip which was otherwise conventionally performed with large-scale equipment. This microfluidic process boasts of combining numerous microfluidic chips simultaneously, thus, creating a ‘desktop chemical plant.’ Now, NTHU and Daicel have plans to integrate this microfluidic system into the chemical manufacturing industry.

With the aid of artificial stem cells, it will soon be possible to establish new treatments for previously incurable diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. At the Fraunhofer Project Center for Stem Cell Process Engineering SPT, a process for the mass production of these so called induced pluripotent stem cells is being developed.

Predators are not only a deadly threat to many animals, they also affect potential prey negatively simply by being nearby. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have studied what happens to the prey’s immune system when they are forced to expend a large amount of their energy on avoiding being eaten.

How can a garment's origin be derived in a safe and credible way? How can the producer guarantee that it has been produced in a socially, environmentally and economically sustainable way? A new, secure traceability system developed in a research project at the University of Borås is to ensure all that.

Researchers from the University of Burgos (Spain) have developed a fluorescent polymer that lights up in contact with mercury that may be present in fish.

Abandoning exotic pets is not only an ethical issue. It can also lead to biological invasions that threaten conservation of biodiversity in the environment. An article published in the journal Biological Invasions, reveals that the release of invasive species in the environment has not been reduced despite the regulation that prohibits the possession of these species since 2011.

A soft-yet-strong material, developed by a team at the University of Cambridge, looks and feels like a squishy jelly, but acts like an ultra-hard, shatterproof glass when compressed, despite its high water content. The “super jelly” could be used for a wide range of potential applications, including soft robotics, bioelectronics or even as a cartilage replacement for biomedical use.

Porvair Sciences has published an in-depth application report demonstrating how their Microlute CP Reverse Phase Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) microplates provide a robust and highly reproducible SPE LC-MS sample preparation methodology for a range of neutral, acidic, and basic analytes.

Inspired by the way shellfishes capture carbon dioxide, LMU scientists at the Nano-Institute Munich developed the vision to transform a carbon-containing fuel into a carbon-free fuel without releasing CO2 but capture carbon as carbonate.