Understanding how tissues properly form and grow during the development of an organism is an important question in biology. Researchers were now able to show that elongated cells are the key to maintain the shape of the retinal tissue during growth of a zebrafish. This concept could also apply to other organisms.

Testa Analytical Solutions reports the development and OEM supply of a novel combination refractive index / viscometry detector for Brookhaven Instruments Corporation (Holtsville, USA), a supplier of scientific instruments for solving challenging macromolecular characterisation problems.

Researchers have developed a way to use a simple home aroma diffuser to test whether N95 and other types of sealing masks, such as KN95 and FFP2 masks, are properly fitted, a result which could be used to help protect healthcare workers and the public from contracting or transmitting Covid-19.

In Applied Physics Reviews, from AIP Publishing, researchers in China from Zhejiang University, Ningbo University, and Dongguan University of Technology describe how they applied basic physical concepts of atomic scale to build high-performance anodes for sodium-ion batteries.

Lab equipment supplier Shimadzu has announced the release of its “Advanced i-Series” liquid chromatographs. The Prominence-i HPLC and Nexera-i UHPLC systems feature pressures of 50 MPa or 70 MPa respectively and can be combined with a variety of detectors.

Building on a recent research publication showing the links between conservatism, xenophobia and climate change denial, the world’s first global research network into climate change denial will study how the growth of right-wing nationalism in Europe has contributed to an increase in climate change denial.

In a new application-based webpage, Mettler Toledo explains the different methods of moisture content determination and presents the crucial criteria you should keep in mind when selecting the right solution for your needs.

Okara — the residue from the production of soy milk and tofu — has an unpleasant smell and taste. About 10,000 tonnes of this pulp is produced in Singapore each year. Usually it is discarded by soy food producers as food waste. Now, scientist at the National University of Singapore have devised a process that could allow to use it as nutrient source.

Rapid developments at all levels of microscopy, such as contrast, illumination, resolution, signal detection and data processing have occurred over the last decades and there is reason to expect that these advances will continue. However, severe limitations in accuracy, reproducibility and throughput are caused by the involvement of humans in all steps of the imaging workflow. It also poses a significant burden and workload for the researcher. To improve this situation is the biggest challenge in automation.

Novartis announced a change in their management team: Vasant (Vas) Narasimhan will replace Joseph Jimenez as Chief Executive Officer.