-
How Paris is becoming a happy home for health-technology start-up companies
DNA Script co-founder Thomas Ybert with the company’s bench-top DNA printer.Credit: ERIC PIERMONT/AFP via Getty In 2021, President Emmanuel Macron announced a €7.5-billion (US$7.9-billion) plan aimed at making France a global health-care innovation leader by 2030. It is too soon to tell whether he will achieve his ambition, but researchers on the ground say that…
-
Nature Retracts Controversial Room-Temperature Superconductor Study
Physicist Ranga Dias is under investigation by his institution, the University of Rochester in New York. Credit: Lauren Petraccs/The New York Times/Redux Advertisement <div class="article-block article-text" data-behavior="newsletter_promo dfp_article_rendering" data-dfp-adword="Advertisement" data-newsletterpromo_article-text=" Sign up for Scientific American’s free newsletters. ” data-newsletterpromo_article-image=”https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/4641809D-B8F1-41A3-9E5A87C21ADB2FD8_source.png” data-newsletterpromo_article-button-text=”Sign Up” data-newsletterpromo_article-button-link=”https://www.scientificamerican.com/page/newsletter-sign-up/?origincode=2018_sciam_ArticlePromo_NewsletterSignUp” name=”articleBody” itemprop=”articleBody”> Nature has retracted a controversial paper claiming the discovery of a superconductor — a…
-
Denmark puts its money where its life-sciences strategy is
A scientist working at the Novo Nordisk research campus in Måløv, Denmark.Credit: Carsten Snejbjerg/Bloomberg via Getty The success of Denmark’s life-sciences research sector can be at least partly attributed to a single event that occurred on another side of the world more than a century ago. In 1921, three Canadian scientists, Frederick Banting, Charles Best…
-
An annotated grain kernel image database for visual quality inspection
Abstract We present a machine vision-based database named GrainSet for the purpose of visual quality inspection of grain kernels. The database contains more than 350K single-kernel images with experts’ annotations. The grain kernels used in the study consist of four types of cereal grains including wheat, maize, sorghum and rice, and were collected from over…
-
The EPOS multi-disciplinary Data Portal for integrated access to solid Earth science datasets
Abstract The European Plate Observing System (EPOS) is a long-term initiative aimed at integrating research infrastructures for solid Earth science in Europe. EPOS provides a sustainable, multidisciplinary user-oriented platform – the EPOS Data Portal – that facilitates data integration, access, use, and re-use, while adhering to the FAIR principles. The paper describes the key governance,…
-
Prostate cancer treatment in Portugal: a nationwide analysis
Abstract Different treatment options exist for localized prostate cancer. Treatments performed in high-volume hospitals are associated with better results. Our objective was to describe time trends in prostate cancer treatments in Portugal and case volume per hospital. We used the national database of diagnosis-related group of the Portuguese Central Administration of the Health System to…
-
Immunology on the brain
As an immunologist, Jane Grogan has already worked on everything from parasitology to immuno-oncology. In her new job as head of research at Biogen, she adds neuro-immunology to the list. Interviewed by Asher Mullard Questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.
-
A Milky Way-like barred spiral galaxy at a redshift of 3
Abstract The majority of massive disk galaxies in the local Universe show a stellar barred structure in their central regions, including our Milky Way1,2. Bars are supposed to develop in dynamically cold stellar disks at low redshift, as the strong gas turbulence typical of disk galaxies at high redshift suppresses or delays bar formation3,4. Moreover,…
-
Sonochemical synthesis of heterostructured ZnO/Bi2O3 for photocatalytic desulfurization
Abstract In this study, metal oxides nanoparticles heterogeneous photocatalysts prepared by coprecipitation and ultrasonic techniques were used for diesel desulfurization. They were characterized by scanning electron microscope, powder X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive analysis, diffused reflectance spectra, photoluminescence analysis and BET surface area. The surface area of catalyst B is larger than catalyst A confirming its…
-
China must draw on internal research strength
China’s rapid rise in global science owes much to its domestic endeavours, but international partnerships have been instrumental in elevating the quality of its research output. Escalating geopolitical tensions have changed the dynamics, however, and in some countries, particularly in the West, a shift in perception towards China from cooperative partner to rival casts a…