After completing the first study of its kind, researchers at McMaster University have discovered that very early musical training benefits children even before they can walk or talk. They found that one-year-old babies who participate in interactive music classes with their parents smile more, communicate better and show earlier and more sophisticated brain responses to music. The findings were published recently in the scientific journals Developmental Science and Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. "Many past studies of musical training have focused on older children," says Laurel…

This composite image shows the galaxy UGC 5189A in X-ray data from Chandra (purple) and optical data from Hubble (red, green and blue.) The very bright source near the top of the galaxy is SN 2010jl, a recently discovered supernova. Data from Chandra have provided the first X-ray evidence of a supernova shock wave breaking through a cocoon of gas surrounding the star that exploded in SN 2010jl. This discovery may help astronomers understand why some supernovas are much more powerful than others. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Royal Military College of Canada/P.Chandra et al); Optical: NASA/STScI…

An artist's depiction of a lunar mining operation (credit: NASA) As history has repeatedly shown, where there are valuable minerals to be unearthed, adventurous humans will arrive in droves – even if it means battling extreme conditions and risking life and limb. So what will happen when the next great “gold rush” in our history is quite literally out of this world? And what kind of technology would be needed for the mining? After many years of trying, I believe I have a workable answer to the second of these questions – but what about the first? Business analysts may poke fun at the…

Artists impression Is Earth really a sort of giant living organism as the Gaia hypothesis predicts? A new discovery made at the University of Maryland may provide a key to answering this question. This key of sulfur could allow scientists to unlock heretofore hidden interactions between ocean organisms, atmosphere, and land -- interactions that might provide evidence supporting this famous theory. The Gaia hypothesis -- first articulated by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis in the 1970s -- holds that Earth's physical and biological processes are inextricably connected to form a…

Onyx Solar has collaborated with Butech a subsidiary of  Porcelanosa  in the creation of the first PV pavement which is expected to be in the market by the end of the year. This innovative product was introduced at Porcelanosa’s annual show in February and turned out to be one of the main attractions of the show. Porcelanosa is one of the world’s  leading manufacturers of high-end ceramic tiles and kitchen-and-bath products. Onyx Solar specializes in the integration of solar photovoltaic solutions in buildings. This cutting edge system, which is still in an early development stage by Onyx and…

One of the biggest problems in fighting the spread of AIDS has always been convincing people to have themselves tested regularly. Unfortunately, getting someone to take a trip to a clinic isn't always easy, particularly in areas where there aren't many options for discrete testing. In a development that could leap right over this privacy hurdle, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has just unanimously approved an over-the-counter HIV test that enables people to test themselves in their own home and receive results in just 20 minutes. The company behind the test, Orasure, has been…

Keeping porous building materials free from stains and water damage has gotten a little easier in the past few years. Thanks to advances in technology, we’ve seen the advent of things such as spray-on glass and anti-graffiti coatings. Now, Spanish nanotech company TECNAN is offering a nanoparticle-based coating that repels liquid, yet still allows the underlying material to breathe. The hydrophobic coating, known as TECNADIS, is made by suspending nanoparticles in a liquid carrier – the identity of those particles is a trade secret, although by altering their concentration, the properties of…

Sulphur and iron compounds have now been found in shipwrecks both in the Baltic and off the west coast of Sweden. The group behind the results, presented in the Journal of Archaeological Science, includes scientists from the University of Gothenburg and Stockholm University. Sulphur and iron compounds have now been found in shipwrecks both in the Baltic and off the west coast of Sweden. The group behind the results, presented in the Journal of Archaeological Science, includes scientists from the University of Gothenburg and Stockholm University. A few years ago scientists reported large…

Mercury. Photo courtesy of NASA Researchers working with NASA's Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft report the frequent detections of Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) waves at the edge of the innermost planet's magnetosphere. In six different sets of magnetic field measurements made by the orbiter as it passed through Mercury's magnetopause, the boundary that separates the planet's magnetosphere from the solar wind plasma in the magnetosheath, Sundberg et al. detect the magnetic field oscillations characteristic of fully developed KH waves.…

Different bacterial responses to ionic liquid. In (A), a fermentative bacterium is exposed to sugars for biofuel synthesis along with an ionic liquid (IL) used during the production process. The ionic liquid exerts a toxic effect soon after it enters the cell (B). In contrast, the rainforest isolate E. lignolyticus in (C) can tolerate relatively high levels of the ionic liquid, even as it secretes enzymes (D) that degrade plant cellulosic material to glucose and other sugars. A mechanistic model for bacterial resistance to ionic liquid includes: reducing membrane permeability to ionic liquid…

Electrons on the surface of a topological insulator can flow with little resistance. Their spin and direction are intimately related; the direction of the electron determines its spin and in turn is determined by it. Strange new materials experimentally identified just a few years ago are now driving research in condensed-matter physics around the world. First theorized and then discovered by researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and their colleagues in other institutions, these “strong 3-D topological insulators” – TIs for short – are seemingly mundane…