Substance abuse, access to mental health care and costs remain a burden for people living in rural areas, even if they have private insurance. These are the findings of a new study published recently in the Journal of Rural Health. The study, led by Zhuo «Adam» Chen at the University of Georgia College of Public…

An assessment of chemical exposures among nail salon technicians in Canada found unexpectedly high exposures to several chemicals used as plasticizers and flame retardants. The study, to be published Feb. 14 in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, found that exposure to some hazardous chemicals was higher among nail technicians than among electronic waste workers.…

With the early assessment of sustainable, newly developed chemicals and products it is possible to assess a potential risk of toxic substances being released at a later point in product cascades. In the course of the study the toxicity of sustainable biosurfactants, potentially applied in, e.g., bio-shampoos, and of a new technology for the economical…

A modeling study raises questions about how far droplets, like those that carry the virus that causes COVID-19, can travel before becoming harmless. Experiments dating to the 1930s proposed two paths for respiratory droplets like those from a sneeze or cough. Either they are big and heavy, plummeting to the ground without much chance of…

Using less material in floors is a viable strategy for improving sustainability in buildings, as it can reduce the structure’s environmental footprint. Prioritizing only this goal, however, can lead to unwanted effects — such as an echo in a room or noise traveling between floors, according to architectural engineers. Penn State researchers explored a method…

POSTECH professor Junsuk Rho’s research team demonstrates artificial control of elastic waves and underwater sounds applicable as stealth technology. Professor Junsuk Rho of POSTECH’s departments of mechanical engineering and chemical engineering and Ph.D. candidate Dongwoo Lee of the Department of Mechanical Engineering in collaboration with Professor Jensen Li of HKUST have designed an artificial structure…

Researchers present a range of studies investigating the aerodynamics of infectious disease. Their results suggest strategies for lowering risk based on a rigorous understanding of how infectious particles mix with air in confined spaces. At the 73rd Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics, researchers presented a range of studies investigating…

A new study shows how biometric data can be used to find potentially challenging and dangerous areas of urban infrastructure. By analyzing eye-tracking data from cyclists navigating Philadelphia’s streets, researchers found that these individual-based metrics can provide a more proactive approach for designing safer roadways for bicyclists and pedestrians. Current federal rules for installing safe…

Researchers overcome the limitations of traditional polarimetric underwater imaging by developing a new method that can automatically produce clear images through murky water. The new technology could be useful for searching for drowning victims, documenting submerged archaeological artifacts and monitoring underwater farms. Imaging clearly underwater is extremely challenging because the water and the particles in…

Carbon capture and storage describes the process of injecting carbon dioxide from industrial sources into underground geological reservoirs, theoretically for thousands of years. Researchers used supercomputers to understand how carbon dioxide storage works at the level of micrometer-wide pores in rock. They found that two factors greatly impact the amount of carbon dioxide that can…