A new 3D bioprinter developed by nanoengineers operates at record speed — it can print a 96-well array of living human tissue samples within 30 minutes. The technology could help accelerate high-throughput preclinical drug screening and make it less costly. The process for a pharmaceutical company to develop a new drug can take up to…

New study demonstrates for the first time that changes in cognitive performance correlate with changes in brain structure in NASA astronauts following spaceflight. Previously, Roberts’ research reported an upward shift of the brain, crowding of tissue at the top of the brain and enlargement of the ventricular system in astronauts following long-duration missions in space…

A new kind of radar could make it possible for self-driving cars to navigate safely in bad weather. Electrical engineers developed a clever way to improve the imaging capability of existing radar sensors so that they accurately predict the shape and size of objects in the scene. The system worked well when tested at night…

Why do large gas bubbles in viscoelastic liquids (such as polymer and protein solutions) rise so much faster than expected? An open question with great relevance for industrial production processes. Researchers have now found an explanation. With a combination of simulation, experiment and theoretical analysis, the teams of Gunter Brenn at TU Graz and Dieter…

Meteorites are remnants of the building blocks that formed Earth and the other planets orbiting our Sun. Recent analysis of their isotopic makeup led settles a longstanding debate about the geochemical evolution of our Solar System and our home planet. In their youth, stars are surrounded by a rotating disk of gas and dust. Over…

Researchers have successfully developed artificial intelligence technology that can extract hidden equations of motion from regular observational data and create a model that is faithful to the laws of physics. This technology could enable us to discover the hidden equations of motion behind phenomena for which the laws were considered unexplainable. For example, it may…

Researchers have created new open-source software which determines the accuracy of computer predictions of genetic variation within tumor samples. Because simple clinical methods to test for genetic variation are vulnerable to missing a lot of cell-to-cell variability, recent computer tools have been developed to predict and characterise genetic diversity within clinical tumour samples. However, there…

As demand for electric vehicle batteries continues to grow, researchers have developed a method for predicting how changes to manufacturing processes and materials will impact battery life. U-M engineers have identified internal resistance, measured immediately after cells are made, as a key indicator of how long a battery will last. The measurements can be done…

Quantum computers are gaining pace. They promise to provide exponentially more computing power for certain very tricky problems. They do this by exploiting the peculiar behaviour of quantum particles, such as photons of light. A team has now shown how to protect qubits from errors using photons in a silicon chip. Quantum computers are gaining…

Chemists have been searching for efficient catalysts to convert methane into methanol. Adding water to the reaction can address certain challenges, but it also complicates the process. Now a team has identified a new approach using a common industrial catalyst that can complete the conversion effectively both with and without water. The findings suggest strategies…