Everyday Plastics Blog

Particle chameleon caught in the act of changing
Researchers on the OPERA experiment at the Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy have announced the first direct observation of a tau particle in a muon neutrino beam sent through the Earth from CERN, 730 kilometers away. This is a significant result, providing the final missing piece of a puzzle that has been challenging science since the 1960s, and giving tantalizing hints of new physics to come.
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Bone marrow plays critical role in enhancing immune response to viruses, researchers find
Researchers for the first time have determined that bone marrow cells play a critical role in fighting respiratory viruses, making the bone marrow a potential therapeutic target, especially in people with compromised immune systems. They have found that during infections of the respiratory tract, cells produced by the bone marrow are instructed by proteins to migrate to the lungs to help fight infection.
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Revealing the ancient Chinese secret of sticky rice mortar
Scientists have discovered the secret behind an ancient Chinese mortar made from sticky rice, that delicious “sweet rice” that is a modern mainstay in Asian dishes. They also concluded that the mortar — a paste used to bind and fill gaps between bricks, stone blocks and other construction materials — remains the best available material for restoring ancient buildings.
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Epilepsy surgery can have beneficial effect on memory, research suggests
Patients with drug-resistant epilepsy run the risk of gradual deterioration in their cognitive abilities. Surgical treatment generally puts an end to seizures but can have a negative effect on memory. However, there is no further deterioration in memory, and some patients may even recover some of their memory capacity, new research from Sweden reveals.
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Student uses pedal power to create novel machine
An innovative bicycle-powered water pump, created by a student in the UK, has proved a huge success and is now in regular production in Guatemala, transforming the lives of rural residents.
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Will we succeed? The science of self-motivation
Can you help you? Recent research has shown that those who ask themselves whether they will perform a task generally do better than those who tell themselves that they will.
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Powerful genome barcoding system reveals large-scale variation in human DNA
Genetic variation on the order of thousands to hundreds of thousands of DNA’s smallest pieces — large swaths varying in length or location or even showing up in reverse order — appeared 4,205 times in a comparison of DNA from just four people, according to a new study.
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Animal study reveals new target for antidepressants
Antidepressants such as Prozac are not instant mood-lifters. But researchers have found clues to the delayed response and common return of depressive symptoms when taking serotonin-related antidepressants. Rather than activating all of the brain’s serotonin receptors, as current drugs do, their study suggests there’s just one critical serotonin receptor important to relieving depression and anxiety. It opens the door to more effective treatment for the 20.9 million Americans with depressive disorders.
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Natural selection for moderate testosterone surprises scientists
A field study of the relationship between testosterone and natural selection in an American songbird, the dark-eyed junco, has defied some expectations and confirmed others. Scientists report that extreme testosterone production — high or low — puts male dark-eyed junco at a disadvantage in both survival and reproduction outside their semi-monogamous breeding pairs.
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Inflammasome increases muscle damage in muscular dystrophy, study finds
In a new study, researchers demonstrate that affected muscle may directly contribute to inflammation in muscular dystrophy.
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