Lithium-ion batteries unleash electricity as electrochemical reactions spread through active materials. Manipulating this complex process and driving the reactions into the energy-rich heart of each part of these active materials is crucial to optimizing the power output and ultimate energy capacity of these batteries.

'Critical raw materials' are crucial to many European industries but they are vulnerable to scarcity and supply disruption. As such, it is vital that Europe develops strategies for meeting the demand for raw materials. One such strategy is finding methods or substances that can replace the raw materials that we currently use. With this in mind, four EU projects working on substitution in catalysis, electronics and photonics presented their work at the Third Innovation Network Workshop on substitution of Critical Raw Materials hosted by the CRM_INNONET project in Brussels earlier this month.

Can we expect a time when aircraft will be directly controlled by the human brain? And what about mind-controlled drones? Imagine that, using an EEG (electroencephalogram) cap tracking neural activity, a man flies a drone with his brain.

The next chapter in banks moving into the digital age is a stretch beyond reminding customers over phone lines that they can also bank online. Barclays has launched Twitter payments through Pingit.

The 3-D printing scene, a growing favorite of do-it-yourselfers, has spread to the study of plasma physics. With a series of experiments, researchers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have found that 3-D printers can be an important tool in laboratory environments.

Scientists at the Critical Materials Institute have developed a two-step recovery process that makes recycling rare-earth metals easier and more cost-effective.

Twitter said Thursday it was ramping up efforts to crack down on impersonation on the messaging platform as well as the leaking of personal, private data.

A steady stream of low-level cyber attacks poses the most likely danger to the United States rather than a potential digital "armageddon," US intelligence director James Clapper said on Thursday.

(AP)—A parliamentary committee on Friday recommended a major rewrite of draft laws that would force Australian telcos and Internet providers to store customers' personal data for the convenience of law enforcement agencies. A key recommendation is that the law specifies exactly what personal data is to be retained.

In a world first, RMIT University researchers have developed a talking drone that can converse with air traffic controllers just like a normal pilot.

After much litigation, public demonstration and deliberation, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3 to 2 to adopt open internet rules. While the substantive details of the decision are not yet known, the rules, as expected, reclassified "retail" internet service to subscribers as common carriage – meaning providing non-discriminatory service to customers. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) may not block, impair or favor particular traffic, users or content. The Commission also extended its jurisdiction to cover the exchange of data traffic via network interconnection between edge providers like Netflix and ISPs like Comcast, employing a general conduct rule reinforced by use of a case by case process. Proponents of net neutrality are lauding the FCC's move.

The European Commission's annual Eurobarometer Cyber Security Survey, the third edition of which was recently released, is a substantial survey of more than 27,000 respondents from 28 countries. It contains interesting and, more often than not, disappointing revelations about the state of Europe's security.

QR, or Quick Response, codes – those commonly black and white boxes that people scan with a smartphone to learn more about something – have been used to convey information about everything from cereals to cars and new homes.

Visitors to interactive virtual worlds want the ability to significantly affect the outcome of a story, but authoring these digital experiences is extremely complex. A new platform developed by Disney Research will help fulfill the medium's promise by automating some aspects of the authoring process.

Days after announcing a ban on sexually explicit content or "graphic nudity" on its Blogger platform, Google has reversed course.

The latest version of the Pebble smartwatch neared a record funding amount on Kickstarter on Friday amid growing interest in wearable tech and ahead of the highly anticipated Apple Watch launch.

(AP)—Amid "rapid growth" in the collection of data on Americans, the White House is proposing legislation that calls on businesses to do more to help consumers protect their personal information.

When local news media report about hometown companies, they use fewer negative words than when reporting about nonlocal companies, according to research by business experts at Rice University and the University of Texas at Dallas.

Google unveiled plans Friday for a new campus headquarters integrating wildlife and sweeping waterways, aiming to make a big statement in Silicon Valley—which is already seeing ambitious projects from Apple and Facebook.

(AP)—The stock market largely shrugged off the Federal Communications Commission's vote to impose tougher rules on broadband providers like Comcast, Verizon and AT&T to prevent them from creating paid fast lanes for the Internet and slowing or blocking Web traffic.

At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, taking place March 2nd-5th, NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ: NXPI) will demonstrate Near Field Magnetic Induction (NFMI) technology in a truly wireless earbud including wireless audio streaming from ear to ear, using its new NxH2280 NFMI based radio transceiver.

Infineon Technologies AG has launched an ultra-high ±5cm resolution, miniature MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) pressure sensor for use in mobile and wearable gadgets and IoT (Internet of Things) devices. The DPS310 is a low-power digital barometric pressure sensor that enables the development of new and enhanced navigation, location, well-being, gesture recognition and weather monitoring applications.

Iñigo de la Parra Laita, an industrial engineer of the NUP/UPNA-Public University of Navarre, has focused his PhD thesis on the grid integration of large photovoltaic power stations. Among the contributions of his research, he has developed a model that has been patented and which is capable of simulating fluctuations in photovoltaic power. As he explains, "just by knowing the irradiance recorded in one spot, the number of grouped power stations and the average surface area they occupy, we can simulate what fluctuations may take place in photovoltaic power".

Swedish telecoms group Ericsson announced Friday a lawsuit against Apple claiming that the US tech giant continued to use its technology in iPhones and other wireless devices after refusing to renew a licencing agreement.

(AP)—Uber says a database containing the names and drivers' license numbers of 50,000 of its drivers was breached in May.

A pair of researchers affiliated with several institutions in Germany, has found that of a number of drugs used by people for recreational purposes (i.e. for non-medicinal reasons and without a prescription) cannabis is the least dangerous—at least when measuring the lethality of a single dose. In their paper published in Scientific Reports, Dirk Lachenmeier and Jürgen Rehm describe their study of the lethality of several illicit drugs and their results.

In the 1990s, neuroscientists identified a class of drugs that showed promise in the area of stroke. NMDA receptor antagonists could limit damage to the brain in animal models of stroke. But one problem complicated testing the drugs in a clinical setting: the side effects included disorientation and hallucinations.

In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers have devised a single-step fermentative method for the industrial production of the active drug pravastatin that previously involved a costly dual-step fermentation and biotransformation process.

About 99 percent of human genes are shared with chimpanzees. Only the small remainder sets us apart. However, we have one important difference: The brain of humans is three times as big as the chimpanzee brain.

A new study by a UT Dallas researcher challenges a long-accepted scientific theory about the role the hippocampus plays in our unconscious memory.

A key part of the brain involved with decision making, the striatum, appears to operate hierarchically – much like a traditional corporation with executives, middle managers and employees, according to researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University in Japan.

An international project assisted by researchers from The University of Western Australia has offered new hope to patients with pancreatic cancer.

Researchers have found that pancreatic cancer can be split into four unique types, a discovery that could be used to improve treatments for the disease, according to a study published in Nature.

Researchers have for the first time successfully converted adult human skin cells into neurons of the type that regulate appetite, providing a patient-specific model for studying the neurophysiology of weight control and testing new therapies for obesity. The study, led by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and at the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF), was published last month in the online issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

From a practical standpoint, the wiring of the human eye - a product of our evolutionary baggage - doesn't make a lot of sense. In vertebrates, photoreceptors are located behind the neurons in the back of the eye - resulting in light scattering by the nervous fibers and blurring of our vision. Recently, researchers at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology have confirmed the biological purpose for this seemingly counterintuitive setup.

Researchers at the University of Birmingham believe that a simple urine test could help to guide clinicians in the treatment of bladder cancer patients.

Global health experts believe the current data on cancer prevalence, incidence and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa - which determines how billions of pounds of international development money is spent - are weak and could mean vital funds are being deflected from other priorities. These include diarrhoeal and waterborne diseases, malnutrition, sanitation and the need to strengthen health systems.

Since the first experimental bone marrow transplant over 50 years ago, more than one million hematopoietic stem cell transplantations (HSCT) have been performed in 75 countries, according to new research charting the remarkable growth in the worldwide use of HSCT, published in The Lancet Haematology journal.

Rejected by a person you like? Just "shake it off" and move on, as music star Taylor Swift says.

Suicide rates for adults between 40 and 64 years of age in the U.S. have risen about 40% since 1999, with a sharp rise since 2007. One possible explanation could be the detrimental effects of the economic downturn of 2007-2009, leading to disproportionate effects on house values, household finances, and retirement savings for that age group. In a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers found that external economic factors were present in 37.5% of all completed suicides in 2010, rising from 32.9% in 2005.

Manchester scientists have a developed a new method to monitor the effect of anti-cancer drugs on very rare leukaemia stem cells. The approach potentially allows doctors to screen patients and personalise their treatment.

(AP)—The first peek at a major study of how Americans smoke suggests many use combinations of products, and often e-cigarettes are part of the mix.

In the wake of high a profile death, it is increasingly common to see mass public outpourings of grief on RIP Facebook pages. This article in New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia explores media coverage of death and its relation to public expression of grief via social media.

A protein commonly found in human cells could be an important switch that activates cancer cell metastasis, according to a new study by researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital - The Neuro at McGill University and the MUHC. The finding focuses attention on a biological mechanism that until now was largely overlooked. The discovery of the protein's effect significantly expands our understanding of epithelial cancers such as breast and lung cancer.

Once HIV-1 has hijacked a host cell to make copies of its own RNA genome and viral proteins, it must assemble these components into new virus particles. The orchestration of this intricate assembly process falls to a viral protein known as Gag. For one thing, Gag must be able to discern viral RNA from the host cell's and squirrel it away inside new viral particles — no easy task considering only two to three percent of the RNA found in the cytoplasm is from HIV-1. Exactly how Gag selectively packages viral RNA has been widely speculated but never directly observed.

A national survey of more than 4,500 recent mothers last year in England, conducted by the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU) at Oxford University, found that women were aware of their pregnancies earlier and sought medical care earlier than in previous years.

The prevailing medical wisdom that Alzheimer's Disease has its origins in the brain has a radical and disputed rival with shocking implications for medicine's relentless efforts to forestall disease, ageing and death, according to a new review of the evidence.

Flinders University researchers have invented a revolutionary method to test for food poisoning in fish.

Current peanut allergy tests are not very reliable when it comes to diagnosing the severity of an individual's allergic reaction, which can range from hives to life-threatening anaphylactic shock.

Think of it as interval training for the dinner table.

Mo Rastgaar is poised to take a giant step forward in the development of a better prosthetic ankle.

A recent study into the cost-effectiveness of using an electronic medication management system (eMMs) has shown that monetary savings from reduced adverse drug events can offset the cost of implementing the system, making it more cost effective when compared with paper-based prescribing.

In the rapidly changing world of molecular profiling for genetic diseases, cancer researchers are increasingly optimistic about the reality of a simple blood test to monitor and treat solid tumor cancers.

Around 500,000 children will die from smoking when they are adults unless more is done to cut smoking rates according to new Cancer Research UK figures released today (Friday).

Every day our DNA is under attack.

Antibiotic-resistant strains of the food-poisoning microbe Listeria monocytogenes in unprocessed salad products is not quite as widespread as scientists originally suspected. A new study from Malaysia published in the International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health reveals that strains of the microbe falling into six distinct groups can all be found on such products, but 82 percent of those strains succumb to at least one of sixteen common antibiotics used in veterinary and human listeriosis treatment.

A team of Spanish scientists, which includes several researchers from the University of Granada, has confirmed that there is a relation between the levels of certain environmental pollutants that a person accumulates in his or her body and their level of obesity. Subjects with more pollutants in their systems also present higher levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, which are important risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

The muscular dystrophies are known to target various muscle groups differentially. In addition to making limb muscles weak, muscular dystrophy (MD) can also lead to decreased function of specific muscles involved in respiration causing breathing difficulties as well as leading to cardiac problems.

Raw milk is milk that has not undergone pasteurization, the bacteria-killing heat treatment designed to reduce human pathogens and increase shelf life. Unpasteurized milk can contain potentially harmful and deadly pathogens, including listeria, salmonella, E. coli 0157:H7 and campylobacter.

Vitamin D deficiency may increase the risk for a variety of chronic diseases, which has led to increased use of vitamin D supplements, often in high doses. However, taking a supplement "just in case" is not recommended to prevent chronic diseases until reliable knowledge about the efficacy or unwanted effects are available. This is the conclusion from a knowledge summary published in the British Medical Journal.

Communication and coordination are important aspects of any workplace - but arguably more important in operating theatres than anywhere else, according to Professor Sharon Parker from The University of Western Australia's Business School.

With half a second's planning, an animal's brain prepares it to quickly and precisely execute complex movements. Scientists at Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Research Campus have identified a neural circuit that transforms the flurry of activity that occurs during this preparatory period into commands that direct muscle movements.

Women undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer can use deodorant without fear of increased underarm skin reaction, pain, itching or burning, research suggests.

The deadly Ebola virus makes use of host mechanisms – including a specific type of membrane-bound calcium channel – to gain entry into the cell cytoplasm. LMU researchers now show that blocking this channel markedly inhibits infection.

It's colorless, odorless and can be deadly.

Recently, Phase II and III trials of two vaccines for Ebola started in West Africa. The development of possible vaccines is welcome news. Like most vaccine trials, the current Ebola trials are being conducted under ethical guidelines derived from US standards for clinical research in human beings.

There is an association between road traffic noise and the risk of obesity among people who are particularly sensitive to noise, according to a study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

A team of European researchers has devised a strategy to ensure that adult epidermal stem cells are safe before they are used as treatments for patients. The approach involves a clonal strategy where stem cells are collected and cultivated, genetically modified and single cells isolated before being rigorously tested to make sure they meet the highest possible safety criteria. The strategy, which is published online in EMBO Molecular Medicine, is inspired by the approaches the biotechnology industry and regulatory affairs authorities have adopted for medicinal proteins produced from genetically engineered mammalian cells.

Today in the journal Nature Methods, the laboratory headed by ICREA researcher Patrick Aloy, at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), presents a computational tool that allows a greater understanding of the genetic causes of complex diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's and diabetes.

Women veterans who had specialized heart tests were younger and more likely to be obese, depressed and suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder than men veterans, according to a study published in an American Heart Association journal.

Scientists have developed a new test which can predict the survival chances of women with breast cancer by analysing images of 'hotspots' where there has been a fierce immune reaction to a tumour.

(AP)—People who use personal audio players should consider limiting their use to one hour a day and turn down the volume to prevent permanent hearing loss, the World Health Organization said Friday.

Researchers at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health identified distinct immune changes in patients diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, known medically as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS) or systemic exertion intolerance disease. The findings could help improve diagnosis and identify treatment options for the disabling disorder, in which symptoms range from extreme fatigue and difficulty concentrating to headaches and muscle pain.

Recent mothers who experience higher levels of social stressors are the least likely to have rules that totally ban smoking in the home, which could expose their infants to secondhand smoke and increase health risks, according to a study that includes a University of Kansas researcher.

Boys who show aggressive tendencies develop greater physical strength as teenagers than boys who are not aggressive, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

(HealthDay)—For men with recent acute myocardial infarction, a home-based walking program is associated with a reduction in reported erectile dysfunction (ED), according to a study published in the March 1 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology.

(HealthDay)—Abdominal obesity is associated with increased risk of hip fracture, according to a study published in the March issue of the Journal of Internal Medicine.

(HealthDay)—More than nine in 10 epilepsy patients who had brain surgery to try to control their seizures are happy they did so, a new survey reveals.

Is the dress black and blue, or white and gold? That question is lighting up the Internet.

Drug R&D costs have increased substantially in recent decades, while the number of new drugs has remained fairly constant, leading to concerns about the sustainability of drug R&D and question about the factors that could be responsible.

A surgical algorithm developed and implemented by ovarian cancer specialists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center dramatically increases the frequency of complete removal of all visible tumor - a milestone strongly tied to improved survival.

If you're one of the nearly half a million Americans living with multiple sclerosis (MS) - a slowly disabling disease of the central nervous system - you are likely dependent on disease-modifying drugs to prevent symptoms such as vision problems, balance issues and weakness. Often, these treatments have been developed through pharmaceutical industry-sponsored clinical trials (ISCT) in collaboration with academic or private practice physicians who care for MS patients. But what do patients know, or want to know, about their physician's financial relationship with the pharmaceutical company sponsoring such research?

People with low self-esteem are more likely stay in unhappy relationships, suggests new research from the University of Waterloo.

New technology being introduced at NYU Langone Medical Center could help researchers advance blood biomarker capabilities that show changes in low concentrations of specific proteins present following a neurological injury.

A newly characterized group of pharmacological compounds block both the inflammation and nerve cell damage seen in mouse models of multiple sclerosis, according to a study conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published online this week in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

(AP)—Officials say the commuter who may have exposed at least 1,500 Bay Area Rapid Transit riders to measles also ate at a popular Northern California restaurant.

Psychological traits, such as personality and well-being, are spatially and regionally clustered within cities, states, countries, and the world. Four presentations showcase cutting-edge research that investigates how traits are spatially and geographically clustered, what mechanisms drive the uneven distribution of traits, and the consequences of these spatial patterns. The presentations are part of a symposium featured at the SPSP 16th Annual Convention in Long Beach, California.

Japanese health authorities said Friday that they have ordered the local unit of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis to temporarily suspend its operations for failing to report drug side effects.

How much money would be saved if one high-risk person was prevented from contracting HIV in the United States? A new study led by a researcher at Weill Cornell Medical College and published online Feb. 24 in Medical Care, answers this question: from $229,800 to $338,400, depending on the continuity of treatment.

Scientists from the University of Birmingham have developed an app that can measure the activity patterns of patients with depression and provide the necessary support.

Ten more people in Saudi Arabia have died from MERS over the past week, health ministry figures showed on Friday, after an international mission urged extra measures to combat the virus.

(AP)—Medical experts are warning that the anti-vaccination lobby is growing in Bosnia, often using scientifically discredited arguments to stoke parental fears in the worst-affected country in Europe's measles outbreak.

(AP)—Authorities in Amsterdam warned Friday that potentially lethal white heroin is being sold as cocaine in the city after three Danish tourists became ill this week.

Patients that received chemotherapy after bladder cancer surgery demonstrated an approximately 30% lower risk of death than those that underwent surgery alone, according to an analysis to be presented by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai at the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

A study published recently in the IBD Journal found significant differences in hospital readmissions, medication usage, and both medical and surgical complications of children with Crohn's disease related to race. In the study, black children had a 1.5 times higher frequency of hospital readmissions because of Crohn's disease compared to white children.

Patients that are on Medicaid or uninsured have higher rates of reportable patient safety and quality of care issues during hospitalization for brain tumors, reports a study in the March issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

The majority of hospitals participating in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Project (ACS NSQIP) improve surgical outcomes over time, and improvement continues with each year that hospitals participate in the program, according to a new study published online today in Annals of Surgery.

(AP)—Tribal representatives from around the country are converging in Washington state to discuss the risks and rewards of marijuana legalization.

A superatom is a combination of two or more atoms that form a stable structural fragment and possess unique physical and chemical properties. Systems, that contain superatoms, open a number of amazing possibilities for not only formation of new materials, but also for revealing unusual chemical reactivity. Throughout the chemical transformations process, superatom acts as a single unit and is left unchanged during the reaction. As a result, it would be logical to consider superatoms as elements of periodic table in nanoscale world. Potential area of application of superatoms is quite broad – currently many research directions are explored worldwide in catalysis, material sciences, organometallic chemistry, and medical research.

A way to link benzene rings together in a highly ordered three-dimensional helical structure using a straightforward polymerization procedure has been discovered by researchers from RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science and the University of Tokyo. "We expect our achievement to open up new areas of nanocarbon and materials science," says Koichiro Mikami from the research team.

For nearly half a century, scientists have been trying to replace precious metal catalysts in fuel cells. Now, for the first time, researchers at Case Western Reserve University have shown that an inexpensive metal-free catalyst performs as well as costly metal catalysts at speeding the oxygen reduction reaction in an acidic fuel cell.

Natural resins obtained from plants to be used as a coating element to enhance durability and anti-rust properties.