Colorado State University

Engineers have recently focused on trying to emulate the structure of the brain with artificial synapses. Now, a team of researchers have made a new artificial synapse design that works using a light-based biotechnology technique called optogenetics.

​In developing nations, unscrupulous companies routinely produce counterfeit or diluted antibiotics. Unfortunately, those same countries often lack the expensive lab equipment needed to detect fakes. There could be hope, however, in the form of a simple new paper device.

​As useful as it is, plastic isn’t the most environmentally-friendly material. To try to wean us off it, chemists at Colorado State University have now developed a polymer that apparently has all the benefits, but can be easily broken down and recycled over and over.

Researchers have broken the efficiency record for nuclear fusion on the micro-scale. Using an ultra-fast, high-powered laser, the results were about 500 times more efficient than previous experiments. The researchers blasted arrays of nanowires to create incredibly hot, dense plasmas.

Déjà vu is an eerie feeling, and it's weirder when it’s coupled with the feeling that a person can predict what’s about to happen. To investigate, cognitive psychologist Anne Cleary has developed a technique to induce déjà vu, and test whether it really helps people predict the immediate future.

​Many wild elephants already wear GPS-equipped collars, which let wildlife officials track their whereabouts. An upgrade to those collars, however, could soon allow those officials to instantly know when poachers are shooting at the elephants.

​​When a medical implant is rejected by the body, blood platelets adhere to the device, forming a clot that encapsulates it. Engineers at Colorado State University, however, have developed blood-repellent titanium that could be used to build such implants.​

​​Every summer millions of birds flock to the Arctic, and every summer an abnormal amount of cloud particles form in the atmosphere over the same region, the result of a thick layer of bird poop that coats much of the local landscape. ​

​There are already processes that allow materials to become superomniphobic – repellant to liquids including oils. Wouldn't it be easier, however, if there was just a superomniphobic tape one could apply? Well, now there is.

Those last stubborn drops of ketchup, shampoo or honey are practically impossible to retrieve from a near-empty bottle. Advanced nonstick coatings are threatening to put an end to this unavoidable wastage, and a new coating made from edible wax is shaping up as a high-potential candidate.

Scientists have developed a method to combat coxsackievirus B. Described as a "genetic poison pill," the technique, which restricts the ability of the virus to replicate and can even cause it to self-destruct, could lead to a vaccince against it and similar viruses.

Researchers at the Colorado State University have developed varieties of potato that are as rich in antioxidants as blueberries and pomegranates. They also contain other vitamins and minerals that could help prevent a range of diseases.