Northwestern University

New research has demonstrated how odors evoke memories in the brain, in ways stronger than other senses. Using neuroimaging and intracranial electrophysiology the research shows how olfactory pathways communicate directly with the hippocampus.

Four independent experiments across the globe have found that it's possible to establish two-way communications with people in the weird, hallucinatory state of lucid dreaming, opening up a new field of real-time "interactive dreaming" research.

Scientists have studied the brains of a group of elderly individuals with excellent memory known as SuperAgers, and found them to be far more resistant to the troublesome buildup of proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Ordinarily, if you want to change the shape in which an object is 3D-printed, you have to alter the computer model that tells the printer what to do. A new and simpler technique, however, allows the printer to initiate the changes itself, as the print job is in progress.

The Japanese folding paper art form of kirigami has a lot of potential for engineering. Scientists have taken this technique down to the nanoscale for the first time, opening up new possibilities in applications ranging from robotics to aerospace.

Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a new soft robot that can walk at roughly the speed of a human, activated by light and magnetic fields. The robot can squeeze into tight spaces and pick up, carry and release objects on demand.

As a way of demonstrating advances in energy and where they might lead us, a team of researchers has built a Game Boy that requires no battery, instead powering itself from a combination of solar energy and the user’s interactions with the device.

Using a multi-modal approach to data analysis, scientists have identified a subtype of autism linked with a gene cluster known to affect neurodevelopment and lipid metabolism. It's suggested this subtype accounts for nearly seven percent of autism cases.

While electric vehicles usually cost more for the consumer at the point of purchase, a new study has applied a much broader scope to the economics of green transportation, and found it could actually save the US tens of billions of dollars each year.

Graphene, the electrically-conductive "wonder material" made up of a one-atom-thick sheet of linked carbon atoms, already has many uses. It now has another, however, as the active ingredient in a sensor that detects food spoilage.

Promising research is reporting progress in the development of an anaphylaxis-preventing pill. The drug, initially designed as an alternative to chemotherapy for some types of cancer, could be taken before meals to prevent serious allergic reactions.

Although we've seen many materials designed for removing oil spills from water, many of them are single-use, ultimately ending up in landfills. Now, however, scientists have created an oil-absorbing sponge that can be used over and over again.