UCLA

Snowy places aren’t ideal for harvesting solar energy – panels can’t do much if they’re buried under blankets of snow, of course. Now a team from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) has developed a new device that can produce electricity from snow itself.

It's hard to really understand the large-scale structure of the Milky Way. Now, astronomers have peered towards the center of the galaxy using the ESA's X-ray telescope XMM-Newton, and discovered two colossal "chimneys" pumping huge amounts of energy and gas out into intergalactic space.

Ceramic aerogels are incredibly light and can withstand intense heat. The problem is they can be pretty brittle. Now, a team has developed a new ceramic aerogel that’s far hardier and more flexible, even after repeated exposure to wild temperature swings.

AA7075 is an aluminum alloy that's almost as strong as steel, yet it weighs just one third as much. Unfortunately its use has been limited, due to the fact that pieces of it couldn't be securely welded together. That's recently changed, however, thanks to the use of titanium carbide nanoparticles.

Scientists have genetically engineered female mice to develop super strong, dense bones by altering neurons in the rodents' brains. The development could be the first step towards a novel treatment for the brittle bone disease osteoporosis in women.

The first step in many cancer treatments is to surgically remove the tumor, however this often isn’t enough. As long as a few cancer cells remain the tumors often grow back, but a new innovative spray gel, administered onto a cancerous site during surgery, may help prevent the tumors recurring.

Freshwater and marine algal blooms can be harmful – even fatal – to wildlife and humans alike, so the sooner that authorities can predict them, the better. A cheap and portable new device developed at UCLA could help them do so.

A new study has proposed a novel strategy to help autistic individuals improve their ability to process visual information. Mice, engineered with autistic characteristics, were genetically altered to improve their visual and sensory learning abilities.

The ketogenic diet was developed a century ago to treat children with severe epilepsy, but how it actually worked was always unclear. Now a new study suggests the diet can elevate levels of specific gut bacteria that subsequently affect certain neurotransmitters to reduce the risk of seizures.

In a move that could one day lead to artificial transplant organs, a UCLA team has developed a new technique for printing complex bio-tissues using multiple materials. Using a specially modified 3D printer, it promises to one day create complex therapeutic biomaterials on demand.

The brain may be an incredible organ, but it struggles to repair itself after sustaining damage from a stroke. Now, researchers from UCLA have developed an injectable hydrogel that can coax healthy tissue to patch up damage by helping regenerate new brain tissue, nerve fibers and blood vessels.

Biologists at UCLA have effectively transferred a memory from a trained snail into the mind of an untrained one. The experiment could eventually lead to new treatments for restoring memory in Alzheimer’s patients or to reduce traumatic memories.