University of Southern California

A 3D-printed human figure with the traditionally required supporting structures (left), as compared to one printed using the experimental new bed (center) and the finished product (right)

3D Printing

Moving bed designed for faster, more cost-effective 3D printing

When objects are being 3D printed, they often have to include supportive structures that are subsequently discarded. A new print bed, however, is designed to eliminate the need for such structures, thus reducing both waste and printing time.

A researcher tends to kelp being grown on an experimental system called the "kelp elevator"

Energy

"Kelp elevator" for biofuel production boosts growth by four times

So far as feedstocks for the production of biofuels go, kelp is a highly promising one on many fronts, and a new technology promises to boost its credentials even further by maximizing its exposure to both sunlight and nutrients.

A starfish's body shape causes water flowing in from the side to be diverted upward, pushing the animal down

Robotics

A starfish-shaped body could help underwater robots stay put

Things can get very chaotic on the ocean floor, making it difficult for underwater robots to keep from being swept away. New research, however, suggests that by copying the structure of the starfish, they could actually be pressed into place.

The material (pictured here) was inspired by the cartoon character Popeye the Sailor (also pictured here), who got stronger by eating spinach

3D Printing

Photosynthetic printing material gets stronger with exposure to light

As a seedling matures into a tree, its trunk and branches become stiffer and stronger. Scientists have now replicated this effect in a photosynthesis-assisted 3D-printing ink, made partially from spinach.

group of young people running on treadmills in modern sport gym

Health & Wellbeing

Exercise hormone injections boost fitness in even old or unhealthy mice

Exercise can be a means to an end, namely better health. Now scientists at USC have studied a hormone that the human body releases during exercise, and found that administering it to even elderly mice improves their fitness and overall health.

Energy

Flow battery could make renewable energy storage economically viable

Researchers at the University of Southern California looking to crack the renewable energy storage problem have developed a new version of a redox flow battery from inexpensive and readily-available materials.

Researchers have investigated how a herbal remedy called DHM works in the liver to help hangovers

Medical

Scientists uncover metabolic mechanisms behind herbal "hangover cure"

Most people would tackle hangovers with plenty water and some greasy food, rather than a herbal remedy. But dihydromyricetin (DHM) does seem to have some effect, and now researchers from USC have investigated just how it works in the liver.

Cryodrakon boreas is known mainly from a partial juvenile skeleton that includes the wings, legs, neck and a rib

Biology

Pterosaur may have been world's largest flying animal

A recent analysis of previously-unearthed pterosaur bones reveals that they belonged to a new genus and species.

A simulation of a headset user's view of the world

Good Thinking

Headset keeps blind users on a collision-free course

In recent tests, it has been shown that a depth perception-boosting headset could help legally-blind users to avoid collisions.

The Bee+ in flight-test mode, showing all four wings operating

Robotics

Bee+ micro-scale robot flyer gets four wings flapping

The potential for micro flying-robots in areas like search and rescue, agriculture and hazard detection is huge, but so are the hurdles. Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) have been working on these problems with their Bee+, drawing inspiration from the insect world.

A new study in mice has shown the compounds in green tea and carrot could have a role to play in reversing Alzheimer's symptoms

Medical

Green tea and carrot compounds found to reverse Alzheimer's symptoms in mice

Researchers pondering the potential of compounds found in green tea and carrots to treat Alzheimer's have conducted a study with some promising results, with the engineered mice demonstrating unimpaired cognitive function following a carefully designed bout of treatment.

Researchers have found that deep sea gas reservoirs could be a huge source of carbon dioxide emissions that we aren't yet accounting for in climate change models

Environment

Carbon reservoirs in the ocean floor may have ended the last ice age – and could bubble up again

A study has found a huge new potential source of carbon emissions: reservoirs of gases trapped at the seafloor, which could be released as the oceans warm up. And the team suggests that these gases belched up from the deep thousands of years ago and put an end to the last ice age.