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Hits Parade — AlphaGalileo Top 5
Our hit parade compiles the press releases with bigger number of visits in May 2012.
1. The first chemical circuit developed— Linköping University — 29/05/2012
Klas Tybrandt, doctoral student in Organic Electronics at Linköping University, Sweden, has developed an integrated chemical chip. The results have just been published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications. The Organic Electronics research group at Linköping University previously developed ion transistors for transport of both positive and negative ions, as well as biomolecules. Tybrandt has now succeeded in combining both transistor types into complementary circuits, in a similar way to traditional silicon-based electronics.
2.Oldest Jewish Archaeological Evidence on the Iberian Peninsula — Friedrich Schiller University Jena — 25/05/2012
Archaeologists of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) found one of the oldest archaeological evidence so far of Jewish Culture on the Iberian Peninsula at an excavation site in the south of Portugal, close to the city of Silves (Algarve). On a marble plate, measuring 40 by 60 centimetres, the name "Yehiel" can be read, followed by further letters which have not yet been deciphered. The Jena Archaeologists believe that the new discovery might be a tomb slab. Antlers, which were found very close to the tomb slab in the rubble gave a clue to the age determination. "The organic material of the antlers could be dated by radiocarbon analysis with certainty to about 390 AD," excavation leader Dr. Dennis Graen of the Jena University explains. "Therefore we have a so-called 'terminus ante quem' for the inscription, as it must have been created before it got mixed in with the rubble with the antlers."
The place of discovery is a Roman villa near Silves. Photo: Dennis Graen/FSU.
3. Why Rumors Spread Fast in Social Networks — University Saarland — 21/05/2012
Information spreads fast in social networks. This could be observed during recent events. Now computer scientists from the German Saarland University provide the mathematical proof for this and come up with a surprising explanation.
“It is fascinating,” Tobias Friedrich of the Cluster of Excellence on “Multimodal Computing and Interaction” says. He points out that so far, it has been assumed that the uncontrolled growth in social networks creates a structure on which information spreads very fast. “But now we can prove it in a mathematical way,” says Friedrich, who leads the independent research group “Random Structures and Algorithms.”
4. Scripps Research Institute Scientists Show How a Gene Duplication Helped our Brains Become ‘Human’ — Scripps Research Institute — 02/05/2012
What genetic changes account for the vast behavioral differences between humans and other primates? Researchers so far have catalogued only a few, but now it seems that they can add a big one to the list. A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute has shown that an extra copy of a brain-development gene, which appeared in our ancestors’ genomes about 2.4 million years ago, allowed maturing neurons to migrate farther and develop more connections.
Surprisingly, the added copy doesn’t augment the function of the original gene, SRGAP2, which makes neurons sprout connections to neighboring cells. Instead it interferes with that original function, effectively giving neurons more time to wire themselves into a bigger brain.
5. European researchers study social robots for elderly assistance — Örebro Universitet — 01/05/2012
On May 2-4, 2012, a group of about 25 European researchers met at the University of Orebro, Sweden, to design robots that can help the elderly and their family to live a better and more independent life. The event was part of the project "Robot-Era", which is funded by the European Commission and which will last for 4 years, from January 2012 to December 2015.
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