Fermilab

Falling costs are making fuel-cell vehicles look like a plausible alternative to conventional cars. Hydrogen-powered vehicles have been out of the spotlight for years, but they’re about to make a surprising comeback.  Toyota says it will unveil a hydrogen fuel-cell-powered sedan later this year that will go on sale in 2015; several other automakers, meanwhile,

The cleverly named Thermite is a small firefighting robot that does jobs humans can’t, or at least probably shouldn’t do. While there can be no doubt that Thermite is cute for a robot, we have yet to learn if it will also displace firefighters from their traditional role on office calendars. Thermite creator Howe and

Wind propulsion such as kites and Flettner rotors could offer a viable route to help cut CO2 emissions in the shipping sector, according to Dr Michael Traut, a Research Associate from The University of Manchester. Speaking at the ‘Shipping in Changing Climates: provisioning the future’ Conference in Liverpool today (Thursday), Dr Traut will present research

A combination of two potential drugs gives hope of a ‘super blockage’ of an over-active immune system, Leiden researchers report in Nature. The breakthrough came from the crystallisation of a membrane protein. Over-alert immune system Our immune system is intended to protect the body against infiltrators. But sometimes it behaves too alertly, attacking the body

Judges and juries always ponder whether people act “knowingly” or “recklessly” during criminal activity — and neuroscience has had little to add to the conversation. But now, researchers, including computational neuroscientist Read Montague of the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, have discovered that brain imaging can determine whether someone is acting in a state of

Many roads are causing irreparable damage to nature but properly planned roads could actually help the environment Two leading ecologists say a rapid proliferation of roads across the planet is causing irreparable damage to nature, but properly planned roads could actually help the environment. “Loggers, miners and other road builders are putting roads almost everywhere,

A new kind of single-dose vaccine that comes in a nasal spray and doesn’t require refrigeration could dramatically alter the public health landscape — get more people vaccinated around the world and address the looming threats of emerging and re-emerging diseases. Researchers presented the latest design and testing of these “nanovaccines” at the 247th National Meeting

LumosVar — a name inspired by Harry Potter — could help physicians provide genomic-based treatments for their patients By conjuring the spell “Lumos!” wizards in the mythical world of Harry Potter could light up the tip of their magic wands and illuminate their surroundings. So, too, does LumosVar, a computer program developed by the Translational Genomics Research Institute

The discovery that water microdroplets can replace potentially toxic agents in the creation of gold nanoparticles and nanowires could help usher in a new era of “green chemistry.” An experiment that, by design, was not supposed to turn up anything of note instead produced a “bewildering” surprise, according to the Stanford scientists who made the