Vindolanda is an ancient Roman fort in Northern England that dates back to the reign of emperor Hadrian in the second century CE. When a team of researchers and volunteers were excavating the site last month, a retired biochemist from South Wales named Dylan Herbert unearthed a stone carved with a phallus and an inscription that reads “SECVNDINVS CACOR.” According to specialists in Roman epigraphy, …
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin developed a low-cost gel film that can pull multiple liters of drinking water from the air—even in arid conditions—and release it easily. The material is made up of two common and inexpensive ingredients: konjac gum and cellulose. The gum’s porous structure attracts water from the air, while the cellulose, when responding to gentle heat, turns hydroponic and …
Using high-frequency sound waves, scientists at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia have managed to grow new bones out of stem cells. Having spent over a decade investigating how sound interacts with different materials, researchers developed a sound wave-generating device that can manipulate cells and fluids. “We can use the sound waves to apply just the right amount of pressure in the right …
