Science and Technology

A tiny piece of a critical receptor that fuels the brain and without which sentient beings cannot live has been discovered by University at Buffalo scientists as a promising new drug target for Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases. The research on the NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptor was published online Oct. 11 in Nature Communications.

A University at Buffalo-led research team has established the presence of a dynamic Jahn-Teller effect in defective diamonds, a finding that will help advance the development of diamond-based systems in applications such as quantum information processing.

Researchers from three universities have partnered to create a new, high-tech tool for mapping changing plant patterns at Tuolumne Meadows, a mountain meadow in Yosemite National Park.

Surgeons should add their voices to social media and online discussions, while taking care to fully understand the potential security and medical-legal implications. That's the message from two surgeons -- and avid Twitter fans -- in the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, who recently co-authored "Making Social Media Work for Surgeons and Patients," an article published in the Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons.

Scientists at the University at Buffalo have received $1.3 million from the National Institute of Mental Health to test how tiny, magnetic particles can be used to remotely control neurons in the brains of mice. If the work is successful, the research team will have given neuroscientists a powerful, new tool: a non-invasive technique for triggering activity deep inside the brain.

Even the smallest of home renovations can change the life of someone with a disability. Widening a doorway or adding grab bars around a toilet can mean the difference between independence and dependence -- between comfort and discomfort in one's own home.

Kenneth J. Takeuchi, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in Chemistry, has been inducted as a 2011 Fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

In the aftermath of heavy flooding caused by Tropical Storm Irene, University at Buffalo researchers are conducting a damage assessment that could help hard-hit communities in New York plan for future disasters.

A new study by a health communication researcher at UB finds that the Internet -- the source of much medical information for most of us -- poses multiple communication barriers for the culturally Deaf, barriers that go far beyond inconvenience and can seriously compromise their health in ways virtually unknown to the hearing population.

"Beyond the Imagination of Nature: Spin, Quantum Optics and Metamaterials," a workshop for researchers studying metamaterials and transformation optics will be presented by the University at Buffalo and the U.S. Army Research Office on Sept. 19-20 in Buffalo.