When it comes to organic, the last thing you expect is cheap but a new battery may end up being just that. 

USC researchers have developed a water-based organic battery that is long lasting and made from cheap, eco-friendly components. It used no metals or toxic materials and is intended for use in power plants. Power plants are not in the storage business, they are in the generation business, but if solar and wind power become viable we are going to need high-capacity storage to even out the ups and downs of Mother Nature.

An electric discharge experiment simulates early Earth conditions using relatively simple starting materials. The reaction is ignited by a spark, simulating lightning, which was likely very common on the early Earth.

The 1958 reaction samples were analyzed by Parker and his current mentor, Facundo M. Fernández, a professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Georgia Tech. They conducted liquid chromatography- and mass spectrometry-based analyses and found that the reaction samples from 1958 contained peptides. Scientists from NASA's Johnson Space Center and Goddard Space Flight Center were also involved in the analysis.

TORONTO, June 26, 2014 – Women with chronic physical illnesses are more likely to use mental health services than men with similar illnesses; they also seek out mental health services six months earlier than those same men, according to new study from St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES).

"Chronic physical illness can lead to depression," said Dr. Flora Matheson, a scientist in the hospital's Centre for Research on Inner City Health. "We want to better understand who will seek mental health services when diagnosed with a chronic physical illness so we can best help those who need care."

Current guidelines to help prevent bloodstream infections during intravenous feeding may need
revisions to strengthen protections for patients, a new study finds.

Researchers at the United Kingdom's University of Southampton found that current guidelines do not account for other independent factors that can affect the growth of potentially deadly microorganisms. Their study was published today in the OnlineFirst version of the Journal of
Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (JPEN), the research journal of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.).

COLLEGE STATION – Scientists with Texas A&M AgriLife Research have found a "Trojan horse" way to deliver proteins into live human cells without damaging them.

The finding, published in this month's Nature Methods, is expected to be easily adopted for use in medical research to find cures and treatments for a wide range of diseases, according to the team's lead scientist, Dr. Jean-Philippe Pellois, an associate professor of biochemistry at Texas A&M University.

Old Westbury, N.Y. (June 25, 2014) –Administering low doses of a thyroid hormone to rats with diabetes helps restore hormone levels in their hearts and prevented deterioration of heart function and pathology, according to a new study by NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine professor A. Martin Gerdes.

The study, published in the online edition of Molecular Medicine provides the first clear indication that low thyroid hormone levels in cardiac tissue of diabetic individuals may be the major cause of their associated heart disease, says Gerdes.