Scientific Chicago with Neil Shubin

Star Formation, Self-Healing Circuits, Cornea Gene & Math Anxiety


Have a broken computer? Soon it may be able to fix itself. We explore self-healing circuits and more in tonight's Scientific Chicago with Neil Shubin on Chicago Tonight at 7:00 pm.

Star Formation

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We’re a little bit closer to understanding how a star is born.

A map of star-forming clouds / Courtesy University of IllinoisLed by University of Illinois astronomy professor Tony Wong, a team of researchers has mapped molecular clouds—dense patches of gas where stars are formed—in a nearby galaxy. While there are theories about how stars are created, little is known about how the process starts or what conditions create the most stars.

“When we study star formation, an important question is, what is the environment doing?” Wong said. “How does the location of star formation reflect the conditions of that environment?”

Wong’s team thought they would find a few large gas clouds where most of the star formation took place.

“We thought that the big clouds hog most of the mass,” Wong said, “but we found that in this galaxy, it appears that the playing field is more level. The low-mass clouds are quite numerous and they actually contribute a significant amount of the mass.”

With so many smaller star-forming clouds spread throughout the galaxy, Wong thinks the conditions needed to create a star may be relatively widespread and easy to achieve. Wong said his next observations should discover exactly where star formation takes place inside the clouds.

“This study provides us with our most detailed view of an entire population of clouds in another galaxy,” Wong said. “We can say with great confidence that these clouds are where the stars form, but we are still trying to figure out why they have the properties they do.”

To read the full study, click here.

Self-Healing Circuits

Next time your computer or smartphone breaks down, don’t run to buy a replacement—pretty soon it may be able to fix itself.

Courtesy Callampa PhotographyA team of engineers at the University of Illinois are developing “self-healing circuits” that can repair cracks before users even can notice the device is broken.

“It simplifies the system,” said chemistry professor Jeffrey Moore, a member of the team. “Rather than having to build in redundancies or to build in a sensory diagnostics system, this material is designed to take care of the problem itself.”

The self-healing microchips have microscopic capsules all over its surface. If the chip cracks, the capsules along the fissure break open and fill the gap with liquid metal, restoring electrical conductivity. The whole process takes microseconds, and can heal the circuit to 99 percent capacity. Because only the capsules along the crack break open, the system is autonomous.

“In an aircraft, especially a defense-based aircraft, there are miles and miles of conductive wire,” said Nancy Sottos, materials science and engineering professor. “You don’t often know where the break occurs. The autonomous part is nice – it knows where it broke, even if we don’t.”

The team says the capsules can also cut down on electronic waste by extending the life of consumer devices.

To read the full study, click here.

Cornea Gene

Scientists have identified a gene responsible for keeping corneas clear, and it could be used to treat diseases that cause blindness, according to a new study.

Courtesy Paul DrummIf corneas needed to be fed by blood vessels, the veins would cover up the cornea and leave us partially blind. That’s why the eye has evolved other ways to nourish transparent corneas. But some diseases or trauma can cause blood vessels to grow over corneas, affecting the vision of millions of people.

“We believe we’ve discovered the master regulator gene that prevents the formation of blood vessels in the eye and protects the clarity of the cornea,” said the study’s lead author, Tsutomu Kume, associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a researcher at Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute. 

The researchers worked with mice missing the regulator gene, FoxC1. The mice had abnormal blood vessels over corneas, blocking light from entering their eyes. They also found the same gene in humans who had congenital glaucoma.

They are now testing whether increasing levels of the gene can make an obscured cornea clear again. If successful, the team could develop a gene therapy to prevent blood vessel growth, a major problem in cornea transplants.

To read the full study, click here.

Math Anxiety

Courtesy Samantha McManusIf you’re someone who clams up during a big math test, learning how to stay calm may be more important than extra studying. According to a new study by University of Chicago researchers, Sian Beilock and Ian Lyons, students who could control anxiety and other negative emotions right before a math test performed as well as students who weren’t nervous before the exam.

Lyons and Beilock, who also studies how athletes’ nerves cause poor performances, found students who were nervous about math and those who were confident about math. Using real-time brain scans, the researchers observed the students as they looked at a screen that told them they were about to perform a difficult math problem, and then as they performed the problem. Math-anxious students who scored well activated parts of their brains controlling attention and regulating negative emotion right as they anticipated the upcoming exam, and performed just as well as students who were confident about math.

Based on the results, Lyons and Beilock say the most important factor in final test scores is emphasizing emotional control. That’s why they recommend teaching students to check their anxiety before the exam, instead of wasting time and money developing additional math courses for nervous students who fall behind.

To read the full study, click here.

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