Home — Tekh Decoded

Kids Eating Fast Food More Often Since Pandemic – Parents Say They’re Too Stressed To Cook

Lead image: While almost all parents agree that fast food is unhealthy for their children, many also feel it’s OK in moderation. Credit: University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health. 1 in 5 parents say kids eat fast food more often since COVID pandemic started. 1 in 5 parents say they’re too stressed to cook and 1 in 6 say their child eats fast food at least twice a week. For some families, pandemic times have meant increased screen time, attending class from bedrooms, and maybe even more dinners from a drive through. While…

Extensive Chemical Composition Mapping Reveals Carbon-Rich, Organic Birth Environments of Planets

Lead image: This composite image of ALMA data from the young star HD 163296 shows hydrogen cyanide emission laid over an artist’s impression of a starfield. The MAPS project zoomed in on hydrogen cyanide and other organic and inorganic compounds in planet-forming disks to gain a better understanding of the compositions of young planets and how the compositions link to where planets form in a protoplanetary disk. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/D. Berry (NRAO), K. Öberg et al (MAPS) Scientists connect the dots between where planets form and what they’re made of. An international collaboration of scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter…

Layered Graphene with a Twist Displays Unique Quantum Confinement Effects in 2-D

Understanding how electrons move in 2-D layered material systems could lead to advances in quantum computing and communication. Scientists studying two different configurations of bilayer graphene—the two-dimensional (2-D), atom-thin form of carbon—have detected electronic and optical interlayer resonances. In these resonant states, electrons bounce back and forth between the two atomic planes in the 2-D interface at the same frequency. By characterizing these states, they found that twisting one of the graphene layers by 30 degrees relative to the other, instead of stacking the layers directly on top of each other, shifts the resonance to a lower energy. From this…

Lipitor May Be Effective Treatment for Ulcerative Colitis

Lead image: Statins may be effective treatment for patients with ulcerative colitis. There may be good news for the nearly 1 million people battling ulcerative colitis, a type of inflammatory bowel condition with no real cure: Statins, a commonly prescribed cholesterol-lowering drug, seem to be an effective, if unexpected, treatment for the condition, according to a new Stanford Medicine study. Currently, the only lines of defense against ulcerative colitis are anti-inflammatory drugs, which don’t always work, and a colectomy, the surgical removal of part or all of the colon. Discovering another option is significant, said Purvesh Khatri, PhD, associate professor…