Browse Articles

Effectiveness of Biodegradable Plastic in Preventing Food Spoilage

Zhang et al. | Mar 20, 2012

Effectiveness of Biodegradable Plastic in Preventing Food Spoilage

Most people put little thought into the type of plastic wrap they use to store their leftovers. This study investigates the differences between biodegradable plastic wrap and non-biodegradable plastic wrap in their ability to prevent food spoilage. Does one work better than the other? Read more to find out!

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The effect of music on teenagers in combatting stress and improving performance

Josyula et al. | Nov 16, 2024

The effect of music on teenagers in combatting stress and improving performance
Image credit: Stefany Andrade

Here, the researchers investigated how exposure to active versus passive music affects a teenager's ability to perform a challenging task, namely a Sudoku puzzle, under stressful conditions. Following testing 75 high school teenagers split into two group, the researchers found that singing in a choir (active music) yielded a greater improvement in performance compared to passive listening for brief time periods.

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Large Language Models are Good Translators

Zeng et al. | Oct 16, 2024

Large Language Models are Good Translators

Machine translation remains a challenging area in artificial intelligence, with neural machine translation (NMT) making significant strides over the past decade but still facing hurdles, particularly in translation quality due to the reliance on expensive bilingual training data. This study explores whether large language models (LLMs), like GPT-4, can be effectively adapted for translation tasks and outperform traditional NMT systems.

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Adults’ attitudes toward non-alcoholic beer purchases and consumption by children and adolescents

An et al. | Aug 23, 2024

Adults’ attitudes toward non-alcoholic beer purchases and consumption by children and adolescents
Image credit: The authors

Consumption of non-alcoholic beverages, like non-alcoholic beer, is growing in popularity in the United States. These beverages raise important societal questions, such as whether minors should be allowed to purchase or consume non-alcoholic beer. An and An investigate this issue by surveying adults to see if they support minors purchasing and consuming non-alcoholic beer.

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Transcriptomic profiling identifies differential gene expression associated with childhood abuse

Li et al. | Jul 23, 2024

Transcriptomic profiling identifies differential gene expression associated with childhood abuse
Image credit: The authors

Childhood abuse has severe and lasting effects throughout an individual's life, and may even have long-term biological effects on individuals who suffer it. To learn more about the effects of abuse in childhood, Li and Yearwood analyze gene expression data to look for genes differentially expressed genes in individuals with a history of childhood abuse.

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Enhancing the quantum efficiency of a silicon solar cell using one dimensional thin film interferometry

Ahuja et al. | May 03, 2024

Enhancing the quantum efficiency of a silicon solar cell using one dimensional thin film interferometry
Image credit: American Public Power Association

Here, recognizing the need to improve the efficiency of the conversion of solar energy to electrical energy, the authors used MATLAB to mathematically simulate a multi-layered thin film with an without an antireflective coating. They found that the use of alternating ZnO-SiO2 multilayers enhanced the transmission of light into the solar cell, increasing its efficiency and reducing the reflectivity of the Si-Air interface.

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