Forum for Science, Industry and Business

Environmental researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW) have developed a novel mobile device for recording microplastics in surface waters. They call it the “Rocket”, a design with which depending on the amount of suspended matter in the water up to 60 litres per minute can be sucked through four cartridge filters, and which is particularly advantageous for sampling the fine fraction of the microplastic in the range down to 10 µm. The scientists were specially challenged by the fact that plastic had to be avoided as far as possible. The successful results of the test phase have now been published by them in the international scientific journal “Water”.

The word "HAZMAT" describes substances that pose a risk to the environment, or even to life itself. Imagine the term being applied to entire planets, where violent flares from the host star may make worlds uninhabitable by affecting their atmospheres.

Osteoarthritis is a disabling disease characterised by joint pain and restricted mobility, affecting especially the elderly. The disease generally progresses slowly, even over decades. Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, however, affects people of all ages and is initiated by joint trauma, for example, as a result of falling. The disease is most prevalent in articulating joints, such as the knee.

Findings can help scientists engineer nanoparticles that are 'benign by design'

Solar power accounts for less than 2 percent of U.S. electricity but could make up more than that if the cost of electricity generation and energy storage for use on cloudy days and at nighttime were cheaper.

Measuring the properties of superconducting materials in magnetic fields at close to absolute zero temperatures is difficult, but necessary to understand their quantum properties.

Researchers report machine learning speeds discovery of new materials

One of the major goals of biology, medicine, and robotics is to understand how limbs are controlled by circuits of neurons working together. And as if that is not complex enough, a meaningful study of limb activity also has to take place while animals are behaving and moving. The problem is that it is virtually impossible to get a complete view of the activity of motor and premotor circuits that control limbs during behavior, in either vertebrates or invertebrates.

Black holes colliding, gravitational waves riding through space-time - and a huge instrument that allows scientists to investigate the fabric of the universe. This could soon become reality when the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) takes up operations. Researchers from the University of Zurich have now found that LISA could also shed light on the elusive dark matter particle.

How to create nanocages, i.e., robust and stable objects with regular voids and tunable properties? Short segments of DNA molecules are perfect candidates for the controllable design of novel complex structures. Physicists from the University of Vienna, the Technical University of Vienna, the Jülich Research Center in Germany and Cornell University in the U.S.A., investigated methodologies to synthesize DNA-based dendrimers in the lab and to predict their behavior using detailed computer simulations. Their results are published in the high-impact journal Nanoscale.

Finally the time has come: On October 20, 2018 at 3:45 CEST, the European-Japanese BepiColombo mission for the study of Mercury will start - including thin films produced at the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST.

The Fraunhofer FEP has been successfully developing OLED microdisplays based on OLED-on-silicon technology for years. Several generations of different designs have already been created. At the same time, the necessary electronics and system environment for future augmented reality (AR) applications are being developed at full speed. The developers will be debuting an innovative and powerful set of tools for independent development of wearables using OLED microdisplays at the Fraunhofer Joint Booth (no. 426, Hall C5) during electronica 2018, November 13-16, 2018 in Munich, Germany.

Mainz University and the Galapagos National Park Directorate have entered into an agreement that will allow extensive collaborative research into the geological development of the islands

EARTO Award for Microsystem of the Fraunhofer IWS Dresden

Researchers from Osaka University find that a novel method for monitoring the effect of lung cancer therapy may help guide treatment choices

Beam of molecules fired into gauntlet of lasers shows spherical electron charge

A chemist from RUDN was the first to use catalysts with ruthenium nanoparticles to obtain hydrogen under the influence of visible light and UV radiation. In the future, such catalysts may be used for large-scale production of hydrogen fuel under the influence of sunlight. The results of the study were published in Applied Catalysis B: Environmental.

First comprehensive assessment of Pando reveals critical threats

Researchers from Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT) have sped up the movement of electrons in organic semiconductor films by two to three orders of magnitude. The speedier electronics could lead to improved solar power and transistor use across the world, according to the scientists.

They published their results in the September issue of Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics, where the paper is featured on the cover.

Study explains why the plant is among the best fliers in the natural world

UNIGE researchers have developed a new technology that can bore a hole in the clouds to pave the way for laser-transmitted data from a satellite

On 26 September, the United Nations announced a plan to raise $13 billion annually for the fight to eradicate tuberculosis by 2030. With 10 million new cases and 1.6 million deaths in 2017, it is the most common infectious disease in the world, ahead of HIV.

Current study shows: Impact on natural climate processes greater than previously thought