Forum for Science, Industry and Business

In biocatalysis, enzymes are used to accelerate chemical reactions. This plays a role in many areas, such as the production of beer, wine and cheese or the pharmaceutical industry. A research project at the English-medium Jacobs University led by Marcelo Fernandez-Lahore, Professor of Biochemical Engineering, aims to create a novel platform for facilitating the further processing of a wide range of biological products. “Our Nanofacil project will drastically simplify the application and implementation of biocatalytic processes in industrial practice,” says Fernandez-Lahore.

Physicists at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have proven that incoming light causes the electrons in warm perovskites to rotate thus influencing the direction of the flow of electrical current. They have thus found the key to an important characteristic of these crystals, which could play an important role in the development of new solar cells.

Scientists from Fraunhofer FEP developped a large-area high-resolution low-power OLED microdisplay with high framerates. The use of these microdisplays in VR glasses can help to avoid motion sickness. The new displays can be seen at awe europe in Munich/ Germany from October 18 to 19, 2018 at booth no. 322.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a versatile chemical in modern industry, widely applied in many different fields. To date, H2O2 is industrially manufactured by an indirect process that involves the sequential hydrogenation and oxidation of alkyl anthraquinone, which is however a multi-step process with high-cost and energy-intensive. On the sharp contrary, the direct synthesis of H2O2 from H2 and O2 is expected to be the most efficient way to produce H2O2 due to the remarkable advantages of atom economy, low energy consumption and only by-product of H2O.

IOW researcher adapt optical pH measurement method for brackish waters

Wood is becoming increasingly popular as a sustainable building material. At the Technische Universität Kaiserslautern (TUK), the team led by Assistant Professor Dr Christopher Robeller has developed software that calculates how, for example, complex wooden building parts can best be assembled from individual parts, similar to a puzzle. A milling machine manufactures the parts according to these specifications. They only have to be assembled afterwards. What is special: Only wood is used, also connecting elements are made of natural material. This is how the researchers recently built a dome. Construction companies could use the technology by means of apps to build quickly and sustainably.

Study provides proof of concept for keeping surfaces 90 percent dry and frost free indefinitely -- without chemicals or energy inputs

A recent study, affiliated UNIST has introduced a novel technology that promises to significantly boost the performance of lithium metal batteries, a promising candidate for the next generation of rechargeable batteries. The study also validates the principle of enhanced battery performance via the real-time in situ observation of charge-discharge cycling.

Artificial neural networks--algorithms inspired by connections in the brain--have "learned" to perform a variety of tasks, from pedestrian detection in self-driving cars, to analyzing medical images, to translating languages. Now, researchers at the University of California San Diego are training artificial neural networks to predict new stable materials.

The first in-depth analyses of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) cycling in the Red Sea highlights the important role of migrating shoals of fish in sustaining deep-ocean microorganisms and potentially the global carbon cycle.

"Each human cell contains approximately 2 meters of DNA, yet that are too small to be visible to the unaided eye. Amazingly, all of that DNA is tightly packaged into a teeny little nucleus. There, we were able to observe the most basic separation principle of oil and water phases."

An unusual infrared emission detected by the Hubble Space Telescope from a nearby neutron star could indicate that the pulsar has features never before seen. The observation, by a team of researchers at Penn State, Sabanci University in Turkey, and the University of Arizona, could help astronomers better understand the evolution of neutron stars--the incredibly dense remnants of massive stars after a supernova. A paper describing the research and two possible explanations for the unusual finding appears September 17, 2018 in the Astrophysical Journal.

The FiTS app, a unique motivation program created by vitaliberty, was launched in early 2018. FiTS offers its users customized support for integrating fitness into their everyday lives on a long-term basis. In addition to its training companion and customized motivation strategies, FiTS now also offers recipe videos produced by its Hamburg-based partner FOODBOOM to help users enjoy more fitness and wellbeing.

Nearly 13,000 years ago, pines in southern France experienced a cold snap, which scientists have now reconstructed. The study about the consequences of a drastic climate change event in past and its implications for our future will be published tomorrow in Scientific Reports. The authors are from GFZ Potsdam, Berlin, the UK, Switzerland, and France.

The team of Professor Dirk Haller at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) made an unexpected discovery while investigating the triggering factors of colon cancer: Cell stress in combination with an altered microbiota in the colon drives tumour growth. Previously, it was assumed that this combination only contributes to inflammatory intestinal diseases.

Force of light boosts electrons close to speed of light

Three hundred and ten miles above our planet's surface, near-Earth space is abuzz with action. Here begin the Van Allen Belts, a pair of concentric rings of fast-moving particles and intense radiation that extends more than 30,000 miles farther into space. For the most part these particles are confined to this special region, spiraling along Earth's magnetic field lines. But sometimes they come too close and crash into our atmosphere -- creating the eye-catching diffuse red aurora, but also potentially interfering with critical communications and GPS satellites that we depend on every day.

Muscle relaxants are a necessary part of anesthesia during certain major operations. Studies have, however, hinted at respiratory risks connected with these drugs. POPULAR, a major prospective observational European study supported by the European Society of Anaesthesiology (ESA) and led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM), has confirmed the association between use of muscle relaxants and respiratory complications and assessed the chances of the current avoidance strategies.

In August 2018, two CAR T cell therapeutics obtained marketing authorization from the European Commission. They provide efficacious treatment options for patients suffering from certain forms of leukemia and who have not responded to other treatment options. However, manufacturing CAR T cells that are composed of genetically engineered patient immune cells is laborious: the cells are taken from the patient, genetically modified with the CAR, multiplied and then reinfused. Researchers of the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (PEI) succeeded in animal experiments to engineer CAR-T cells directly in the living organism. EMBO Mol Med reports on the research results in its online issue of 17 September 2018.

Getting a better grip on things: The MoreGrasp Horizon2020 research project under the leadership of TU Graz is coming to an end with significant results in the field of thought-controlled grasp neuroprosthetics. A large-scale feasibility study is underway.

Endocrine disrupting chemicals might be involved in fertility disorders for they impair the function of human sperm. Scientists from Germany and Denmark have now taken another, closer look at the chemical´s action in sperm; in particular, at the so-called cocktail effect. The results: If the chemicals teams up, their individual actions do not simply add up, but amplify each other.

Since designing and launching a specialized workflow management system in 2010, a research team from the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has continuously updated the technology to help computational scientists develop software, visualize data and solve problems.

A study in the journal Bulletin of Marine Science describes a new, blood-red species of octocoral found in Panama. The species in the genus Thesea was discovered in the threatened low-light reef environment on Hannibal Bank, 60 kilometers off mainland Pacific Panama, by researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama (STRI) and the Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR) at the University of Costa Rica.