A new NMR spectrometer has been in operation at the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) since the end of May. What makes it special is that it is based on a new type of ceramic high-temperature superconductor. Peter Schmieder, head of the NMR technology platform at the FMP, explains the technology behind it and the capabilities of the new device. The first NMR spectrometer was to be installed in the basement, says Peter Schmieder. However, magnets of this magnitude have…
Risks for anglers and the environment. An interdisciplinary research team led by the Thünen Institutes of Baltic Sea Fisheries and Fisheries Ecology demonstrated in their new study that harmful phthalates and endocrine disruptors are released from common soft plastic baits. Soft plastic lures are increasingly being used in recreational angling worldwide. Their loss in the environment has raised concerns among anglers and environmentalists regarding possible environmental and health risks. A study on the potential effects of soft plastic lures on…
A project that combines low-field magnetic resonance imaging with hyperpolarization will be presented at the 73rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting on July 5. Max Planck scientists will present a low-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner for the development of novel MRI methods at the 73rd Meeting of Nobel Laureates in Lindau. As part of an associated scientific event, two researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany, will present a model of a new low-field MRI…
A team from the University of Würzburg is developing an AI-based attitude control system that will allow satellites to maneuver autonomously. The new technology will be tested in space. At the heart of the new attitude controller is an artificial intelligence that is being trained on the ground and will later be able to change the satellite’s attitude in orbit on its own. It is being developed by two computer science departments at the University of Würzburg (JMU) using a…
… identified for predicting adverse events of tuberculosis therapy. Borstel researchers are the first to develop a biomarker to predict the occurrence of neuropathic adverse events during therapy for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. The results have now been published in the journal Pathogens & Immunity. Every year, an estimated 410,000 people worldwide contract a multidrug-resistant form of tuberculosis. During treatment, approximately a quarter of patients experience linezolid-associated adverse drug reactions (ADRs) associated with one of the medicines, linezolid. These include nerve disorders…
… reveals new potential for the 2D materials. Drexel and UCLA researchers perform first scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy inspection of 2D material with unique properties. In the decade since their discovery at Drexel University, the family of two-dimensional materials called MXenes has shown a great deal of promise for applications ranging from water desalination and energy storage to electromagnetic shielding and telecommunications, among others. While researchers have long speculated about the genesis of their versatility, a recent study led…
First quantum communication link in Lower Saxony established. Researchers from Leibniz Universität Hannover (LUH), Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Braunschweig, and the University of Stuttgart have implemented a new method for secure communication using semiconductor quantum dots. This advancement could revolutionize how confidential information can be protected from cyber threats. Conventional encryption methods rely on complex mathematical algorithms and the limits of current computing power. However, with the rise of quantum computers, these methods are becoming increasingly vulnerable, necessitating quantum key…
Findings alter previous scientific views, and may be relevant to skin cancer development. In a recent study, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine suggest the cell’s messenger RNA (mRNA) — the major translator and regulator of genetic material — along with a critical protein called ZAK, spur the cell’s initial response to UV radiation damage and play a critical role in whether the cell lives or dies. While UV radiation has long been known to damage DNA, it also damages mRNA,…
Disrupting a class of sugar-modified proteins improves cell repair, rescues neuron loss and reverses cellular changes associated with neurodegenerative diseases, researchers report. A class of proteins that regulates cell repair and enhances cell growth-signaling systems could be a promising new target for the treatment of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State. They found that disrupting necessary sugar modifications of these proteins promotes cell repair and reverses cellular abnormalities that occur…
New study explores the machinery of gene regulation. Researchers at Arizona State University have made a significant advance in understanding how genes are controlled in living organisms. The new study, published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research, focuses on critical snippets of RNA in the tiny, transparent roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). The study provides a detailed map of the 3’UTR regions of RNA in C. elegans. 3’UTRs (untranslated regions) are segments of RNA involved in gene regulation. The new map is a…
Using artificial intelligence, Garvan Institute researchers have found potential cancer drivers hidden in so-called ‘junk’ regions of DNA, opening up possibilities for a new approach to diagnosis and treatment. Non-coding DNA – the 98% of our genome that doesn’t contain instructions for making proteins – could hold the key to a new approach for diagnosing and treating cancers, according to a new study from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. The findings, published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research, reveal…
Is it possible to decode how we feel from our movements? How can emotions be studied “from the outside” by using empirical methods? To answer these questions, a large international and interdisciplinary research team led by the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, has developed an integrative scientific methodology. Using artistic and digital means such as motion capture technology, the researchers developed the EMOKINE software to measure the objective kinematic features of movements that…
MHH research team identifies microscopic clusters of damaged lung vesicles as cause of massive loss of lung function. Artificial ventilation can save lives, but it also puts pressure on lung tissue. If the lungs are pre-damaged, pressurized ventilation can even have undesirable effects. This is especially true of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This is because when trying to keep the lungs open and allow further gas exchange, the pressure due to an overstretch of still intact lung…
In a study conducted at the University of São Paulo and described in Scientific Reports, the diameter of semiconductor quantum dots was monitored in real time via the wavelength of the emitted light. Luminescence refers to the result of a process in which an object absorbs light at one wavelength and then re-emits it at another wavelength. Through light absorption, electrons in the ground state of the material are excited to a higher energy state. After a certain amount of…
Project MesSi develops silicon-based photodiodes for the near-infrared range. Image sensors and their core component, the photodiode, are indispensable in numerous applications, whether in process, measurement, automotive or safety technology. In the near-infrared range, which is important for many analytical applications, silicon-based photodiodes do not yet offer sufficient sensitivity. Therefore, other materials are used, but they are expensive and partly harmful to the environment. In a new project at the Fraunhofer IPMS, sensitive silicon-based photodiodes, which are more cost-efficient in…
Is nature really as strange as quantum theory says – or are there simpler explanations? Neutron measurements at TU Wien prove: It doesn’t work without the strange properties of quantum theory. Can a particle be in two different places at the same time? In quantum physics, it can: Quantum theory allows objects to be in different states at the same time – or more precisely: in a superposition state, combining different observable states. But is this really the case? Perhaps…
Feedback
