The depths of the Weddell Sea are home to diverse biotic communities. Moreover, as climate change progresses, this ice-ladden region could offer a refuge for ice-dependent algae and fauna. In the new EU project WOBEC, the AWI, as the coordinator of a consortium of eleven institutions, will establish the basis for systematic, long-term observations of potential changes in this unique ecosystem. The project, which has been allocated ca. 1.9 million euros of funding, will develop a strategy for monitoring changes…
How can virtual reality (VR) be experienced haptically, i.e., through the sense of touch? This is one of the fundamental questions that modern VR research is investigating. Computer scientist André Zenner, who is based in Saarbrücken, Germany, has come a significant step closer to answering this question in his doctoral thesis – by inventing new devices and developing software-based techniques inspired by human perception. He has now been awarded the prestigious “Best Dissertation Award” at the world’s leading VR conference….
Researchers find that air turbulence in earth’s thermosphere is governed by the same principles as those in the troposphere. In a paper published in Geophysical Research Letters, researchers have discovered that the turbulence in the thermosphere exhibits the same physical laws as the wind in the lower atmosphere. Furthermore, wind in the thermosphere predominantly rotates in a cyclonic direction, in that it rotates counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. The findings reveal a new unified…
New approach could enable patients to live pain-free without complications of diabetes. Northwestern University researchers have developed a new antioxidant biomaterial that someday could provide much-needed relief to people living with chronic pancreatitis. The study will be published on June 7 in the journal Science Advances. Before surgeons remove the pancreas from patients with severe, painful chronic pancreatitis, they first harvest insulin-producing tissue clusters, called islets, and transplant them into the vasculature of the liver. The goal of the transplant…
UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering Asst. Prof. Chong Liu discovered the ideal particles for efficiently isolating lithium from seawater, ground water, or other dilute sources of the mineral. As the electric vehicle market booms, the demand for lithium — the mineral required for lithium-ion batteries — has also soared. Global lithium production has more than tripled in the last decade. But current methods of extracting lithium from rock ores or brines are slow and come with high energy demands…
The road to innovative operation scenarios for fusion power plants. Fusion energy is that released when two light nuclei combine to form a single heavier one (nuclear fusion reaction). Fusion energy-based power generation (fusion power plant) uses the energy generated when deuterium and tritium combine to form helium. A nuclear fusion reaction does not produce carbon dioxide. In addition, since it is possible to extract deuterium and tritium from the sea water, fusion energy is regarded as a sustainable energy…
A new type of pure synthetic leather meets the high requirements of the European Ecodesign Regulation. Made from a bio-based plastic, it is biodegradable and meets the requirements for a closed recycling process. Many synthetic leathers consist of a textile substrate to which a polymer layer is applied. The polymer layer usually consists of an adhesive layer and a top layer, which is usually embossed. The textile backing and the top coat are usually completely different materials. Woven, knitted, or…
… comes into sharper focus. Giant earthquakes and tsunamis have hit the western U.S. and Canada―and almost certainly will again. Off the coasts of southern British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and northern California lies a 600 mile-long strip where the Pacific Ocean floor is slowly diving eastward under North America. This area, called the Cascadia Subduction Zone, hosts a megathrust fault, a place where tectonic plates move against each other in a highly dangerous way. The plates can periodically lock up…
At the intersection of plants and nanomedicine perhaps lies a solution to current unsustainable agricultural practices and meeting increasing global food demands. Nano-agriculture: Sustainable solutions for global food security Researchers in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University are using findings from nanomedicine and digital twin technologies to understand the new field of Plant Nanobiotechnology, address unsustainable agricultural practices, and meet increasing global food demands. Currently, agriculture accounts for 14-28% of global greenhouse gas emissions and…
Impact of pollution on embryonic development. Human life begins with a single egg cell that grows into a human being with trillions of cells. To ensure that the highly complex development of tissues and organs is as protected as possible, the placental barrier keeps pathogens and foreign substances out. Tina Bürki and her team from Empa’s Particles-Biology Interactions laboratory in St. Gallen are investigating how this protective mechanism copes with nanoparticles. If nanoparticles enter the placenta during pregnancy, the formation…
The protein Orco is essential for smell neuron function and development in ants, fostering the insects’ social behavior. While smell plays a considerable role in the social interactions of humans—for instance, signaling fear or generating closeness—for ants, it is vitally important. Researchers from New York University and the University of Florida found that a key protein named Orco, essential for the function of olfactory cells, is also critical for the cells’ survival in ants. Their study showed that mutating the…
A study by the University of Bonn gives novel insight into properties which are often difficult to observe. Thousands of particles of light can merge into a type of “super photon” under suitable conditions. Physicists call such a state a photon Bose-Einstein condensate. Researchers at the University of Bonn have now shown that this exotic quantum state obeys a fundamental theorem of physics. This finding now allows one to measure properties of photon Bose-Einstein condensates which are usually difficult to…
A rare exoplanet that should have been stripped down to bare rock by its nearby host star’s intense radiation somehow grew a puffy atmosphere instead—the latest in a string of discoveries forcing scientists to rethink theories about how planets age and die in extreme environments. Nicknamed “Phoenix” for its ability to survive its red giant star’s radiant energy, the newly discovered planet illustrates the vast diversity of solar systems and the complexity of planetary evolution—especially at the end of stars’…
Astronauts driving a vehicle around the landscape of the Moon must not only face dangers related to zero gravity and falling into craters, but also the problem of extreme fluctuations in temperature. The lunar environment oscillates between blistering highs of 127°C (260°F) and frigid lows of -173°C (-280°F). Future missions to explore the Moon will need reliable machines that can function under these harsh conditions. This led a team from Nagoya University in Japan to invent a heat-switch device that…
Identifying crumbling infrastructure is sometimes as difficult as rectifying it. Yet, this process has been made easier thanks to an innovative new material developed by Tohoku University researchers. The material responds to mechanical stimuli by recording stress history through a luminescent effect called an afterglow. This information is stored for a long time, and by applying the material to the surfaces of structures, researchers can observe changes in the afterglow to determine the amount of stress the material has experienced….
Calcium oxide is a cheap, chalky chemical compound commonly used in the manufacturing of cement, plaster, paper, and steel. But the material may soon have a more high-tech application. UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering researchers and their collaborator in Sweden have used theoretical and computational approaches to discover how tiny, lone atoms of bismuth embedded within solid calcium oxide can act as qubits — the building blocks of quantum computers and quantum communication devices. These qubits are described today in Nature…
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