Even the German Bight is warmer than ever before. Researchers around the globe are sounding the alarm: ocean temperatures are the warmest ever recorded. In 2023, the North Sea also experienced dramatic record highs, as readings taken by the Alfred Wegener Institute’s Biological Institute Helgoland indicate. As data from the time series “Helgoland Reede” also reveal: it’s not the first year in which the German Bight experienced marine heatwaves. The high temperatures and extreme weather events are a product of…
Smart packaging for on-board charger that is small in size, but big on performance. On-board chargers are the great equalizers for electric vehicle charging – and can be a game-changer for the future of e-mobility. Fraunhofer IZM has managed to bring together some of the most innovative ideas in power electronics to pave the way for a new generation of on-board chargers. Twice the performance at half the size, bidirectional capabilities, and efficiently machine-made: The resulting on-board charger is the…
The RACOON-RESCUE project, led by the MHH, aims to automatically analyse image data from CT and MRI and find new image-based features in order to be able to more reliably assess the stage of disease in children and adolescents with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (NHL) are malignant diseases of the lymphatic tissue and are the fourth most common form of cancer in children and adolescents. More than 30 subgroups are known. The long-term survival rate is between 70 and 90…
Study launched at the University Medical Center Göttingen. Researchers at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG), Germany, have developed a brain stimulation treatment for home use for cancer patients with chronic pain as part of the international cooperation project “PAINLESS”. The aim of the research project is to improve palliative care for cancer patients in their familiar home environment. The study to test this new therapy started at the UMG in March 2024. The project has been funded by the…
Due to the complex structures of microporous crystals known as MOFs, reliable simulations of their properties have been difficult until now. Machine learning provides the solution. Hydrogen storage, heat conduction, gas storage, CO2 and water sequestration – metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have extraordinary properties due to their unique structure in the form of microporous crystals, which have a very large surface area despite their small size. This makes them extremely interesting for research and practical applications. However, MOFs are very complex…
Texas A&M researchers have harnessed the power of satellites to constantly monitor infrastructure conditions and maintain them. As infrastructure ages, it becomes more susceptible to failure, which can cause safety and mobility concerns for drivers and pedestrians, and economic woes for taxpayers. A recent study published in “Transportation Research Record” shows that high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite data can detect infrastructure issues early on, which can help prevent further damage to roads in the same way that annual checkups can help…
A compact, lightweight sensor system with infrared imaging capabilities developed by an international team of engineers could be easily fitted to a drone for remote crop monitoring. This flat-optics technology has the potential to replace traditional optical lens applications for environmental sensing in a range of industries. This innovation could result in cheaper groceries as farmers would be able to pinpoint which crops require irrigation, fertilisation and pest control, instead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach, thereby potentially boosting their harvests….
The research project “Flame retardant coating: ecological fire protection in rail vehicles” (FlamenCo) at the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE) is investigating a new fire protection varnish in rail vehicle construction. The aim is to develop a fire protection coating that enables wood-based materials to be used more extensively. Wood is mainly used in rail vehicles as armrests or folding tables. Plastics and metals predominate as materials used in train interiors. There are high fire protection requirements to ensure…
Beta(β)-type titanium (Ti) alloys are renowned for their strength, formability and resistance to harsh environments. This, along with their excellent biocompatibility, has made them adequately suited for implants and prosthetics, from joint replacement to stents. However, under certain conditions a brittle omega phase can form, making the material prone to breaking. Whilst it is known that adding tin (Sn) negates this, and makes β-type Ti alloys stronger, the exact mechanics behind this has continued to puzzle scientists. That is until…
MHH research team develops new molecular tool to investigate the influence of telomerase on the development of heart muscle cells. As we age, our appearance changes, our hair turns grey and wrinkles appear. And we become more susceptible to disease. One reason for this is that our telomeres shorten. These are protective caps at the ends of the chromosomes, the carriers of our genetic material. Each time a cell divides, the telomeres become shorter until they reach a critical length…
Heat pumps can not only be used efficiently in residential buildings, but also in industrial processes with heating and cooling requirements. This conclusion was reached by a team from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE as part of the joint project “ETA in Existing Facilities“. The application of a heat pump with propane refrigeration circuit in an industrial cleaning machine led to considerable savings in electricity and CO2. The research project focused on the development of a modular…
Irrigation with treated wastewater and sewage sludge brings tire additives into the leafy vegetables. Car tires contain hundreds of chemical additives that can leach out of them. This is how they end up in crops and subsequently in the food chain. Researchers at the Center for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science at the University of Vienna and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have now detected these chemical residues in leafy vegetables for the first time. Although the concentrations were low,…
New long-term microscopy method shows differences to long bones. Living bone is fascinating because of its unique ability to adapt to mechanical stress and regenerate without scarring. During fracture healing, blood vessels and bone cells work closely together to gradually replace the initial cartilaginous wound tissue with ingrowing blood vessels and new bone tissue. The bone progenitor cells closely follow the course of the newly formed vessels, an observation known as angiogenic-osteogenic coupling. This is how a broken leg heals….
A fungus living in the sea can break down the plastic polyethylene, provided it has first been exposed to UV radiation from sunlight. Researchers from, among others, NIOZ published their results in the scientific journal Science of the Total Environment. They expect that many more plastic degrading fungi are living in deeper parts of the ocean. The fungus Parengyodontium album lives together with other marine microbes in thin layers on plastic litter in the ocean. Marine microbiologists from the Royal…
The findings should help scientists refine predictions of future sea-level rise. As they seep and calve into the sea, melting glaciers and ice sheets are raising global water levels at unprecedented rates. To predict and prepare for future sea-level rise, scientists need a better understanding of how fast glaciers melt and what influences their flow. Now, a study by MIT scientists offers a new picture of glacier flow, based on microscopic deformation in the ice. The results show that a glacier’s flow depends strongly on…
How AI could prevent devastating wildfires… Australian scientists are getting closer to detecting bushfires in record time, thanks to cube satellites with onboard AI now able to detect fires from space 500 times faster than traditional on-ground processing of imagery. Remote sensing and computer science researchers have overcome the limitations of processing and compressing large amounts of hyperspectral imagery on board the smaller, more cost-effective cube satellites before sending it to the ground for analysis, saving precious time and energy….
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