Using the example of the freshwater polyp Hydra, a CRC 1182 research team shows how even creatures with very simple nervous systems can regulate the complex coordination of satiety and related behaviours. Over the course of evolution, living organisms have gradually developed more complex nervous systems in order to coordinate increasingly complex sensory, motor and cognitive functions and to control the associated behaviour. Recently, different research projects have shown that even simple creatures with diffuse nervous systems can exhibit complex…
Repeated vaccination and infection leads T cells and B cells to build an “immunity wall”. New research from scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) suggests people who received COVID-19 vaccines and then experienced “breakthrough” infections are especially well armed against future SARS-CoV-2 infections. By analyzing blood samples from study volunteers, the LJI researchers discovered that people who experienced symptomatic breakthrough infections develop T cells that are better at recognizing and targeting SARS-CoV-2, including the Omicron and Delta variants….
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers have created the first topological quantum simulator device in the strong light-matter interaction regime that operates at room temperature. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have fabricated a device no wider than a human hair that will help physicists investigate the fundamental nature of matter and light. Their findings, published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, could also support the development of more efficient lasers, which are used in fields ranging from medicine to manufacturing. The device is…
A recent study reveals new details of the origins of the proton’s spin. Nuclear physicists have long been working to reveal how the proton gets its spin. Now, a new method that combines experimental data with state-of-the-art calculations has revealed a more detailed picture of spin contributions from the very glue that holds protons together. It also paves the way toward imaging the proton’s 3D structure. The work was led by Joseph Karpie, a postdoctoral associate in the Center for…
ispace, inc. (ispace), a global lunar exploration company, and the University of Leicester, have agreed to collaborate on approaches to lunar night survivability for future ispace lunar lander and rover missions. The University and ispace through ispace EUROPE S.A., have entered into a strategic consulting agreement to explore lunar night survivability utilizing Radioisotope Heater Units on the Series 3 lunar lander and rovers. The University was awarded funding under Phase I and Phase II of the UK International Bilateral Fund…
This is where the Nottingham team, led by Dr Aditi Borkar, Assistant Professor in Molecular Biochemistry & Biophysics in the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, has achieved a transformative feat. Dr Borkar developed a powerful method that combines a cutting-edge mass spectrometry technology called cryogenic OrbiSIMS – a unique imaging capability of the University, with advanced computational modelling and automation. This combination enabled the team to analyse attomole quantities of RNAs and determine their 3D structures at par with…
What if a common element rather than scarce, expensive ones was a key component in electric car batteries? A collaboration co-led by an Oregon State University chemistry researcher is hoping to spark a green battery revolution by showing that iron instead of cobalt and nickel can be used as a cathode material in lithium-ion batteries. The findings, published today in Science Advances, are important for multiple reasons, Oregon State’s Xiulei “David” Ji notes. “We’ve transformed the reactivity of iron metal,…
Researchers analyzing data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have pinpointed three galaxies that may be actively forming when the universe was only 400 to 600 million years old. Webb’s data shows these galaxies are surrounded by gas that the researchers suspect to be almost purely hydrogen and helium, the earliest elements to exist in the cosmos. Webb’s instruments are so sensitive that they were able to detect an unusual amount of dense gas surrounding these galaxies. This gas will…
Nonlinear light microscopy has revolutionized our ability to observe and understand complex biological processes. However, light can also damage living matter. Yet, the mechanism behind the irreversible perturbation of cellular processes by intense light remains poorly understood. To address this lacuna, the research groups of Hanieh Fattahi and Daniel Wehner at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) and Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin have joined forces to identify the conditions under which intense pulsed lasers can…
Preparations for the launch of the new Earth observation satellite EarthCARE (Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer) are in full swing. The joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will measure clouds, aerosol and radiation more accurately than ever before. This will be made possible by linking four state-of-the-art instruments. Three so-called processors, which the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) has developed together with partners, are making an important contribution to…
Scientific publication on the role of microbial communities in the marine carbon cycle. Many processes in the deep sea are not yet well understood, and the role of microbial communities in particular is often a big unknown. This includes, for example, how organic material that sinks from the water surface to the ocean floor is metabolised – an important building block for a better understanding of the global carbon cycle. The team from MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences…
– circular plastics economy. For the first time, the Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Circular Plastics Economy CCPE will present the topic ‘Sustainable Geosynthetics for Landscaping’ at ACHEMA 2024 alongside the topic ‘Advanced Recycling’. We cordially invite you to visit us at the trade fair in Frankfurt (Hall 6.0 – Research and Innova-tion | Booth D49). Is it possible to produce plastics for landscaping from bio-based polymers? Can products be manufactured without environmental problems and with controlled degradation? Fraunhofer CCPE is…
…could improve methods for heating fusion plasma. Both literally and figuratively, light pervades the world. It banishes darkness, conveys telecommunications signals between continents and makes visible the invisible, from faraway galaxies to the smallest bacterium. Light can also help heat the plasma within ring-shaped devices known as tokamaks as scientists worldwide strive to harness the fusion process to generate green electricity. Now, scientists have made discoveries about light particles known as photons that could aid the quest for fusion energy….
– parallel measurement of multiple water parameters with a single sensor chip. Fraunhofer IPMS revolutionizes environmental analysis with new n-well integration technology for ISFETs. A groundbreaking integration technology for the simultaneous measurement of various water parameters using ion-sensitive field-effect transistors (ISFETs) is presented by the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS. The newly developed n-well integration technology makes it possible to measure pH values, nitrate, phosphate and potassium concentrations in parallel and continuously with only one sensor chip. This innovation…
I’m not touching you! When another person’s finger hovers over your skin, you may get the sense that they’re touching you, feeling not necessarily contact, but their proximity. Similarly, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have designed a soft, flexible film that senses the presence of nearby objects without physically touching them. The study features the new sensor technology to detect eyelash proximity in blink-tracking glasses. Noncontact sensors can identify or measure an object without directly touching it….
Lasers developed at the University of Rochester offer a new path for on-chip frequency comb generators. Light measurement devices called optical frequency combs have revolutionized metrology, spectroscopy, atomic clocks, and other applications. Yet challenges with developing frequency comb generators at a microchip scale have limited their use in everyday technologies such as handheld electronics. In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers at the University of Rochester describe new microcomb lasers they have developed that overcome previous limitations and feature a simple design that could…
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