New catalyst transforms carbon dioxide from industrial emissions into commonly used chemicals. A low-cost, tin-based catalyst can selectively convert carbon dioxide to three widely produced chemicals — ethanol, acetic acid and formic acid. Lurking within the emissions from many industrial operations is an untapped resource — carbon dioxide (CO2). A contributor of greenhouse gas and global warming, it could instead be captured and converted to value-added chemicals. In a collaborative project involving the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National…
Researchers from the University of Innsbruck have unveiled a novel method to prepare quantum operations on a given quantum computer, using a machine learning generative model to find the appropriate sequence of quantum gates to execute a quantum operation. The study, recently published in Nature Machine Intelligence, marks a significant step forward in unleashing the full extent of quantum computing. Generative models like diffusion models are one of the most important recent developments in Machine Learning (ML), with models as…
A molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the basic unit of biochemical energy that fuels the activities of all cells. Now a team led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Janelia Research Campus has developed and tested a high-resolution sensor for tracking the real-time dynamics of ATP levels in cells and within subcellular compartments. The new tool represents a major advance over prior ATP sensor technology, and the researchers expect it to accelerate…
The way cancer cells die from chemotherapy appears to be different than previously understood. Chemotherapy kills cancer cells. But the way these cells die appears to be different than previously understood. Researchers from the Netherlands Cancer Institute, led by Thijn Brummelkamp, have uncovered a completely new way in which cancer cells die: due to the Schlafen11 gene. “This is a very unexpected finding. Cancer patients have been treated with chemotherapy for almost a century, but this route to cell death…
Satellite radar data show kilometer-scale seawater intrusion, causing ice to rise and fall. A team of glaciologists led by researchers at the University of California, Irvine used high-resolution satellite radar data to find evidence of the intrusion of warm, high-pressure seawater many kilometers beneath the grounded ice of West Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier. In a study published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the UC Irvine-led team said that widespread contact between ocean water and the glacier –…
Viruses keep the most common marine bacteria in check. Marine microbes control the flux of matter and energy essential for life in the oceans. Among them, the bacterial group SAR11 accounts for about a third of all the bacteria found in surface ocean waters. A study by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany, now reveals that at times nearly 20% of SAR11 cells are infected by viruses, significantly reducing total cell numbers. The viruses…
The interdisciplinary research group “nature4HEALTH” has recently started its work. The team from Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Jena University Hospital is developing holistic natural compound-based therapeutic approaches for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases. Chronic inflammation contributes to many common diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, fatty liver and intestinal diseases, and also increases the risk of cancer. To treat these diseases, medicine has so far mainly relied on substances that inhibit the body’s immune response….
The basis of the marine food web in the Arctic, the phytoplankton, responds to heatwaves much differently than to constantly elevated temperatures. This has been found by the first targeted experiments on the topic, which were recently conducted at the Alfred Wegener Institute’s AWIPEV Station. The phytoplankton’s behaviour primarily depends on the cooling phases after or between heatwaves, as shown in a study just released in the journal Science Advances. Heatwaves, which we’ve increasingly seen around the globe in recent…
Plants have special corrective molecules at their disposal that can make retrospective modifications to copies of genes. However, it would appear that these “Tipp-Ex proteins” do not have permission to work in all areas of the cell, only being used in chloroplasts and mitochondria. A study by the University of Bonn has now explained why this is the case. It suggests that the correction mechanism would otherwise modify copies that have nothing wrong with them, with fatal consequences for the…
The new study could lead to advances in fighting solid tissue tumors. A new study conducted by the Wilhelm Lab at the University of Oklahoma examines a promising development in biomedical nanoengineering. Published in Advanced Materials, the study explores new findings on the transportation of cancer nanomedicines into solid tumors. A frequent misconception about many malignant solid tumors is that they are comprised only of cancerous cells. However, solid tumors also include healthy cells, such as immune cells and blood…
Microstructure simulations reveal strong influence of elastic deformation on the charging behavior of layered oxides used as cathode of sodium-ion batteries. Research into new battery materials is aimed at optimizing their performance and lifetime and at reducing costs. Work is also underway to reduce the consumption of rare elements, such as lithium and cobalt, as well as toxicconstituents. Sodium-ion batteries are considered very promising in this respect. They are based on principles similar to those of lithium-ion batteries, but can…
For the first time, scientists at the Cavendish Laboratory have found that a single ‘atomic defect’ in a thin material, Hexagonal Boron Nitride (hBN), exhibits spin coherence under ambient conditions, and that these spins can be controlled with light. Spin coherence refers to an electronic spin being capable of retaining quantum information over time. The discovery is significant because materials that can host quantum properties under ambient conditions is quite rare. The findings published in Nature Materials, further confirm that…
The material could be made as a thin coating to analyze air quality in industrial or home settings over time. Most systems used to detect toxic gases in industrial or domestic settings can be used only once, or at best a few times. Now, researchers at MIT have developed a detector that could provide continuous monitoring for the presence of these gases, at low cost. The new system combines two existing technologies, bringing them together in a way that preserves…
In order to infect an organ, viruses need the help of the host cells. “An effective approach is therefore to identify targets in the host that can be manipulated by drugs so that they no longer perform this helper function,” explains Mara Klöhn. The researchers became aware of the compound K11777 in a roundabout way: During a control study conducted as part of cell culture studies on the hepatitis C virus with a known active ingredient, they discovered that this…
Significant attempts 20 years ago… The study focused on the protein peptide deformylase (PDF). Involved in protein maturation processes in cells, PDF is essential for the survival of bacteria. However, it’s found in both bacteria and human cells. “Some 20 years ago, significant attempts were made to combat PDF with antibiotic agents,” Raphael Stoll points out. “Yet, the original drug candidate, i.e. actinonin, had to be discarded for several reasons. One of the problems faced was the newly discovered human…
From skill sets to an overall concept. At the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA2024) in Yokohama, Japan, geriatronics researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) will present four new research projects – including work on gripping objects and new safety functionalities. For the first time, a generative AI model enables GARMI to perform telemedical applications, physiotherapy and nursing tasks on demand. Neural networks help GARMI to recognize and grasp objects precisely. For the first time, the assistance…
Feedback
