How fungi improve their ability to infect insects. Researchers at the Kiel Evolution Center investigate for the first time in detail how a fungus important for biological plant protection can pass on an advantageous chromosome horizontally, using a previously little-studied way of exchanging genetic information. Sustainable plant protection measures that are not based on chemical pesticides rely on various organisms and biological agents to protect crops from pests. Such organisms used for biological plant protection are, for example, microscopic fungi…
MHH researchers place living human heart tissue in a nutrient solution and use it to test new drugs and innovative approaches to combat heart failure. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are also involved in the development of diseases. These small RNA snippets belong to the so-called non-coding RNAs: although they do not contain any genetic information for the production of a protein, they fulfil an important task in the control of fundamental biological processes in our cells. They therefore offer a new starting…
In the “HoLa” project, a total of eight high-performance charging points for trucks using the Megawatt Charging System (MCS) are being installed at five locations along the A2 between Berlin and the Ruhr region and used in real logistics operations. Recommendations for action have been derived from the research results available to date that contain important findings for a nationwide expansion of charging infrastructure. All the results were presented today at the European “HoLa conference” in Berlin and are documented…
Quantum mechanics tells us that the fundamental unit of charge is unbreakable – but exceptions exist. A research team led by the Paul Scherrer Institute has spectroscopically observed fractionalisation of electronic charge in an iron-based metallic ferromagnet. Experimental observation of the phenomenon is not only of fundamental importance. Since it appears in an alloy of common metals at accessible temperatures, it holds potential for future exploitation in electronic devices. The discovery is published in the journal Nature. Basic quantum mechanics…
Compact chips advance precision timing for communications, navigation and other applications. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and its collaborators have delivered a small but mighty advancement in timing technology: compact chips that seamlessly convert light into microwaves. This chip could improve GPS, the quality of phone and internet connections, the accuracy of radar and sensing systems, and other technologies that rely on high-precision timing and communication. This technology reduces something known as timing jitter, which is small,…
The mammalian brain is a web of densely interconnected neurons, yet one of the mysteries in neuroscience is how tools that capture relatively few components of brain activity have allowed scientists to predict behavior in mice. It is hard to believe that much of the brain’s complexity is irrelevant background noise. “We wondered why such a redundant and metabolically costly scheme would have evolved,” says Rockefeller’s Alipasha Vaziri. Now, a new study in Neuron—which presents an unprecedented simultaneous recording of the…
NASA tool has the answer… It’s not hard to find out what NASA’s Hubble and James Webb space telescopes have observed in the past. Barely a week goes by without news of a cosmic discovery made possible using images, spectra, and other data captured by NASA’s prolific astronomical observatories. But what are Hubble and Webb looking at right this minute? A shadowy pillar harboring nascent stars? A pair of colliding galaxies? The atmosphere of a distant planet? Galactic light, stretched and distorted on a 13-billion-year journey…
Optical properties of afterglow luminescent particles (ALPs) in mechanoluminescence (ML) and mechanical quenching (MQ) have attracted great attention for diverse technological applications. Recently, a team of researchers from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) has garnered attention by developing an optical display technology with ALPs enabling the writing and erasure of messages underwater. The team, comprised of Professor Sei Kwang Hahn and PhD candidate Seong-Jong Kim from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the POSTECH, uncovered a…
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön, within the Department of Theoretical Biology, characterized a recently discovered dynamical regime of microbial communities and used it to explain empirical patterns of marine plankton. There, strong and diverse interactions, combined with weak dispersal, fuel a continuous turnover of the small set of very abundant species, such that success is ephemeral and every species is equivalent in alternating between rarity and dominance. Scientists at the Research Group for Dynamics…
When Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones are used to survey industrial buildings, map terrain, or transport cargo for the logistics sector, they need to be as lightweight as possible, but carry the greatest possible payload. Fraunhofer IZM has developed a compact and lightweight navigation unit (IMU) for such drones, which enables centimeter-perfect accuracy that was previously unattainable for civilian applications. CAD model of the interferometric miniature gyroscope (IFOG). (c) Fraunhofer IZM The aim of the IMUcompact research project was…
The IPH – Institut für Integrierte Produktion Hannover gGmbH will be exhibiting a cobot that can draw at Hannover Messe 2024 from April 22 to 26. The exhibit illustrates the connection between artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics in production. It can be seen in Hall 2 (Research Hall) at Stand A10, the joint stand of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science. Cobots are collaborative robots that can work directly with humans to support them. (c) Susann Reichert / IPH gGmbH…
Researchers investigated how stress hormones affect the early development of brain cells in the cerebral cortex of fetus. The cortex is the crucial area of the brain for thinking. A team at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry was able to demonstrate causal links between stress hormones and altered brain structure which relate to higher level of educational attainment later in life. The hormone group of glucocorticoids is crucial for the regulation of our metabolism and immune response, but also…
Having returned from Antarctica, SLF technician Matthias Jaggi talks about new insights into snowpack structure, future work to refine climate models using the samples collected, a personal career highlight – and traffic. Mr Jaggi, what were the main insights you gained during your weeks in Antarctica? It reminded me just how inhomogeneous the snowpack is. The wind has an immense influence on its structure, piling up dunes and creating sloping layers. These aren’t just arranged horizontally, layer upon layer. I’m…
A globally distributed single-celled organism that occurs in harmful algal blooms has been found to exhibit an unusual organisation of photosynthesis. Researchers at the University of Oldenburg (Germany) have taken a closer look at the unusual cell biology of the species Prorocentrum cordatum from the group of dinoflagellates. The results of their study, published in the journal Plant Physiology, could help to better understand the role of the species in the environment and the increased occurrence of algal blooms at…
Since more than a decade it has been possible for physicists to accurately measure the location of individual atoms to a precision of smaller than one thousandth of a millimeter using a special type of microscope. However, this method has so far only provided the x and y coordinates. Information on the vertical position of the atom is lacking. A new method has now been developed that can determine all three spatial coordinates of an atom with one single image….
NIH trial reveals need for more accurate screening in Black people and cisgender women. The elevated cardiovascular disease risk among people with HIV is even greater than predicted by a standard risk calculator in several groups, including Black people and cisgender women, according to analyses from a large international clinical trial primarily funded by the National institutes of Health and presented at the 2024 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Denver. The risk of having a first major…
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