Highlights Laboratory research led by MSK and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory demonstrates the potential for CAR T cells to improve “healthspan” by eliminating senescent cells associated with aging-related diseases. Not only was the treatment able to improve the metabolic function of aging mice and mice fed a high-fat diet, but it also proved protective against metabolic decline when given to younger mice. The CAR T cell-based approach offers a powerful alternative to more traditional small-molecule drugs target senescent cells, supported…
Oxidation can degrade the properties and functionality of metals. However, a research team co-led by scientists from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) recently found that severely oxidized metallic glass nanotubes can attain an ultrahigh recoverable elastic strain, outperforming most conventional super-elastic metals. They also discovered the physical mechanisms underpinning this super-elasticity. Their discovery implies that oxidation in low-dimension metallic glass can result in unique properties for applications in sensors, medical devices and other nanodevices. In recent years, the functional…
Researchers at the universities of Mainz, Olomouc, and Tokyo succeeded in generating a logical qubit from a single light pulse that has the inherent capacity to correct errors. There has been significant progress in the field of quantum computing. Big global players, such as Google and IBM, are already offering cloud-based quantum computing services. However, quantum computers cannot yet help with problems that occur when standard computers reach the limits of their capacities because the availability of qubits or quantum…
At a kick-off meeting in Cologne on January 30, 2024, a group of innovative minds gave the starting signal for a roadmap that will bundle the ongoing activities in the field of quantum technologies at universities, research institutes, start-ups and companies in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). The two leading state ministries – for culture and science (MKW) and for economy, industry, climate protection and energy (MWIKE) –have commissioned the coordination office QT.NMWP.NRW and Forschungszentrum Jülich with implementing…
The Event Horizon Telescope collaboration, including scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany, has recently resolved the jet base of an evolving jet of plasma at ultra-high angular resolution. The international team of scientists used the Earth-size telescope to probe the magnetic structure in the nucleus of the radio galaxy 3C 84 (Perseus A), one of the closest active supermassive black holes in our cosmic neighbourhood. These novel results provide new insight into how jets…
Researchers from Bonn and Munich also find “thermostat” in the animals’ brains. Zebrafish are smaller than your little finger, with a brain no more than half the size of a pinhead. Yet these animals possess an efficient navigation system that enables them to find their way back to spots in the water where the temperature suits them. This has been revealed in a recent study by the University of Bonn and University Hospital Bonn together with the Technical University of…
RNAi therapy for viral respiratory diseases. A research team from the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine ITEM and the Hannover Medical School (MHH) have made significant progress in developing a new antiviral therapy. The drug, which is inhaled, uses RNAi to target and deactivate parainfluenza viruses before they multiply. Parainfluenza viruses can trigger serious respiratory illnesses, especially in people with weakened immune systems and in children. There are currently few effective treatment options for patients except for bed…
This year, the Carl Zeiss Foundation’s funding for interdisciplinary research topics goes twice to the University of Jena: Starting 1st February, 2024, the funding for Dr Sina Saravi begins, who is developing optical neural networks to make image recognition faster and more resource-efficient. And since 1st January, 2024, Dr Desirée Leistenschneider has been funded for developing innovative batteries. Both research groups receive 1.5 million euros each for a period of five years. Image Recognition at the Speed of Light “Put…
A collaborative group of researchers has potentially developed a means of controlling spin waves by creating a hexagonal pattern of copper disks on a magnetic insulator (shown in Figure 1). The breakthrough is expected to lead to greater efficiency and miniaturization of communication devices in fields such as artificial intelligence and automation technology. Details of the study were published in the journal Physical Review Applied on January 30, 2024. In a magnetic material, the spins of electrons are aligned. When…
A team from TU Dortmund University recently succeeded in producing a highly durable time crystal that lived millions of times longer than could be shown in previous experiments. By doing so, they have corroborated an extremely interesting phenomenon that Nobel Prize laureate Frank Wilczek postulated around ten years ago and which had already found its way into science fiction movies. The results have now been published in Nature Physics. Crystals or, to be more precise, crystals in space, are periodic…
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) in Hamburg, Germany and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in the United States have gained new insights into the development of the light-induced ferroelectric state in SrTiO₃. They exposed the material to mid-infrared and terahertz frequency laser pulses and found that the fluctuations of its atomic positions are reduced under these conditions. This may explain the emergence of a more ordered dipolar structure than in equilibrium…
Producing sustainable fuels from solar energy is an ambitious project and presents major challenges to people and material. In the MAfoS project, researchers at the Fraunhofer Center for High Temperature Materials and Design HTL are developing materials for the first industrial solar-to-fuel demonstration plant. It sounds almost like a fairytale: Sustainable fuels are created from water, CO2 and sunlight in a high, mirror-lined tower. Fraunhofer experts are contributing their know-how to this plan in a special project: “Material Advancements for…
A European XFEL team at the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology has tested a mock-up coil of the superconducting undulator pre-series module (S-PRESSO) designed for an upgrade of the European XFEL. It reached a world record magnetic field. Undulators are one of the most important devices for a free-electron laser like the European XFEL in Schenefeld near Hamburg. With the help of a series of strong magnets an undulator creates an extremely brilliant light by forcing fast-moving electrons onto a slalom…
MultiLambdaChip project gets underway. Modern optical measurement techniques such as digital holography enable inline quality assurance. Until now, the size and cost of the light sources have prevented these measurement techniques from becoming widely established. As part of the MultiLambdaChip research project, Fraunhofer IPM is developing highly integrated, cost-effective laser light sources for use in digital holography, working in collaboration with HÜBNER Photonics, Carl Zeiss AG, cyberTECHNOLOGIES GmbH and the Laboratory for Optical Systems at the University of Freiburg. The…
Embassy reception on board at harbour call in Hobart, Tasmania, between two Antarctic expeditions. She has been travelling in the Arctic and Antarctic in the service of research for over 40 years, but there are still areas that are new territory even for the Polarstern: Between two expeditions to East Antarctica, the Alfred Wegener Institute’s research icebreaker reached Hobart in Tasmania on 30 January 2024 and will remain there until 6 February. The German Embassy in Australia, together with the…
Bacterial composition of the skin plays a role in determining how well cancer patients tolerate radiotherapy. Many cancer patients develop severe dermatitis during radiotherapy. Which factors increase the risk of such radiodermatitis has only been partially understood up until now. A pilot study at the University of Augsburg, the Technical University of Munich (TUM), and Helmholtz Munich now points to the important role played by skin bacteria. Breast cancer patients whose skin microbiome was severely disturbed all developed severe dermatitis…
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