An international team of researchers led by Mungo Frost from the SLAC research centre in California has gained new insights into the formation of diamond rain on icy planets such as Neptune and Uranus, using the X-ray laser European XFEL in Schenefeld. The results, which have now been published in the scientific journal Nature Astronomy, also provide clues to the formation of the complex magnetic fields of these planets. In earlier work on X-ray lasers, scientists had already discovered that…
A new microscopic technique zeroes in on the poorly explored world of nanoplastics, which can pass into blood, cells and your brain. In recent years, there has been rising concern that tiny particles known as microplastics are showing up basically everywhere on Earth, from polar ice to soil, drinking water and food. Formed when plastics break down into progressively smaller bits, these particles are being consumed by humans and other creatures, with unknown potential health and ecosystem effects. One big…
Study finds chiral structures, with mirror-image configurations, can emerge from nonchiral systems, suggesting new ways to engineer these materials. Hold your hands out in front of you, and no matter how you rotate them, it’s impossible to superimpose one over the other. Our hands are a perfect example of chirality — a geometric configuration by which an object cannot be superimposed onto its mirror image. Chirality is everywhere in nature, from our hands to the arrangement of our internal organs…
Fraunhofer Austria and the AULSS2 Marca Trevigiana Institute in Treviso have developed a method based on artificial intelligence that can reduce the workload of laboratories. Urinary tract infections are usually diagnosed by means of urine culture: an extract of the urine sample is applied to a plate and examined for bacterial growth under a microscope for the following 24 to 48 hours. After this time-consuming procedure, however, more than two thirds of samples turn out to be negative. Being able…
Important Membrane transport mechanism in pathogenic bacteria researched. Some bacterial membrane transporters work almost like freight elevators to transport substances through the cell membrane into the interior of the cell. The transporter itself spans the bacterial membrane. Like a forklift, a soluble protein outside the bacterium transports the substance to the “elevator” and unloads its cargo there. The freight elevator transports it to the inside of the cell, in other words to another floor. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn…
Scientists examine how friction forces propel development in a marine organism. As the potter works the spinning wheel, the friction between their hands and the soft clay helps them shape it into all kinds of forms and creations. In a fascinating parallel, sea squirt oocytes (immature egg cells) harness friction within various compartments in their interior to undergo developmental changes after conception. A study from the Heisenberg group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), published in Nature…
Certain combinations of gut bacteria protect stem cell transplantation patients. After stem cell transplantation, the donated immune cells sometimes attack the patients’ bodies. This is known as graft versus host disease or GvHD. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Universitätsklinikum Regensburg (UKR) have shown that GvHD is much less common when certain microbes are present in the gut. In the future, it may be possible to deliberately bring about this protective composition of the microbiome. Stem…
Skeletal editing employed to enlarge molecule rings. Molecules with a central ring system play an important role in the search for active ingredients for new pharmaceutical products – and it is important that the rings should have the correct size if the desired product is to be manufactured as efficiently as possible. For this purpose, an international team of chemists led by Prof. Frank Glorius (University of Münster) and Prof. Osvaldo Gutierrez (Texas A&M University, USA) have developed a precise…
Skis with Functional Surfaces as an Alternative. The winter sports industry is seeking a replacement for the prohibited fluorinated ski wax. Scientists at the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH) have developed an eco-friendly alternative that maintains performance: skis with an innovative microstructure. Whether in professional or recreational skiing, waxing skis and snowboards is crucial for smoother gliding and higher speeds. Typically used products contain per- and polyfluorinated alkanes, known as PFAS, some of which have shown health risks in animal…
… renders men infertile and frustrates medically assisted reproduction. In half of the couples that are unable to conceive a child, the infertility is due to the man. A new study identifies the defective function of ‘CatSper’, an ion channel controlling calcium levels in sperm, as a common cause of seemingly unexplained male infertility. CatSper-deficient human sperm fail to fertilize the egg, because they cannot penetrate its protective vestments. Thus far, this sperm channelopathy has remained undetectable. Scientists from Münster,…
Unknown germs are a common occurrence in hospitals. Researchers at the University of Basel have spent many years collecting and analyzing them. They have identified many new species of bacteria, some of which are significant for clinical practice. Bacterial infections can be treated more efficiently if the cause of the disease is known. In most cases, all it takes to identify a pathogen is an analysis in a medical laboratory. Sometimes, however, the standard methods are insufficient – for example,…
…through an uncrewed surface vehicle. In a recent tragic incident, approximately 100 elephants in Africa perished due to inadequate access to water. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) issues a warning that around 2.5 billion people worldwide could face water scarcity by 2025. In the face of water shortages affecting not only human society but also the entire ecological community due to the climate crisis, it becomes crucial to adopt comprehensive measures for managing water quality and quantity to avert…
The recent cold spell has plunged the nation into a deep freeze, resulting in the closure of 247 national parks, the cancellation of 14 domestic flights, and the scrapping of 107 cruise ship voyages. While the cold snap brought relief by significantly reducing the prevalence of particulate matter obscuring our surroundings, a recent study indicates that, besides diminishing particulate matter, it is significantly contributing to the heightened uptake of carbon dioxide by the East Sea. According to research conducted by…
… using rat-derived stem cells. Researchers from Japan explore the conditions needed for organ regeneration and overcoming species-specific barriers to create functional organs in interspecies chimeric animals. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death worldwide. It is marked by lung damage that is lasting and incurable, leaving lung transplantation as the only viable treatment option. Unfortunately, finding suitable lung donors is difficult. To compensate for this shortage of donors, regenerative medicine is making strides in…
Studies in mice reveal the mechanism that induces this severe side effect and point to a solution that kills the cancer without causing gastrointestinal issues. Researchers at the University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center have identified a mechanism that causes severe gastrointestinal problems with immune-based cancer treatment. They also found a way to deliver immunotherapy’s cancer-killing impact without the unwelcome side effect. The findings are published in Science. “This is a good example of how understanding a mechanism helps…
Coastal forests in Japan had predominantly been afforested with black pine (Pinus thunbergii), a shade-tolerant tree species that can withstand dry land ecosystems and harsh coastal environments. This afforestation initiative, dating back to the Edo period (1603~1867), aimed to mitigate the deleterious effects of robust winds and sand blowing. Subsequent to the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, interest shifted to the potential protective effects of coastal forests in reducing the destructive power of tsunamis. The Great East Japan Earthquake…
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