Barley seedlings grow on average 50% more when their root system is stimulated electrically through a new cultivation substrate. In a study published in the journal PNAS, researchers from Linköping University have developed an electrically conductive “soil” for soilless cultivation, known as hydroponics. “The world population is increasing, and we also have climate change. So it’s clear that we won’t be able to cover the food demands of the planet with only the already existing agricultural methods. But with hydroponics…
High-frequency terahertz waves have great potential for a number of applications including next-generation medical imaging and communication. Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, have shown, in a study published in the journal Advanced Science, that the transmission of terahertz light through an aerogel made of cellulose and a conducting polymer can be tuned. This is an important step to unlock more applications for terahertz waves. The terahertz range covers wavelengths that lie between microwaves and infrared light on the electromagnetic spectrum….
For the first time, an instrument to find planets light years away was used on an object in the Solar System, in a study on Jupiter’s winds. We find ourselves at a time when it has become almost commonplace to discover planets orbiting another star, with more than 5,000 already registered. The first distant worlds to incorporate this list were mainly giant planets, similar to but also very different in many ways from Jupiter and Saturn. Astrophysicists have already begun…
At about the size of a pinkie nail, the jellyfish species Cladonema can regenerate an amputated tentacle in two to three days — but how? Regenerating functional tissue across species, including salamanders and insects, relies on the ability to form a blastema, a clump of undifferentiated cells that can repair damage and grow into the missing appendage. Jellyfish, along with other cnidarians such as corals and sea anemones, exhibit high regeneration abilities, but how they form the critical blastema has…
… that might help treat obesity. Swallowing the device before a meal could create a sense of fullness, tricking the brain into thinking it’s time to stop eating. When you eat a large meal, your stomach sends signals to your brain that create a feeling of fullness, which helps you realize it’s time to stop eating. A stomach full of liquid can also send these messages, which is why dieters are often advised to drink a glass of water before…
MAIUS-2 mission launched with FBH laser modules on board. The MAIUS-2 mission rocket was launched into space on December 2, 2023 from Kiruna, Sweden. On board the sounding rocket 75 experiments were scheduled in which compounds of so-called Bose-Einstein condensates, based on rubidium and potassium atoms, are investigated. The findings will be evaluated over the next few months. Laser modules developed and manufactured by the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut play an important role in controlling and manipulating the atoms under extreme conditions. Payload…
The evolution of TB, the earliest confirmed presence of the causative agents in human remains. Recent research suggests that the emergence of tuberculosis infection in human populations dates back tens of thousands of years earlier than previously known cases in the Middle East. In collaboration with an international research team, Hungarian researchers have edited and published a special issue of the journal Tuberculosis. In July 2022, the Department of Anthropology of the University of Szeged organised a conference on the…
One of the major challenges facing cell research is how to target substances to combat diseases. A team from Constructor University, in cooperation with scientists from the University of Vienna, discovered a new, promising method using spherical metal oxide molecules known as polyoxometalates. They report on the results of their research in the journal “Advanced Materials”, one of the most important publication media in chemistry and materials science. The metal oxide molecules are already known as antitumor, antibacterial, antiviral and…
Light in the evening is thought to be bad for sleep. However, does the color of the light play a role? Researchers from the University of Basel and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) compared the influence of different light colors on the human body. The researchers’ findings contradict the results of a previous study in mice. Vision is a complex process. The visual perception of the environment is created by a combination of different wavelengths of light, which are…
Research at Göttingen and Warwick Universities reveals how filament interactions affect cellular networks. Tiny things matter – for instance, one amino acid can completely alter the architecture of the cell. Researchers at the Universities of Göttingen and Warwick investigated the structure and mechanics of the main component of the cytoskeleton of the cell: a protein known as actin. Actin is found in all living cells where it has a range of important functions – from muscle contraction to cell signalling…
Researchers at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME), Argonne National Laboratory, and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia have developed a new computational tool to describe how the atoms within quantum materials behave when they absorb and emit light. The tool will be released as part of the open-source software package WEST, developed within the Midwest Integrated Center for Computational Materials (MICCoM) by a team led by Prof. Marco Govoni, and it helps scientists better understand and engineer…
New process enhances sustainability of pig iron production. Researchers of KIT and Partners Demonstrate a Process that Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Conventional Steel Production. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the SMS group have developed a new process to reduce CO2 emission of worldwide steel production by several hundred million tons per year. It is based on modernizing blast furnace technology with moderate investments and has already been demonstrated successfully in a pilot plant. The researchers report…
Research groups around the world are developing technologies to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into raw materials for industrial applications. Most experiments under industrially relevant conditions have been carried out with heterogeneous electrocatalysts, i.e. catalysts that are in a different chemical phase to the reacting substances. However, homogeneous catalysts, which are in the same phase as the reactants, are generally considered to be more efficient and selective. To date, there haven’t been any set-ups where homogeneous catalysts could be tested under…
Nanoscale patterns revealed within model research organism. Advanced instrument provides new 3D views of worm’s exoskeleton and clues about how skin layers are bound together. Species throughout the animal kingdom feature vital interfaces between the outermost layers of their bodies and the environment. Intricate microscopic structures—featured on the outer skin layers of humans, as one example—are known to assemble in matrix patterns. But how these complex structures, known as apical extracellular matrices (aECMs) are assembled into elaborately woven architectures has…
Research reveals molecular origins of function for a key drug target. Through an international collaboration, scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital leveraged data science, pharmacology and structural information to conduct an atomic-level investigation into how each amino acid in the receptor that binds adrenaline contributes to receptor activity in the presence of this natural ligand. They discovered precisely which amino acids control the key pharmacological properties of the ligand. The adrenaline receptor studied is a member of the G…
This photo of Saturn was taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope on October 22, 2023, when the ringed planet was approximately 850 million miles from Earth. Hubble’s ultra-sharp vision reveals a phenomenon called ring spokes. Saturn’s spokes are transient features that rotate along with the rings. Their ghostly appearance only persists for two or three rotations around Saturn. During active periods, freshly-formed spokes continuously add to the pattern. In 1981, NASA’s Voyager 2 first photographed the ring spokes. NASA’s Cassini orbiter also saw the spokes during…
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