Cologne Researchers discover a new mechanism controlling the uptake of lipids from digested food. The maintenance of a balanced lipid homeostasis is critical for our health. While consumption of excessive amounts of fatty foods contributes to metabolic diseases such as obesity and atherosclerosis, fat is an indispensable component of our diet. Digested lipids supply the body with essential building blocks and facilitate the absorption of important vitamins. In a new study published in the journal Nature, a team of researchers…
Magnetism occurs depending on how electrons behave. For example, the elementary particles can generate an electric current with their charge and thereby induce a magnetic field. However, magnetism can also arise through the collective alignment of the magnetic moments (spins) in a material. What has not been possible until now, however, is to continuously change the type of magnetism in a crystal. An international research team led by TU Wien professor Andrej Pustogow has now succeeded in doing just that:…
The Dynamic Journey of DNA Replication Timing and Its Impact on Cellular Plasticity . The intricate process of duplicating genetic information, referred to as DNA replication, lies at the heart of the transmission of life from one cell to another and from one organism to the next. This happens by not just simply copying the genetic information; a well-orchestrated sequence of molecular events has to happen at the right time. Scientists around Prof. Maria-Elena Torres-Padilla from Helmholtz Munich have recently…
New approach to vaccine development. Bioinformatics: Publication in Cell Systems Vaccine development aims at protecting as many people as possible from infections. Short protein fragments of pathogens, so-called epitopes, are seen as a promising new approach for vaccine development. In the scientific journal Cell Systems, bioinformaticians from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) now present a method for identifying those epitopes that promise safe immunisation across the broadest possible population group. They have also computed vaccine candidates against the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2…
… using a microsurgery robot at USZ. Because it was not possible to remove a hard-to-reach bulge in the central lymphatic system, a team of doctors from the Department of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery at the University Hospital Zurich (USZ) created a new drain to relieve the patient’s agonizing lymph congestion. For the first time, a microsurgical operating system was used for such a procedure. By the time the patient came to the Department of Plastic Surgery and Hand…
Using mechanical rather than statistical analysis, the team offers a new framework for understanding the climate system. An international team of scientists has found the first direct evidence linking seemingly random weather systems in the ocean with climate on a global scale. Led by Hussein Aluie, an associate professor in the University of Rochester’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and staff scientist at the University’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics, the team reported their findings in Science Advances. The ocean has weather…
These tiny frogs lay their eggs on leaves, and the males guard them. In general, frogs’ teeth aren’t anything to write home about—they look like pointy little pinpricks lining the upper jaw. But one group of stream-dwelling frogs in Southeast Asia has a strange adaptation: two bony “fangs” jutting out of their lower jawbone. They use these fangs to battle with each other over territory and mates, and sometimes even to hunt tough-shelled prey like giant centipedes and crabs. In…
UW–Madison scientists engineer bacteria to make two valuable products from plant fiber. UW researchers have engineered bacteria that can produce two chemical products at the same time from underutilized plant fiber; The discovery could help make biofuels more sustainable and commercially viable. We often look to the smallest lifeforms for help solving the biggest problems: Microbes help make foods and beverages, cure diseases, treat waste and even clean up pollution. Yeast and bacteria can also convert plant sugars into biofuels…
Revolutionizing transistor technology… Fabrication of a gallium nitride transistor using a diamond substrate that has twice the heat dissipation properties in comparison to silicon carbide. Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University are proving that diamonds are so much more than just a girl’s best friend. Their groundbreaking research focuses on gallium nitride (GaN) transistors, which are high-power, high-frequency semiconductor devices used in mobile data and satellite communication systems. With the increasing miniaturization of semiconductor devices, problems arise such as increases in…
The colour of dragonfly communities reacts to seasonal variation in solar radiation. Over the last 30 years, however, this colour pattern has changed – probably as a result of climate change. In a new study, researchers at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) in Bavaria, Germany, have discovered that the colour of dragonfly communities reacts to seasonal fluctuations in solar radiation. In spring and autumn, dragonflies with darker colour nuances are more likely to fly, while the specimens that appear in summer tend…
Thousands of delegates from member states of the International Telecommunication Un-ion and representatives from industry and science met for four weeks in Dubai. The World Radiocommunication Conference set the course for new applications for radio communication. The focus was also on protecting radio astronomy, in particular from the effects of new satellite constellations. Studies are now to be carried out before the next world radio conference in 2027. The aim is to identify improved technical or regulatory measures so that…
EU research project MOSMIN to monitor and secure mining-related deposits. Mining remains essential to meet the growing demand for raw materials. But there are potential environmental risks associated with mining, such as the instability of tailings dams or the contamination of soil and water. In order to prevent these risks and optimize the efficiency of resource extraction, twelve international partners within the framework of the European research project MOSMIN have set themselves the task of using Copernicus satellite and ground-based…
How up-to-date are such permanently connected IoT devices? By 2023, billions of Internet of Things (IoT) devices found their way into almost every area of life, industry and critical infrastructures. As these permanently connected smart devices process very sensitive data, their up-to-dateness is essential – especially in times of hacker attacks, data misuse or industrial espionage. In this context, a new Fraunhofer ISI study analysed data of 52 billion devices, their geographical location – and whether their installed firmware is…
Whether spider silk is stronger and tougher depends on the environmental influences to which it is exposed. Prof Dr Thomas Scheibel, Chair of Biomaterials at the University of Bayreuth, and his team have now published a study in which they show that spider webs are particularly robust in areas of heavy rainfall. They are now presenting the results of the study with 50 spider species in the journal Current Biology. In the course of evolution, spiders have developed “orb webs”…
Research Group from Friedrich Schiller University Jena, University of Leipzig, and University of Vienna Develops a Glass Material That Precisely Separates Gases. Separating carbon dioxide molecules from gas mixtures requires materials with extremely fine pores. Researchers from Friedrich Schiller University Jena, in cooperation with the University of Leipzig and the University of Vienna, have now found a novel way to do this: they transformed crystalline metal-organic framework compounds into glass. In doing so, they managed to reduce the pore size…
UCLA-led team maps medium- and high-entropy alloys and identifies potential to tune their properties, making them both stronger and more flexible. Alloys, which are materials such as steel that are made by combining two or more metallic elements, are among the underpinnings of contemporary life. They are essential for buildings, transportation, appliances and tools — including, very likely, the device you are using to read this story. In applying alloys, engineers have faced an age-old trade-off common in most materials:…
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