… and help combat global warming. A significant breakthrough in developing a passive radiative cooling (PRC) material has been announced by researchers at City University of Hong Kong (CityU). The findings have just been published in the prestigious scientific journal Science titled “Hierarchically structured passive radiative cooling ceramic with high solar reflectivity.” The material, known as cooling ceramic, has achieved high-performance optical properties for energy-free and refrigerant-free cooling generation. Its cost-effectiveness, durability and versatility make it highly suitable for commercialisation…
…is already affecting the calcification of marine plankton. The acidification of the oceans caused by human activity is already altering the production of marine plankton shells in the Mediterranean Sea. This is the worrying conclusion of a study led by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), which alerts of the impact the decrease in pH of the surface ocean has on the production of calcium carbonate by marine plankton, with negative consequences…
Recently, a team led by Prof. WANG Mingtai from the Institute of Solid State Physics, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has put forward an intriguing approach to enhance the efficiency of solar cells. Their focus on the potential antimony trisulfide (Sb2S3) as a photovoltaic absorber has led to a Parallel Planar Heterojunction (PPHJ) strategy for the preparation of highly efficient solar cells. Their findings have been published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. One of the…
Physicists from the University of Luxembourg together with experts from Avant-garde Materials Simulation (AMS) and seven pharmaceutical companies have redefined the state-of-the-art in modeling and predicting the free energy of crystals. Their work, recently published in Nature, shows that crystal form stability under real-world temperature and humidity conditions can be reliably and affordably predicted through computer simulation. Physical properties (stability, solubility, etc.), critical to the performance of pharmaceutical and functional materials, are known to strongly depend on the solid-state form…
Liver cells age differently depending on where they are in the organ. Looking around us, we can see that people age at different rates. But what about inside? Do all cells age in the same way? And does the location of a cell in the organ make a difference to the ageing process? Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne and CECAD Excellence Cluster for Ageing Research have now shown in the liver of mice…
… in Managing Diabetes and Obesity. The increasing amount of patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes benefit greatly from the recently developed GIPR:GLP-1R co-agonists. These novel compounds lead to substantial weight loss, offering a revolutionary approach to patients worldwide. Although the hormone glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) was already shown by Helmholtz Munich scientists to decrease body weight via the brain GIP receptor, the underlying neurons through which GIP acts in the brain remained unknown. Scientists led by Dr. Timo…
Collaborative research led by UMass Amherst discovers that each microscopic animal alone can create up to 366,000 nanoplastic particles per day. A collaborative research team lead by the University of Massachusetts Amherst has recently revealed that rotifers, a kind of microscopic zooplankton common in both fresh and ocean water around the world, are able to chew apart microplastics, breaking them down into even smaller, and potentially more dangerous, nanoplastics—or particles smaller than one micron. Each rotifer can create between 348,000…
Research team, including a UC Riverside astronomer, made discovery using the James Webb Space Telescope. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, an international team, including astronomer Alexander de la Vega of the University of California, Riverside, has discovered the most distant barred spiral galaxy similar to the Milky Way that has been observed to date. Until now it was believed that barred spiral galaxies like the Milky Way could not be observed before the universe, estimated to be 13.8 billion years old,…
Lasers have become relatively commonplace in everyday life, but they have many uses outside of providing light shows at raves and scanning barcodes on groceries. Lasers are also of great importance in telecommunications and computing as well as biology, chemistry, and physics research. In those latter applications, lasers that can emit extremely short pulses—those on the order of one-trillionth of a second (one picosecond) or shorter—are especially useful. Using lasers operating on such small timescales, researchers can study physical and…
Researchers describes a hitherto unknown protein with anti-oxidizing properties secreted by Coxiella burnetii, a Gram-negative intracellular bacterium, pointing to possible treatments for auto-immune diseases and even cancer. Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil, partnering with colleagues in Australia, have identified a novel bacterial protein that can keep human cells healthy even when the cells have a heavy bacterial burden. The discovery could lead to new treatments for a wide array of diseases relating to mitochondrial dysfunction,…
Jennifer Oyler-Yaniv is using cancer as a model system to understand general principles of the immune system. The immune system is a crucial part of our survival, regularly fending off wide-ranging attacks on the body, both internal and external. Unsurprisingly, the elegant defense system that protects us from viruses, bacterial infections, cancer, and other threats is immensely complicated. Each time it mounts a response, it must quickly and carefully orchestrate communication across vast numbers of cells and molecules. Jennifer Oyler-Yaniv…
The striking image represents one of the most comprehensive views of the universe ever taken and reveals a vivid landscape of galaxies along with more than a dozen newfound, time-varying objects. Astronomers once again have combined the observational powers of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope to create one of the most detailed and colorful portraits of the cosmos, just in time for the holiday season. The new image, dubbed the Christmas Tree Galaxy Cluster by the research team that includes…
High-speed video reveals strategies hummingbirds use to transit apertures too small for their wingspan. Most birds that flit through dense, leafy forests have a strategy for maneuvering through tight windows in the vegetation — they bend their wings at the wrist or elbow and barrel through. But hummingbirds can’t bend their wing bones during flight, so how do they transit the gaps between leaves and tangled branches? A study published today in the Journal of Experimental Biology shows that hummingbirds…
… in the heart of Silicon Saxony and Europe. Modern electronics developments require state-of-the-art technologies and manufacturing processes, which are a financial challenge for many companies. Located in the heart of Silicon Saxony, Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS offers both large chip manufacturers and smaller companies access to the latest research results and technologies on 200 and 300 mm silicon wafers. Services range from consulting and process development to pilot production. Green ICT – i.e. sustainability – is also…
New method reveals host-microbe interactions. Joint press release by the CAU and the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology: North German researchers are developing a method that reveals the chemical communication between microbes and their host. The fascinating world of bacteria that live as symbionts or parasites in animal hosts often remains a mystery to researchers. Kiel University (CAU) and the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen are contributing to solving this puzzle with their research into the…
Nature Electronics publishes research from University of Linz, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa and University of Trento. Technological advancement meets environmental sustainability. Actuators, which convert electrical energy into motion or force, play a pivotal role in daily life, albeit often going unnoticed. Soft material-based actuators, in particular, have gained scientific attention in recent years due to their lightweight, quiet operation, and biodegradability. A straightforward approach to creating soft actuators involves employing multi-material structures, such as “pockets” made of flexible plastic…
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