A team led by scientists at UW–Madison has exploited those limitations of chemical combinations to write a cookbook with hundreds of recipes that have the potential to give rise to life. Life on a faraway planet — if it’s out there — might not look anything like life on Earth. But there are only so many chemical ingredients in the universe’s pantry, and only so many ways to mix them. A team led by scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison…
Chemotherapy as a treatment for cancer is one of the major medical success stories of the 20th century, but it’s far from perfect. Anyone who has been through chemotherapy or who has had a friend or loved one go through it will be familiar with its many side effects: hair loss, nausea, weakened immune system, and even infertility and nerve damage. This is because chemotherapy drugs are toxic. They’re meant to kill cancer cells by poisoning them, but since cancer…
An upconversion organic light-emitting diode (OLED) based on a typical blue-fluorescence emitter achieves emission at an ultralow turn-on voltage of 1.47 V, as demonstrated by researchers from Tokyo Tech. Their technology circumvents the traditional high voltage requirement for blue OLEDs, leading to potential advancements in commercial smartphone and large screen displays. Blue light is vital for light-emitting devices, lighting applications, as well as smartphone screens and large screen displays. However, it is challenging to develop efficient blue organic light-emitting diodes…
Today, fruit and vegetables are transported thousands of kilometers to Germany. A team at Fraunhofer IKTS now wants to bring horticulture to the cities with efficient and compact water, energy and gas management – and thereby strengthen regional self-sufficiency. Fresh peppers, crisp salads and juicy tomatoes – German consumers take all this for granted. Supermarket shelves are full of them. But most of these vegetables come from far away. According to the German Federal Statistical Office, a good quarter of…
Max Planck Scientists from Dortmund show how the signaling molecules BMP and FGF act as antagonists during embryonic development and thus guide cell differentiation. Bricklayer, banker, teacher – choosing a career is one of the most exciting and important decisions in our lives. At the beginning of embryonic development, our cells are also faced with this decision. Some of them become blood cells, others muscle cells and still others become nerve cells. A team led by Christian Schröter at the…
Kiel research team uses near-natural compost mesocosm experiment to demonstrate that worm hosts and the associated microorganisms jointly mediate adaptation to a novel environment. All multicellular organisms – from the simplest animal and plant organisms to humans – live in close association with a variety of microorganisms, known as the microbiome, which colonise on and in their tissues and form symbiotic relationships with the host. Many vital functions such as nutrient uptake, regulation of the immune system or even neurological…
Microcombs can help us discover planets outside our solar system and track new diseases in our bodies. But current microcombs are inefficient and unable to reach their full potential. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have scored a world first with their solution to make microcombs ten times more efficient. Their breakthrough opens the way to new discoveries in space and healthcare and paves the way for high-performance lasers in a range of other technologies. Laser frequency…
Researchers reveal how photonic crystals were created by corrosion and crystallization over centuries. Some 2,000 years ago in ancient Rome, glass vessels carrying wine or water, or perhaps an exotic perfumes, tumble from a table in a marketplace, and shatter to pieces on the street. As centuries passed, the fragments were covered by layers of dust and soil and exposed to a continuous cycle of changes in temperature, moisture, and surrounding minerals. Now these tiny pieces of glass are being…
Liverpool chemists make breakthrough in solving long-standing puzzle in polymer science. New research by the University of Liverpool’s Chemistry Department represents an important breakthrough in the field of polymer science. In a paper published in the journal Nature Chemistry and featuring on the front cover, Liverpool researchers use mechanochemistry to characterise how a polymer chain in solution responds to a sudden acceleration of the solvent flow around it. This new approach allows a fundamental and technological question that has preoccupied…
The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT, President Kim Byung-Suk) has developed a ‘Road Pothole Filtering Program’ to establish an emergency road restoration system for frequent pothole occurrences. Commonly referred to as ‘the landmine of the road,’ potholes are a road damage phenomenon in which parts of the asphalt sink into bowl-like depressions. Potholes occur when a significant amount of rainwater infiltrates the road surface, weakening the ground below and causing the asphalt pavement to collapse under the…
Moon’s permanently shadowed regions are younger than previously estimated. A team including Southwest Research Institute’s Dr. Raluca Rufu recently calculated that most of the Moon’s permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) are at most around 3.4 billion years old and can contain relatively young deposits of water ice. Water resources are considered key for sustainable exploration of the Moon and beyond, but these findings suggest that current estimates for cold-trapped ices are too high. The current tilt of the Moon’s spin axis…
From toxin to medicine in one go. The Vilsmeier reagent is necessary for producing a large range of pharmaceuticals, but its unstable nature and toxic precursor phosgene are challenges for its use. A new process that efficiently produces phosgene, the Vilsmeier reagent and the desired products in one flow is poised to make the industry greener and safer. For the production of many active pharmaceutical ingredients, a chemical called Vilsmeier reagent is necessary, but it is extremely unstable. That’s why…
– research project aims for rapid industrial implementation. Stationary energy storage systems aiming to relieve the public power grid during peak loads play an important role in the implementation the energy transition. Zinc-ion batteries have been the focus of attention for these and other applications for some time – but so far without commercial success. The BMBF-funded research project “Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries ZIB2” is now investigating how an industrial implementation can be successful. The use of non-critical, low-cost materials, an…
Language is one aspect that makes us human. Other animals can learn words or calls and communicate, but the ability to generate an infinite number of utterances based on a small number of syntactic rules is unique to humans. A team of researchers led by Angela Friederici from MPI CBS in Leipzig, together with scientists from the Universities of Texas and Washington (USA), have now published a study in the journal PLOS Biology in which they directly compared the region…
Fraunhofer FHR at EUMW 2023 in Berlin: This year, the European Microwave Week (EuMW), Europe’s leading conference on microwave technology, high-frequency technology, wireless, and radar, will take place in Berlin from September 17 to 22, 2023 – also an important conference for Fraunhofer FHR. In a total of 8 lectures within 6 workshops, 8 technical contributions, and a poster presentation at the conferences, as well as at two exhibition booths, the researchers showcase the latest developments in radar and high-frequency…
The device contains encapsulated cells that produce insulin, plus a tiny oxygen-producing factory that keeps the cells healthy. One promising approach to treating Type 1 diabetes is implanting pancreatic islet cells that can produce insulin when needed, which can free patients from giving themselves frequent insulin injections. However, one major obstacle to this approach is that once the cells are implanted, they eventually run out of oxygen and stop producing insulin. To overcome that hurdle, MIT engineers have designed a…
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