… forming a new phase of matter. A study led by Brown University scientists begins to address a longstanding question in condensed matter physics on whether disorder mimics or destroys the quantum liquid state in a prominent compound. Quantum spin liquids are difficult to explain and even harder to understand. To start, they have nothing to do with everyday liquids, like water or juice, but everything to do with special magnets and how they spin. In regular magnets, when the…
… by converting it into methanol with a new enzyme. A team led by Professor Osami Shoji at Nagoya University in Japan has developed a technology to convert methane, the principal component of natural gas, into methanol at room temperature in water. They used an enzyme that can be easily mass-produced, offering the possibility of a cheap and effective means to reduce the carbon footprint of natural gas. They published the results in ACS Catalysis. Methane is the key component…
Researchers have invented a nano-thin superbug-slaying material that could one day be integrated into wound dressings and implants to prevent or heal bacterial infections. The innovation – which has undergone advanced pre-clinical trials – is effective against a broad range of drug-resistant bacterial cells, including ‘golden staph’, which are commonly referred to as superbugs. Antibiotic resistance is a major global health threat, causing about 700,000 deaths annually, a figure which could rise to 10 million deaths a year by 2050…
Tiny oil droplets and air bubbles supply the sticky summer staple with its signature chewiness. American beach town boardwalks often boast numerous storefronts advertising saltwater taffies. The candy calls to mind summer vacations, a rainbow assortment of colors and flavors, and a sweetness that sticks to the roof of your mouth. But when San To Chan received saltwater taffy to celebrate their thesis defense, their first question was not of the flavor but of the physics. When measuring how the…
Scientists identify how the dissection of Arctic landscapes is changing with accelerating climate change. New research co-led by Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia shows that amplified global warming in the Canadian High Arctic drove a profound shift in the structure of a river network carved into a permafrost landscape in only 60 years. Documenting a powerful interplay among climate change, the freeze-thaw dynamics of polygonal ground and the delivery of surface water by floods as well…
The EU-funded Human Brain Project (HBP) comes to an end in September and celebrates its successful conclusion today with a scientific symposium at Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ). The HBP was one of the first flagship projects and, with 155 cooperating institutions from 19 countries and a total budget of 607 million euros, one of the largest research projects in Europe. Forschungszentrum Jülich, with its world-leading brain research institute and the Jülich Supercomputing Centre, played an important role in the ten-year project….
New electrolyte goes extra mile for faster EV charging. Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers are taking fast charging for electric vehicles, or EVs, to new extremes. A team of battery scientists recently developed a lithium-ion battery material that not only recharges 80% of its capacity in 10 minutes but keeps that ability for 1,500 charging cycles. When a battery operates or recharges, ions move between electrodes through a medium called the electrolyte. ORNL’s Zhijia Du led a team who developed new formulations…
New funding phase of the Kopernikus project SynErgie at University of Bayreuth. By 2035, the electricity generated in Germany is to come entirely from renewable sources. However, an electricity supply generated predominantly from sun and wind will fluctuate over the course of the day. Therefore, the Kopernikus project SynErgie, which has been funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) since 2016, is investigating how energy-intensive companies can flexibly adapt their demand to the electricity supply. On the…
Thermophotovoltaics: Researchers develop new resistant emitter based on iridium. Together with the Technical University of Hamburg and Aalborg University, researchers from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon have developed a new selective emitter based on iridium for thermophotovoltaics. Iridium was thus used for the first time as a material for an emitter, and in the experiments, it showed particular endurance at high temperatures around 1000 °C. Their study results were published today in the journal Advanced Materials and open up new perspectives for…
KIT researchers see long-term perspective for lithium extraction at geothermal plants. On the way towards climate neutrality, Europe will need large amounts of lithium for battery storage systems. So far, however, its share in the worldwide lithium extraction volume has been one percent only. For this reason, researchers of KIT study ways to extract lithium from geothermal sources. “In theory, geothermal power plants in the Upper Rhine Valley and Northern German Basin might cover between 2 and 12 percent of…
A new investigation with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope into K2-18 b, an exoplanet 8.6 times as massive as Earth, has revealed the presence of carbon-bearing molecules including methane and carbon dioxide. Webb’s discovery adds to recent studies suggesting that K2-18 b could be a Hycean exoplanet, one which has the potential to possess a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and a water ocean-covered surface. The first insight into the atmospheric properties of this habitable-zone exoplanet came from observations with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope,…
… lays foundation for future glioblastoma therapy. The discovery of a previously unknown molecular target has inspired what may become a therapeutic breakthrough for people with glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive brain cancer. When people hear the word “cancer” they often picture a single mass, but glioblastoma cells are also highly invasive and spread quickly from the central mass, making it very difficult to fully eradicate. Even with current treatments such as temozolomide, the standard chemotherapy approved to treat…
The Svalbox Digital Model Database (DMDb) just made its formal debut into the scientific community in a new article published in the journal Geosphere. The Svalbard archipelago, located north of Norway halfway to the North Pole and well within the Arctic Circle, is a remote geological wonderland. Svalbox DMDb is a new regional database which currently collates 135 digital outcrop models (DOMs), making data from 114 km2 of this incredibly difficult-to-access area freely available to anyone with internet access. Digital…
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a new computational approach to removing movement in images of expanding and contracting heart cells and tissues. By computationally removing movement, the algorithm mimics a drug’s action in stopping the heart, without compromising cellular structure or tissue contractility. Results of the research, led by Nathaniel Huebsch, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering, and Guy Genin, the Harold and Kathleen Faught Professor of Mechanical Engineering, both at the McKelvey School of Engineering, are published…
Theoretical extension of parametric amplification. Sensors in electronic devices work with high-frequency signals. For maximum accuracy in the measurements, the parametric amplification effect is used. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are investigating how this effect can significantly expand the functionality of sensors. Possible applications include improved location positioning with microelectromechanical sensors like those used in smartphones. Most people are probably familiar with the phenomenon from childhood: standing on a swing, a child rhythmically bends and straightens their…
Students from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed the longest range electric car in the world. The team drove more than 2.573 kilometers on a single battery charge. As part of the IAA Mobility fair, the team competed for the new world record at the Munich airport and successfully brought the title home to Munich. The test lasted an entire six days, during which the team slept on cots in an airplane hangar. The TUfast Eco team faced…
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