Prof. Dr. Christoph Helbig, Chair of Ecological Resource Technology at the University of Bayreuth, is investigating framework conditions and measures for the circular economy on an international level in his latest project, using the example of electronics and electric vehicle batteries. The goal is to come up with concrete proposals for a more efficient and environmentally friendly circular economy. Together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research and partner universities in Turkey, Taiwan, Japan and Thailand, Prof. Dr….
In recent years, scientists have been studying special materials called topological materials, with special attention paid to the shape, i.e., topology, of their electronic structures (electronic bands). Although it is not visible in real space, their unusual shape in topological materials produces various unique properties that can be suitable for making next-generation devices. It was thought that in order to exploit topological physical properties, crystalline materials, where atoms are highly ordered and arranged in repeating patterns, were needed. Materials in…
Subtropical mode water (STMW) is a vertically homogeneous thermocline water mass, serving as heat, carbon, and oxygen silos in the ocean interior and providing memory of climate variability for climate prediction. Understanding physics governing STMW formation is thus of broad scientific significance and has received much attention. Traditionally, it has been considered that STMW is constructed by basin-scale atmospheric forcing. Due to the limitations resulting from sparse sampling of observations and coarse resolution of climate models, less knowledge is acquired…
Electrical current is a stream of charged elementary particles. In semiconductor devices, ballistic electrons move at high speeds, making it difficult to address them individually. A controlled collision of individual electrons can provide the time resolution required for one electron to interrogate the other. The operating principle of such an electron collider circuit is similar to hitting one fast moving projectile with another well-timed shot. The challenge is therefore to precisely synchronize two individual electrons to exploit their interaction. …
FAU researchers develop an intelligent suit that recognizes movement intent. An intelligent suit is hoped to significantly improve rehabilitation after a serious spinal cord injury. The AI-supported solution will be developed over the next three years by researchers from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) working in collaboration with Heidelberg University and Heidelberg University Hospital. It combines electrical simulation of muscles with support for movement using artificial tendons, and reacts to patients’ intended movements. The German Research Foundation has provided a total of…
FAU researcher awarded 1.3 million euros for two medical engineering projects. Patients with limited hand function are soon set to benefit from an intelligent neuro-orthosis that will enable them to lead independent lives again. Prof. Dr. Alessandro Del Vecchio, a neuroscientist at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), is working on this aim in two new projects and has received over 1.3 million euros of funding from the Free State of Bavaria. The main focus of this research during the next three years…
How the motion of DNA controls gene activity. Despite being densely packed to fit into the nucleus, chromosomes storing our genetic information are always in motion. This allows specific regions to come into contact and thereby activate a gene. A group of scientists from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), Princeton University, and the Institut Pasteur in Paris now visualized this dynamic process and give novel insights into the physical characteristics of DNA. Performing cutting-edge science requires thinking…
Multiple sclerosis (MS) affects millions of people worldwide, and there is currently no cure for this disease of the central nervous system. Damage to the nerve fibres, also called axons, is responsible for the severity of MS in patients and for the course of the disease. And myelin, which is the protective layer around axons, plays a key role in this process. Researchers at Leipzig University and Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences in Göttingen have discovered that myelin, which…
Fluidized beds is a technology used in a variety of industries and plays an important role in the transition to green energy and the production of food and drugs. However, the process that occurs inside a fluidized bed is extremely complex and – due to a lack of effective measurement techniques – has remained largely unknown. Now, researchers from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have developed a high-frequency radar technique that can measure exactly what is happening inside a…
German research institutes participating at the forefront of dark matter and dark energy research. Euclid, an ESA space telescope with strong German participation, was launched into space on 1 July 2023, at 17:12 CEST on a Falcon 9 rocket from the US space company SpaceX. From its destination, the Lagrange Point 2 (L2) of the Earth and the Sun, it will observe over a third of the entire sky for at least six years and map the spatial distribution of…
System could be used aboard underwater vehicles for many applications. Researchers report a new single-photon Raman lidar system that operates underwater and can remotely distinguish various substances. They also show that the new system can detect the thickness of the oil underwater up to 12 m away, which could be useful for detecting oil spills. “Differentiating substances in water and detecting their distribution characteristics in the ocean are of great significance for marine monitoring and scientific research,” said research team…
SUTD scientists developed a novel CMOS-compatible, slow-light-based transmission grating device for the dispersion compensation of high-speed data, significantly lowering data transmission errors and paving the way for on-chip integration. Fibre optics is now the fastest and most reliable technology to deliver internet connection. Data is transmitted through fast-travelling pulses of light that bounce off the walls of the fibre cables to allow the signal to travel further with less attenuation. However, fibre data transmission is subject to dispersion, or signal…
A Brown University-led research team explains in a new study how gullies on the slopes of Martian craters could have formed by on-and-off periods of meltwater from ice on and beneath the planet’s surface. A study led by Brown University researchers offers new insights into how water from melting ice could have played a recent role in the formation of ravine-like channels that cut down the sides of impact craters on Mars. The study, published in Science, focuses on Martian…
For the first time, researchers have produced an image of the Milky Way using neutrinos, which were observed with the IceCube telescope in the Antarctic ice. The neutrino image suggests that cosmic ray interactions are more intense in the center of our galaxy than once thought. The results are published in an article in the journal Science. For ages, the view of our Milky Way galaxy has inspired awe, visible with the naked eye as a hazy band of stars…
UC Riverside-led study could have applications in sensing and anti-counterfeit technology. Some molecules exist in two forms such that their structures and their mirror images are not superimposable, like our left and right hands. Called chirality, it is a property these molecules have due to their asymmetry. Chiral molecules tend to be optically active because of how they interact with light. Oftentimes, only one form of a chiral molecule exists in nature, for example, DNA. Interestingly, if a chiral molecule…
A system using photonics-based synthetic dimensions could be used to help explain complex natural phenomena. Scientists have made an important step toward developing computers advanced enough to simulate complex natural phenomena at the quantum level. While these types of simulations are too cumbersome or outright impossible for classical computers to handle, photonics-based quantum computing systems could provide a solution. A team of researchers from the University of Rochester’s Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences developed a new chip-scale optical quantum…
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