New mass spectrometry combo offers promise for tapping nature’s unknown chemical universe. The universe is awash in billions of possible chemicals. But even with a bevy of high-tech instruments, scientists have determined the chemical structures of just a small fraction of those compounds, maybe 1 percent. Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are taking aim at the other 99 percent, creating new ways to learn more about a vast sea of unknown compounds. There may…
… enters Phase II trials, with first patients dosed. After completing Phase 0 and Phase I human safety studies, INS018_055, Insilico’s AI-discovered and AI-generated drug, has entered multi-regional Phase II clinical trials in the U.S and China. The first human patients were administered the drug. This is a potentially first-in-class anti-fibrotic drug candidate that has reached clinical Phase II, and it is fully delivered by generative AI, with a novel AI-discovered target and a novel AI-generated molecular structure. Powered by…
The demonstration has implications for drug delivery and bioprinting, according to scientists. Acoustic waves may be able to control how particles sort themselves. While researchers have been able to separate particles based on their shape — for example, bacteria from other cells — for years, the ability to control their movement has remained a largely unsolved problem, until now. Using ultrasound technology and a nozzle, Penn State researchers have separated, controlled and ejected different particles based on their shape and…
Diet found to affect learning in older nematodes. A group from Nagoya University in Japan has discovered that when the diet of nematodes, tiny worms measuring about a millimeter or less in length, includes the bacteria Lactobacillus reuteri, the weakening of associative learning ability caused by aging does not occur. These results may suggest ways to use diet to reduce age-related cognitive decline in other animals, including humans. Their findings were published in the journal eLife. “This research is significant…
Streptomyces bacteria produce a group of signalling molecules that trigger a variety of processes. Bacteria of the genus Streptomyces produce chemical substances called arginoketides, to which many other microorganisms react: Bacteria form biofilms, algae join together to form aggregates, and fungi produce signalling substances that they would not otherwise produce triggering new responses from other organisms. Researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (Leibniz-HKI) show this in a study, in which they investigated various Streptomyces…
New assistant professor at ISTA develops chemical reactions powered by light. The Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) welcomes Assistant Professor Bartholomäus Pieber. The chemist started in June and tries to harness the safe and waste-free power of light as an energy source for synthetic chemistry. With his team, he develops novel reactions that are fueled by visible light, aiming to provide powerful and sustainable strategies for the synthesis of fine chemicals such as pharmaceuticals. Lacing up his running…
Scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study the protoplanetary disk around a young star have discovered the most compelling chemical evidence to date of the formation of protoplanets. The discovery will provide astronomers with an alternate method for detecting and characterizing protoplanets when direct observations or imaging are not possible. The results will be published in an upcoming edition of The Astrophysical Journal Letters. HD 169142 is a young star located in the constellation Sagittarius that is…
Quantum computing could revolutionize our world. For specific and crucial tasks, it promises to be exponentially faster than the zero-or-one binary technology that underlies today’s machines, from supercomputers in laboratories to smartphones in our pockets. But developing quantum computers hinges on building a stable network of qubits — or quantum bits — to store information, access it and perform computations. Yet the qubit platforms unveiled to date have a common problem: They tend to be delicate and vulnerable to outside…
The rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration is a primary catalyst for global warming, and an estimated one fifth of the atmospheric CO2 originates from soil sources. This is partially attributed to the activity of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms that decompose organic matter in the soil utilizing oxygen, such as deceased plant materials. During this process, CO2 is released into the atmosphere. Scientists refer to it as heterotrophic soil respiration. Based on a recent study published…
Ambitious £7 million investment will help deliver renewable energy from ocean tides at scale and help tidal stream energy contribute to delivering UK net zero goals. Researchers working to cut carbon emissions and boost energy security using tidal stream power are set to benefit from a £7 million Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council investment. ‘Co-design to deliver Scalable Tidal Stream Energy’ (CoTide) will bring together three multi-disciplinary teams from the universities of Oxford, Edinburgh and Strathclyde. The group will…
A team of international scientists has used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to detect a new carbon compound in space for the first time. Known as methyl cation (pronounced cat-eye-on) (CH3+), the molecule is important because it aids the formation of more complex carbon-based molecules. Methyl cation was detected in a young star system, with a protoplanetary disk, known as d203-506, which is located about 1,350 light-years away in the Orion Nebula. Carbon compounds form the foundations of all known life,…
Bacteria that “sense” Earth’s magnetic field found on deep undersea vents. Magnetotactic bacteria, which can align with the Earth’s magnetic field, have been discovered in a new location. Previously observed on land and in shallow water, analysis of a hydrothermal vent has proven that they can also survive deep under the ocean. The bacteria were able to exist in an environment that was not ideal for their typical needs. Magnetotactic bacteria are of interest not only for the role they…
The novel device could lead to more versatile quantum processors with clearer outputs. What good is a powerful computer if you can’t read its output? Or readily reprogram it to do different jobs? People who design quantum computers face these challenges, and a new device may make them easier to solve. The device, introduced by a team of scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), includes two superconducting quantum bits, or qubits, which are a quantum computer’s…
Step aside self-driving cars, self-driving boats are here — and they can do more than take you on a cruise. Researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso have constructed a fully autonomous boat that can carry out bathymetric surveys — surveys of the depth and terrain of bodies of water like oceans, rivers and lakes. The team hopes the robotic boat can help simplify the survey process, which usually takes a crew of individuals to complete, as well as assist…
… for aerosol single scattering albedo vertical profile. Recently, the research group of Professor ZHANG Weijun from Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (AIOFM), Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), achieved in-situ measurement of aerosol single scattering albedo (SSA) vertical profile for the first time. The relevant research work was published in Optics Express. Aerosol SSA (the ratio of scattering to extinction coefficient) is a key input parameter in evaluating radiative forcing. Measuring the vertical…
…on surface of Mars’ Utopia Basin. A joint research team led by Prof. DU Aimin from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGGCAS) has found extremely weak magnetic fields during the Zhurong rover’s first 1-km traverse on Mars. This indicates no detectable magnetization anomalies below Zhurong’s landing site. This work was published in Nature Astronomy on June 19. The researchers utilized two fluxgate magnetometers aboard the Zhurong rover to conduct the first magnetic field…
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