A team of Florida State University researchers has further developed a new generation of organic-inorganic hybrid materials that can improve image quality in X-ray machines, CT scans and other radiation detection and imaging technologies. Professor Biwu Ma from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and his colleagues have developed a new class of materials that can act as highly efficient scintillators, which emit light after being exposed to other forms of high energy radiations, such as X-rays. The team’s most…
One of the most basic and crucial embryonic processes to unfold in virtually every living organism is the formation of hollow, tubular structures of various kinds. These tubes may form blood vessels or a digestive tract, and through branching and differentiation, complex organs including the heart, kidneys, and mammary glands. Abnormalities in these processes can cause congenital disorders such as dysfunctional, displaced, or non-symmetrical organs, as well as regeneration defects in blood vessels or in other regenerative organs. Despite its…
More than 100 scientists meet from 8 to 12 May in Potsdam for the SOLARNET II Conference: “The Many Scales of the Magnetic Sun”. The goal of this conference is to collectively review the advancement in the understanding of solar magnetic fields starting from the fundamental structure size of magnetic fields to global properties of active regions and the Sun as a whole. To arrive at a cohesive picture of the magnetic Sun, the meeting is organized according to specific…
Increasing heat and drought are changing forests faster than expected. Researchers at the University of Würzburg want to keep a better eye on these dynamics. The Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt) of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities is funding their project with 1.2 million euros. “Alarming data: Five percent of the forest area is gone.” This news made its way through the German media landscape in February 2022. The basis of the news was a satellite-based…
The motion of an electron in a strong infrared laser field is tracked in real time by means of a novel method developed by MPIK physicists and applied to confirm quantum-dynamics theory by cooperating researchers at MPI-PKS. The experimental approach links the absorption spectrum of the ionizing extreme ultraviolet pulse to the free-electron motion driven by the subsequent near-infrared pulse. For this experimental scheme, the classical description of the electron motion is justified even though it is a quantum object….
Research project in Germany aims to improve the stability of this novel battery type. Lithium-air batteries, also known as lithium-oxygen batteries, are candidates for the next generation of high-energy electricity storage devices. Their theoretical energy storage capacity is ten times that of conventional lithium-ion batteries of the same weight, but they are not yet chemically stable enough to provide a reliable solution. Now a newly launched collaborative research project in which a team from the University of Oldenburg, Germany, led…
”When pentacene is excited by light, the electrons in the material rapidly react,” explains Prof. Ralph Ernstorfer, a senior author of the study. “It was an open and very disputed question whether a photon excites two electrons directly or initially one electron, which subsequently shares its energy with another electron.” To unravel this mystery the researchers used time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, a cutting-edge technique to observe the dynamics of electrons on the femtosecond time scale, which is a billionth…
… provide early failure warning while preventing infection. Newly developed “smart” coatings for surgical orthopedic implants can monitor strain on the devices to provide early warning of implant failures while killing infection-causing bacteria, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers report. The coatings integrate flexible sensors with a nanostructured antibacterial surface inspired by the wings of dragonflies and cicadas. In a new study in the journal Science Advances, a multidisciplinary team of researchers found the coatings prevented infection in live mice and mapped strain…
Alexandrite laser crystals are well suited for use in earth observation satellites. They are robust and enable laser systems with a tunable output wavelength. In the European Horizon 2020 project GALACTIC, the partners Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH), Optomaterials S.r.l. (Italy) and Altechna (Lithuania) have now succeeded in establishing a solely European supply chain for alexandrite laser crystals, which can be used for space applications. The Italian partner Optomaterials produces competitive crystals, which the Lithuanian company Altechna provides with a…
… like Parkinson’s and Chronic Wasting Disease. Researchers’ groundbreaking new diagnostic technique will allow for faster and more accurate disease detection. University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers have developed a groundbreaking new diagnostic technique that will allow for faster and more accurate detection of neurodegenerative diseases. The method will likely open a door for earlier treatment and mitigation of various diseases that affect humans, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and similar diseases that affect animals, such as chronic wasting disease (CWD)….
Researchers from Dresden and Bangalore discover a unique two-component molecular motor that uses a kind of renewable chemical energy to pull vesicles toward membrane-bound organelles. Cells have a fascinating feature to neatly organize their interior by using tiny protein machines called molecular motors that generate directed movements. Most of them use a common type of fuel, a kind of chemical energy, called ATP to operate. Now researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), the…
An electric snowmobile at LASER World of PHOTONICS 2023 in the summer! Why? Trade show visitors have the Finnish startup Aurora Powertrains Oy from Rovaniemi to thank for this premiere of the Arctic kind. Aurora has developed cold-resistant batteries with extremely high energy density for the Arctic temperatures of this region, and the customized joining technology required for this comes from the laser welding experts at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen. Probably one of the smallest…
An international research team, comprising scientists from DZNE, University Hospital Bonn, the Netherlands, and the US has been awarded a US$ 1.3 million grant by the “Human Frontier Science Program” to investigate brain immune cells and manipulate them via light irradiation. This will involve using gene transcripts (mRNAs) as molecular mediators. From these laboratory studies, the scientists aim to gain new insights into how these cells change their shape in response to hazards and the role they play in neurodegenerative…
Animals can synthesize phytosterols. Phytosterols are good for your health, but humans and other animals are not able to make them themselves. To acquire phytosterols, humans are increasingly turning to supplements, green smoothies, or a Mediterranean diet with plenty of plant-based foods. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany have now discovered that tiny gutless worms from the Mediterranean can synthesize phytosterols on their own. Their study, now published in Science, provides evidence that many…
By using deep learning-generated ‘fingerprints’ to characterize millions of protein fragments, EPFL researchers have computationally designed novel protein binders that attach seamlessly to key targets, including the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. In 2019, scientists in the joint School of Engineering and School of Life Sciences Laboratory of Protein Design and Immunoengineering (LPDI) led by Bruno Correia developed MaSIF: a machine learning-driven method for scanning millions of protein surfaces within minutes to analyze their structure and functional properties. The researchers’ ultimate goal…
… that can traverse difficult landscapes. Centipedes are known for their wiggly walk. With tens to hundreds of legs, they can traverse any terrain without stopping. “When you see a scurrying centipede, you’re basically seeing an animal that inhabits a world that is very different than our world of movement,” said Daniel Goldman, the Dunn Family Professor in the School of Physics. “Our movement is largely dominated by inertia. If I swing my leg, I land on my foot and…
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