A team of Japanese astronomers used simultaneous ground-based and space-based observations to capture a more complete picture of a superflare on a star. The observed flare started with a very massive, high-velocity prominence eruption. These results give us a better idea of how superflares and stellar prominence eruptions occur. Some stars have been seen releasing superflares over 10 times larger than the largest solar flare ever seen on the Sun. The hot ionized gas released by solar flares can influence…
Effect of microstructure on magnetic properties clarified. Iron oxide nanoparticles are often used in medical technology – as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging or as transport agents for drugs in the bloodstream, for example in tumour therapy. For these applications, the nanoparticles have to be biocompatible and superparamagnetic. Thus, they must be strongly magnetizable in a magnetic field and have to lose their magnetization, when the magnetic field is switched off. Using analytical high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, a team…
An ERK-dependent molecular switch antagonizes fibrosis and promotes regeneration. Injury response after a deep skin wound, myocardial infarction, stroke, spinal cord injury or lung infection mostly yields fibrotic tissue, resulting in permanent scars and organ function failure. It is estimated that around 50% of people die from a disease that involves scarring. Currently, there are no treatments for restoring loss of organ function due to an injury or a pathological condition. Understanding the molecular mechanisms driving fibrosis and regeneration in…
An international team of scientists with participation of the MPIfR in Bonn has used new millimetre-wavelength observations to image for the first time the link between the ring-like structure that reveals the matter falling into the central black hole and the powerful relativistic jet in the prominent radio galaxy M87. These images show the origin of the jet and the accretion flow near the central supermassive black hole. The new observations at 3.5 mm wavelength were obtained with the Global…
FAU physicists measure and control electron release from metals in the attosecond range. By superimposing two laser fields of different strengths and frequency, the electron emission of metals can be measured and controlled precisely to a few attoseconds. Physicists from FAU, the University of Rostock and the University of Konstanz have shown that this is the case. The findings could lead to new quantum-mechanical insights and enable electronic circuits that are a million times faster than today. The researchers have…
Using OLEDs to image magnetic fields. Smartphones could one day become portable quantum sensors thanks to a new chip-scale approach that uses organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) to image magnetic fields. Researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science at UNSW Sydney have demonstrated that OLEDs, a type of semiconductor material commonly found in flat-screen televisions, smartphone screens and other digital displays, can be used to map magnetic fields using magnetic resonance. Sensing of magnetic fields has important applications…
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most common form of pancreatic cancer. It’s also one of the deadliest. More than 90% of PDAC patients die within five years of diagnosis. Usually, by the time the cancer is identified, it has already spread. “PDAC is often found too late for treatments like chemotherapy and surgery to be very effective,” Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Professor Adrian Krainer says. “But if we can clearly understand the underlying genetic mechanisms of PDAC, this might lead…
… with high phase purity. Researchers provide direct evidence that the magnetic properties of the novel icosahedral quasicrystals depend on the electrons-per-atom ratio. Quasicrystals (QCs) have peculiar structures with interesting atomic arrangements. Although they are similar to crystals from the exterior, at the atomic scale, they lack periodicity despite being ordered. Such structural arrangements confer quasicrystals with symmetries and other special properties that are missing in crystals. In particular, icosahedral QCs (i QCs), which have a special geometric structure, show…
Developing pioneering technology solutions and bringing them into application – that is the goal of Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS. At this year’s SENSOR+TEST trade fair in Nuremberg, the institute will present its latest developments in optical, chemical and ultrasonic sensor technology. Due to the high demand for sensors in a wide variety of application fields, there are very different requirements for their functionality and performance profile. The core objective of the research work of Fraunhofer IPMS is therefore…
Roboticists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart have developed a jellyfish-inspired underwater robot with which they hope one day to collect waste from the bottom of the ocean. The almost noise-free prototype can trap objects underneath its body without physical contact, thereby enabling safe interactions in delicate environments such as coral reefs. Jellyfish-Bot could become an important tool for environmental remediation. Most of the world is covered in oceans, which are unfortunately highly polluted. One of…
Previously unknown group of bacteria in the deep sea regulates energy balance. A team of international researchers led by Federico Baltar of the University of Vienna and José M González of the University of La Laguna has identified a previously unknown group of bacteria, called UBA868, as key players in the energy cycle of the deep ocean. They are significantly involved in the biogeochemical cycle in the marine layer between 200 and 1000 meters. The results have now been published…
… using artificial intelligence. Real-time classification of underwater earthquakes based on acoustic signals enables earlier, more reliable disaster preparation. Tsunamis are incredibly destructive waves that can destroy coastal infrastructure and cause loss of life. Early warnings for such natural disasters are difficult because the risk of a tsunami is highly dependent on the features of the underwater earthquake that triggers it. In Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles and Cardiff University in…
With the help of neural networks, the complexity of the layer around the Earth can be reconstructed much better than before. This is important for satellite navigation, among other things. The ionosphere – the region of geospace spanning from 60 to 1000 kilometres above the Earth – impairs the propagation of radio signals from global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) with its electrically charged particles. This is a problem for the ever higher precision required by these systems – both in…
The technology, which mimics the body’s natural clotting process, could help keep severely injured people alive until they are treated at a hospital. MIT engineers have designed a two-component system that can be injected into the body and help form blood clots at the sites of internal injury. These materials, which mimic the way that the body naturally forms clots, could offer a way to keep people with severe internal injuries alive until they can reach a hospital. In a…
… into the world of super small things. Physicists at The Australian National University (ANU) are using nanoparticles to develop new sources of light that will allow us to “peel back the curtain” into the world of extremely small objects – thousands of times smaller than a human hair – with major gains for medical and other technologies. The findings, published in Science Advances, could have major implications for medical science by offering an affordable and effective solution to analyse…
The device would be a key component of a portable mass spectrometer that could help monitor pollutants or perform medical diagnoses in remote parts of the world. Mass spectrometers are extremely precise chemical analyzers that have many applications, from evaluating the safety of drinking water to detecting toxins in a patient’s blood. But building an inexpensive, portable mass spectrometer that could be deployed in remote locations remains a challenge, partly due to the difficulty of miniaturizing the vacuum pump it…
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