Collaboration between TRUMPF, Fraunhofer ILT and DESY provides the most detailed of insights into laser welding processes to date thanks to the particle accelerator // Fraunhofer expert Marc Hummel: “We have now been able to clearly prove for the first time that raw materials can be saved in the welding high-performance electronics by using lasers with green wavelength.” Lots of raw materials can be saved in the welding of high-performance electronics. This is the result of an investigation at the…
… to advance perovskite solar cell manufacturing and commercialization. Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are considered a promising candidate for next-generation photovoltaic technology with high efficiency and low production cost, potentially revolutionizing the renewable energy industry. However, the existing layer-by-layer manufacturing process presents challenges that have hindered the commercialisation of this technology. Recently, researchers from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the US jointly developed an innovative one-step solution-coating approach that simplifies the…
New process extracts fragrances. What doesn’t smell good is hard to recycle. This simple rule also applies to the growing volume of plastic waste worldwide. One way to recycle it in an environmentally compatible and climate-friendly manner as high-quality post-consumer recyclates is through improved sorting and reprocessing. Until now, the reduced material quality has considerably limited the reuse of plastic recyclates, and this is mainly due to their odor. Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability…
… in metabolic stress. Salk scientists find protein FNIP1 links cellular powerhouse damage to repair during metabolic stress, with broad disease implications spanning from diabetes to cancer to neurodegeneration. Scientists often act as detectives, piecing together clues that alone may seem meaningless but together crack the case. Professor Reuben Shaw has spent nearly two decades piecing together such clues to understand the cellular response to metabolic stress, which occurs when cellular energy levels dip. Whether energy levels fall because the…
Pre-clinical study suggests that blocking a molecule while boosting a cell may reduce tumor growth in patients. Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have demonstrated in a preclinical study a potential new therapeutic approach to treating the most common form of lung cancer. The strategy involves inhibiting the immune-system molecule TREM2 while enhancing natural killer cells (the so-called protectors of the immune system). It was described in the April 20 online issue of Nature Immunology [DOI:…
… more sustainable, more cost-effective, gentler. Clinically effective, custom-made, discreet and comfortable – the demands on aligners for the therapy of malocclusions are high. This also applies to the material of these orthodontic splints. A team at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP in Potsdam, Germany, in cooperation with the University Hospital in Düsseldorf, Germany, has now developed a highly innovative material that enables completely new treatment concepts and reduces costs. The scientists focused on polymers with shape…
Plastic recycling, waste exports abroad, microplastics in the oceans: According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), nearly half a ton of household waste was generated per capita in Germany in 2021 – more than ever before. At TU Dresden, scientists are researching how we can recycle more of our waste, what effect waste exports abroad have, and whether alternative packaging can help solve our waste problem. “We achieve promising results when recycling glass or paper,” says Professor Christina Dornack from…
In a project commissioned by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), researchers at Nagoya University in Japan have developed poly(styrenesulfonic acid)-based PEMs with a high density of sulfonic acid groups. One of the key components of environmentally friendly polymer electrolyte fuel cells is a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM). It generates electrical energy through a reaction between hydrogen and oxygen gases. Examples of practical fuel cells include fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) and fuel cell combined heat and power…
UC Venture Lab-backed startup signs distribution deal. Partnering with companies in the United States and Australia, a University of Cincinnati Venture Lab-backed startup has improved its autonomous rovers that clear debris from waterways and is preparing to ship its largest order to date. Clean Earth Rovers (CER) has signed a distribution deal with B&B Services, a company based in Naples, Florida. The deal guarantees a minimum order of 20 rovers to be delivered within the next year. B&B Services will…
Researchers encode a metasurface to generate time-varying OAM beams, for a higher order twist on structured light. The orbital angular momentum (OAM) of electromagnetic waves — a kind of “structured light” — is associated with a helical or twisted wavefront. The helical modes are characterized by a topological charge. OAM beams with distinct topological charges are mutually orthogonal, which allows them to carry information and to be multiplexed. OAM multiplexing affords increased channel capacity and spectral efficiency — highly useful in fiber-based and…
… could lead to new medical interventions. What if amyloid beta plaques aren’t the main cause of Alzheimer’s disease? There is a growing body of evidence that iron in the brain may play a role in Alzheimer’s disease. Lending weight to that idea, a new imaging probe has for the first time shown that in the same regions of the brain where the amyloid beta plaques associated with Alzheimer’s occur, there is also an increase in iron redox, meaning the…
The mass die-off of the long-spined sea urchin – a loss that threatens the health of coral reefs from the Caribbean to Florida’s east coast — was caused by a one-celled organism called a ciliate. The search for the 2022 killer that decimated the long-spined sea urchin population in the Caribbean and along Florida’s east coast is over. A team of researchers organized by Mya Breitbart, Distinguished University Professor at the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science, identified…
UIUC physicists first to analyze noise in Lambda-type quantum memory. In the future, communications networks and computers will use information stored in objects governed by the microscopic laws of quantum mechanics. This capability can potentially underpin communication with greatly enhanced security and computers with unprecedented power. A vital component of these technologies will be memory devices capable of storing quantum information to be retrieved at will. Virginia Lorenz, a professor of physics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, studies Lambda-type…
The seven worst years for polar ice sheets melting and losing ice have occurred during the past decade, according to new research, with 2019 being the worst year on record. The melting ice sheets now account for a quarter of all sea level rise – a fivefold increase since the 1990’s – according to IMBIE, an international team of researchers who have combined 50 satellite surveys of Antarctica and Greenland taken between 1992 and 2020. Their findings are published today…
Single-celled algae and marine bacteria live in a complex but largely unexplored relationship. Now, a new study shows that the surface of diatoms is a surprisingly diverse habitat for bacteria. A team from the University of Oldenburg was able to demonstrate for the first time that the surface displays distinct microscale biochemical variations. The colonisation by different bacterial species is finely tuned to this structure. Since diatoms bind large amounts of carbon and form the basis of marine food webs,…
Brain releases hormone after short fasting that boosts autophagy. Fasting triggers autophagy in our body. The body switches on the waste disposal system in the cells and gains new energy. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Cologne have now shown in mice that the brain plays a decisive role in this process. Even after a short period of fasting, the brain triggers the release of the hormone corticosterone and thus initiates autophagy in the liver. Until…
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