Lightweight flexible mirrors could be rolled up during launch and precisely reshaped after deployment. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics have developed a new way to produce and shape large, high-quality mirrors that are much thinner than conventional mirrors used for space telescopes. The resulting mirrors are flexible enough to be rolled up and stored compactly inside a launch vehicle. “Launching and deploying space telescopes is a complicated and costly procedure,” says Sebastian Rabien from the…
Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) Research Grant for Fred Wolf and Pawel Burkhardt. The first brains in the world of animals marked a decisive step in evolution. Living beings could now process information and identify opportunities as well as dangers. But how did the first brains evolve and what form did they take? Pawel Burkhardt from the Michael Sars Centre at the University of Bergen, Norway, and Fred Wolf from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization at the University…
These highly stable metal-organic frameworks could be useful for applications such as capturing greenhouse gases. Materials known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have a rigid, cage-like structure that lends itself to a variety of applications, from gas storage to drug delivery. By changing the building blocks that go into the materials, or the way they are arranged, researchers can design MOFs suited to different uses. However, not all possible MOF structures are stable enough to be deployed for applications such as…
Artificial muscles and nerves made from the shape memory alloy nickel-titanium are making robot arms as supple and agile as their animal counterparts. But these artificial limbs also weigh less, will work tirelessly and can be precisely controlled. The bionic robot arms that are being developed by Professor Stefan Seelecke’s research team at Saarland University in collaboration with the German automation specialist Festo consume very little electric power and can work safely with humans. The research team will be presenting…
Whether drilling, turning or milling: In machining – as well as in primary forming and re-forming, die casting and many other applications – tools are of pivotal importance for industrial production. Their performance significantly influences both the quality and the cost of the manufactured product and, consequently, the economic and ecological sustainability of the production process. One objective of the work at the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST in Braunschweig is the development of resilient and…
A lower body temperature is one of the most effective mechanisms to prolong the lifespan of animals. Writing in ‘Nature Aging’, a working group at the University of Cologne’s CECAD Cluster of Excellence in Aging Research has now described precisely how this works. The scientists show that cold can prevent the pathological aggregation of proteins typical for two aging-associated neurodegenerative diseases. Cold activates a cellular cleansing mechanism that breaks down harmful protein aggregations responsible for various diseases associated with aging….
For more than 50 years, it has been suspected that fat cells constantly remodel the lipids they store. Researchers at the University of Bonn have now demonstrated this process directly for the first time using culture cells. Among other things, the study shows that the cells quickly eliminate harmful fatty acids. They refine others into molecules that can be used more effectively. In the long term, this turns the components of palm fat into the building blocks of high-quality olive…
Worldwide, only a handful of patients are known to suffer from episodic ataxia type 6, a neurological disease that causes transient loss of muscle control. The cause lies in a mutation that changes a single amino acid in a protein that transports the neurotransmitter glutamate across the membrane of neural cells. Researchers from the University of Groningen (the Netherlands) have elucidated how the mutation causes these cells to malfunction. Their results will appear in Nature Communications. Patients with ataxia lose…
In certain molecules, the so-called photoacids, a proton can be released locally by excitation with light. There is a sudden change in the pH value in the solution – a kind of fast switch that is important for many chemical and biological processes. Until now, however, it was still unclear what happens at the moment of proton release. This is exactly what researchers in the Cluster of Excellence Ruhr Explores Solvation RESOLV at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, have now been…
The three-fingered robotic gripper can “feel” with great sensitivity along the full length of each finger – not just at the tips. Inspired by the human finger, MIT researchers have developed a robotic hand that uses high-resolution touch sensing to accurately identify an object after grasping it just one time. Many robotic hands pack all their powerful sensors into the fingertips, so an object must be in full contact with those fingertips to be identified, which can take multiple grasps….
Rice, UMD lead effort to overcome major barrier. They’re considered some of the strongest materials on the planet, but tapping that strength has proved to be a challenge. 2D materials, thinner than the most delicate onionskin paper, have attracted intense interest because of their incredible mechanical properties. Those properties, however, dissipate when the materials are stacked in multiple layers, thus limiting their usefulness. “Think of a graphite pencil,” says Teng Li, Keystone Professor at the University of Maryland’s (UMD) Department of Mechanical…
… and act in challenging environments. UCLA-led team built chip-free, autonomous OrigaMechs with conductive materials. Roboticists have been using a technique similar to the ancient art of paper folding to develop autonomous machines out of thin, flexible sheets. These lightweight robots are simpler and cheaper to make and more compact for easier storage and transport. However, the rigid computer chips traditionally needed to enable advanced robot capabilities — sensing, analyzing and responding to the environment — add extra weight to…
Texas A&M researchers discover storage capacity increase of water-based battery electrodes. Researchers at Texas A&M University have discovered a 1,000% difference in the storage capacity of metal-free, water-based battery electrodes. These batteries are different from lithium-ion batteries that contain cobalt. The group’s goal of researching metal-free batteries stems from having better control over the domestic supply chain since cobalt and lithium are outsourced. This safer chemistry would also prevent battery fires. Chemical engineering professor Dr. Jodie Lutkenhaus and chemistry assistant…
A research team at Chalmers University of Technology is the first to demonstrate a unique method that reduces the aerodynamic resistance of ships by 7.5 per cent. This opens the way for large cargo ships borne across the oceans by wind alone, as wind-powered ships are more affected by aerodynamic drag than fossil-fueled ones. To hit international climate targets, the carbon emissions from shipping must be reduced by more than 50 per cent by 2050 compared to 2008 levels. As…
– Coupled with Improved Performance. High-performance battery cells are a crucial prerequisite for electrifying the mobility sector. With this in mind, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen have developed innovative laser-based technologies for producing lithium-ion batteries — which, in comparison with those produced conventionally, can be charged more quickly and have a longer service lifetime. Furthermore, laser-based drying in the water-based electrode coating process is significantly more efficient. Fraunhofer ILT will be presenting a demonstrator…
Conventional concepts from the manufacturing industry are increasingly being pushed to their limits. This is often due to a combination of current challenges like volatile markets, supply crises and rising energy prices. Researchers at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft have developed an innovative production architecture that addresses these challenges. This architecture relies on modular production rather than rigid process chains. Orders are issued in a newly developed production language and carried out autonomously by machine tools or robots. This way, manufacturers can adapt…
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