The technology of “the glasses that replace the guide dog” has just been patented in the USA. The European Union patent will follow, and it could well be introduced to the market during the course of next year. Cornel Amariei, a graduate of Bremen’s Constructor University and founder of the start-up .lumen, is convinced that these glasses will give people with blindness and visual impairments a whole new level of mobility and self-determination. Around 40 million people worldwide are affected…
– achievements after first half of the project work. For the future decrease of carbon footprints in electromobility, the production of traction batteries has to become “greener”. In improving the electronic conductivity of battery cathodes carbon plays a critical role and thus is essential to achieve fast charging and discharging rates. The HiQ-CARB project, funded by EIT RawMaterials under the Horizon Europe Program started in 2021 to make the supply with high-quality conductive additives more sustainable, with low carbon footprint…
Composite materials provide stability in aircraft parts, sports equipment, and everyday household items. However, most of these materials have a poor carbon footprint and are not naturally degradable. A more sustainable alternative has been developed by a team from the University of Stuttgart led by Dr. Linus Stegbauer from the Institute of Interfacial Process Engineering and Plasma Technology (IGVP). This completely bio-based composite material is made of flax fibers and the biopolymer chitosan. As the name suggests, composites consist of…
On March 28, the German Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger visited the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) supertelescope under construction in South Africa together with Dr. Lindsay Magnus, Director of SKA-Mid in South Africa, and Prof. Michael Kramer, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR) in Bonn. There, she announced that Germany will join the international SKAO project. The Max Planck Society is providing about 21 million euros to support the project. “With the unique Square Kilometre…
Magnetocaloric effect for more efficient hydrogen liquefaction. Hydrogen will play a key role in the transformation towards a carbon-neutral society. By comparison with current usage, it is estimated that global hydrogen requirements will increase fivefold by 2050 to 550 million tons. During liquefaction, approximately a third of the energy content of hydrogen is lost, which makes the process largely uneconomical. In the Horizon Europe project HyLICAL with a budget of about five million euros, a team including HZDR, TU Darmstadt…
Even supposedly adaptable mammal species face increased risk of extinction. They are small, have a high reproductive output and live in the forests of Madagascar. During the 5-month rainy season, offspring are born and a fat pad is created to survive the cool dry season when food is scarce. But what happens when the rainy season becomes drier and the dry season warmer? Can mouse lemurs adapt to climate change thanks to their high reproductive output? Researchers from the German…
Carlo D’Eramo is new at the University of Würzburg. The computer science professor works in the field of artificial intelligence. He is an expert in a special form of machine learning called reinforcement learning. An intelligent camera surveillance system is supposed to autonomously detect stray pieces of luggage or other suspicious objects at a railway station. To do this, it has to know what suitcases and bags look like. To achieve this, humans have to feed the system with training…
Astronomers have observed an explosion 180 million light years away which challenges our current understanding of explosions in space, that appeared much flatter than ever thought possible. Astronomers have observed an explosion 180 million light years away which challenges our current understanding of explosions in space, that appeared much flatter than ever thought possible Explosions are almost always expected to be spherical, as the stars themselves are spherical, but this one is the flattest ever seen The explosion observed was…
Greener insulation reduces environmental impact of foam products. Rigid foam boards used to insulate buildings can prevent energy loss, making homes more efficient at keeping warm or cool. The advantages in energy efficiency, however, are undercut by environmental concerns over polystyrene products. Blowing agents used in foam production, such as hydrocarbons and hydrofluoroolefins, end up in the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed a competitive, eco-friendly alternative made without harmful blowing agents. The nontoxic thermoplastic…
… could lead to exciting developments in nanotechnology. Cambridge researchers have discovered a new topological phase in a two-dimensional system, which could be used as a new platform for exploring topological physics in nanoscale devices. Two-dimensional materials such as graphene have served as a playground for the experimental discovery and theoretical understanding of a wide range of phenomena in physics and materials science. Beyond graphene, there are a large number 2D materials, all with different physical properties. This is promising…
A team of researchers at the University of Kansas School of Engineering has partnered with U.S. federal agencies in a push to reinforce American dams and levees nationwide using fiber-reinforced polymers, sensors, artificial intelligence and drones. The $7.7 million, five-year project is a partnership between KU, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Work at KU is headed by Caroline Bennett, Dean R. and…
Researchers create a trajectory-planning system that enables drones working together in the same airspace to always choose a safe path forward. When multiple drones are working together in the same airspace, perhaps spraying pesticide over a field of corn, there’s a risk they might crash into each other. To help avoid these costly crashes, MIT researchers presented a system called MADER in 2020. This multiagent trajectory-planner enables a group of drones to formulate optimal, collision-free trajectories. Each agent broadcasts its…
MSK researchers identified a key role for the STING signaling pathway in preventing dormant metastatic cancer cells from progressing to active metastases. Treating laboratory mice with a STING activator helped eliminate lingering metastatic cells and stop the development of aggressive tumors. The study suggests further investigation of STING activation as a new approach to prevent cancer from recurring or spreading to other organs after successful treatment of a primary tumor. A team of scientists at the Sloan Kettering Institute have…
Head and neck cancer may not be as common as breast or prostate cancer, but it’s one of the most challenging to treat. Its five-year survival rate can be as low as 25%, while its recurrence rate can be as high as 43%. West Virginia University researcher Raymond Raylman has developed a new technology to improve the treatment of head and neck cancers. The scanner that he and his team prototyped — which combines positron emission tomography and X-ray computed tomography — showed…
can be reused in biodegradable plastic precursor using artificial photosynthesis. Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate—a biodegradable plastic—is a strong water-resistant polyester often used in packaging materials, made from 3-hydroxybutyrate as a precursor. In previous studies, a research team led by Professor Yutaka Amao from the Research Center for Artificial Photosynthesis at Osaka Metropolitan University, found that 3-hydroxybutyrate can be synthesized from CO2 and acetone with high efficiency, but only demonstrated this at higher concentrations of CO2 or sodium bicarbonate. This new study aimed to…
Can nuclear physics improve the prediction of earthquakes? That is the goal of the European research project artEmis, in which the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung is participating together with twelve other institutes. Within the framework of artEmis, which is supported by an EU grant (Euratom) of two million euros until 2027, the foundation for a reliable early warning system for earthquakes is to be laid. A network of sensors measuring radon levels and other parameters in selected water sources in…
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