Alloys that can return to their original structure after being deformed have a so-called shape memory. This phenomenon and the resulting forces are used in many mechanical actuating systems, for example in generators or hydraulic pumps. However, it has not been possible to use this shape-memory effect at a small nanoscale: Objects made of shape-memory alloy can only change back to their original shape if they are larger than around 50 nanometers. Researchers led by Salvador Pané, Professor of Materials…
… back to the interstellar medium. Observations of water in the disk forming around protostar V883 Ori have unlocked clues about the formation of comets and planetesimals in our own Solar System. Scientists studying a nearby protostar have detected the presence of water in its circumstellar disk. The new observations made with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) mark the first detection of water being inherited into a protoplanetary disk without significant changes to its composition. These results further suggest…
A new method for predicting the behavior of quantum devices provides a crucial tool for real-world applications of quantum technology. Researchers have found a way to predict the behavior of many-body quantum systems coupled to their environment. The work represents a way to protect quantum information in quantum devices, which is crucial for real-world applications of quantum technology. In a study published in Physical Review Letters, researchers at Aalto University in Finland and IAS Tsinghua University in China report a…
Sex differences exist in the regulation of energy homeostasis. Current studies indicate for instance that female mammals, including humans, are better protected against metabolic diseases during reproductive age. This is particularly important with regard to obesity, whose prevalence has tripled since 1975. However, it is still not fully understood how hormones, released by sex-specific reproductive glands, signal to the brain to regulate energy metabolism in females versus males. Researchers at Helmholtz Munich pursued the question and discovered a new protein…
EU project SUNREY: Making perovskite solar cells more sustainable, efficient and durable – these are the goals pursued by 13 European partners in the project SUNREY. The project aims to further push the development of highly-efficient solar cells based on non-critical raw materials and to strengthen the innovation potential of the European industry. SUNREY is funded by the European Union’s research and innovation program Horizon Europe within the framework of the Green Deal Initiative with 4.25 Million Euro. The three-year…
The perfect symbiosis of science and business. After three long years of meeting online, the industry finally convened live at the 5th Laser Symposium Electromobility LSE at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen. Around 50 interested parties accepted the invitation to hear speakers from research and industry report on progress, trends and ideas to further advance electromobilization. Highlights included a presentation by a Finnish snowmobile manufacturer, a 32-beam 100 kilowatt laser from Israel and insight from an…
In a study, published Mar. 8 in the Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Dr. Jason Spector, professor of surgery (plastic surgery) at Weill Cornell Medicine and chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, and his colleagues report the development of a nipple reconstruction technique using a 3D-printed scaffold made of a polymer already widely used in surgical devices. Then, they demonstrate in a preclinical model that the dissolvable scaffold and…
Starting signal for new Christian Doppler laboratory at Graz University of Technology in Austria. Sustainably produced concrete mixtures from mineral residues and waste materials could partially replace Portland cement-based concrete in the future, especially in application environments prone to corrosion such as sewage systems, biowaste plants or tunnel drainage systems – for Cyrill Grengg from the Institute of Applied Geosciences at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), this is not only an achievable goal, but also makes economic and ecological…
… helps trace chemicals in complex mixtures. An international team of scientists led by Tomáš Pluskal from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB Prague) has introduced a new generation of software enabling scientists to analyze large volumes of data from mass spectrometry, a technique that separates chemicals by their weights. The open-source project MZmine provides a new window into the chemical space that surrounds us and lives within. The latest advances in…
European team of autonomous robots explores lava cave in Lanzarote. As potential locations for future base camps, the lava caves on the moon are of great interest. But how can they be reached and explored? This has been investigated by a European consortium coordinated by the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in the project CoRob-X funded by the European Commission. In a final analog mission on Lanzarote, the project partners have now succeeded in proving the feasibility of…
Researchers at ETH Zurich and TII Abu Dhabi, with the support of quantum optics theorists from Innsbruck, Austria, have succeeded in simultaneously cooling the motion of a tiny glass sphere in two dimensions to the quantum ground-state. This represents a crucial step towards a 3D ground-state cooling of a massive object and opens up new opportunities for the design of ultra-sensitive sensors. Glass nanoparticles trapped by lasers in extreme vacuum are considered a promising platform for exploring the limits of…
… to aid research on aging and impact of long spaceflights. Note: Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers Deok-Ho Kim and Devin Mair will participate in a NASA teleconference for journalists on Tuesday, March 14, at 11 a.m. ET. Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers are collaborating with NASA to send human heart “tissue-on-a-chip” specimens into space as early as March. The project is designed to monitor the tissue for changes in heart muscle cells’ mitochondria (their power supply) and ability to contract in…
When mice are exposed to chronically low levels of oxygen, similar to those experienced at 4,500 meters of elevation, their metabolism changes. Compared to those of us who live at sea level, the 2 million people worldwide who live above 4,500 meters (or 14,764 feet) of elevation—about the height of Mount Rainier, Mount Whitney, and many Colorado and Alaska peaks—have lower rates of metabolic diseases such as diabetes, coronary artery disease, hypercholesterolemia, and obesity. Now, researchers at Gladstone Institutes have…
… with magneto-and electro-mechanical properties has been developed. Researchers at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) have created software and hardware for a 4D printer with applications in the biomedical field. In addition to 3D printing, this machine allows for controlling extra functions: programming the material’s response so that shape-changing occurs under external magnetic field, or changes in its electric properties develops under mechanical deformation. This opens the door to the design of soft robots or smart sensors and substrates…
Parabolic flights: a simulated gravity laboratory. Space travel has always tested the human body by the effects of the new conditions of altered gravity on biological systems. It has long been known that continuous exposure to microgravity conditions human physiology and causes effects that compromise muscular, sensory, endocrine and cardiovascular functions. But is it also risky to be exposed to altered gravity for short periods of time? Now, a paper published in the journal Acta Astronautica examines the effects on…
AI4Mobile boosts performance for industry and transport. The research project AI4Mobile (AI-supported mobile communication systems for mobility in industry and transport) has successfully come to an end. Led by the Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Institut (HHI), researchers of the AI4Mobile consortium have worked on the development of AI-based communication solutions for various mobility applications within this project since 2020. The project was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with 5.1 million euros as part of the German federal…
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