Quantum effects can play an important role in chemical reactions. Physicists led by Roland Wester of the University of Innsbruck, Austria, have now for the first time observed a quantum mechanical tunneling reaction in experiments. The observation can also be described exactly in theory. With the study published in Nature, the scientists provide an important reference for this fundamental effect in chemistry. It is the slowest reaction with charged particles ever observed. Tunneling reactions in chemistry are very difficult to…
One challenge facing the widespread adoption of renewable energies is the fluctuating output of photovoltaic systems — for energy-intensive companies, this means that their distribution networks are rapidly becoming inadequate. Fraunhofer researchers have developed a solution that combines power from renewable sources with electricity from the public grid and uses batteries to compensate for fluctuations. This approach will particularly benefit companies that aim to invest in sustainability with photovoltaics — and reduce their energy costs in the process. A living…
In the worst-case scenario, getting chemicals in your eyes can lead to blindness. Until now, the eye irritancy potential of chemical substances has had to be assessed using the Draize test on live rabbits – a standard implemented worldwide. Researchers at the Translational Center for Regenerative Therapies TLC-RT of the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC want to work with partners to replace animal testing: Tissue models of the human cornea cultivated in the laboratory are expected to completely replace…
Identifying defects in fiber composite materials during the production process will be possible in the future thanks to a novel radar method that automatically and non-destructively monitors the manufacturing process of fiber composite materials such as wind turbine rotor blades. Until now, monitoring has consisted of visual inspections. The Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR collaborated with consortium partners Ruhr University Bochum, FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences and Aeroconcept GmbH to develop an innovative method…
– and avert a global supply crisis. Helium – essential for many medical and industrial processes – is in critically short supply worldwide. Production is also associated with significant carbon emissions, contributing to climate change. This study provides a new concept in gas field formation to explain why, in rare places, helium accumulates naturally in high concentrations just beneath the Earth’s surface. The findings could help locate new reservoirs of carbon-free helium – and potentially also hydrogen. Research led by…
The success of cancer treatment depends not only on the type of tumor, but also on the surrounding tissue. Tumors influence it to their advantage, promoting the growth of blood vessels or fooling incoming immune cells. Developing methods to predict the nature of the resulting tumor microenvironment is the goal of researchers from the Clusters of Excellence ImmunoSensation2 and the Hausdorff Center for Mathematics (HCM) led by Prof. Kevin Thurley at the University of Bonn. The German Federal Ministry of…
The Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Institut (HHI) is part of the EU project TEF-Health (Testing and Experimentation Facility for Health AI and Robotics), which aims to establish a test infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics in healthcare. The infrastructure will facilitate comprehensive and rapid testing of innovative methods and enable them to reach market maturity. Led by the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) at Charité Berlin, TEF-Health involves 51 partners from nine European countries. The project started in January 2023 and will…
… makes further progress. Kraft lignin successfully degraded using a “green” oxidizer. The demand for vanillin vastly outstrips the natural resources of this flavoring agent. A chemical process is thus used to produce the required large quantities of vanillin from petroleum, which is far less expensive than obtaining the substance from fermented genuine vanilla pods. Another alternative is to make vanillin from lignin, a waste product of the wood pulping industry. A team led by Professor Siegfried Waldvogel of Johannes…
The honeycomb patterns which are often found in salt deserts in Death Valley and Chile, among other places, look like something from another world. Researchers, including those from TU Graz, explain the origin of the mysterious patterns for the first time. Honeycomb patterns form in salt deserts all over the world, for example in the Badwater Basin of Death Valley in California or in the Salar de Uyuni in Chile. These enigmatic salt structures attract tens of thousands of visitors…
Large quantities of hydrogen will be needed to ensure a successful energy transition. As part of the HighHy project, an international team of researchers from Germany and New Zealand is working on improving the efficiency of the emerging AEM electrolysis technology to produce green hydrogen. To make this possible, scientists from the Fraunhofer IFAM in Dresden have turned to the readily available and resource-saving metals manganese and nickel in a bid to introduce this promising electrolysis process to large-scale industry….
… confirms existence of a new family of quantum matter. Like finding a hidden world, physicists dialing up the magnetic field on a semiconducting material have discovered the first in a new family of matter that flowers from the bizarre realm of the quantum scale. In what researchers dubbed the bubble phase of composite fermions, pairs of quasiparticles – particle-like entities arising from the interaction of particles – align in a crystalline pattern, allowing electricity to flow along the edge of…
Researchers introduce metasurfaces to create waveform-selective antennas that can distinguish between signals of same frequency. When you tap on your phone screen to check something on the internet, you make use of wireless communications technology. With the advent of 5G networks, this technology has made our lives easier than we could imagine. As we progress towards 6G communication, the use of Internet of Things (IoT) devices to monitor and perform tasks is becoming inevitable. As a result, there is a…
A liquid nitrogen spray developed by Washington State University researchers can remove almost all of the simulated moon dust from a space suit, potentially solving what is a significant challenge for future moon-landing astronauts. The sprayer removed more than 98% of moon dust simulant in a vacuum environment with minimal damage to spacesuits, performing better than any techniques that have been investigated previously. The researchers report on their work in the journal, Acta Astronautica. While people have managed to put men…
Tailor-made laser light fields can be used to slow down the movement of several particles and thus cool them down to extremely low temperatures – as shown by a team from TU Wien. Using lasers to slow down atoms is a technique that has been used for a long time already: If one wants to achieve low-temperature world records in the range of absolute temperature zero, one resorts to laser cooling, in which energy is extracted from the atoms with…
… can facilitate environmental impact assessment. Microplastic particles separated from a sediment sample from the Guarapiranga reservoir in metropolitan São Paulo show different particle sizes. In the last decade, growing numbers of researchers have studied plastic pollution, one of the world’s most pressing environmental hazards. They have made progress but still face challenges, such as the comparability of results, especially with regard to microplastic particles. There is no standard sample collection and analysis methodology, for example. Most studies present conclusions…
Lines in natural gas grids have to be maintained and serviced regularly. This entails using flares to vent the natural gas. With FlareSimulator, research scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF have developed an assistive tool that calculates the correct distance of flares to houses, trees and other nearby objects. This makes it easy to maintain minimum distances and prevent potential hazards and explosions. Natural gas is one of the safest energy carriers. Accidents rarely occur,…
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