Medical University of South Carolina researchers show how DNA is packed away when it needs to be turned off. If you stretched the DNA found in one of your cells from end-to-end, it would extend approximately 2 meters or 6.5 feet. Every single cell in your body can pack away this much DNA by winding it around proteins called histones. The DNA is opened and closed when cells need access for normal processes such as cell division. However, many cancer…
A scientific team at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University (MSU) has developed a new optical detector. This development will enable scientific users to help generate new insights and breakthroughs in nuclear physics. The team’s findings are detailed in an “Editor’s Pick” paper published in Review of Scientific Instruments. The Energy Loss Optical Scintillation System (ELOSS) represents an advancement in both instrumentation and capabilities in experimental nuclear physics. The new detector allows researchers to study isotopes…
Plant cell communications could help cure cancer. For decades, scientists have been stumped by the signals plants send themselves to initiate photosynthesis, the process of turning sunlight into sugars. UC Riverside researchers have now decoded those previously opaque signals. For half a century botanists have known that the command center of a plant cell, the nucleus, sends instructions to other parts of the cell, compelling them to move forward with photosynthesis. These instructions come in the form of proteins, and…
Titanium oxides found to significantly increase efficiency and photoluminescence. White LEDs may soon be dethroned as the world’s go-to light source by an alternative with a much better sense of direction. As a next-generation optical control technology, a photonic crystal or nanoantenna is a two-dimensional structure in which nano-sized particles are arranged periodically on a substrate. Upon irradiation, the combination of a nanoantennawith a phosphor plate achieves an ideal mix of blue and yellow light. White LEDs have already been improved upon in the form of white…
Astronomers say they have solved an outstanding problem that challenged our understanding of how the Universe evolved – the spatial distribution of faint satellite galaxies orbiting the Milky Way. These satellite galaxies exhibit a bizarre alignment – they seem to lie on an enormous thin rotating plane – called the “plane of satellites” This seemingly unlikely arrangement had puzzled astronomers for over 50 years, leading many to question the validity of the standard cosmological model that seeks to explain how…
Optimized by nature over 100 million years of evolution, this smart liquid provides a crucial coupling that ensures cell division correctly proceeds. Researchers from Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and ETH Zurich have discovered how proteins in the cell can form tiny liquid droplets that act as a smart molecular glue. Clinging to the ends of filaments called microtubules, the glue they discovered ensures the nucleus is correctly positioned for cell division. The findings, published in Nature Cell Biology, explain the…
… to get an unprecedented view of small molecules. A new tool to identify small molecules offers benefits for diagnostics, drug discovery and fundamental research. A new machine learning model will help scientists identify small molecules, with applications in medicine, drug discovery and environmental chemistry. Developed by researchers at Aalto University and the University of Luxembourg, the model was trained with data from dozens of laboratories to become one of the most accurate tools for identifying small molecules. Thousands of…
The EU Commission is providing 2.14 million euros in funding to take the GENE simulation code developed at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) to a new level. By using exascale supercomputers, it enable digital twins of nuclear fusion experiments such as ITER in future. IPP, the Max Planck Computing and Data Facility (MPCDF) and the Technical University of Munich will work together on the project. Plasma physics has been one of the most important drivers for the…
Researchers recommend more vertical measurements for follow-up mission. ESA’s novel Aeolus satellite reliably measures wind speed also in higher air layers and thus in a region of the atmosphere where other direct global wind measurements are relatively sparse. This is the result of a study for which data from the satellite were compared with wind observations from stratospheric balloons. Stratospheric balloons would provide highly accurate data on the horizontal wind speed and are therefore also suitable for the validation of…
New computer simulations can go where experiments reach their limits. Scientists from the Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) at the University of Bremen have developed a computer code that enables accurate predictions of the disintegration of droplets in turbulent flows. Surprisingly it shows that there is no point in time when a liquid drop cannot break up into even smaller drops. The results are published in the journal Science Advances and the open source computer code is…
… due to surrounding farmland. Insect decline is also progressing in German nature reserves. One reason for this is the intensification of agriculture. In a study recently published in the journal “Biodiversity and Conservation”, a team of authors led by biodiversity researchers Florian Dirk Schneider of ISOE – Institute for Social-Ecological Research and Sebastian Köthe of NABU – Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union Germany shows that farmland in the vicinity of protected areas can have a negative impact on insect…
Researchers from Bremen, Bochum, Bonn, and Hamburg have succeeded in significantly bettering our understanding of how the important chemical messenger serotonin functions in the central nervous system. They developed innovative genetically encoded “sDarken” sensors. These report with high temporal and spatial accuracy when the chemical messenger docks at a receptor. The researchers published their findings in the renowned journal Nature Communications. Serotonin is an important chemical messenger in the central nervous system. It falls under the category of so-called neuromodulators…
Study by the University of Bonn elucidates a potential mechanism. Suppose you go to visit an acquaintance you have not been to see in a long time. Nevertheless, you ring the correct doorbell without hesitation: The apple tree in the front yard with the wooden birdhouse next to it, the bright red painted fence, the clinkered facade – all this signals that you are in the right place. Each place has numerous characteristics that distinguish it and make it unmistakable…
Scientists from HZB could significantly improve on the efficiency of perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells. “This is a really big leap forward that we didn’t foresee a few months ago. All the teams involved at HZB, especially the PV Competence Center (PVComB) and the HySPRINT Innovation lab teams have worked together successfully and with passion,” says Prof. Steve Albrecht. Interface modifications His team used an advanced perovskite composition with a very smart interface modification. The lead authors, postdocs Dr. Silvia Mariotti,…
In order for the body to function, cells need a constant supply of energy. During phases of starvation, when no nutrients are taken up from food, the cellular metabolism must adapt to ensure a sustained supply of energy. Researchers from the FMP have gained new insights into this fundamental mechanism in human cells while investigating a rare genetic muscular disorder – X-linked centronuclear myopathy (XLCNM). This disease, which usually affects boys, involves a defective gene on the X chromosome, resulting…
Accurate knowledge of the ignition of methane-air mixtures will help to increase the efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of heating and power generation. Researchers of the Faculty of Science at the ELTE Eötvös Loránd University investigate the properties of methane, the most important component of natural gas. Accurate knowledge of the ignition of methane-air mixtures will help to increase the efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of heating and power generation, and could also lead to further developments in…
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