… to improve the treatment of lung diseases. Tiny particulates or noxious gases: From the day they are born, all people are exposed to a range of environmental forces. These forces constitute the exposome and affect the health and wellbeing of people around the world. A European research project has been set up to explore how the exposome affects the course of lung diseases. The microelectronics specialists at Fraunhofer IZM are on board and have developed a unique sensor bracelet…
As dense as it gets: With the exception of black holes, neutron stars are the densest objects in our universe. As their name suggests, neutron stars are mainly made of neutrons. However, our knowledge about the matter produced during the collision of two neutron stars is still limited. Scientists from Goethe University Frankfurt and the Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics in Pohang have now developed a new model that gives insights about matter under such extreme conditions. After a…
A team of quantum physicists from Innsbruck, Austria, led by three-time ERC laureate Francesca Ferlaino has established a new method to observe vortices in dipolar quantum gases. These quantum vortices are considered a strong indication of superfluidity, the frictionless flow of a quantum gas, and have now been experimentally detected for the first time in dipolar gases. Vortices are ubiquitous in nature: Whirling up water can create swirls. When the atmosphere is stirred up, huge tornadoes can form. This is…
Researchers hope designers can apply techniques from origami to medical devices, architecture, robotics and aerospace. Springs, squeegees and soda straws function with a common property — they are rigid in one direction and flexible in another. Structures like these, with properties that vary across dimensions, have played critical roles in human technology from the longbow to the booster rocket. Now, researchers have drawn inspiration from the art of origami to create programmable surfaces that allow engineers to alter physical properties…
Engineering researchers have developed a new self-healing composite that allows structures to repair themselves in place, without having to be removed from service. This latest technology resolves two longstanding challenges for self-healing materials, and can significantly extend the lifespan of structural components such as wind-turbine blades and aircraft wings. “Researchers have developed a variety of self-healing materials, but previous strategies for self-healing composites have faced two practical challenges,” says Jason Patrick, corresponding author of the research paper and an assistant…
Plankton are fundamental to the marine ecosystem and an indispensable means of modern marine ecological management. Since previous studies have shown that zooplankton are insensitive to long wavelength (i.e., red) light, such light is often used to make images of plankton as part of the ecological management process. Unfortunately, red light only produces grayscale images of plankton, thus losing information about their true color. In response to this problem, a research team led by Dr. LI Jianping from the Shenzhen…
Studying noncoding RNAs opens new avenues to understand human disease. Researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) and Imperial College London have found a switch that regulates the activity of a gene that causes diabetes. The findings, published in Nature Cell Biology, highlights potential new vulnerabilities in the disease and could lead to the development of new therapeutic strategies. HNF1A is a gene that provides instructions for making a protein called hepatocyte nuclear factor-1 alpha. The protein is expressed in many…
Could the future of data storage be DNA? It’s the original format after all, storing the information needed to build every living thing. And it has a handful of qualities that would make it perfect for storing all the digital information in our world. With recent advances in sequencing and printing DNA, it’s technically possible, but there are a few obstacles to overcome before this sci-fi-sounding tech can become a household reality. https://youtu.be/jQOKbkyG1Jg Reactions is a video series produced by…
Researchers at Turku University and Åbo Akademi University, Finland, have identified that finger-like cellular extensions called filopodia contribute to building a barrier surrounding breast tumours. At the early stage of breast cancer malignant cells are imprisoned by a tissue barrier called a basement membrane that stops them from disseminating into other parts of the body. This early disease stage is typically not life-threatening, as surgery can remove the tumour. However, breast cancer can become lethal if it spreads and forms…
… that harvest static electricity. Triboelectric energy is the scientific term for static electricity, or the energy that is created when two surfaces rub against each other. Electrons are exchanged between the two surfaces, charging one of the surfaces after they are separated. For example, if a balloon is rubbed against hair, it will cling to a wall. Or if clothes in the dryer rub together, you may see sparks as you pull them apart. Triboelectric generators are mechanical energy…
H2020 project INSPIRE-5Gplus (https://www.inspire-5gplus.eu/), contributes to the monitoring of 5G protocols and the detection of 5G-specific cyberattacks. The Horizon 2020 project INSPIRE-5Gplus(https://www.inspire-5gplus.eu/), continues to advance security of 5G and Beyond networks. As it is entirely devoted to improve security at various dimensions, the MMT (Montimage Monitoring Tool) framework has been extended, to cover the monitoring of 5G protocols and the detection of 5G-specific cyberattacks. The framework is now being proposed through an Open-Source project in GitHub: https://github.com/montimage https://github.com/montimage/mmt-probe The monitoring…
Global warming is changing the Arctic by causing permafrost thaw, glacier melt, droughts, fires and changes in vegetation. These developments are strongly linked to the energy exchange between land and the atmosphere. Researchers at the University of Zurich have now shown that different plant communities in the tundra play a key role in this energy exchange but are not taken into account in climate models. The heat waves that swept across Europe this summer made many people realize how important…
– NASA and NOAA scientists say. The annual Antarctic ozone hole reached an average area of 8.9 million square miles (23.2 million square kilometers) between Sept. 7 and Oct. 13, 2022. This depleted area of the ozone layer over the South Pole was slightly smaller than last year and generally continued the overall shrinking trend of recent years. “Over time, steady progress is being made, and the hole is getting smaller,” said Paul Newman, chief scientist for Earth sciences at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight…
A group of researchers has, for the first time, identified rare earth elements produced by neutron star mergers. Details of this milestone were published in The Astrophysical Journal on October 26, 2022. When two neutron stars spiral inwards and merge, the resulting explosion produces a large amount of heavy elements that make up our Universe. The first confirmed example of this process was an event in 2017 named GW 170817. Yet, even five years later, identifying the specific elements created…
Electrons flowing like liquids pave way for more-robust quantum computers. As you walk in a crowded shopping mall, it is easier to maintain social distancing when passing through a large atrium than when you are on an escalator. The same is true for electrons: if forced into circumstances where they must move in single file, the electric repulsion between them can alter the flow of electrical current. This gives rise to special material properties that are long sought-after by physicists,…
Prodrug curcumin shows clinical potential in mice. Curcumin, a natural molecule related to turmeric, has been used to treat cancer patients in cancer clinical studies. While it has documented antitumor effects, challenges involving its chemistry have caused drug development to lag. Now, a team of researchers at Kyoto University has developed a prodrug form of curcumin, TBP1901, that has shown anti-tumor effects without toxicities. “Curcumin has long been used as a spice or food coloring, so we expect to see…
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