It is cheaper its analogues, easier to manufacture and to modify. A new type of material for one of the solar cells was proposed by specialists of the Ural Federal University (UrFU) and the Institute of Organic Synthesis of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences together with their colleagues. The compounds found will significantly reduce the cost of solar cell production. The article was published in the New Journal of Chemistry. Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are a…
Findings hold potential to greatly enhance energy density of lithium batteries. A team of researchers has discovered a new mechanism to stabilize the lithium metal electrode and electrolyte in lithium metal batteries. This new mechanism, which does not depend on the traditional kinetic approach, has potential to greatly enhance the energy density — the amount of energy stored relative to the weight or volume — of batteries. The team published their findings in the journal Nature Energy. Lithium metal batteries…
Battery research – Dr. Aleksandr Savateev, group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, has developed a unique online database. To do so, he has analyzed and standardized research data from 300 papers published over the past forty years in the field of photocharged semiconductors. The database could be used to find suitable photosemiconductors for designing new batteries, rechargeable batteries and supercapacitors more quickly and in a more targeted manner. Materials chemistry is a rapidly evolving area…
Scientists at TU Dresden have succeeded in synthesizing new phosphorescent, platinum-based emitter complexes for high-brightness and long-life OLEDs. The results were published this week in the renowned journal “Chemistry – A European Journal”. Due to their flexible applications and comparatively low manufacturing costs, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are increasingly conquering the electronics market, for example in cell phone displays or TV screens. Compared with conventional (inorganic) light-emitting diodes, however, OLEDs still lag behind, especially in terms of longevity and luminous…
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute in Plön show that reputation plays a key role in determining which rewarding policies people adopt. Using game theory, they explain why individuals learn to use rewards to specifically promote good behaviour. Often, we use positive incentives like rewards to promote cooperative behaviour. But why do we predominantly reward cooperation? Why is defection rarely rewarded? Or more generally, why do we bother to engage in any form of rewarding in the first place? Theoretical…
Computing power of quantum machines is currently still very low. Increasing it is still proving to be a major challenge. Physicists at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, now present a new architecture for a universal quantum computer that overcomes such limitations and could be the basis of the next generation of quantum computers soon. Quantum bits (qubits) in a quantum computer serve as a computing unit and memory at the same time. Because quantum information cannot be copied, it cannot…
Enzymatic reactions create micro-environments to organize cellular processes. Inside cells, molecular droplets form defined compartments for chemical reactions. Not only sticky interactions between molecules, but also dynamic reactions can form such droplets, as it was found by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) and the University of Oxford. They revealed a new regulatory mechanism by which life controls and organizes itself. Traditionally, cellular organelles defined by a membrane have been considered the functional units of…
Since 2018, when the NASA InSight Mission deployed the SEIS seismometer on the surface of Mars, seismologists and geophysicists at ETH Zurich have been listening to the seismic pings of more than 1,300 marsquakes. Again and again, the researchers registered smaller and larger Mars quakes. A detailed analysis of the quakes’ location and spectral character brought a surprise. With epicentres originating in the vicinity of the Cerberus Fossae – a region consisting of a series of rifts or graben –…
Pick an object in front of you—a teacup, for example—and fix your gaze on it. You may think that you’re keeping your eyes still, but you’re not: Your eyes are frequently moving unbeknownst to you, making tiny involuntary jitters called microsaccades. In fact, these jitters are the reason you continue to see the teacup at all—they introduce just enough variety in the light patterns on your eyes to prevent your visual neurons from completely adapting to what they’re looking at….
A recently released set of topography maps provides new evidence for an ancient northern ocean on Mars. The maps offer the strongest case yet that the planet once experienced sea-level rise consistent with an extended warm and wet climate, not the harsh, frozen landscape that exists today. “What immediately comes to mind as one the most significant points here is that the existence of an ocean of this size means a higher potential for life,” said Benjamin Cardenas, assistant professor…
The novel genetic engineering approach, tested in mice and laboratory-grown nerve and light-receiving cells, will initially have research applications. Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have successfully used a cell’s natural process for making proteins to “slide” genetic instructions into a cell and produce critical proteins missing from those cells. If further studies verify their proof-of-concept results, the scientists may have a new method for targeting specific cell types for a variety of disorders that could be treated with gene…
LJI scientists connect TET loss of function to missing genes in embryonic stem cells. Genetic mutations kick start cancers. Some mutations shuffle the genetic code, others come from the deletion of key genes. At La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), researchers have made a major breakthrough in understanding how deletion of the genes that encode TET proteins can lead to cancer growth. Their new study, published in Nature Communications, is the first to show the immediate consequences of deleting all…
Researchers study the energy and angular dependence of how neutrons scatter off materials to improve reactor safety and efficiency. The Science Nuclear fission and fusion reactors use the elements carbon and silicon as shielding and structural materials. Nuclear engineers also use these elements in fuel and in neutron moderators, which control the speed of neutrons to help maintain chain reactions. Silicon carbide, for example, can be used to clad fuel and as a pellet coating that offers protection from accidents such as…
… for more cost-effective laser systems in ophthalmology. Scientists at the Berlin-based Ferdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH) have developed prototypes of miniaturized and robust laser modules for ophthalmology. They can be used as reasonably priced pump sources in laser systems to treat retinal detachments. In addition, their wavelength can be precisely adjusted to the respective application. Detachment of the retina in the eye can lead to visual impairment and even blindness. Laser coagulation is a well-established method to treat holes or fissures in…
– how actin filaments drive the cell’s motion. Actin filaments are protein fibers that make up the internal skeleton of the cell. They support cellular processes like the cell’s fusion and are also a major constituent of muscle cells. For the first time, researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund, Germany, have been successfully able to visualize hundreds of water molecules in the actin filament. Using the technique of electron cryo microscopy (cryo-EM), Stefan Raunser’ group…
Mainz University succeeds in the first round of the new Carl Zeiss Foundation Wildcard program / Researchers present an innovative approach for enhancing electronic devices. Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) are pursuing a completely new and unconventional strategy to improve the way data can be processed and – in particular – stored. Together with their partners at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, they have been granted funding by the Carl Zeiss Foundation (CZS). The project of this interdisciplinary…
Feedback
