Tenfold improvement in the sensitivity of electron holography reveals the net charge in a single platinum nanoparticle with a precision of just one electron, providing fundamental information for developing future catalysts. If you often find yourself off by one when counting your socks after doing the laundry, you might want to sit down for this. Scientists in Japan have now counted the number of extra—or missing—charges down to a precision of just one electron in single platinum nanoparticles having diameters…
New approach creates metamaterials that are light, thin and flexible. Researchers have developed an automatic drawing machine that uses pens and pencils to draw metamaterials onto paper. They demonstrated the new approach by using it to make three metamaterials that can be used to manipulate the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Metamaterials are artificially engineered composite materials that derive their properties from patterned microstructures, rather than the chemical composition of the materials themselves. The exact shape, geometry, size, orientation and…
In the future, robots will support people with physical disabilities in their own homes. To assess and expand the suitability of robots for everyday activities, the Institute for Artificial Intelligence at the University of Bremen equipped a new research laboratory with a kitchen and furniture. There is also an exact digital image of this lab, known as a “digital twin.” This enables the international research community to develop and test robotic technologies remotely. Carrying out everyday tasks like a human…
Researchers at the TUMCREATE research platform on the Singapore campus of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed CityMoS – City Mobility Simulator. This concept is now supporting the city state in southern Asia in the electrification of transportation. It is also helping to calculate the impact of transportation on the heat generated in the city. CityMoS is already being deployed in Germany, where it is helping with the e transformation of a DHL Freight logistics terminal. How would…
For enhancing flavors, the production of dyes, pharmaceutical products and bio polyesters – succinic acid is a versatile platform chemical. A team led by Elke Nevoigt, Professor of Molecular Biotechnology at Jacobs University Bremen, has developed an economically and ecologically attractive process for the production of succinic acid by more effectively incorporating carbon dioxide (CO2). The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding the project for another three years. A large number of products in the chemical industry are based on…
A new type of insect-repellent delivery device has been developed by scientists from the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU). With the help of a 3D printer, the active ingredient is first “encapsulated” and formed into the desired shape, such as a ring, which can then be worn and releases an agent designed to repel mosquitoes for a long time. The team has presented its work in the “International Journal of Pharmaceutics”. The researchers have developed their prototypes using “IR3535”, an…
A new image obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope reveals a remarkable cosmic sight: at least 17 concentric dust rings emanating from a pair of stars. Located just over 5,000 light years from Earth, this stellar duo is collectively known as Wolf-Rayet 140. The research team led by US astronomer Ryan Lau includes Gerd Weigelt from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany. A new image from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) reveals a remarkable…
New Caltech research demonstrates how the honeycombed material can enhance electronics. At 200 times stronger than steel, graphene has been hailed as a super material of the future since its discovery in 2004. The ultrathin carbon material is an incredibly strong electrical and thermal conductor, making it a perfect ingredient to enhance semiconductor chips found in many electrical devices. But while graphene-based research has been fast-tracked, the nanomaterial has hit roadblocks: in particular, manufacturers have not been able to create…
Researchers from Nagoya University and Keio University in Japan have estimated a person’s stress levels caused by the sound of a flying car passing overhead. The research was published in the Technical Journal of Advanced Mobility in September 2022. The drone market is booming, as several automobile companies and start-ups develop new personal aircraft. The long-awaited flying car, made famous in films like Blade Runner, may soon be a common sight in cities around the world. But while the automobile industry…
Black hole spews out material years after shredding star. In October 2018, a small star was ripped to shreds when it wandered too close to a black hole in a galaxy located 665 million light years away from Earth. Though it may sound thrilling, the event did not come as a surprise to astronomers who occasionally witness these violent incidents while scanning the night sky. But nearly three years after the massacre, the same black hole is lighting up the…
A new small blue snailfish is changing our understanding of the world’s deepest fishes. In 2018, an international team of scientists studied the Atacama Trench, an expansive trench that runs along the west coast of South America as a deep underwater valley that mirrors the Andes Mountains. The team, including Newcastle University scientists, deployed free-falling landers to sample the sparse deep-sea creatures around cameras and traps with bait. Two lander systems from Newcastle University recorded three types of hadal snailfish…
Frontera, Stampede2 supercomputing simulations help reveal traffic mechanisms through the nuclear pore complex. Students learn about the nucleus in ninth grade biology — it’s the inner sanctum of biological cells, where the genome resides with the blueprints for cells to make proteins that are the building-blocks of life. Apertures called nuclear pore complexes (NPC) perforate the otherwise iron-clad membrane and act like crossing guards for macromolecular traffic in and out of the nucleus. If the crossing-guard misfires, it can cause human diseases such as…
Titanic stellar collision rattles space and time. Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have made a unique measurement that indicates a jet, plowing through space at speeds greater than 99.97% the speed of light, was propelled by the titanic collision between two neutron stars. The explosive event, named GW170817, was observed in August 2017. The blast released the energy comparable to that of a supernova explosion. It was the first combined detection of gravitational waves and gamma radiation from a…
They can live for more than 100 years and weigh up to 250 kilograms – Aldabra giant tortoises. Researchers at the University of Zurich have now decoded the genome of Aldabrachelys gigantea, one of only two remaining giant tortoise species worldwide. The findings will help to ensure the long-term survival of the threatened species. Aldabra giant tortoises are vulnerable to extinction according to the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, meaning that the species faces a…
Nahtlos, an Empa spin-off, has received 1 million Swiss francs in a first round of financing from a network of business angels from Switzerland and Liechtenstein and from the Startfeld Foundation. With this funding, Nahtlos aims to drive the market entry of its newly developed textile-based electrode for medical applications. Over the past two years, Nahtlos, an Empa spin-off, has developed novel textile-based electrodes for recording heart activity (electrocardiogram, ECG) – for example, to detect atrial fibrillation – and for…
Cooperation between radiotherapy and cardiology: MHH experts achieve success with innovative treatment method. Radiotherapy – most people think of it as the treatment of cancer. At the Hannover Medical School (MHH), radiation is now being used to help patients with cardiac arrhythmias. High-precision radiation from linear accelerators is used to treat the exact spot in the heart muscle that is responsible for the arrhythmia. The procedure is relatively new and is only carried out in a few clinics in Germany….
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