Novel molecular beam scattering apparatus that uses a liquid flat jet can study chemical reactions at the gas liquid interface of volatile liquids. The Science The interface between gases and liquids is found throughout nature. It is also important to many industrial processes. To improve understanding of the gas-liquid interface, researchers have developed an apparatus to study reactions between gas molecules and highly volatile liquids with new levels of detail. It uses a molecular beam that is directed onto a…
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) in Göttingen, Germany, and Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, have developed a new theoretical method to study mixtures consisting of many different molecules. They analyzed how the molecules interact to reliably form different droplets, as happens continuously in living cells. With this model, particular droplet formation based on many interacting molecules can be predicted for the first time. The findings were recently published in the scientific journal PNAS….
Solar thermal power plants – whether parabolic trough or solar tower – are mostly constructed in desert areas with plenty of sun. In such places, soiling from sand and dust causes high uncertainties in the yield forecast and increased operating costs. In the “AVUSpro” project, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, PSE Instruments GmbH, TSK Flagsol Engineering GmbH and Dornier Suntrace GmbH have developed a fully automatic device to measure soiling. The four partners have successfully tested the…
Materials by recipe: Powder-based laser beam melting (LPPF) is probably the best-known AM process and has great potential for industrial applications. But how can the limited range of materials for this process be circumvented and the market potential further expanded? This question was addressed by the IWM of RWTH Aachen University and the Fraunhofer IFAM in the “LPBF powder kit” project funded by the AiF. The result was the development of a sustainable solution for the individual and robust processing…
NV-doped diamond is one of the most promising materials for the realization of quantum technologies. So far, however, the availability in industrially suitable quality and quantity is severely limited. In the BMBF-funded project GrodiaQ, Fraunhofer IAF is developing innovative processes and equipment in cooperation with five German companies to enable the industrial use of (111)-oriented diamond substrates and the establishment of a European supply chain for quantum devices. To ensure the availability of high-purity as well as large-area diamond wafers…
Specialized cell movement may explain progression of cancer and cystic fibrosis. Researchers at the University of Toronto, Johns Hopkins University and Vanderbilt University have discovered that certain cells move surprisingly faster in thicker fluid – think honey as opposed to water, or mucus as opposed to blood – because their ruffled edges sense the viscosity of their environment and adapt to increase their speed. Their combined results in cancer and fibroblast cells – the type that often creates scars in…
COVID-19 often leads to neurological symptoms, such as a loss of taste or smell, or cognitive impairments (including memory loss and concentration difficulties), both during the acute phase of the disease and over the long term with “long COVID” syndrome. But the way in which the infection reaches the brain was previously unknown. Scientists from Institut Pasteur and CNRS laboratories have used state-of-the-art electron microscopy approaches to demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 hijacks nanotubes, tiny bridges that link infected cells with neurons….
When communication lines are open, individual agents such as robots or drones can work together to collaborate and complete a task. But what if they aren’t equipped with the right hardware or the signals are blocked, making communication impossible? University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers started with this more difficult challenge. They developed a method to train multiple agents to work together using multi-agent reinforcement learning, a type of artificial intelligence. “It’s easier when agents can talk to each other,” said…
Liquid film can function as optical memory, enabling new architectural horizons for nanoscale neuromorphic computing. Sunlight sparkling on water evokes the rich phenomena of liquid–light interaction, spanning spatial and temporal scales. While the dynamics of liquids have fascinated researchers for decades, the rise of neuromorphic computing has sparked significant efforts to develop new, unconventional computational schemes based on recurrent neural networks, crucial to supporting wide range of modern technological applications, such as pattern recognition and autonomous driving. As biological neurons…
Nature creates layered materials like bone and mother-of-pearl that become less sensitive to defects as they grow. Now researchers have created, using biomimetic proteins patterned on squid ring teeth, composite layered 2D materials that are resistant to breaking and extremely stretchable. “Researchers rarely reported this interface property for the bone and nacre because it was difficult to measure experimentally,” said Melik Demirel, Lloyd and Dorothy Foehr Huck Chair in Biomimetic Materials and director of the Center for Advanced Fiber Technologies,…
Ancient rocks hold clues. New paleomagnetic research suggests Earth’s solid inner core formed 550 million years ago and restored our planet’s magnetic field. Approximately 1,800 miles beneath our feet, swirling liquid iron in the Earth’s outer core generates our planet’s protective magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is vital for life on Earth’s surface because it shields the planet from solar wind—streams of radiation from the sun. About 565 million years ago, however, the magnetic field’s strength decreased…
Researchers discover they contain a phase of quantum matter, known as charge density waves, that’s common in other unconventional superconductors. In other ways, though, they’re surprisingly unique. A new study shows that nickel oxide superconductors, which conduct electricity with no loss at higher temperatures than conventional superconductors do, contain a type of quantum matter called charge density waves, or CDWs, that can accompany superconductivity. The presence of CDWs shows that these recently discovered materials, also known as nickelates, are capable of…
New research from Binghamton University, State University of New York offers a second life for CDs: Turn them into flexible biosensors that are inexpensive and easy to manufacture. In a paper published this month in Nature Communications, Matthew Brown, PhD ’22, and Assistant Professor Ahyeon Koh from the Department of Biomedical Engineering show how a gold CD’s thin metallic layer can be separated from the rigid plastic and fashioned into sensors to monitor electrical activity in human hearts and muscles…
… Performs PCR Faster than Similar Tests on the Market. Researchers at Columbia Engineering and Rover Diagnostics team up to develop a low-cost, portable platform that gives RT-PCR results in 23 minutes that match laboratory-based tests. For more than 30 years, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been the gold standard in molecular diagnostic testing, detecting genetic material, such as those from a virus or from human DNA. But PCR, including reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), is mostly done at…
Researchers have found a material that can perform much better than silicon. The next step is finding practical and economic ways to make it. Silicon is one of the most abundant elements on Earth, and in its pure form the material has become the foundation of much of modern technology, from solar cells to computer chips. But silicon’s properties as a semiconductor are far from ideal. For one thing, although silicon lets electrons whizz through its structure easily, it is…
For patients with lymphoma, multiple myeloma, or certain types of leukemia, treatment with chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR T cells) is sometimes the last chance of overcoming the cancer. The treatment involves taking T cells from the patient’s blood and adding artificial receptors – the CARs – to them in the lab. As the guards of our immune system, T cells are on permanent patrol in our blood vessels and tissues, where they hunt down foreign structures. Equipped with CARs, T cells can also…
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