Paralyzed mice “walk” again after new treatment created with the aid of the Advanced Photon Source. The Science A new injectable therapy for spinal cord injuries uses specially engineered molecules that trigger a healing response in spinal cells. The research team used X-ray characterization at the Advanced Photon Source (APS). This allowed the researchers to determine the structure of these molecules as they come together to form tiny fibers in a liquid solution. Scientists can control the motion of these…
New evidence for an autoimmune cause of schizophrenia. Researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) identify an autoantibody that may cause schizophrenia in some individuals. Schizophrenia is a disorder that affects how people act, think, and perceive reality. It is often very difficult to treat because it has many different causes and symptoms. In a study published last month in Cell Reports Medicine, researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) have identified an autoantibody—a protein that is produced…
… improves prediction accuracy of battery capacity. Recently, electric vehicles (EVs) are seen everywhere, from passenger cars, buses, to taxis. EVs have the advantage of being eco-friendly and having low maintenance costs; but their owners must remain wary of fatal accidents in case the battery runs out or reaches the end of its life. Therefore, precise capacity and lifespan predictions for the lithium-ion batteries – commonly used in EVs – are vital. A POSTECH research team led by Professor Seungchul…
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have developed a tiny sensor for detecting pesticides on fruit in just a few minutes. The technique, described as a proof-of-concept in a paper in the journal Advanced Science, uses flame-sprayed nanoparticles made from silver to increase the signal of chemicals. While still at an early stage, the researchers hope these nano-sensors could help uncover food pesticides before consumption. “Reports show that up to half of all fruits sold in the EU contain pesticide…
Quantum computing: Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, have improved the coherence time of a previously developed quantum membrane dramatically. The improvement will expand the usability of the membrane for a variety of different purposes. With a coherence time of one hundred milliseconds, the membrane can for example store sensitive quantum information for further processing in a quantum computer or network. The result has now been published in Nature Portfolio. The quantum drum is now connected to…
In medical care, magnetic fields of heart and brain activity are measured to detect diseases at an early stage. To measure even the smallest magnetic fields, researchers at Fraunhofer IAF are working on a new approach: diamond-based laser threshold magnetometry. The idea is to use diamond with a high density of nitrogen-vacancy centers in a laser system. Now the researchers have succeeded in reaching a milestone: They were able to demonstrate the world’s first measurement of magnetic-field-dependent stimulated emission and…
Tobacco hornworms neutralize different defense mechanisms of tobacco plants after ingestion. A combined defense of different chemical defense substances could result in a negative interaction and mutual detoxification, according to researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in a new study on the wild tobacco species Nicotiana attenuata and one of its specialized herbivores. Chemical analyses of frass revealed that larvae of the tobacco hawkmoth Manduca sexta are able to split off components of one defense substance and…
A study by a research team of the University of Oldenburg, Germany, reveals that spider webs mirror varying levels of microplastic contamination of urban air. Flies, mosquitoes, dust and even microplastics – spider webs catch things flying through the air. Researchers at the University of Oldenburg, Germany, have now for the first time examined the webs for microplastics on inner-city streets with varying levels of traffic. The team mainly found the plastic PET, presumably from textiles, as well as particles…
Candida albicans is a yeast that colonizes the mucosal surfaces of most healthy humans. Under certain conditions, it can switch to a harmful form and cause infection. Researchers have now identified components of mucus that keep the pathogen from turning destructive, thus laying the foundation for a new class of drugs. Most people don’t ever notice that they carry potentially harmful pathogens. The fact that they remain ignorant of Candida albicans is in part thanks to a substance usually not…
Specific cellular, molecular and gene expression patterns in brain areas are linked to function, but their precise relationships remain largely unknown. New findings by scientists at the Human Brain Project (HBP) shed light on these relationships and enable a more comprehensive understanding of human brain organisation. The HBP researchers conducted a study that targeted three levels of cortical organisation: cytoarchitecture, neurotransmitter receptor architecture and neurotransmitter receptor gene expression. The study elucidates principles of human brain organisation across the visual, auditory,…
… with a non-noble metal cocatalyst Mo2C under visible light. Nanomaterials frontier towards hydrogen energy. Halide perovskites have been emerging as promising photocatalytic materials for H2-evolution from water due to their outstanding photoelectric properties. However, the lack of proper surface reactive sites greatly hinders the photocatalytic potential of these fascinating compounds. Here, Mo2C nanoparticles have been anchored onto methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) as a non-noble-metal cocatalyst to promote H2-evolution reactions. They published their work on May. 28 in Energy Material Advances….
A University of Queensland-led study has found millions of COVID-19 patients may have undiagnosed acute kidney injury (AKI). AKI is a condition where the kidneys suddenly fail to filter waste from the blood, which can lead to serious illness or even death. Existing data indicates approximately 20 per cent of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 develop AKI, rising to roughly 40 per cent for those in intensive care. But UQ PhD candidate and kidney specialist Dr Marina Wainstein said…
… paves the way for new quantum materials. New technique helps researchers understand unconventional superconductors. Superconductors are materials with no electrical resistance whatsoever, commonly requiring extremely low temperatures. They are used in a wide range of domains, from medical applications to a central role in quantum computers. Superconductivity is caused by specially linked pairs of electrons known as Cooper pairs. So far, the occurrence of Cooper pairs has been measured indirectly macroscopically in bulk, but a new technique developed by…
Toward ceramics tailored for optimized bone self-repair. Your chance of breaking a bone sometime within the next year is nearly 4%. If you’re unlucky enough to need a bone replacement, it’ll probably be based on a metal part. Unfortunately, metal parts are sometimes toxic over time, and will not help your original bone regrow. Calcium phosphate ceramics—substitutes for the bone mineral hydroxyapatite—are in principle an ideal alternative to conventional metals because bone can eventually replace the ceramic and regrow. However,…
Mimicking the human body, specifically the actuators that control muscle movement, is of immense interest around the globe. In recent years, it has led to many innovations to improve robotics, prosthetic limbs and more, but creating these actuators typically involves complex processes, with expensive and hard-to-find materials. Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and Penn State University have created a new type of fiber that can perform like a muscle actuator, in many ways better than other options…
The European Union wants the Life Cycle Assessment of buildings to be given more significance in the future, and the EU Taxonomy creates a systematic basis for this: It defines criteria for evaluating investments, including for the climate change mitigation objective of the taxonomy. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP worked together with a business partner to develop a software suite that combines ecological indicators and economic calculations for investments. This has an influence on banks’ lending…
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