New research finds toxic metals absorbed by Great Salt Lake plants and insects. Plants in Great Salt Lake wetland ecosystems are able to pull hazardous metal pollution from the lake and sometimes pass it up the food chain, according to work by a team of researchers from the Department of Watershed Sciences led by Edd Hammill. The study, coauthored by former master’s student Maya Pendleton and current faculty Janice Brahney, Karin Kettenring, and Trisha Atwood, sampled three types of native…
Scientists have created the first ”time-crystal” two-body system in an experiment that seems to bend the laws of physics. It comes after the same team recently witnessed the first interaction of the new phase of matter. Time crystals were long believed to be impossible because they are made from atoms in never-ending motion. The discovery, published in Nature Communications, shows that not only can time crystals be created, but they have potential to be turned into useful devices. Time crystals…
Soon, electric passenger ferries skimming above the surface across the seas may become a reality. At Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, a research team has created a unique method for further developing hydrofoils that can significantly increase the range of electric vessels and reduce the fuel consumption of fossil-powered ships by 80 per cent. While the electrification of cars is well advanced, the world’s passenger ferries are still powered almost exclusively by fossil fuels. The limiting factor is battery…
Hot-carrier multijunction solar cells maintain a high conversion efficiency with nonoptimal materials, broadening the scope of candidates for their design. Solar energy is a clean and renewable source of energy. Solar cells usually consist of a semiconductor material that absorbs sunlight and generates electricity. However, the amount of sunlight that can be converted into electricity is limited. Standard single-junction solar cells are theoretically limited to a maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 30 percent. This is the famous “Shockley–Queisser limit,”…
Researchers have analysed the properties of an organic polymer with potential applications in flexible electronics and uncovered variations in hardness at the nanoscale, the first time such a fine structure has been observed in this type of material. The field of organic electronics has benefited from the discovery of new semiconducting polymers with molecular backbones that are resilient to twists and bends, meaning they can transport charge even if they are flexed into different shapes. It had been assumed that…
Nanosheets are finely structured two-dimensional materials and have great potential for innovation. They are fixed on top of each other in layered crystals, and must first be separated from each other so that they can be used, for example, to filter gas mixtures or for efficient gas barriers. A research team at the University of Bayreuth has now developed a gentle, environmentally-friendly process for this difficult process of delamination that can even be used on an industrial scale. This is…
The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) and drone manufacturer Wingcopter have successfully deployed the SUCOM drone communication system on the African continent for the first time, specifically in Malawi. The mobile radio-based system enables safe control of drones, even despite being out of sight of the person controlling them. Wingcopter plans to expand the local delivery drone program into a permanent operation with additional local pilots by the planned completion of SUCOM testing in Malawi at the end of the…
A new study indicates how deep learning can improve gene therapies and antiviral drugs. The nuclease Cas13b associated with CRISPR defense systems—also known as genetic scissors—has the potential to be used in the future in hereditary diseases to silence adverse genes. In the fight against infections, it is also being researched as an antiviral agent, as Cas13b can target the genome of viruses and render them harmless. Despite these promising features, researchers are looking for nuclease inhibitors that can control…
Viruses can make animals and humans sick – or healthy: Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB have succeeded in genetically modifying the herpes simplex virus type 1, which triggers painful cold sores, in such a way that it can be used in the fight against cancer in the future. Viruses are simple in structure: They consist of a small amount of genetic material wrapped in proteins and lipids. Measuring just 20 to 200 nanometers in…
Methane instead of CO2 … Biogas plants produce methane along with more than 40 percent CO2 which has been released into the atmosphere in conventional biogas plants. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Microengineering and Microsystems IMM have now found a way to convert this waste product into additional methane, thus drastically increasing the methane yield from biogas plants. The process is up and running and the research team is currently scaling up the demonstration plant to five cubic meters…
Climate research: KIT researchers prove global increase of ultrafine particles from exhaust gases of fossil fuels and warn of major weather effects. Strong precipitation or extreme drought – the frequency of extreme weather events is increasing worldwide. Existing climate models, however, do not adequately show their dynamics. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) assume that ultrafine particles in the atmosphere have a significant impact on cloud physics and, hence, on weather. Their aircraft measurements confirm an increase in particle…
An international team of scientists used retrospective radiocarbon birth dating to show that the human liver stays young throughout life and is on average less than three years old. The liver is an essential organ that takes care of clearing toxins in our bodies. Because it constantly deals with toxic substances, it is likely to be regularly injured. To overcome this, the liver has a unique capacity among organs to regenerate itself after damage. Because a lot of the body’s…
Infectious microbes have evolved sophisticated means to invade host cells, outwit the body’s defenses and cause disease. While researchers have tried to puzzle out the complicated interactions between microorganisms and the host cells they infect, one facet of the disease process has often been overlooked – the physical forces that impact host-pathogen interactions and disease outcomes. In a new study, corresponding authors Cheryl Nickerson, Jennifer Barrila and their colleagues demonstrate that under low fluid shear force conditions that simulate those found in microgravity…
In the future, cameras could spot blackbirds feeding on grapes in a vineyard and launch drones to drive off the avian irritants, then return to watch for the next invading flock. All without a human nearby. A Washington State University research team has developed just such a system, which they detail in a study published in the journal Computer and Electronics in Agriculture. The system is designed to have automated drones available to patrol 24 hours a day to deter…
… and then successfully transplanted. The Liver4Life research team owes its perfusion machine, which was developed in house, to the fact that it became possible to implant a human organ into a patient after a storage period of three days outside a body. The machine mimics the human body as accurately as possible, in order to provide ideal conditions for the human livers. A pump serves as a replacement heart, an oxygenator replaces the lungs and a dialysis unit performs…
Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed a film that not only protects wounds similar to the way a bandage does, but also helps wounds to heal faster, repels bacteria, dampens inflammation, releases active pharmaceutical ingredients in a targeted manner and ultimately dissolves by itself. This is all made possible by its dedicated design and the use of mucins, molecules which occur naturally in mucous membranes. Conventional bandages may be very effective for treating smaller skin abrasions,…
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