Today, public cloud systems can be used for outsourcing computationally intensive applications and storing large amounts of data. However, these systems are not designed for millisecond-accurate control of machines in production environments. They are not freely configurable and are difficult to connect to real-time-capable networks. In contrast, companies can use local cloud systems to monitor their machines and plants and exchange sensor information. The hardware and software architecture of the Fraunhofer Edge Cloud will be showcased using various example applications…
Biosynthesis of cyanobacterin opens up new class of natural compounds for applications in medicine and agriculture. The fact that Nature is an excellent chemist is demonstrated by the abundance of molecules, so-called natural products, which it produces biosynthetically. These natural products are also of central importance to us humans. They are used in many ways in our everyday lives, especially as active agents in medicine and agriculture. Prominent examples are antibiotics such as penicilins isolated from molds, the anti-cancer drug…
Researcher Laura Rossi and her group at TU Delft have found a new way to build synthetic materials out of tiny glass particles – so-called colloids. Together with their colleagues from Queen’s University and the University of Amsterdam, they showed that they can simply use the shape of these colloids to make interesting building blocks for new materials, regardless of other properties of the colloidal particles. Rossi: “This is striking, because it opens up a completely new way to think…
Study describes mechanism by which breast cancer suppresses insulin production, impairing blood sugar regulation and causing diabetes, which, in turn, promotes tumor growth. Breast cancer and type 2 diabetes would seem to be distinctly different diseases, with commonality only in their commonality. Breast cancer is the second most diagnosed malignancy after some types of skin cancer; approximately 1 in eight U.S. women will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of their lifetime. More than 10 percent of the U.S….
Study shows promise for developing a new renewable energy source. A new artificial enzyme has shown it can chew through lignin, the tough polymer that helps woody plants hold their shape. Lignin also stores tremendous potential for renewable energy and materials. Reporting in the journal Nature Communications, a team of researchers from Washington State University and the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory showed that their artificial enzyme succeeded in digesting lignin, which has stubbornly resisted previous attempts to…
Based on a new model, scientists show that the seed scales of pine cones move due to a complex interplay of multiple tissues that respond in different ways to moisture. The research team thus challenges the previous assumption that the actuation is due to the moisture-induced mechanical behavior of a simple bilayer system. The results could be used to create biomimetic flap systems with improved function, for example for adaptive building facades. Pine cones open when dry and close when…
With the rapid reduction in the costs of renewable energy generation, such as wind and solar power, there is a growing need for energy storage technologies to make sure that electricity supply and demand are balanced properly. IIASA researchers have come up with a new energy storage concept that could turn tall buildings into batteries to improve the power quality in urban settings. The world’s capacity to generate electricity from solar panels, wind turbines, and other renewable technologies has been…
MHH involved in international study on acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a malignant disease in which the precursor cells of the haematopoietic system multiply uncontrollably. This form of blood cancer is caused by genetic changes in the bone marrow that occur in the course of life. Therefore, it is mainly older people who are affected. If left untreated, AML leads to death within a few weeks. But now there is hope. The combination of two drugs…
When biological tissue is created in the laboratory, nothing should be left to chance: At TU Wien, a method was developed to guide individual cells to the right place with laser precision. It is one of the biggest problems with producing artificial tissue: How can the individual cells be directed to the right place, for example when a blood vessel is to be created at a very specific location? This feat has now been achieved at TU Wien (Vienna): The…
Machine learning is playing an ever-increasing role in biomedical research. Scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have now developed a new method of using molecular data to extract subtypes of illnesses. In the future, this method can help to support the study of larger patient groups. Nowadays doctors define and diagnose most diseases on the basis of symptoms. However, that does not necessarily mean that the illnesses of patients with similar symptoms will have identical causes or demonstrate…
Even intensive whaling did not rob the fin whale of its genomic diversity. Fin whales are the second largest living creatures on our planet, surpassed only by blue whales. Industrial whaling has significantly reduced their numbers; the species is considered endangered according to the Red List. A new study by scientists from the LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (TBG), the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F) and Icelandic and Swedish research institutions shows the consequences of their decimation…
Dresden physicist wins prize for world’s first image of a 3D magnetic field. A Dresden research team led by solid-state physicist Dr. Axel Lubk has succeeded in imaging the magnetic field of tiny magnetic nanovortices – called skyrmions – in three dimensions with a resolution of seven millionths of a millimeter. This is the first time ever that this has been achieved. For their pioneering work, the scientists have now been honored by the European Microscopy Society (EMS) with the…
During heavy storms, the normally stratified layers of water in ocean fjords get mixed, which leads to oxygenation of the fjord floor. But these storm events also result in a spike in methane emissions from fjords to the atmosphere. Researchers from the University of Gothenburg have estimated that the total emissions of this climate-warming gas are as great from fjords as from all the deep ocean areas in the world put together. The world’s fjords were created when the inland…
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, using a new antireflection coating, have successfully increased the efficiency of the best four-junction solar cell to date from 46.1 to 47.6 percent at a concentration of 665 suns. This is a global milestone, as there is currently no solar cell with a higher efficiency worldwide. The results are presented today at the 2nd International tandemPV Workshop, taking place in Freiburg, Germany. For the last two years, Fraunhofer ISE has…
Another success for Oldenburg’s hearing research: Collaborative Research Centre at the University of Oldenburg to receive funding for another four years. Smart hearing aids that adapt to the individual needs of the user: for the last four years, the researchers of the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) Hearing Acoustics have been working towards this goal. Now the German Research Foundation (DFG) has extended the funding of the project. Led by Prof. Dr. Volker Hohmann, a hearing researcher at the University of…
New carbon sorbent is 99% efficient, lightning fast, and easily recyclable. Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have developed a new carbon capture system which removes carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere with unprecedented performance. Isophorone diamine (IPDA) in a “liquid-solid phase separation” system was found to remove carbon dioxide at the low concentrations contained in the atmosphere with 99% efficiency. The compound is reusable with minimal heating and at least twice as fast as existing systems, an exciting new development…
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