Plastic bottles, punnets, wrap – such lightweight packaging made of PET plastic becomes a problem if it is not recycled. Scientists at Leipzig University have now discovered a highly efficient enzyme that degrades PET in record time. The enzyme PHL7, which the researchers found in a compost heap in Leipzig, could make biological PET recycling possible much faster than previously thought. The findings have now been published in the scientific journal “ChemSusChem” and selected as the cover topic. One way…
Physicist at TU Graz Develops Multisensory Hybrid Material. The “smart skin” developed by Anna Maria Coclite is very similar to human skin. It senses pressure, humidity and temperature simultaneously and produces electronic signals. More sensitive robots or more intelligent prostheses are thus conceivable. The skin is the largest sensory organ and at the same time the protective coat of the human being. It “feels” several sensory inputs at the same time and reports information about humidity, temperature and pressure to…
For the first time, researchers have succeeded in observing a new transport phenomenon in spin chains under the microscope – with surprising results: the movement in the quantum world resembles certain phenomena known from everyday life like the form of coffee stains on a tablecloth. The behaviour of microscopic quantum magnets has long been a subject taught in lectures in theoretical physics. However, investigating the dynamics of systems that are far out of equilibrium and watching them “live” has been…
New experimental work establishes how quantum properties of mechanical quantum systems can be measured without destroying the quantum state. When thinking about quantum mechanical systems, single photons and well-isolated ions and atoms may spring to mind, or electrons spreading through a crystal. More exotic in the context of quantum mechanics are genuinely mechanical quantum systems; that is, massive objects in which mechanical motion such as vibration is quantized. In a series of seminal experiments, quintessential quantum-mechanical features have been observed…
Future quantum computers are expected not only to solve particularly tricky computing tasks, but also to be connected to a network for the secure exchange of data. In principle, quantum gates could be used for these purposes. But until now, it has not been possible to realise them with sufficient efficiency. By a sophisticated combination of several techniques, researchers at the MPQ have now taken a major step towards overcoming this hurdle. For decades, computers have been getting faster and…
Researchers from the University of Rostock have developed a novel type of micro-structured material that enhances the speed of light signals while keeping them protected from scattering. Their discovery will be published online by the renowned journal “Science” on Thursday, 12 May, 2022. Photonic topological insulators (PTIs) are artificial materials that conduct light along their edges, yet block it from traversing their interior. These “superconductors for photons” have fascinated Prof. Alexander Szameit of the University of Rostock for a long…
A quantum system consisting of only 51 charged atoms can assume more than two quadrillion different states. Calculating the system’s behavior is a piece of cake for a quantum simulator. Yet even with today’s supercomputers it is almost impossible to verify the result. A research team from the University of Innsbruck and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now shown how these systems can be described using equations from the 18th century. At first glance, a system consisting of…
Rice-Waseda project ups its game for complexity with aerodynamic model of a moving car and its tires. The complex aerodynamics around a moving car and its tires are hard to see, but not for some mechanical engineers. Specialists in fluid dynamics at Rice University and Waseda University in Tokyo have developed their computer simulation methods to the point where it’s possible to accurately model moving cars, right down to the flow around rolling tires. The results are there for all to…
Scripps Research scientists develop a sophisticated platform for building and modifying proteoglycans to dissect their normal roles and their roles in diseases, including cancers. Scientists at Scripps Research have developed a set of methods for the closer study of one of the least-accessible, least-understood players in biology: protein-sugar conjugates called proteoglycans. These molecules are often thickly present on the surfaces of cells and are known to have a broad set of functions in the body, though how they work and…
An animal model for a crucial component of our genome maintenance system. Researchers at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) have created a new disease model that has contributed to a better understanding of Bloom syndrome and the sex determination processes of zebrafish. The study, linking two seemingly unrelated topics, was carried out by the research teams of Mihály Kovács (Department of Biochemistry) and Máté Varga (Department of Genetics) and published in the scientific journal Cell Death and Disease. In addition to providing important…
A fast, efficient, selective membrane for purifying saltwater. Water scarcity is a growing problem around the world. Desalination of seawater is an established method to produce drinkable water but comes with huge energy costs. For the first time, researchers use fluorine-based nanostructures to successfully filter salt from water. Compared to current desalination methods, these fluorous nanochannels work faster, require less pressure and less energy, and are a more effective filter. If you’ve ever cooked with a nonstick Teflon-coated frying pan,…
Despite the rapid melting of ice in many parts of Antarctica during the second half of the 20th century, researchers have found that the floating ice shelves which skirt the eastern Antarctic Peninsula have undergone sustained advance over the past 20 years. Ice shelves – floating sections of ice which are attached to land-based ice sheets – serve the vital purpose of buttressing against the uncontrolled release of inland ice to the ocean. During the late 20th century, high levels…
Very thin wires made of a topological insulator could enable highly stable qubits, the building blocks of future quantum computers. Scientists see a new result in topological insulator devices as an important step towards realizing the technology’s potential. An international group of scientists have demonstrated that wires more than 100 times thinner than a human hair can act like a quantum one-way street for electrons when made of a peculiar material known as a topological insulator. The discovery opens the…
The ground beneath our feet and under the ocean floor is an electrically-charged grid, the product of bacteria “exhaling” excess electrons through tiny nanowires in an environment lacking oxygen. Yale University researchers have been studying ways to enhance this natural electrical conductivity within nanowires 1/100,000th width of a human hair by identifying the mechanism of electron flow. In a new study published in Science advances, a team led by graduate student Peter Dahl with Nikhil Malvankar, Assistant Professor of Molecular…
A team of international researchers has discovered a way to produce higher quality wheat. The scientists from the University of Adelaide and the UK’s John Innes Centre have identified a genetic driver that improves yield traits in wheat, which unexpectedly can also lead to increasing protein content by up to 25 per cent. “Little is known about the mechanism behind drivers of yields and protein content in wheat production,” said the University of Adelaide’s Dr Scott Boden, School of Agriculture,…
Neurodegenerative diseases damage and destroy neurons, ravaging both mental and physical health. Parkinson’s disease, which affects over 10 million people worldwide, is no exception. The most obvious symptoms of Parkinson’s disease arise after the illness damages a specific class of neuron located in the midbrain. The effect is to rob the brain of dopamine—a key neurotransmitter produced by the affected neurons. In new research, Jeffrey Kordower and his colleagues describe a process for converting non-neuronal cells into functioning neurons able to take…
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