How climate can benefit from the conservation of biodiversity. When the global community is expected to meet for the second part of the UN Biodiversity Conference in Kunming, China, in autumn, it must also adopt the next generation of UN biodiversity targets. These will then replace the Aichi Targets that were aimed for until 2020 – and have hardly been achieved. 21 “Post-2020 Action Targets for 2030” have already been pre-formulated. While they still have to be finally agreed, they…
The flexible, thin-film device has the potential to make any surface into a low-power, high-quality audio source. MIT engineers have developed a paper-thin loudspeaker that can turn any surface into an active audio source. This thin-film loudspeaker produces sound with minimal distortion while using a fraction of the energy required by a traditional loudspeaker. The hand-sized loudspeaker the team demonstrated, which weighs about as much as a dime, can generate high-quality sound no matter what surface the film is bonded…
Using new analyses, scientists have just found the last two of the five informational units of DNA and RNA that had yet to be discovered in samples from meteorites. While it is unlikely that DNA could be formed in a meteorite, this discovery demonstrates that these genetic parts are available for delivery and could have contributed to the development of the instructional molecules on early Earth. The discovery, by an international team with NASA researchers, gives more evidence that chemical…
Thanks to today’s light, flexible solar panels, photovoltaics may be more practical for long stays. The high efficiency, light weight and flexibility of the latest solar cell technology means photovoltaics could provide all the power needed for an extended mission to Mars, or even a permanent settlement there, according to a new analysis by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley. Most scientists and engineers who’ve thought about the logistics of living on the surface of the Red Planet have…
Brass is used for many components, but welding the copper alloy is challenging. The Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH) wants to change this together with LMB Automation GmbH, Iserlohn. In the project LaserMessing, they are developing a laser-based manufacturing system for automated production of brass components such as fittings, bearings, valves, turbines or heat exchangers. Within the project LaserMessing, the scientists of the LZH are working on a welding process that combines laser-based deep welding and cored wire processes. The…
… and reveals key steps in reaction process. Researchers have developed a new ligand that promotes a direct nickel-photocatalyzed cross-coupling reaction. In recent years, the golden word in precious metals is palladium. A crucial component in automobile catalytic converters and in emerging hydrogen fuel cell technology, the demand for this rare silvery white transition metal continues to outstrip supply, driving its price per ounce far above gold and silver. Palladium and other rare, costly precious metals like platinum, iridium, and…
The contractile and elastic properties of the heart are finely tuned. This is a prerequisite for the cardiac cycle and efficient adaptation. At the MDC, Michael Gotthardt investigates the underlying molecular and biomechanical mechanisms. He is awarded with an ERC Advanced Grant for this work. MERAS is the acronym on the recently approved project proposal. It stands for: ‘Mechanoregulation of alternative splicing’. “We would like to understand how the heart responds to environmental factors and adjusts its elastic properties such…
Researchers at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin have developed a nano-repeater that amplifies light in only one direction. Today, optical fibers are the backbone of our information society. However, in order to transmit data over long distances using light in fiber optic networks, the light must be amplified regularly to compensate for the losses that occur. So-called repeaters are used for this purpose. One important repeater design is based on amplifying light using the laser effect. For this purpose, atoms within…
… with Newly Developed On-the-Fly Laser Equipment. In order to be able to manufacture more efficient solar modules, the photovoltaic industry is increasingly switching its production to larger wafer formats. Being able to guarantee the production of these solar cells with an edge length of up to 210 millimeters with consistent quality and cycle rate poses new challenges for equipment manufacturers. A research team at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy System ISE has now succeeded in implementing a novel…
Researchers use new method to study microbial communities in their environment / Hydrothermal fluids transform coastal sediments into hotspots of microbial production. Regardless of the water depth at which they occur, hydrothermal vents are an extreme habitat. The microbial communities that live here adapt to this environment and use the energy sources it provides, which can be seen as a kind of hydrothermal catering. For the first time, Dr. Solveig Bühring of MARUM – the Center for Marine Environmental Sciences…
An international team of researchers examined data for 25 exoplanets and found some links among the properties of the atmospheres, including the thermal profiles and chemical abundances in them. This marks the first time exoplanet atmospheres have been studied as populations, rather than individually. These findings will help establish a generalized theory of planet formation which will improve our understanding of all planets, including the Earth. Today there are more than 3000 confirmed exoplanets, planets orbiting stars other than the…
Ultrasound images are a powerful biological and biomedical sciences tool. An advancement in this technique is photoacoustic imaging (PAI). It is where the skin or tissue absorbs pulses of laser light. The thermoelastic expansion of the skin or tissue emits sound, which is processed by the machinery to develop high-resolution images. Recent developments have theorized the existence of vibrational PAI, which could penetrate further into the skin. In a new paper published in eLight, a team of scientists led by…
By developing a tool to visualize the membrane association and activation status of normal and oncogenic proteins, scientists at the UNIGE have established the basis for innovative drug discovery. Peripheral membrane proteins have the particularity of temporarily binding to cell membranes, a necessary step for them to be able to fulfil their biological function. To do this, certain enzymes that catalyse their lipid modification come into action. This process is called “palmitoylation”. Some of these proteins can mutate and become oncogenic,…
A research group led by Sa Kan Yoo at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) has discovered a completely unknown type of cell death that takes place in the guts of the common fruit fly. The new process, coined “erebosis” by the researchers is thought to play a role in gut metabolism. The findings necessitate a revision of the conventional concept of cell death, and at the same time, overturn the previously established theory of tissue homeostasis in…
Researchers have developed a technique that enables a robot to learn a new pick-and-place task with only a handful of human demonstrations. With e-commerce orders pouring in, a warehouse robot picks mugs off a shelf and places them into boxes for shipping. Everything is humming along, until the warehouse processes a change and the robot must now grasp taller, narrower mugs that are stored upside down. Reprogramming that robot involves hand-labeling thousands of images that show it how to grasp…
Microplastics can carry land-based parasites to ocean, affecting wildlife and human health. Microplastics are a pathway for pathogens on land to reach the ocean, with likely consequences for human and wildlife health, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. The study, published April 26 in the journal Scientific Reports, is the first to connect microplastics in the ocean with land-based pathogens. It found that microplastics can make it easier for disease-causing pathogens to concentrate in plastic-contaminated areas…
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