Breathing, seeing, hearing – the family of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is involved in a variety of physiological processes and is also the cause of diverse diseases. As has now been discovered by a team of scientists led by Professor Ines Liebscher from Leipzig University, some members of the GPCR family respond to mechanical stimuli. In collaboration with Chinese research groups, they have achieved another milestone on the way to understanding the mechanism by which this receptor class is activated….
In a remote area, a mix of geophysical methods identifies magma transfer below the seafloor as the cause. Volcanoes can be found even off the coast of Antarctica. At the deep-sea volcano Orca, which has been inactive for a long time, a sequence of more than 85,000 earthquakes was registered in 2020, a swarm quake that reached proportions not previously observed for this region. The fact that such events can be studied and described in great detail even in such…
Sponges in coral reefs, less flashy than their coral neighbors but important to the overall health of reefs, are among the earliest animals on the planet. New research from the University of New Hampshire examines coral reef ecosystems with a novel approach to understanding the complex evolution of sponges and the microbes that live in symbiosis with them. With this “genomic time machine,” researchers can predict aspects of reef and ocean ecosystems through hundreds of millions of years of dramatic…
Fraunhofer ILT inaugurates new research platform. The success of the energy transition is closely linked to continued research into hydrogen technologies. A major goal of Fraunhofer ILT is to make the fuel cell ready for series production. To this end, the Aachen researchers are setting up a hydrogen laboratory on more than 300 square meters of laboratory space: Here, a wide range of laser technology test facilities will offer public projects and industrial cooperation a research platform that is unique…
LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is an indispensable key technology in the development of autonomous driving cars. LIDAR systems use emitted laser beams to very accurately detect their surroundings and generate a precise image. Their mode of operation is very similar to radar systems in aviation or shipping, except that they emit laser beams instead of radio waves. Their reflections produce a three-dimensional image. However, the resolution of lidar sensors is significantly higher than that of radars, which is what…
New technology kit enables extended functionalities. Fraunhofer ISIT operates state-of-the-art production lines for processing silicon with a processing accuracy in the nanometer range. These precise structure generation processes have now been successfully transferred to other materials. The shaping of various types of glass has proven to be particularly significant. After all, with the integration of optical functions into the world of microsystems, the packaging of components and systems at wafer level (WLP) is facing new challenges. Future applications, such as…
Between 19 and 21 million tons of plastic waste end up in the world’s waters every year. The trend has been rising strongly over the last decade. To meet the challenge and to solve these environmental problems, creating a broad societal awareness of the plastic litter and microplastics issue is crucial. Therefore, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon has now developed a digital platform about plastic pollution and related topics. Researchers from various disciplines at the Helmholtz- Zentrum Hereon, led by the Institute…
Successful research cooperation between Koenig & Bauer and the Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences. In 2021, the number of counterfeit euro banknotes withdrawn from circulation was at a historically low level. Among other things, this is due to the fact that banknotes are becoming increasingly counterfeit-proof. The cooperation between Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions and the Institute for Industrial Information Technology (inIT) at the Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences is making an important contribution to this. It enables new authentication…
Alternative production systems to provide the growing global population with healthy, nutritious and sustainably produced foodstuffs are currently gaining considerable attention. In this interview, Senthold Asseng, Professor of Digital Agriculture at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), discusses the concept of vertical farming, which will allow agriculture of the future to take place under fully controlled and automated conditions. Professor Asseng, vertical farming allows food production to be fully uncoupled from soil and external climate influences. What possibilities and opportunities…
Deuterium, the heavy brother of hydrogen, is considered a promising material of the future – because of its wide range of applications: in science, for energy generation, or in the production of pharmaceuticals. However, the extraction of deuterium from its natural isotope mixture has so far been complex and expensive. With a porous material developed at the Technische Universität Dresden, this could soon be done more efficiently and cost-effectively. The new method has now been published in the scientific journal…
The design could someday enable a fully decarbonized power grid, researchers say. Engineers at MIT and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have designed a heat engine with no moving parts. Their new demonstrations show that it converts heat to electricity with over 40 percent efficiency — a performance better than that of traditional steam turbines. The heat engine is a thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cell, similar to a solar panel’s photovoltaic cells, that passively captures high-energy photons from a white-hot heat…
Using new laser-scanning microscope Freiburg scientists observe processes changing in cells within milliseconds The new technology is known as ‘Rotating Coherent Scattering’ (ROCS) and uses a rapidly-rotating blue laser beam ROCS can be used to observe for example extremely fast activity in various cells, but also of virus-like particles When cities transform into a colorful world of lights as darkness falls, it’s often only possible to estimate their contours, which depending on the perspective can draw the attention to key…
… to better understand and treat spinal cord injury. A research team led by scientists from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed an innovative technology for in vivo imaging of the important biological processes involved in the injury and repair of spinal cords, paving the way for a better understanding of the pathology and potential treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI). A tight bundle of neural cells (neurons and glia) and nerve pathways (axons), the…
A novel algorithm delivers superresolution images 80 times faster than the current standard imaging method for structured illumination microscopy. Superresolution structured illumination microscopy (SR-SIM) is an outstanding method for visualizing the subcellular dynamics in living cells. SR-SIM can achieve rapid, optically sectioned (OS), superresolution (SR) observation with hundreds to thousands of time points, which are the number of superresolution frames for continuous imaging. However, the reconstruction algorithm for OS-SR-SIM imposes a significant computing burden, due to a complex workflow and…
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has determined the size of the largest icy comet nucleus ever seen by astronomers. The estimated diameter is approximately 80 miles across, making it larger than the state of Rhode Island. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has determined the size of the largest icy comet nucleus ever seen by astronomers. The estimated diameter is approximately 80 miles across, making it larger than the state of Rhode Island. The nucleus is about 50 times larger than found at…
Experimental platform combines Large Plasma Device with lasers, magnetic dipoles; reveals insights about Earth’s shield against solar wind. A magnetosphere forms around any magnetized object, such as a planet, that is immersed within a stream of ionized gas, called plasma. Because Earth possesses an intrinsic magnetic field, the planet is surrounded by a large magnetosphere that extends out into space, blocks lethal cosmic rays and particles from the sun and stars, and allows life itself to exist. In Physics of…
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