IOW supports successful deployment of new Argo Float sensors. As part of the DArgo2025 project, Germany’s Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) coordinated the successful validation and deployment of new sensors on automated drifting buoys, so-called Argo floats. These sensors can now be deployed worldwide and thus provide information about current environmental changes in the oceans, such as increasing eutrophication, oxygen depletion, and acidification. In this context, the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW) evaluated novel nutrient sensors…
Researchers from the University of Basel have succeeded in forming a control loop consisting of two quantum systems separated by a distance of one meter. Within this loop, one quantum system — a vibrating membrane — is cooled by the other — a cloud of atoms, and the two systems are coupled to one another by laser light. Interfaces such as this allow different kinds of quantum systems to interact with one another even over relatively large distances and will…
Researchers use epigenetic factors to investigate the role of stress in the development of tumor diseases. Test subjects are wanted. Experts believe that stress plays a major role in the development of tumors. One occupational group, for example, that experiences extreme stress over a short period of time is astronauts. Dr. Philipp Rathert from the University of Stuttgart and Prof. Stephan Beck from University College London, along with company partners Active Motif and Microsynth, plan to use epigenetic changes in…
Cerebral oedema is a dangerous complication in many brain-related conditions such as strokes. Researchers at the Institute of Neurobiology at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) have developed a new measurement method in collaboration with colleagues from Bonn and with the involvement of a Berlin-based optoelectronics company that enables better understanding of the cellular causes of cerebral oedema. In the latest issue of the Journal of the American Society for Neuroscience they describe how the TRPV4 ion channel in particular plays…
A research team based in Kumamoto University (Japan) has created complex 3D kidney tissue in the lab solely from cultured mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. These organoids could lead the way to better kidney research and, eventually, artificial kidneys for human transplant. By focusing on an often-overlooked tissue type of organoid generation research, a type of organ tissue made up of various support and connective tissues called the stroma, Dr. Ryuichi Nishinakamura and his team were able to generate the…
While sleeping, the entire brain rolls through long, slow waves of electrical activity, like waves on a calm ocean. Researchers call that state of consciousness “slow wave sleep”. Waking up changes the pattern of electrical activity into something that looks more like random noise. But Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Assistant Professor Tatiana Engel, Postdoctoral Fellow Yianling Shi, and their collaborators found there are patterns in the noise. Looking at the visual processing region of a monkey brain, they discovered smaller,…
A team of researchers led by Prof. Daniel Kümmel from the University of Münster and Prof. Stefan Raunser from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund has revealed the structure of a protein complex which is an important regulator of cellular degradation processes. Proteins are indispensable components in living organisms. They are not only “building material” for the body – they also make molecular communication between cells possible, they are needed for nerve impulses to occur, and they…
Chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is becoming increasingly widespread. Until now, however, the underlying causes of the inflammation responses were unclear. Scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have now identified a mechanism that triggers a problematic interaction between intestinal bacteria and cells in the intestinal mucus layer in XLP2, a condition associated with IBD. The team believes that the results can be applied to other intestinal diseases and could offer approaches to the development of new drugs. The…
New research from Whitehead Institute Member Jonathan Weissman and collaborators enables researchers to predict a cell’s path over time, such as what type of cell it will become, in normal settings or under genetic perturbations. Imagine a ball thrown in the air: it curves up, then down, tracing an arc to a point on the ground some distance away. The path of the ball can be described with a simple mathematical equation, and if you know the equation, you can…
Scientists discover a ‘super’ current on the perimeter of an exotic material. The Science Scientists recently discovered novel quantum materials whose charge carriers exhibit ‘topological’ features. Charge carriers are particles that transport electrical charges through a material. Topology is the study of the rules behind how shapes behave when they change. For example, a doughnut shape will still have a hole if it changes continuously from round to square or if it is twisted or stretched. Unless we do something…
Scientists uncover a microscopic mechanism that involves atomic vibrations in a quantum material that trap electrons. The Science This research sheds light on the mechanism behind how a special quantum material transitions from an electrical insulator to an electricity-conducting metal. Below a critical temperature, the subject material—lanthanum strontium nickel oxide—acts as an insulator due to the separation of introduced holes from the magnetic regions, forming “stripes.” As the temperature increases, the stripes fluctuate then “melt,” or disappear at 240 Kelvin…
A decade of astronomical research… An International team of astronomers led by researcher Toni Santana-Ros, from the University of Alicante and the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB), has confirmed the existence of the second Earth Trojan asteroid known to date, the 2020 XL5, after a decade of search. The results of the study have been published in the journal Nature Communications. All celestial objects that roam around our solar system feel the gravitational influence of…
Roads are chronically congested and vehicles queue endlessly at junctions. Rush hour is especially bad for long traffic jams. At the Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation IOSB, researchers in the institute branch for industrial automation INA in Lemgo are using artificial intelligence for smart traffic light control as part of the “KI4LSA” and “KI4PED” projects. In the future, self-learning algorithms combined with new sensors should ensure better traffic flow and shorter waiting times, while providing improved…
RNA has already been making an impact in the context of the vaccine program, but the potential of RNA-based compounds is far from being fully tapped, as RNA allows for entirely new therapeutic approaches. Prof. Thomas Thum, Co-Institute Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine ITEM, has developed a form of RNA therapy for treating heart failure, which has already been successfully tested in patients as part of a phase 1b clinical trial. Other RNA therapies are…
What happens if a disruptive technology literally disrupts daily life? One obstacle to realizing the dream of flying cars is noise — imagine 1,000 leaf blowers intruding over your backyard barbecue. It’s not just flying cars but drones as well. Complaints about the high-pitched keening of propellers could lead to restrictions or regulations that could hamper the growth of a new commercial drone industry. University of Cincinnati aerospace engineering students are studying solutions to dampen sound in assistant professor Daniel…
Supported by an NSF Early CAREER Award, John Harter’s research could have far-reaching consequences for quantum technology development. John Harter, an assistant professor of materials at UC Santa Barbara, has received an Early CAREER award from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the highest honor given by the foundation to junior faculty. He will receive more than $715,000 over five years in support of his cutting-edge research in quantum materials science and educational activities. “Professor John Harter is pursuing leading-edge research…
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