High-resolution recordings of electrical signals from the surface of the brain could improve surgeons’ ability to remove brain tumors and treat epilepsy, and could open up new possibilities for medium- and longer- term brain-computer interfaces. A team of engineers, surgeons and medical researchers has published data from both humans and rats demonstrating that a new array of brain sensors can record electrical signals directly from the surface of the human brain in record-breaking detail. The new brain sensors feature densely…
Brothers in Rice lab find audio from graphene production contains valuable data. It may be true that seeing is believing, but sometimes hearing can be better. Case in point: Two brothers in a Rice University laboratory heard something unusual while making graphene. Ultimately, they determined the sound itself could give them valuable data about the product. The brothers, John Li, a Rice alumnus now studying at Stanford University, and Victor Li, then a high school student in New York and…
The English Channel prevents many rockpool species “making the jump” from Europe to the UK, new research shows. With sea temperatures expected to rise due to climate change, many rockpool species in south-west England are threatened. Creatures from warmer waters to the south could replace them – but the study, by the University of Exeter, suggests Channel currents mean many animals and plants cannot survive the crossing. The study focussed on the St Piran’s hermit crab, which appeared in Cornwall…
A study published in Indoor Air simulated the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, on a flight from London to Hanoi and on another flight from Singapore to Hangzhou. When simulating the dispersion of droplets of different sizes generated by coughing, talking, and breathing activities in an airline cabin by an infected person, researchers found that SARS-CoV-2 virus contained in such droplets traveled with the cabin air distribution and was inhaled by other passengers. The scientists counted the…
While foam is certainly desirable in the bathtub or on beer, preventing foam – for example in industrial processes – is a much-discussed topic. Often, oils or particles are added to liquids to prevent foaming. If these are harmful to health or the environment, they must be removed again using complex methods. A team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research has now shown that so-called “superamphiphobic surfaces” can be used to prevent foaming. Foam formation and…
How strongly does a genetic switch affect its gene? A Berlin research team created a registry of genetic enhancers, their location in the genome, and their activation strength in mouse stem cells. In the process, they discovered DNA patterns that had not previously been recognized as switches. Based on this data, the scientists developed a new algorithm that predicts whether any DNA sequence can act as a gene enhancer in stem cells. Only about two percent of the mammalian genome…
First German-Austrian Collaborative Research Centre/Transregio approved. TU Darmstadt and TU Graz are intensifying their research into how electrical machines can be decisively improved through computer simulation. To this end, the first German-Austrian Collaborative Research Centre/Transregio (TRR) 361 has been approved. The German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Austrian Science Fund FWF are funding the TRR “Computational Electrical Machine Laboratory” with a total of over eight million euros. For decades, electrical machines have played a central role in energy conversion, not…
The cumbersome search for leaks in air compressor units could soon be made much easier: Along with SICK AG, Fraunhofer IPA is developing an ancillary leak detection service for a smart flow sensor. Self-learning algorithms evaluate the readings and in so doing identify leaks. Under ISO 50001, businesses are obligated to save energy. They must set their own targets outlining how much energy they aim to save over the next few years – and then meet this target. One area…
From Heinrich Hertz to Terahertz: Today, high-tech applications in optoelectronics work with ultrafast electrical oscillations, reaching frequencies up to the terahertz range. A team from the Universities of Bayreuth and Melbourne has now succeeded in developing a microscope that records videos of these oscillations. The glow of semiconductor nanocrystals makes visible the previously hidden electric fields that drive ultrafast electrical components. The researchers present their discovery in the journal Light: Science & Applications. The microscope could be used to observe…
Providing the conditions for scalable diamond quantum microprocessors and thus advancing the economic usability of quantum computing in Germany—this is what the joint project “Deutsche Brilliance” has been working on since December 1, 2021. The BMBF is funding the cooperation between Fraunhofer IAF, the start-up Quantum Brilliance and Ulm University for three years with 15.6 million euros through the “Enabling Start-up” measure. For the best possible exchange between the project partners, a team of Quantum Brilliance is located at Fraunhofer…
In a new article published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, scientists from the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) investigate the question of which genetic mechanisms underlie the rapid diversification of a group of coral reef fishes. The evolutionary process through which animals diversify into different species within a short period of time often occurs in newly formed or geographically isolated habitats such as islands. In such habitats, founder species encounter…
For quantum communication or optical computing it is important to measure and to influence in which direction a light wave is oscillating. It is now for the first time possible to manipulate this polarization of a continuous laser wave with a special glass fibre, which has mirrors attached at both ends. The effect was discovered by a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Erlangen together with colleagues from Switzerland, the UK, and…
The study, which received the International Paper Award 2021 of the “American Association for the Surgery of Trauma”, was published online in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery on 14 December 2021. Communicating without a voice Being voiceless is a very frustrating experience for patients in intensive care – especially when they consider themselves to be sufficiently aware to communicate with those around them. Intensive care staff therefore often have to use alternative methods of non-verbal communication as…
Device removes one of the biggest bottlenecks preventing quick, reliable malaria diagnosis. One of the key steps in diagnosing or treating many bloodborne diseases is to perform a blood smear, where a drop of blood is spread across a microscope slide for analysis. It is critical the technician collecting the sample perform this smear correctly and consistently, but mistakes at this stage are easy to make and often result in useless samples. In Review of Scientific Instruments, by AIP Publishing,…
Serrated edge of owl wings makes them quieter than other birds, can help inform airfoil designs. Trailing-edge noise is the dominant source of sound from aeronautical and turbine engines like those in airplanes, drones, and wind turbines. Suppressing this noise pollution is a major environmental goal for some urban areas. In Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing, researchers from Xi’an Jiaotong University used the characteristics of owl wings to inform airfoil design and significantly reduce the trailing-edge noise. “Nocturnal owls…
Collision-avoidance system gets us closer to robots that can fix satellites or spacecraft in orbit. What do you call a broken satellite? Today, it’s a multimillion-dollar piece of dangerous space junk. But a new collision-avoidance system developed by students at the University of Cincinnati is getting engineers closer to developing robots that can fix broken satellites or spacecraft in orbit. UC College of Engineering and Applied Science doctoral students Daegyun Choi and Anirudh Chhabra presented their project at the Science…
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