Researchers make key steps towards generating quantum states of sound inside a microscopic device using laser light and single-photon measurements. Across the globe, researchers can now generate and control quantum states in a wide variety of different physical systems spanning individual particles of light to complex molecules comprising thousands of atoms. This control is enabling powerful new quantum technologies to be developed, such as quantum computing and quantum communications, and also offers exciting paths to test the foundations of quantum…
Halide perovskites provide a promising platform for nonlinear, low-threshold polaritonic devices that work at room temperature. Optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) have been widely applied in areas ranging from spectroscopy photonics to quantum information. While conventional OPOs typically suffer from weak nonlinearity which leads to high power consumption, exciton polaritons offer a smart alternative. Hybrid quasiparticles composed of light and matter, exciton polaritons possess a nonlinearity that is orders of magnitude stronger than traditional nonlinear photonic systems, promising significantly lower power…
A characteristic of depression is a lack of motivation. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Professor Bo Li, in collaboration with CSHL Adjunct Professor Z. Josh Huang, discovered a group of neurons in the mouse brain that influences the animal’s motivation to perform tasks for rewards. Dialing up the activity of these neurons makes a mouse work faster or more vigorously—up to a point. These neurons have a feature that prevents the mouse from becoming addicted to the reward. The findings may point to new therapeutic…
NIAID scientists developed vaccine platform. An experimental HIV vaccine based on mRNA—the same platform technology used in two highly effective COVID-19 vaccines—shows promise in mice and non-human primates, according to scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. Their results, published in Nature Medicine, show that the novel vaccine was safe and prompted desired antibody and cellular immune responses against an HIV-like virus. Rhesus macaques receiving a priming vaccine followed…
Electron source enables atomic resolution TEM observation. The National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) and JEOL, Ltd. have developed a lanthanum hexaboride (LaB6) nanowire-based field emission gun that is installable on an aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope (TEM). This combined unit is able to perform atomic resolution observation at an energy resolution of 0.2 eV—the highest resolution ever recorded for non-monochromatic electron guns—with a high current stability of 0.4%. Unsuccessful efforts have been made for more than 20 years to develop…
Our Milky Way’s central black hole has a leak. This supermassive black hole looks like it still has the vestiges of a blowtorch-like jet dating back several thousand years. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope hasn’t photographed the phantom jet but has helped find circumstantial evidence that it is still pushing feebly into a huge hydrogen cloud and then splattering, like the narrow stream from a hose aimed into a pile of sand. This is further evidence that the black hole, with a mass…
Researchers have found where and how mRNA arrives in a cell to modify or deliver genetic information, a crucial process for the development of novel therapies. In recent years, ribonucleic acid (RNA) has emerged as a powerful tool for the development of novel therapies. RNA is used to copy genetic information contained in our hereditary material, the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and then serves as a template for building proteins, the building blocks of life. Delivery of RNA into cells remains…
Tropical forests are vanishing at an alarming rate through deforestation, but also have the potential to regrow naturally on abandoned lands. A study published this week in Science shows that regrowing tropical forests recover surprisingly fast. After 20 years, characteristic attributes have recovered by an average of nearly 80% of old-growth forest values. The study led by Wageningen University with support from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) concludes that natural regeneration is a low-cost, nature-based solution for…
Protein ZAP inhibits multiplication of SARS-CoV-2 by 20-fold. HZI and HIRI study investigates antiviral protein of the immune defence system. Scientists at the Würzburg Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig demonstrate for the first time how ZAP, a protein of the human immune defence system, inhibits the replication mechanism of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and can reduce the viral load by 20-fold. The findings were published today in the journal…
New ATIQ project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research with a total volume of EUR 44.5 million. Quantum computers promise unprecedented computing power for applications where conventional data processors based on “zeros and ones” fail. In the new Trapped-Ion Quantum Computer for Applications (ATIQ) project, 25 partners from research institutions are now working together with industrial partners to develop quantum computer demonstrators implemented together with users of quantum computers. The partners will tackle major technical…
New successes in optical engineering could lead to ultrafast light-based computers and more. Imagine windows that can easily transform into mirrors, or super high-speed computers that run not on electrons but light. These are just some of the potential applications that could one day emerge from optical engineering, the practice of using lasers to rapidly and temporarily change the properties of materials. “These tools could let you transform the electronic properties of materials at the flick of a light switch,”…
IN4climate.NRW develops solutions for a circular economy. The circular economy – or closed-loop recycling of raw materials – can contribute significantly to defossilisation and achieving the goals of the Paris Climate Agree-ment. It also saves valuable resources. The IN4climate.NRW federal state initiative provides an overview of the current status and presents a vision of the circular economy in energy-intensive industries in its current discussion paper “Circular Economy in the Basic Materials Industry: Opportunities and Requirements for a Successful Transformation”. Based…
Three in four sepsis survivors experience new-onset memory problems, psychological impairments or physical diagnoses. This also applies to more than half of sepsis survivors under the age of 40 at the time of their discharge from hospital. These are just two of the findings of a retrospective analysis of anonymized health claims data conducted by a team of researchers from Jena University Hospital, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Research Institute of the Local Health Care Funds (AOK). The study,…
The method lets researchers more easily study factors that can lead to cell death, in conditions including neurodegenerative diseases. It’s surprisingly hard to tell when a brain cell is dead. Neurons that appear inactive and fragmented under the microscope can persist in a kind of life-or-death limbo for days, and some suddenly begin signaling again after appearing inert. For researchers who study neurodegeneration, this lack of a precise “time of death” declaration for neurons makes it hard to pin down…
A potentially game-changing Antigen Rapid Test (ART) technology to diagnose COVID-19 has been developed by scientists in Singapore. Using a proprietary on-kit amplification technique, a person’s saliva can be self-administered or tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus at the point-of-care with sensitivity higher than current ART tests and close to that of laboratory-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. Dubbed the Parallel Amplified Saliva rapid POint-of-caRe Test (PASPORT), the technology produces results in minutes, without the need for additional equipment or specially-trained…
The bipartisan infrastructure bill recently signed into law by President Joe Biden includes a requirement for automakers to install driver monitoring systems that detect intoxicated or impaired drivers. Current systems rely on cameras, which have limitations. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Electronic Materials have made heat-resistant, pressure-detecting sensors that, when attached to seats, can tell whether a driver is drowsy or has a sudden illness, signaling a future smart car to take action. Most current drowsiness detection systems use an exterior,…
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