The involvement between electron transfer (ET) and catalytic reaction at electrocatalyst surface makes electrochemical process challenging to understand and control. How to experimentally determine ET process occurring at nanoscale is important to understand the overall electrochemical reaction process at active sites. Recently, a research group led by Prof. LI Can and Prof. FAN Fengtao from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) captured the electron transfer imaging in electrocatalysis process. This study was published in Nano…
What happens on Earth doesn’t stay on Earth. Using observations from NASA’s ICON mission, scientists presented the first direct measurements of Earth’s long-theorized dynamo on the edge of space: a wind-driven electrical generator that spans the globe 60-plus miles above our heads. The dynamo churns in the ionosphere, the electrically charged boundary between Earth and space. It’s powered by tidal winds in the upper atmosphere that are faster than most hurricanes and rise from the lower atmosphere, creating an electrical environment that…
A new study detects the unique seismological signature of an electron spin crossover in the deep Earth. Most are aware that electrons are negatively charged particles that surround the nucleus of atoms and whose behaviour governs chemical interactions. However, it is less commonly known that electrons come in two distinct kinds: spin-up and spin-down. And the tendency for pairing between up and down spin electrons, forming “dance partners” with one another, is one of the most important behaviours affecting the…
Furtwangen University study suggests for the first time a link between Parkinson’s disease and the eukaryotic microbiota in the gut. Parkinson’s disease is characterised by a slow, progressive loss of nerve cells in certain brain areas. The disease is still incurable and the exact causes are unclear. The dopamine deficiency in the brain can only be controlled to some extent in the initial phase of the disease. Basic research is being conducted in an attempt to unravel the mystery of…
World Soil Day… Soils are the basis of life and climate protectors at the same time – but things are not good for them. Due to overfertilization, deforestation, salinization and overgrazing, nearly two billion hectares of arable and pasture land worldwide are affected by moderate to severe soil degradation.* The result: declining yields, lower biodiversity, declining groundwater quality, less carbon dioxide sequestration. According to IPCC reports, a critical situation has already been reached by 2030. On the occasion of World…
International Study… Viruses are survivors! Desert heat and desiccation can’t harm some of them. „We find viruses and microbes in the driest and most radiation-intensive, non-polar region on Earth, which is really amazing,“ says Prof. Dr. Alexander J. Probst from the Environmental Biology and Biotechnology Department at the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE). An international team led by Probst discovered the viruses and microorganisms in the Atacama Desert. This has been published in the journals „mSystems“ * and „Microbiome“ **. The…
Our televisions and computer screens display news, movies, and shows in high-definition, allowing viewers a clear and vibrant experience. Fiber optic connections send laser light densely packed with data through cables to bring these experiences to users. NASA and commercial aerospace companies are applying similar technologies to space communications, bringing optical speeds to the final frontier. Free-space optical communications leverages recent advancements in telecommunications to allow spacecraft to send high-resolution images and videos over laser links. “Free-space” refers to the…
A type of cell transformation known as EMT enables cancer cells to break away from the tumor and form metastases elsewhere. However, this process does not always take place in full. Researchers at the University of Basel have now been able to show that tumor cells contribute differently to the formation of metastases and the development of therapy resistance, depending on whether they have undergone full or only partial transformation. Most cancer patients do not die as a result of…
A multi-institutional team of investigators led by bioengineer Ankur Singh has developed research tools that shed new light on a virtually untreatable form of prostate cancer, opening a pathway that may lead to novel therapeutics and a glimmer of hope for patients. Androgen receptor pathway inhibitors can prolong survival for patients with advanced prostate cancer. But about 20% of patients develop more advanced-stage neuroendocrine prostate cancer in response to this type of hormone therapy, and so far, researchers haven’t had effective ways…
An experimental compound reduced complications of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in mice – not by lowering blood sugar – but by countering its consequences: cell death, inflammation, and organ damage. Published online in Science Translational Medicine on November 24, the study reported that a new class of compounds blocked the ability of a protein called RAGE to pass on inflammatory signals that injure the heart and kidneys in diabetes, and that slow the healing of diabetic wounds. The…
The coronavirus’s tangled strands of RNA could offer new ways to treat people who get infected. To the untrained eye, the loops, kinks and folds in the single strand of RNA that makes up the coronavirus genome look like a jumble of spaghetti or tangled yarn. But to researchers like Amanda Hargrove, a chemistry professor at Duke University, the complex shapes that RNA takes on as it folds upon itself could have untapped therapeutic potential in the fight against COVID-19….
Researchers at the University of Bonn have developed a molecular structure that can cover graphite surfaces with a sea of tiny flagged “flagpoles”. The properties of this coating are highly variable. It may provide a basis for the development of new catalysts. The compounds could also be suitable for measuring the nanomechanical properties of proteins. The results were published online in advance in the journal “Angewandte Chemie”. Now the print edition has been published, which shows a part of the…
Malaria is one of the most dangerous infectious diseases. The causative pathogens are microorganisms of the genus Plasmodium. A particularly dangerous form of the disease is caused by Plasmodium falciparum. Artemisinin is one of the most important antimalarial drugs against this parasite. However, in a mutant of the pathogen that is now spreading, the effect of artemisinin is limited. A team of researchers around Robin Schumann, a biochemist from Kaiserslautern, has now found the mechanism behind this: A protein that…
Research in Guy Genin’s lab finds new features of attachment system and serves as model for merging materials. Engineers often use nature to inspire new materials and designs. A discovery by a multi-institutional team of researchers and engineers about how tendon and bone attach in the shoulder joint has uncovered previously unsuspected engineering strategies for attaching dissimilar materials. The discovery also sheds new light on how the rotator cuff functions and on why rotator cuff repairs fail so frequently. Guy…
Plant research: publication in the Plant Biotechnology Journal For plant breeding, it is important to create as many combinations as possible of genetic variants within a short time to select the most suitable candidates between plants with many different characteristics. The working group of Prof. Dr. Benjamin Stich from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) has now developed a method for using natural variations to identify what are referred to as ‘highly recombinogenic individuals’. They have presented their method, which has…
Research findings to open way to new applications in quantum technology. Researchers at Heidelberg University have succeeded in their aim of not only changing the strength but also the nature of the interaction between microscopic quantum magnets, known as spins. Instead of falling into a state of complete disorder, the especially prepared magnets can maintain their original orientation for a long period. With these findings, the Heidelberg physicists have successfully demonstrated a programmable control of spin interactions in isolated quantum…
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