The heady math that describes how bubbles form in a glass of Champagne has inspired a framework for engineering living cells. A study published Sep. 22 in Nature details how an established physics theory governing bubble and droplet formation led to a new understanding of the principles organizing the contents of living cells. The work marks a seismic shift in researchers’ ability both to understand and control the complex soft materials within our cells. “This approach is common in materials…
This cooperation is impaired in mutations that can cause Parkinson’s disease. To break down toxic proteins more quickly, immune cells in the brain can join together to form networks when needed. This is shown by a joint study of the University of Bonn, the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and the Institut François Jacob in France. However, in certain mutations that can cause Parkinson’s disease, this cooperation is impaired. The findings are published in the renowned journal Cell. The…
The size of a grain of sand, dispersed microfliers could monitor air pollution, airborne disease and environmental contamination. Northwestern University engineers have added a new capability to electronic microchips: flight. About the size of a grain of sand, the new flying microchip (or “microflier”) does not have a motor or engine. Instead, it catches flight on the wind — much like a maple tree’s propeller seed — and spins like a helicopter through the air toward the ground. By studying…
Transistors with a fibrous architecture similar to those of neurons are capable of forming artificial neural networks. Fibrous networks can be used in smart wearable devices and robots. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI)-based technologies have led to an astronomical increase in the amounts of data available for processing by computers. Existing computing methods often process data sequentially and therefore have large time and power requirements for processing massive quantities of information. Hence, a transition to a new computing paradigm is…
A team of researchers from Harvard, MIT and the Max Planck Institute Chemical Physics of Solids developed a theory to explain how hydrodynamic electron flow could occur in 3D materials and observed it for the first time using a new imaging technique. Electrons flow through most materials more like a gas than a fluid, meaning they don’t interact much with one another. It was long hypothesized that electrons could flow like a fluid, but only recent advances in materials and…
In a new study, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have calculated that silicon photovoltaic modules manufactured in the European Union produce 40 percent less CO2 than modules manufactured in China. Using a life cycle analysis (LCA), the research team compared the CO2 footprint of monocrystalline solar modules manufactured in Germany, Europe and China. In the process, they also found that glass-glass modules enable an additional emissions reduction ranging between 7.5 to 12.5 percent compared to…
Study helps to better assess the capacity of global ecosystems to adapt to climate and environmental change. Ecosystems on Earth’s land surface support multiple functions and services that are critical for society, like biomass production, vegetation’s efficiency of using sunlight and water, water retention and climate regulation, and ultimately food security. Climate and environmental changes, as well as anthropogenic impacts, are continuously threatening the provision of these functions. To understand how terrestrial ecosystems will respond to this threat, it is…
Sensors have become the ubiquitous companions of our lives. Whether knowingly or not, we use them every day to collect, process, and interpret data and help us make sense of the world around us. The demand for connected devices keeps growing – in particular in the Internet of Things, or IoT for short. The Fraunhofer flagship project ZEWOPEL has shown successfully how all of these sensor systems can become extremely energy efficient or even completely autonomous. The potential result: Up…
Researchers use ultraviolet light to tune circuit performance with a photoreactive polymer based on controlled changes in the chemical structure, which may lead to the development of wearable electronics and medical sensors. Researchers from SANKEN (The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research) at Osaka University and JOANNEUM RESEARCH (Weiz, Austria), have shown how exposing an organic polymer to ultraviolet light can precisely modify its electronic properties. This work may aid in the commercialization of flexible electronics that can be used…
An electrochemical approach developed at KAUST produces molecular-sieving membranes that could enable a cheap energy-efficient separation of light hydrocarbons, such as olefins and paraffins. This separation, critical for the petrochemical industry, usually relies on extremely energy-intensive processes, such as distillation. Membrane-based strategies have emerged as promising alternatives to heat-driven separation approaches. Existing polymer-based membranes are not selective enough for hydrocarbon separation and also undergo plasticization, a structural change that alters their pores, at high pressure. On the other hand, highly…
The technique is an alternative to using donated embryos resulting from IVF. Research on human embryos is vital to understanding the earliest stages of human development. Currently, this research is conducted on surplus embryos willingly donated by individuals who have undergone in vitro fertilization. Nevertheless, this research is limited by the availability of embryos and strict international ethical time limits on how long an embryo is allowed to develop in the laboratory (14 days maximum). Now, Caltech researchers have created…
Cancer-fighting T cells from patients whose cancers responded to immunotherapy and from those whose tumors did not respond showed marked differences in gene activity that could eventually serve as targets to boost effectiveness. Cancer-fighting immune cells in patients with lung cancer whose tumors do not respond to immunotherapies appear to be running on a different “program” that makes them less effective than immune cells in patients whose cancers respond to these immune treatments, suggests a new study led by researchers…
Woman receives novel type of artificial heart at UofL Health — Jewish Hospital by University of Louisville physicians. A cardiothoracic surgical team with UofL Health – Jewish Hospital and the University of Louisville has performed the world’s first Aeson® bioprosthetic total artificial heart implantation in a female patient. The investigational device, currently intended as a bridge to heart transplant, is part of an Early Feasibility Study (EFS) sponsored by CARMAT, a French medical device company, in partnership with UofL, UofL…
Solar cells as design objects now adorn the façade above the main entrance to the NEST building of Empa and Eawag. The design is the result of an interdisciplinary competition organized by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU) together with Empa. The winning project installed at the NEST façade shows how photovoltaic modules can be visually integrated into buildings and improve architectural quality. Building envelopes offer plenty of space for energy generation. However, photovoltaic façades are still…
Hoverflies use a combination of the sun and their body clock to navigate when they fly south for the winter, new research shows. The insects keep the sun on their left in the morning, then gradually adjust to maintain a southward route as the day goes on. Pied and yellow-clubbed hoverflies – which are important pollinators – spend their summers in locations such as the UK and Scandinavia, then fly to the Mediterranean and North Africa in autumn. These migrations…
Study provides new target for increasing oil content of plant tissues for potential applications in bioenergy, chemical engineering, and nutrition. Scientists seeking to unravel the details of how plants produce and accumulate oil have identified a new essential component of the assembly line. They discovered a particular sterol—a molecule related to cholesterol—that plays a key role in the formation of oil droplets. “This research greatly extends our understanding of the molecular factors that govern the formation of lipid droplets, which…
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