“The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion,” Albert Einstein wrote. Perhaps this is nowhere more evident than in protein evolution, where past and present versions of the same enzyme exist in different species today, with implications for future enzyme design. Now, researchers have used evolutionary “time travel” to learn how an enzyme evolved over time, from one of Earth’s most ancient organisms to modern-day humans. The researchers will present their results today at…
In the search for sustainable energy storage, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, present a new concept to fabricate high-performance electrode materials for sodium batteries. It is based on a novel type of graphene to store one of the world’s most common and cheap metal ions – sodium. The results show that the capacity can match today’s lithium-ion batteries. Even though lithium ions work well for energy storage, lithium is an expensive metal with concerns regarding its long-term supply…
Scientists at the University of Southampton have discovered that extensive chains of volcanoes have been responsible for both emitting and then removing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) over geological time. This stabilised temperatures at Earth’s surface. The researchers, working with colleagues at the University of Sydney, Australian National University (ANU), University of Ottawa and University of Leeds, explored the combined impact of processes in the solid Earth, oceans and atmosphere over the past 400 million years. Their findings are published in…
UCLA study suggests researchers could analyze neurological disorders in a stem cell–derived model. Researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have developed brain organoids — 3D, brain-like structures grown from human stem cells — that show organized waves of activity similar to those found in living human brains. Then, while studying organoids grown from stem cells derived from patients with the neurological disorder Rett syndrome, the scientists were able to observe patterns…
Understanding how electrons move in 2-D layered material systems could lead to advances in quantum computing and communication. Scientists studying two different configurations of bilayer graphene—the two-dimensional (2-D), atom-thin form of carbon—have detected electronic and optical interlayer resonances. In these resonant states, electrons bounce back and forth between the two atomic planes in the 2-D interface at the same frequency. By characterizing these states, they found that twisting one of the graphene layers by 30 degrees relative to the other,…
In addition to antibodies and white blood cells, the immune system deploys peptides to fight viruses and other pathogens. Synthetic peptides could reinforce this defense but don’t last long in the body, so researchers are developing stable peptide mimics. Today, scientists report success in using mimics known as peptoids to treat animals with herpes virus infections. These small synthetic molecules could one day cure or prevent many kinds of infections, including COVID-19. The researchers will present their results at the…
In 2019, astronomers spotted something incredible in our backyard: a rogue comet from another star system. Named Borisov, the icy snowball traveled 110,000 miles per hour and marked the first and only interstellar comet ever detected by humans. But what if these interstellar visitors—comets, meteors, asteroids and other debris from beyond our solar system—are more common than we think? In a new study published Monday in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, astronomers Amir Siraj and Avi Loeb at the Center for…
Innovators at Purdue University and Houston Methodist Research Institute have created a novel strategy for developing an effective vaccine for a widespread form of tuberculosis. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is a leading cause of death worldwide, leading to over 1.5 million fatalities annually. Approximately one-third of the global population is infected with the latent form of Mtb. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is widely used as a vaccine against tuberculosis but has a variable protection against neonatal and adult pulmonary TB. That protection…
Researchers use perovskite to develop a memory device readable through both electrical and optical methods. In a step toward a future of higher performance memory devices, researchers from National Taiwan Normal University and Kyushu University have developed a new device that needs only a single semiconductor known as perovskite to simultaneously store and visually transmit data. By integrating a light-emitting electrochemical cell with a resistive random-access memory that are both based on perovskite, the team achieved parallel and synchronous reading…
Trans-scale scope shows big picture of tiny targets. Researchers at Osaka University use a 120-megapixel camera to simultaneously image over a million cells in a single microscope field of view, a feat which may accelerate the study of population dynamics and rare biological phenomena. Scientists from the Transdimensional Life Imaging Division of the Institute for Open and Transdisciplinary Research Initiatives (OTRI) at Osaka University created an optical imaging system that can capture an unprecedented number of cells in a single…
Researchers identify a key protein that helps sperm do their job in timely fashion, a discovery with implications for treating male infertility—and perhaps male birth control. Mammalian sperm cannot fertilize an egg from the get-go. It’s an ability acquired only after insemination, during passage through the female reproductive tract, and requires two consecutive, time-sensitive processes to provide sperm with the physical and biochemical traits necessary to complete their fundamental job. The first process is called capacitation, which alters the physiology…
Physicists are like bees — they can cross-pollinate, taking ideas from one area and using them to develop breakthroughs in other areas. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have transferred a technique from one realm of plasma physics to another to enable the more efficient design of powerful magnets for doughnut-shaped fusion facilities known as tokamaks. Such magnets confine and control plasma, the fourth state of matter that makes up 99 percent of…
Heidelberg research group seeks and develops inhibitors against flavi- and coronaviruses. New drugs are intended to help stop viral zoonoses – infections that jump from animals to humans. To study suitable inhibitors, Prof. Dr Christian Klein from the Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology (IPMB) of Heidelberg University is receiving funding in the amount of 450,000 euros from the Volkswagen Foundation. The project is focussed on flavi- and coronaviruses, which cause infectious diseases such as Zika, dengue, West Nile Fever,…
Outdoor stadium seats, ski bindings, tire reinforcements and other products that require strength, durability and weather resistance are all made with a type of nylon called nylon 6-6. However, producing this material requires an environmentally unfriendly process, the first step of which uses the endangered element zinc as a catalyst. Now, researchers have developed “greener” methods for this step that use alternative metals. They might even be able to substitute waste iron in the form of rust, or ferric oxide,…
Within the framework of the German-Brazilian joint project ATTO (Amazon Tall Tower Observatory) with its research station in the Brazilian rainforest, scientists for several years have gained valuable data and insights for climate and environmental research. For German partners, the Max Planck Society will continue to ensure the operation of the station and the research. In addition, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) will fund the project for another three years with around 5 million euros through…
TU Dresden researchers develop an implantable AI system. TU Dresden scientists at the Chair of Optoelectronics have succeeded for the first time in developing a bio-compatible implantable AI platform that classifies in real time healthy and pathological patterns in biological signals such as heartbeats. It detects pathological changes even without medical supervision. The research results have now been published in the journal ‘Science Advances’. Artificial intelligence (AI) will fundamentally change medicine and healthcare: Diagnostic patient data, e.g. from ECG, EEG…
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