Part of the optimisation strategy experimentally confirmed / energy losses of the plasma reduced. One of the most important optimisation goals underlying the Wendelstein 7-X fusion device at Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Greifswald has now been confirmed. An analysis by IPP scientists in the journal Nature shows: In the optimised magnetic field cage, the energy losses of the plasma are reduced in the desired way. Wendelstein 7-X is intended to prove that the disadvantages of earlier…
When Stanford University graduate student Jeff Rutherford began his doctorate in 2018, the amount of methane entering the atmosphere from oil and gas extraction operations – mostly due to fracking – had become a major matter of contention. Tracking this harmful greenhouse gas falls to the Environmental Protection Agency. To help in their accounting, the EPA uses computer models that take a “bottom-up” approach, counting the total number of well heads, storage tanks, miles of pipeline and other sources of…
Additional NIH studies underway will build on encouraging early results. One dose of a new monoclonal antibody discovered and developed at the National Institutes of Health safely prevented malaria for up to nine months in people who were exposed to the malaria parasite. The small, carefully monitored clinical trial is the first to demonstrate that a monoclonal antibody can prevent malaria in people. The trial was sponsored and conducted by scientists from the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the National…
Subhajit Bandopadhyay is working on a smart car IAM based on Usage Control (UCON) and Verifiable Credentials (VCs). A post-graduate student in City’s Institute for Cyber Security (ICS) is attempting to plug the vulnerability gaps of smart cars to hacking and security breaches. Subhajit Bandopadhyay, studying for a PhD under the supervision of Professor Muttukrishnan Rajarajan, Director of the ICS, has been involved in collaborative research to develop the SIUV – a stateful smart car Identity and Access Management (IAM) system, based on Usage…
Alzheimer’s research… Small aggregates of proteins known as Aβ oligomers are suspected as the main cause for the development of Alzheimer’s disease. However, it is not yet clear where and under what conditions these toxic aggregates form. Researchers from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and Forschungszentrum Jülich, together with partners from the University and University Hospital Cologne, have now found that a slightly acidic milieu is conducive to this development. In this environment, the oligomers form around 8,000 times quicker than…
A new way to probe exotic matter aids the study of atomic and particle physics. Physicists have created a new way to observe details about the structure and composition of materials that improves upon previous methods. Conventional spectroscopy changes the frequency of light shining on a sample over time to reveal details about them. The new technique, Rabi-oscillation spectroscopy, does not need to explore a wide frequency range so can operate much more quickly. This method could be used to…
A unique coating camouflages the temperature of an underlying material. The Science Scientists demonstrated that ultrathin films of samarium nickel oxide can mask the thermal radiation emitted by hot materials. Samarium nickel oxide is a quantum material. These are materials that have strange and incredible properties due to quantum mechanics. The cloaking mechanism is due to the material undergoing a unique, gradual transition from insulator to heat-conducting metal. This transition occurs over a temperature range from 100 to 140 degrees…
Through the looking glass… In a new study based on the theoretical computation of atomic structures, researchers determine the mechanisms of ion diffusion in phosphate glass. Phosphate glass is a versatile compound that has generated interest for its use in fuel cells and as biomaterials for supplying therapeutic ions. P2O5–the compound that forms the structural network of phosphate glass, is made up of phosphorus, an element that can adopt many different bonding configurations in combination with oxygen. The physicochemical properties…
A new approach to producing metamaterials draws on kirigami techniques to make three-dimensional, reconfigurable building blocks that can be used to create complex, dynamic structures. Because the design approach is modular, these structures are easy to both assemble and disassemble. “Applying kirigami to three-dimensional materials offers a new level of reconfigurability for these structures,” says Jie Yin, corresponding author of a paper on the work and an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University. Researchers…
Combined theoretical and experimental work provides general quantitative limits to light–matter coupling in nanophotonic devices. The interplay between light and matter encompasses a stunning spectrum of phenomena, from photosynthesis to the captivating colours of rainbows and butterfly wings. Diverse as these manifestations may be, they involve very weak light–matter coupling — in essence, light interacts with the material system but does not change its basic properties. A distinctively different set of phenomena arises, however, for systems that are artifically engineered…
A new project at Landshut University of Applied Sciences deals with the development of a self-learning method for the production of batteries and thereby aims to strengthen Germany in terms of the global competition Batteries are considered to be a key technology for electric cars, mobile phones and energy storage systems. We need them to achieve the necessary energy turnaround, to fight climate change and to drive digitalisation. The demand for batteries and their production is therefore increasing all the…
The dining time of different insects impacts a plant’s defenses and nutritional quality—a complexity uncovered in new research with implications for pest management strategies. A piercing-sucking, virus-carrying aphid has long worried pea plant farmers, but a more innocuous-seeming weevil that only takes tiny bites from leaves was found to also play a significant role in plant health. Depending if the weevils eat before, or after, the aphids, they can increase or decrease the plant’s ability to fend off the virus….
Researchers at the Skoltech Center for Design, Manufacturing and Materials and their colleagues have developed and experimentally verified the model of a thermoplastic composite material chaotically reinforced by short glass fibers. The effectiveness and applicability of this model was demonstrated on strength calculations of promising composite valves and safety devices for portable tanks for road, rail and maritime transportation of chemical substances. The results were published in International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping. One of the most significant scientific and engineering problems…
Researchers identify two sugar-binding proteins that impede the viral entry of circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants. The team, spearheaded by researchers at IMBA – Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences – may have found the “Achilles’ heel” of the virus, with potential for pan-variant therapeutic interventions. The findings are now published in the EMBO Journal. Amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it is paramount to find new ways to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2. To this end, the Spike…
Impedance analyzer connected to DNA biosensor that can be used to detect genetic sequence from SARS-CoV-2. The challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic have stimulated innovation on several fronts. One is the development of low-cost methods of clinical diagnosis. Genosensors are a case in point. Based on nucleic acids that detect simple complementary DNA or RNA sequences, genosensors are biosensors that make possible mass testing for immediate and sensitive testing of genetic material. A device of this kind, already shown…
Using a sensor film to monitor how well aircraft and spacecraft withstand the mechanical stresses of flight: Würzburg researchers have received a prize for this idea, which comes with a lot of money. There is great joy at the Chair of Aerospace Information Technology: Alexander Hilgarth and Professor Sergio Montenegro were successful in the international INNOspace Masters competition. They won second prize with their idea for a sensor film that can be applied to the components of aerospace vehicles and…
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