Co-planar optoelectrowetting device allows for droplet access from above that increases microfluidic input/output system integration configurations while achieving faster droplet speeds. Microfluidic technologies have seen great advances over the past few decades in addressing applications such as biochemical analysis, pharmaceutical development, and point-of-care diagnostics. Miniaturization of biochemical operations performed on lab-on-a-chip microfluidic platforms benefit from reduced sample, reagent, and waste volumes, as well as increased parallelization and automation. This allows for more cost-effective operations along with higher throughput and sensitivity…
When activated, they damage brain development … Since our ancestors infected themselves with retroviruses millions of years ago, we have carried elements of these viruses in our genes – known as human endogenous retroviruses, or HERVs for short. These viral elements have lost their ability to replicate and infect during evolution, but are an integral part of our genetic makeup. In fact, humans possess five times more HERVs in non-coding parts than coding genes. So far, strong focus has been…
Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have traced the locations of five brief, powerful radio blasts to the spiral arms of five distant galaxies. Called fast radio bursts (FRBs), these extraordinary events generate as much energy in a thousandth of a second as the Sun does in a year. Because these transient radio pulses disappear in much less than the blink of an eye, researchers have had a hard time tracking down where they come from, much less determining what…
Alzheimer’s Disease is the most common form of dementia and is characterised by the build-up of amyloid plaques in the brain. Microglia, the immune sentinels of the brain, are not only responsible for eliminating foreign invaders, but also maintaining brain homeostasis by clearing toxic waste such as the amyloid plaques. However, the role of microglia in Alzheimer’s Disease and its relationship to amyloid plaque accumulation remain unclear. Now, a team of scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School and Monash University have…
Scientists at Goethe University Frankfurt and the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration use data which produced the first image of a black hole to constrain its fundamental properties. Theoretical physicists at Goethe University Frankfurt have analysed data from the black hole M87* as part of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration to test Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity. According to the tests, the size of the shadow from M87* is in excellent agreement being from a black hole in general…
More and more nuclear power plants are reaching their maximum service life or are decommissioned due to the nuclear phase-out. To reduce the additional effort of water filtration during dismantling, scientists at the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH) have developed and validated a laser-based cutting process. With this method, up to 95 percent less radioactively contaminated secondary waste is released into the water when the reactor vessel internals are cut. In direct dismantling, the reactor components are disassembled on-site within…
Phase transformation mechanisms and kinetics of a metallic glass defined over a wide temperature range. Metallic glasses are metastable materials characterised by special atomic arrangement and properties. They are generally harder, more corrosion resistant and stronger than ordinary metals. Their amorphous structure is formed when natural crystallisation is prevented. This can be achieved, for example, by rapidly cooling the melt so that the atoms are deprived of mobility before they can adopt the crystal arrangement. The reverse process – rapid…
Neutrons show a connection between lithium concentration and depression Depressive disorders are among the most frequent illnesses worldwide. The causes are complex and to date only partially understood. The trace element lithium appears to play a role. Using neutrons of the research neutron source at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), a research team has now proved that the distribution of lithium in the brains of depressive people is different from the distribution found in healthy humans. Lithium is familiar…
Expedition to long-term observatory between Greenland and Svalbard. On Whit Monday, 24 May 2021, the Polarstern will set sail for the Arctic. In Fram Strait, between Greenland and Svalbard, more than 50 participating scientists will resume the long-term observations that began at the AWI HAUSGARTEN more than 20 years ago. Here they will investigate the effects of environmental changes on the Arctic’s deep-sea ecosystem. The Arctic is changing: rising water temperatures and retreating sea ice are producing ecosystem shifts in…
Researchers find replacement for toxic solvent … Scientists at SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre, Swansea University, have found a way to replace the toxic, unsustainable solvents currently needed to make the next generation of solar technology. Printed carbon perovskite solar cells have been described as a likely front runner to the market because they are extremely efficient at converting light to electricity, cheap and easy to make. A major barrier to the large-scale manufacture and commercialisation of these cells is…
Researchers from Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the University of California Berkeley and the Institut Polytechnique de Paris use intense laser light in the extreme ultraviolet spectrum to generate a non-linear optical process on a laboratory scale – a process which until now has only been possible in a large-scale research facility. As the team writes in the current issue of the journal “Science Advances”, they were able to achieve this effect for the first time with a laser source on…
Bees not only provide us humans with honey, but thanks to the pollination of herbs, shrubs and trees, they are significantly responsible for the preservation of species. As a result, they generate around 1.6 billion euros for agriculture and food production in Germany*. To help honey bees take flight and advance environmental and agricultural monitoring as well as research on bee health, a research project will now equip them with miniaturized, integrated sensor systems. Beekeeping is in vogue, and not…
For the first time, researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces have synthesized sugar chains that resemble the envelopes of the four major variations of the bacterium streptococcus suis. This is an important first step for the development of glycoconjugate vaccines against a pathogen that is a serious problem in pigs. Once in the pigsty, the pathogen spreads rapidly, which regularly causes major problems for farms. The bacterium can cause diseases such as meningitis, pneumonia and pericarditis,…
Swiss drivers wear out countless tires. Instead of incinerating them, they could be reused locally: The asphalt of various countries has long contained rubber from used tires. Empa and its partners from industry are adopting this idea for potential applications in Switzerland. Commuters who nag about traffic stress should look at the ground every now and then. And take comfort in realizing it might be worse, much worse: Asphalt endures blistering heat, cold stress and plenty of pressure from above….
The Fraunhofer IWES is now starting construction work on a third rotor blade test bench at its Großer Westring site in Bremerhaven, Germany. Once complete, the bench will be used to test state-of-the-art prototypes measuring 115 m in length and even more. Some €19 million are set to be invested in the project bearing the name “Future Concept for Fatigue Strength of Rotor Blades Phase II”, which will see the construction of a testing infrastructure with a modular test block…
For the first time in Europe: Cardiologists use “SuperSaturated Oxygen” procedure to reduce heart muscle damage. In Germany, more than 200,000 people suffer a heart attack every year. Despite good medical care, many are left with reduced cardiac output. This is particularly true for patients with severe heart attacks: more than 30 percent of those affected develop heart failure, and almost half of them die within the next five years. Experts at the Department of Cardiology and Angiology at Hannover…
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