An ‘accidental discovery’ confirms what simulations show … Analysis of data from a lightning mapper and a small, hand-held radiation detector has unexpectedly shed light on what a gamma-ray burst from lightning might look like – by observing neutrons generated from soil by very large cosmic-ray showers. The work took place at the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Cosmic Ray Observatory in Mexico. “This was an accidental discovery,” said Greg Bowers, a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and lead…
Heidelberg geographers draw up full inventory of barely researched aufeis (icing) fields. Seasonally occurring fields of aufeis (icing) constitute an important resource for the water supply of the local population in the Upper Indus Basin. However, little research has been done on them so far. Geographers at the South Asia Institute of Heidelberg University have now examined the spreading of aufeis and, for the first time, created a full inventory of these aufeis fields. The more than 3,700 accumulations of…
A team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems has developed a system with which they can fabricate miniature robots building block by building block, which function exactly as required. As one would do with a Lego system, the scientists can randomly combine individual components. A team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) have developed a system with which they can fabricate miniature robots building block by building block, which function exactly…
For the second time, ICULTA – the ‘International Conference on UV LED Technologies & Applications’ – presented a forum for the UV LED community. Over 320 participants from 33 countries exchanged ideas and results on cutting-edge UV LED topics. The program of last week’s virtual event covered the most recent and novel developments in UV LED manufacturing, including applications in health care, environment and life sciences, curing, and metrology. A running theme in many of the sessions was the role…
Potential COVID-19 treatment pairs nanoparticles with human immune system to search and destroy viruses. Researchers at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) at the University of Chicago have designed a completely novel potential treatment for COVID-19: nanoparticles that capture SARS-CoV-2 viruses within the body and then use the body’s own immune system to destroy it. These “Nanotraps” attract the virus by mimicking the target cells the virus infects. When the virus binds to the Nanotraps, the traps then sequester…
A group of astronomers, led by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) and the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR) in Bonn, Germany, has discovered 8 millisecond pulsars located within dense clusters of stars, known as “globular clusters”, using South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope. Millisecond pulsars are neutron stars, the most compact star known, that spin up to 700 times per second. This result comes from the synergic work of two international collaborations, TRAPUM and MeerTIME, with the…
An international team with researchers from the University of Bayreuth has succeeded for the first time in discovering a previously unknown two-dimensional material by using modern high-pressure technology. The new material, beryllonitrene, consists of regularly arranged nitrogen and beryllium atoms. It has an unusual electronic lattice structure that shows great potential for applications in quantum technology. Its synthesis required a compression pressure that is about one million times higher than the pressure of the Earth’s atmosphere. The scientists have presented…
New method to generate fumarate for MRI presented … Researchers find new technique for rapid hyperpolarization and purification of fumarate in aqueous solution / Obstacles involving the use of parahydrogen overcome. A promising new concept published by an interdisciplinary research team in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences paves the way for major advances in the field of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Their new technique could significantly simplify hyperpolarized MRI, which developed around 20 years ago for observing metabolic…
In a step toward enabling ultrafast wireless data transmission, researchers explore non-line-of-sight path issue for link discovery method using terahertz radiation. If a base station in a local area network tries to use a directional beam to transmit a signal to a user trying to connect to the network — instead of using a wide area network broadcast, as base stations commonly do — how does it know which direction to send the beam? Researchers from Rice University and Brown…
New interfacial superconductor has novel properties that raise new fundamental questions and might be useful for quantum information processing or quantum sensing. Interfaces in solids form the basis for much of modern technology. For example, transistors found in all our electronic devices work by controlling the electrons at interfaces of semiconductors. More broadly, the interface between any two materials can have unique properties that are dramatically different from those found within either material separately, setting the stage for new discoveries….
The placenta forms the interface between the maternal and foetal circulatory systems. As well as ensuring essential nutrients, endocrine and immunological signals get through to the foetus to support its development and growth, the placenta must also protect it from the accumulation of potentially toxic compounds. A study from Cécile Demarez, Mariana Astiz and colleagues at the University of Lübeck in Germany now reveals that the activity of a crucial placental gatekeeper in mice is regulated by the circadian clock,…
Scientists transform human intestinal cells into ‘mini guts’ to follow infection process. In an effort to determine the potential for COVID-19 to begin in a person’s gut, and to better understand how human cells respond to SARS-CoV-2, the scientists used human intestinal cells to create organoids – 3D tissue cultures derived from human cells, which mimic the tissue or organ from which the cells originate. Their conclusions, published in the journal Molecular Systems Biology, indicate the potential for infection to…
TUD to cooperate with an IAP spin-off … Many researchers are familiar with the problem: Before there are any new findings, there is an unknown measuring device. In order to control it, different libraries, protocols and command sets need to be followed. If you ever have to combine several devices from different manufacturers, you virtually have to take an additional course in computer science. This is because, in each case, a separate software is required for the special interaction. Axel…
Researchers discover sponge paths on the ocean floor… Sponges: They are considered to be one of the most primitive forms of animal life, because they have neither locomotion organs nor a nervous system. A team around deep-sea scientist Antje Boetius has now discovered that sponges leave trails on the sea floor in the Arctic deep sea. They conclude that the animals might move actively – even if only a few centimetres per year. They are now publishing these unique findings…
Mitochondria are the energy suppliers of our cells and have their own genetic material, which triggers an inflammatory response when released into the cell’s interior. Some cardiac and neurodegenerative diseases as well as the ageing process are linked to the mitochondrial genome. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing and the CECAD Cluster of Excellence in Ageing research have investigated the reasons for the release of mitochondrial genetic material and found a direct link to cellular metabolism:…
Imaging techniques enable decisive step toward development of novel hearing prostheses. Understanding spoken words, developing normal speech – cochlear implants enable people with profound hearing impairment to gain a great deal in terms of quality of life. However, background noises are problematic, they significantly compromise the comprehension of speech of people with cochlear implants. The team led by Tobias Moser from the Institute for Auditory Neuroscience and InnerEarLab at the University Medical Center Göttingen and from the Auditory Neuroscience and…
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