In extreme heat or in the vacuum of space: a novel nanomaterial delivers top performance in extreme situations, as demonstrated by TU Wien (Vienna) with international partners. You can lubricate a bicycle chain with oil, but what do you do with a Mars rover or a red-hot conveyor belt in the steel industry? Very special nanomaterials have now been studied by the TU Wien together with research groups from Saarbrücken (Germany), Purdue University in the USA and the Universidad de…
Resonant-tunneling diodes are used in high-frequency oscillators, wave emitters and detectors, logic gates, photodetectors, and optoelectronic circuits. The study was a collaboration between Brazilian and German researchers. Diodes are widely used electronic devices that act as one-way switches for current. A well-known example is the LED (light-emitting diode), but there is a special class of diodes designed to make use of the phenomenon known as “quantum tunneling”. Called resonant-tunneling diodes (RTDs), they are among the fastest semiconductor devices and are…
Technology could avert capacity crunch by enhancing bandwidth while reducing energy consumption. Fiber optic technology is the holy grail of high-speed, long-distance telecommunications. Still, with the continuing exponential growth of internet traffic, researchers are warning of a capacity crunch. In AVS Quantum Science, by AIP Publishing, researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Maryland show how quantum-enhanced receivers could play a critical role in addressing this challenge. The scientists developed a method to enhance…
New optics-on-a-chip device paves way to capturing fast chemical, material and biological processes. Researchers have developed new x-ray optics that can be used to harness extremely fast pulses in a package that is significantly smaller and lighter than conventional devices used to modulate x-rays. The new optics are based on microscopic chip-based devices known as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). “Our new ultrafast optics-on-a-chip is poised to enable x-ray research and applications that could have a broad impact on understanding fast-evolving chemical,…
Coronavirus researchers under Prof. Rolf Hilgenfeld of the University of Lübeck and Dr. Albrecht von Brunn of the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich published a research breakthrough in the highly ranked “EMBO Journal”. They discovered how SARS viruses enhance the production of viral proteins in infected cells, so that many new copies of the virus can be generated. Other coronaviruses apart from SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 do not use this mechanism, thereby providing a possible explanation for the much higher pathogenicity of…
Findings of researchers at Mainz University could lead to the creation of new drugs. Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany and the Institute of Molecular Biology of Barcelona in Spain have discovered how the blood plasma protein fetuin-B binds to the enzyme meprin β and used a computer model to visualize their findings. These results could lead to the development of new drugs to treat serious diseases such as Alzheimer’s and cancer. Meprin β releases proteins from…
Protecting the global climate is an undertaking that presents both industry and society with a major task. It will not be possible to achieve the climate targets simply by limiting global emissions, by saving carbon dioxide (CO2). This is because there will continue to be unavoidable CO2 emissions that will nevertheless have to be compensated. Ways out of this unfortunate situation can be measures such as reforestation, carbon sequestration in the soil or even the active capture of CO2 from…
Up to now, oscillator free-electron lasers have only reached emission wavelengths down to 176.4 nanometers. Scientists at Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH) have now succeeded in producing optics that allowed physicists at Duke University, USA, to generate wavelength below 170 nanometers. The coated resonator mirrors from LZH are used in the storage ring free-electron laser (FEL) at Triangle University Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL). The highly reflective mirrors are the limiting component when it comes to achieving even shorter wavelengths with laser…
Max Planck scientists publish latest results in the journal Science Advances … Metals are one of the most important materials in our civilization due to their excellent strength and formability. The possibility to permanently deform and shape metals without breaking, makes them the material of choice for many high-tech products. Their plastic deformation is typically carried by motion of defects called dislocations, in the lattice structure. As the dislocations move, they deform the material permanently, allowing the metal to assume…
Which catalyst can be used to convert carbon dioxide into other substances? Scientists at TU Wien have now created a new material, which belongs to the class of perovskites. If the CO2 content of the atmosphere is not to increase any further, carbon dioxide must be converted into something else. However, as CO2 is a very stable molecule, this can only be done with the help of special catalysts. The main problem with such catalysts has so far been their…
Researchers used nanophotonic technology to develop a brain-implantable tool that can aid in the optical imaging of brain activity. Tools that allow neuroscientists to record and quantify functional activity within the living brain are in great demand. Traditionally, researchers have used techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, but this method cannot record neural activity with high spatial resolution or in moving subjects. In recent years, a technology called optogenetics has shown considerable success in recording neural activity from animals…
Liquid Crystals (LC) are widely deployed in display technology and optical fibres. From smartphones in your pockets to large screen TVs, LCs are everywhere, as this special state of matter has been found in colorful soap bubbles as well as certain living tissues. But LCs are by no means limited to use in gadgets or electronic devices. For quite some time, scientists have been studying the possibility of creating “active nematics”, a particular class of active LCs, which consist of…
Austrian pyhsicists are able to devise a design principle for the self-assembly of functionalized molecules. The production of nanomaterials involves self-assembly processes of functionalized (organic) molecules on inorganic surfaces. This combination of organic and inorganic components is essential for applications in organic electronics and other areas of nanotechnology. Until now, certain desired surface properties were often achieved on a trial-and-error basis. Molecules were chemically modified until the best result for the desired surface property was found. However, the processes controlling…
Trust first … In order to use electronic devices securely and reliably, it is important to know where they were manufactured, how they operate and how they are constructed. Although there are currently a number of technical solutions for trusted electronics, there is still no consistent methodology for trustworthiness that adequately covers the entire value chain. This is where the research project “Velektronik”, which started in March 2021, comes in. Fraunhofer IPMS is working on trusted manufacturing processes of elec-tronic…
Astronomers from the Netherlands, Belgium, Chile, the USA and Germany have imaged the newly discovered exoplanet “YSES 2b” right next to its host star. An international research team with the participation of Dr Markus Mugrauer from the Astrophysical Institute of Friedrich Schiller University Jena has succeeded in the direct imaging of a young exoplanet. The planet orbits the Sun-like star YSES 2, which is about 360 light years away and located in the constellation Musca (the Fly) in the southern…
MK-4482 shows potential to prevent and treat SARS-CoV-2 infection. The experimental antiviral drug MK-4482 significantly decreased levels of virus and disease damage in the lungs of hamsters treated for SARS-CoV-2 infection, according to a new study from National Institutes of Health scientists. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19. MK-4482, delivered orally, is now in human clinical trials. Remdesivir, an antiviral drug already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use against COVID-19, must be provided intravenously, making…
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