The scientists have demonstrated how to structure light such that its polarization behaves like a collective of spins in a ferromagnet forming half-skyrmion (also known as merons). To achieve this the light was trapped in a thin liquid crystal layer between two nearly perfect mirrors. Skyrmions in general are found, e.g., as elementary excitations of magnetization in a two-dimensional ferromagnet but do not naturally appear in electromagnetic (light) fields. One of the key concepts in physics, and science overall is…
Research network develops digital alarm system for paediatric intensive care medicine. Working in intensive care units poses special challenges for healthcare workers. They have to safely and reliably detect whether the condition of their seriously ill patients is deteriorating in a life-threatening way, and they have to do so under great time pressure because every minute counts. The stress level increases even more when the patients are children and adolescents. In paediatric intensive care, doctors are confronted with the problem…
The danger of becoming infected with the coronavirus is especially high in enclosed spaces. This is because aerosols – which play a key role in the transmission of COVID-19 – increase the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 in indoor spaces. A new ventilation system developed by two Fraunhofer Institutes is able to filter the virus from ambient air. It then destroys the virus in a process known as cold combustion, leaving behind nothing but small quantities of carbon dioxide and hydrogen. With…
Many swimming pools in Germany do not have enough trained lifeguards and in many places, this skilled labor shortage is even leading to closures. The solution could be a floating underwater rescue robot, which is intended to support rescue staff in emergencies in the future. A research team from the Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation IOSB in Ilmenau developed the underwater vehicle with the help of Halle’s water rescue service, Wasserrettungsdienstes Halle e.V. According to the…
The Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM in Dresden is strengthening its technological expertise in the field of pressure-supported heat treatment with the new acquisition of a Quintus Hot Isostatic Press QIH 15L. This significantly expands the possibilities, which were previously focused on spark plasma sintering technology. The researchers see the main areas of application for the new facility in, on one hand, the development of combined processes, i.e. heat treatment and hot isostatic pressing (HIP) for…
Radioactivity in meteorites sheds light on origin of heaviest elements in our solar system. A team of international researchers went back to the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago to gain new insights into the cosmic origin of the heaviest elements on the periodic table. Led by scientists who collaborate as part of the International Research Network for Nuclear Astrophysics (IReNA) (irenaweb.org) and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics – Center for the Evolution of the Elements…
Astronomers accurately measure the temperature of red supergiant stars. Red supergiants are a class of star that end their lives in supernova explosions. Their lifecycles are not fully understood, partly due to difficulties in measuring their temperatures. For the first time, astronomers develop an accurate method to determine the surface temperatures of red supergiants. Stars come in a wide range of sizes, masses and compositions. Our sun is considered a relatively small specimen, especially when compared to something like Betelgeuse…
Researchers at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft have developed an AI-driven technology that allows the perimeter advertisements shown during live broadcasts of soccer games or other events to be changed without viewers noticing. This means every TV station can show its own content on the boards. The Swiss company ViboTec AG is bringing this technology to the market. For sports fans who regularly tune in to track and field sports, soccer, or other events on their TVs, the long advertising boards on the…
Every year, hundreds of millions of tons of carbon dioxide are emitted through maritime transport, causing serious harm to the climate. As scientists around the world test new propulsion methods capable of replacing fuel oil in ships, Fraunhofer researchers are working as part of an international consortium to develop ammonia-based fuel cells. When used as fuel for ships with electric engines, ammonia is as eco-friendly as hydrogen, but easier and safer to handle. At present, hydrogen is the primary focus…
New joint project at the University of Bayreuth Lithium-ion batteries are currently the most important category of electrical energy storage device. Their operational safety depends crucially on separators that ensure the spatial separation of the electrodes. With the aim of further increasing the safety of high-tech batteries, and at the same time extending their service life, the University of Bayreuth is set to develop novel separators made of glass together with renowned industrial partners. The joint project “Glass separators for…
A new theoretical study has proposed a novel mechanism for the creation of supermassive black holes from dark matter. The international team find that rather than the conventional formation scenarios involving ‘normal’ matter, supermassive black holes could instead form directly from dark matter in high density regions in the centres of galaxies. The result has key implications for cosmology in the early Universe, and is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Exactly how supermassive black holes initially…
Stevens uses machine learning-driven techniques to develop a long-awaited tool that better reveals the health of Earth’s oceans and the impacts of climate change. Researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology have developed a new machine learning-powered platform, known as OC-SMART, that can process ocean color in satellite images 10 times faster than the world’s leading platform. The work, which will be adopted by NASA, is one of the first machine learning-based platforms in ocean color analysis that can process both…
Frontera, Anton 2 supercomputers simulate holistic model of SARS-CoV-2 virion. The COVID-19 virus holds some mysteries. Scientists remain in the dark on aspects of how it fuses and enters the host cell; how it assembles itself; and how it buds off the host cell. Computational modeling combined with experimental data provides insights into these behaviors. But modeling over meaningful timescales of the pandemic-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus has so far been limited to just its pieces like the spike protein, a target…
When a muscle grows, because its owner is still growing too or has started exercising regularly, some of the stem cells in this muscle develop into new muscle cells. The same thing happens when an injured muscle starts to heal. At the same time, however, the muscle stem cells must produce further stem cells – i.e., renew themselves – as their supply would otherwise be depleted very quickly. This requires that the cells involved in muscle growth communicate with each…
– receptor clusters can direct cell movement Whether we smell, taste or see, or when adrenaline rushes through our veins, all of these signals are received by our cells via a specific group of receptor proteins called G protein-coupled receptors, which transmit signals to the inside of the cell. Biochemists at Goethe University Frankfurt and the University of Leipzig have now discovered that such receptors can also produce signals even in the absence of an external stimulus: It is apparently…
Koalas are facing multiple environmental and health issues which threaten their survival. Along with habitat loss – accelerated by last year’s devastating bush fires – domestic dog attacks and road accidents, they suffer from deadly chlamydial infections and extremely high frequency of cancer. An international team of scientists led by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) now demonstrate that a retrovirus invading the koala germline explains the high frequency of koala cancer. The results are reported in…
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