Collaboration between Goethe University and the University of Oklahoma Anyone entering the world of quantum physics must prepare themself for quite a few things unknown in the everyday world: Noble gases form compounds, atoms behave like particles and waves at the same time and events that in the macroscopic world exclude each other occur simultaneously. In the world of quantum physics, Reinhard Dörner and his team are working with molecules which – in the sense of most textbooks – ought…
New study decodes the molecular diversity of neurons in the zebrafish retina. Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are the bottleneck through which all visual impressions flow from the retina to the brain. A team from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, University of California Berkeley and Harvard University created a molecular catalog that describes the different types of these neurons. In this way, individual RGC types could be systematically studied and linked to a specific connection, function and behavioral response. When…
NIH BRAIN Initiative scientists used machine learning to redesign a bacterial ‘Venus flytrap’ protein that can monitor brain serotonin levels in real time. Serotonin is a neurochemical that plays a critical role in the way the brain controls our thoughts and feelings. For example, many antidepressants are designed to alter serotonin signals sent between neurons. In an article in Cell, National Institutes of Health-funded researchers described how they used advanced genetic engineering techniques to transform a bacterial protein into a…
Researchers investigate teeth of a small carnivorous mammal that are almost 150 million years old. Paleontologists at the University of Bonn (Germany) have succeeded in reconstructing the chewing motion of an early mammal that lived almost 150 million years ago. This showed that its teeth worked extremely precisely and surprisingly efficiently. Yet it is possible that this very aspect turned out to be a disadvantage in the course of evolution. The study is published in the journal “Scientific Reports“. At…
Dual-acting immuno-antibiotics block an essential pathway in bacteria and activate the adaptive immune response. Wistar Institute scientists have discovered a new class of compounds that uniquely combine direct antibiotic killing of pan drug-resistant bacterial pathogens with a simultaneous rapid immune response for combatting antimicrobial resistance (AMR). These finding were published today in Nature. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared AMR as one of the top 10 global public health threats against humanity. It is estimated that by 2050, antibiotic-resistant…
Glioblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor in adults. Roughly five in every 100,000 people develop this type of cancer each year. The diagnosis amounts to a death sentence: Even after surgical resection followed by radiation and chemotherapy, the glioblastoma will kill the patient in a few months. This is because the tumor invariably returns after treatment, and in a more aggressive form than before. Researchers investigating glioblastoma tissue always find immune cells inside the tumor. They have therefore…
Osaka City University scientists have developed mathematical formulas to describe the current and fluctuations of strongly correlated electrons in quantum dots. Their theoretical predictions could soon be tested experimentally. Theoretical physicists Yoshimichi Teratani and Akira Oguri of Osaka City University, and Rui Sakano of the University of Tokyo have developed mathematical formulas that describe a physical phenomenon happening within quantum dots and other nanosized materials. The formulas, published in the journal Physical Review Letters, could be applied to further theoretical…
The breakthrough makes a significant step forward in photonics and microwave technology by eliminating the need for bulky magnets. An international research team lead by Aalto University has found a new and simple route to break the reciprocity law in the electromagnetic world, by changing material properties periodically in time. The breakthrough could help to create efficient nonreciprocal devices, such as compact isolators and circulators, that are needed for the next generation of microwave and optical communications systems. When we…
Chemists at the University of Bonn have synthesized extremely unusual compounds. Their central building block is a silicon atom. Different from usual, however, is the arrangement of the four bonding partners of the atom, which are not in the form of a tetrahedron around it, but flat like a trapezoid. This arrangement is usually energetically extremely unfavorable, yet the molecules are very stable. The results will be published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Chemists at the University…
An analysis of the songs of most of the world’s passerine birds reveals that the frequency at which birds sing mostly depends on body size, but is also influenced by sexual selection. The new study from researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and colleagues suggests that habitat characteristics do not affect song frequency, thereby refuting a long-standing theory. Many animals use acoustic signals for communication. These signals have evolved to maximize the effectiveness of the transmission and reception…
New methods enable scientists at IST Austria to take a look at the innermost of cells: high-resolution images of deep-frozen cells show structures that previously could only be guessed at. Temperatures of minus 196 degrees Celsius enable high-resolution imaging of the cell’s interior. Researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology (IST) Austria are thus able to show for the first time how the active form of a protein complex plays critical roles in cell motility and other important biological…
Since 1970 a worldwide unique test has been running in the Empa testing hall in Dübendorf, in which the long-term behaviour of bonded steel reinforcements on a concrete beam is being investigated. Investigations such as these have contributed to the fact that adhesive-bonded reinforcement is now state of the art as a strengthening method and that engineers have confidence in this retrofitting method. For half a century now, a long-term experiment has been running in Empa’s largest testing laboratory at…
The European Commission will provide €15 million in funding to a consortium of 37 astronomical institutions from EU and UK. The goal of the Opticon-RadioNet Pilot Project (ORP) is to enable and facilitate scientists to share between the partners observing time at optical and radio telescopes. Within the RadioNet program top-class radio telescopes were available, including MPIfR’s 100-m radio telescope at Effelsberg, and the APEX submillimeter telescope in Chile. And the OPTICON alliance pursued a similar concept within visible wavelengths….
Seismometers listen to the resonance vibration of the Hochvogel, Allgäu The entire summit of the 2592 metres high Hochvogel is sliced by a five metres wide and thirty metres long fracture. It continues to open up by up to half a centimetre per month. Throughout the years, the southern side of the mountain has already subsided by several meters; and at some point it will fail, releasing up to 260,000 cubic meters of limestone debris down into the Hornbach Valley…
The wastewater treatment plant is turned into a vegetable farm, bio-based substances recovered from waste are being utilized to prevent oxidative spoilage in food packaging or provide environmentally-friendly and safe water-repellent coatings on functional textiles. In the EVOBIO project coordinated by Fraunhofer IGB, 19 Fraunhofer Institutes are working on solutions for a sustainable economy by developing new concepts that utilize material flows in bioeconomy process cycles to produce optimized materials for innovative products. From environmental pollution to climate change –…
Sixfold increase in risk A research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has quantified the effects of an infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) on the development of cervical cancer. Their results show that the risk of developing cervical cancer is six times higher in women who are infected with HIV. Southern and Eastern Africa are particularly affected. According to WHO statistics, cervical cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer for women. In 2018 an…
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