Kiel research team is using the nematode model Caenorhabditis elegans to gain new insights into the regulation of the innate immune response All higher organisms have an immune system that constitutes a biological defense mechanism to protect the body from pathogens and foreign substances. It consists of a complex network of different organs, cell types and molecules that recognizes and fights harmful substances and pathogenic microorganisms. Invertebrates rely exclusively on the innate immune system, which protects the integrity of the…
IVAM joint booth at CMEF The China International Medical Equipment Fair (CMEF) is regarded as the leading medical equipment trade fair in the Asia-Pacific region. After a successful premiere in spring 2019, the IVAM Microtechnology Network will again present a joint booth for international high-tech suppliers at the fair in Shanghai. CMEF 2020 has been postponed from April to October 19-22, making it one of the first major international medical technology platforms that will take place again under strict security…
Globally, one fourth of carnivorous plants are threatened An international research team including botanist Andreas Fleischmann from SNSB-BSM has evaluated the Red List threat categories for all 860 known species of carnivorous plants in the light of the 21st Century – the Anthropocene, i.e. the geological time impacted by human ecological influences like habitat destruction, pollution and global climate change. The scientists now published their results in the international journal ‚Global Ecology and Conservation‘. In order to evaluate the global…
Styrian technological innovation – made in Graz TU Graz, ams and Silicon Austria Labs has developed a compact and energy-efficient sensor for mobile devices, which informs users in real time about the fine dust content in the air and warns them in case of elevated values. It is slightly smaller than two one-cent coins stacked on top of each other, is particularly energy-efficient due to its size, requires no maintenance and can be integrated in mobile devices. It is the…
Nanoscale vortices known as skyrmions can be created in many magnetic materials. For the first time, researchers at PSI have managed to create and identify antiferromagnetic skyrmions with a unique property: critical elements inside them are arranged in opposing directions. Scientists have succeeded in visualising this phenomenon using neutron scattering. Their discovery is a major step towards developing potential new applications, such as more efficient computers. The results of the research are published today in the journal Nature. Whether a…
The cells that make up our body are tiny, each of them measuring only micrometers in diameter. The ensemble of chromosomal DNA molecules that encode the genome, on the other hand, measures almost 2 meters. In order to fit into cells, chromosomal DNA is folded many times. But the DNA is not merely squeezed into the nucleus in a random manor but folded in a specific and highly regulated structure. The spatial organization of chromosomal DNA enables regulated topological interactions…
Researchers from six countries in the Americas explored bromeliad microcosms, showing how drought and flood affect the functioning of aquatic ecosystems, especially at the bottom of the food chain. To understand how climate change may affect different ecosystems, 27 researchers from Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, French Guiana and Puerto Rico, among other countries, conducted experiments in seven different locations involving the aquatic environment in the tank (centrally-located water-holding cup) of bromeliads, a habitat for insect larvae and other small…
Storms, fires, bark beetles: Many forests around the world are increasingly affected by these and other natural disturbances. It is common practice to eliminate the consequences of these disturbances – in other words, to harvest damaged trees as quickly as possible. Spruce trees attacked by bark beetles are removed from the forest, as are dryed beeches or trees thrown to the ground by storms. “However, this practice is an additional disturbance that has a negative impact on biodiversity,” says Dr….
UAlberta PhD student authors paper shedding new light on Earth’s deepest mechanisms using information from diamonds. A new study led by a University of Alberta PhD student–and published in Nature–is examining the Earth’s carbon cycle in new depth, using diamonds as breadcrumbs of insight into some of Earth’s deepest geologic mechanisms. “Geologists have recently come to the realization that some of the largest, most valuable diamonds are from the deepest portions of our planet,” said Margo Regier, PhD student in…
Bringing the power of the sun to Earth requires sound theory, good engineering, and a little finesse. The process entails trapping charged, ultra-hot gas known as plasma so its particles can fuse and release enormous amounts of energy. The most widely used facilities for this process are doughnut-shaped tokamaks that hold plasma in place with strong magnets that are precisely shaped and positioned. But errors in the shaping or placement of these magnets can lead to poor confinement and loss…
These systems could potentially overcome computational hurdles faced by current digital technologies. In the September issue of the journal Nature, scientists from Texas A&M University, Hewlett Packard Labs and Stanford University have described a new nanodevice that acts almost identically to a brain cell. Furthermore, they have shown that these synthetic brain cells can be joined together to form intricate networks that can then solve problems in a brain-like manner. “This is the first study where we have been able…
It uses terahertz radiation to power a miniscule copper accelerator structure. Particle accelerators generate high-energy beams of electrons, protons and ions for a wide range of applications, including particle colliders that shed light on nature’s subatomic components, X-ray lasers that film atoms and molecules during chemical reactions and medical devices for treating cancer. As a rule of thumb, the longer the accelerator, the more powerful it is. Now, a team led by scientists at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National…
Researchers have sequenced the genome of Alexander Fleming’s penicillin mould for the first time and compared it to later versions. Alexander Fleming famously discovered the first antibiotic, penicillin, in 1928 while working at St Mary’s Hospital Medical School, which is now part of Imperial College London. The antibiotic was produced by a mould in the genus Penicillium that accidentally started growing in a Petri dish. Now, researchers from Imperial College London, CABI and the University of Oxford have sequenced the…
Electrochemical reactions, which will play an important role in the future of energy supply, can now be explained in detail, thanks to measurements carried out by TU Wien and DESY. Electrochemistry is playing an increasingly important role: Whether it is fuel cells, electrolysis or chemical energy storage, chemical reactions controlled by electric current are used. The decisive factor in all these applications is that the reactions are as fast and efficient as possible. An important step forward has now been…
While in a three-dimensional world, all particles must be either fermions or bosons, it is known that in fewer dimensions, the existence of particles with intermediate quantum statistics, known as anyons, is possible. Such fascinating objects are strongly believed to exist as emerging quasiparticles in fractional quantum Hall systems, but despite great efforts, experimental evidence of anyons has remained very limited. Since quantum statistics is defined through the behavior of the phase of the wave function, when two identical particles…
Emerging use of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) makes it possible to continuously measure shallow changes in elevation of Earth surface. A study by the University of Bonn now shows that the quality of these measurements may have improved significantly during the pandemic, at least at some stations. The results show which factors should be considered in the future when installing GPS antennas. More precise geodetic data are important for assessing flood risks and for improving earthquake early warning systems….
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