Scientists report a detailed model of aerosol transport through air, considering several environmental conditions, such as temperature, humidity and ambient flow The novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is thought to spread through natural respiratory activities, such as breathing, talking and coughing, but little is known about how the virus is transported through the air. University of Missouri scientists report, in Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing, on a study of how airflow and fluid flow affect exhaled droplets that can…
Atomically thin diamond, also called diamane, is a two-dimensional carbon allotrope and has attracted considerable scientific interest due to its potential physical properties. However, previous studies suggest that atomically thin diamond films are not achievable in a pristine state because diamonds possess a three-dimensional crystalline structure and would lack chemical stability when thinned down to the thickness of diamond’s unit cell due to the dangling sp3 bonds. Chemical functionalization of the surface carbons with specific chemical groups was considered necessary…
By introducing defects to a common material, Berkeley Lab researchers create a highly efficient capacitor with dramatically increased energy density Capacitors that rapidly store and release electric energy are key components in modern electronics and power systems. However, the most commonly used ones have low energy densities compared to other storage systems like batteries or fuel cells, which in turn cannot discharge and recharge rapidly without sustaining damage. Now, as reported in the journal Science, researchers have found the best…
Researchers led by Göttingen University develop new three-dimensional imaging technique to visualize tissue damage in severe Covid-19 Physicists at the University of Göttingen, together with pathologists and lung specialists at the Medical University of Hannover, have developed a three-dimensional imaging technique that enables high resolution and three-dimensional representation of damaged lung tissue following severe Covid-19. Using a special X-ray microscopy technique, they were able to image changes caused by the coronavirus in the structure of alveoli (the tiny air sacs…
Personalized cancer treatments are no longer just options of the future. In the past few years, researchers have made significant progress in ‘teaching’ the body’s immune T cells to recognize and kill specific cancer cells, and human clinical trials have shown that this approach can successfully eliminate tumors. Cancer patients today can be a part of the following clinical scenario: a patient comes to the hospital where physicians and scientists analyze his or her tumor to identify cancer-specific markers that…
Case Western Reserve scientists, collaborators at Harvard and Italian university Unical, aim to ‘revolutionize optics’ by combining nanostructured metasurfaces with liquid crystal technology For more than 500 years, humans have mastered the art of refracting light by shaping glass into lenses, then bending or combining those lenses to amplify and clarify images either close-up and far-off. But in the last decade or so, a group led by scientist Federico Capasso at Harvard University has begun to transform the field of optics…
Solar flares emit sudden, strong bursts of electromagnetic radiation from the Sun’s surface and its atmosphere, and eject plasma and energetic particles into inter-planetary space. Since large solar flares can cause severe space weather disturbances affecting Earth, to mitigate their impact their occurrence needs to be predicted. However, as the onset mechanism of solar flares is unclear, most flare prediction methods so far have relied on empirical methods. The research team led by Professor Kanya Kusano (Director of the Institute…
Electrons are able to move within molecules, for example when they are excited from outside or in the course of a chemical reaction. For the first time, scientists have now succeeded in studying the first few dozen attoseconds of this electron movement in a liquid. To understand how chemical reactions begin, chemists have been using super-slow motion experiments for years to study the very first moments of a reaction. These days, measurements with a resolution of a few dozen attoseconds…
Forest scientists develop innovative wood-based materials for 3D printing A viscous biopaste that is easy to process, solidifies quickly and is suitable for producing even complex structures using the 3D printing process has been developed by a research team headed by Prof. Dr. Marie-Pierre Laborie from the Chair of Forest Biomaterials at the University of Freiburg. The wood-based biodegradable synthetic could potentially be used in lightweight construction, amongst other things. The scientists have published their initial results in the journals…
A new letter has been found in the mysterious alphabet of black holes. Two astrophysicists share this discovery in the journal Nature Communications. Black holes are at the center of almost all galaxies that have been studied so far. They have an unimaginably large mass and therefore attract matter, gas and even light. But they can also emit matter in the form of plasma jets – a kind of plasma beam that is ejected from the centre of the galaxy…
A touch of gold – or another noble metal – can change the structure of a crystal and its intrinsic properties, physicists at the University of Warwick have demonstrated in a display of modern-day alchemy Applying a noble metal, such as gold, to the surface of a crystal induces an electrical field that ‘excites’ the structure of the crystal Physicists at University of Warwick demonstrate that by exciting its structure, the crystal is capable of new electrical effects Effects include…
Heart Center of the University Hospital of Bonn investigates how the communication between cells can be regulated Through their basic research, physicians at the Heart Center of the University Hospital Bonn have discovered how the communication between individual cells can be influenced with the help of a specific protein. These findings are an important approach to improving the treatment of diseases such as arteriosclerosis (calcified blood vessels), which causes heart attacks. The study was published online in advance in the…
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have developed a light-activated coating for filtration membranes — the kind used in water treatment facilities, at semiconductor manufacturing sites and within the food and beverage industry — to make them self-cleaning, eliminating the need to shut systems down in order to repair them. Cheap and effective, water filtration membranes have been around for years but have always been vulnerable to clogging from organic and inorganic materials that stop up…
Wearable soft mask will be useful for new, cutting-edge sleep and psycho-social studies From the team that invented physiology-sensing pajamas at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, now comes a new, lightweight eye mask that can unobtrusively capture pulse, eye movement and sleep signals, for example, when worn in an everyday environment. Senior authors writing this week in the journal Matter are materials chemist and Wearable Electronics Lab director Trisha L. Andrew, with computer scientist Deepak Ganesan and others. They point…
The Sun is a magnetized star. Its magnetic field is essentially three dimensional and it occupies all layers of the solar atmosphere. However, routine measurements of the solar magnetic field have only been achieved at the photospheric level, or the solar surface. Lacking precise knowledge about the magnetic field in the outermost solar atmosphere, the corona, has impeded our understanding of the solar magnetism and many phenomena in the solar atmosphere. An international team led by TIAN Hui, a professor…
Insights provide new path forward in the study of asthma and the development of novel therapies Researchers identify master regulator genes of asthma, provide new path forward in the study of asthma and the development of novel therapies. Bottom Line: Identification of these master regulator genes provides a new path forward in the study of asthma and the development of novel therapies and treatments. Results: After identifying nasal gene signatures for mild, moderate, and severe persistent asthma, the researchers applied…
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