Singlet fission can be promoted by chiral molecular self-assemblies that absorb light. In organic molecules an exciton is a particle bound pair of an electron (negative charge) and its hole (positive charge). They are held together by Coulombic attraction and can move within molecular assemblies. Singlet fission (SF) is a process where an exciton is amplified, and two triplet excitons are generated from a singlet exciton. This is caused by the absorption of a single particle of light, or photon,…
Piezoelectric coatings play a key role in the manufacturing of ultrasound microscopes that examine ever smaller semiconductor components and biological cell structures. However, the increasing demands on the quality and reproducibility of these coatings place high demands on the complex coating processes, which require many parameters to be precisely coordinated. In order to meet this challenge, Fraunhofer FEP is developing a digital twin of the coating process for piezoelectric thin films. This enables the digital mapping and optimization of the…
New machine learning methods are enabling better understanding and processing of crash test development data. The SAFECAR-ML project is developing an automated solution for documenting virtual crash tests based on artificial intelligence (AI). The aim is to simplify and enhance the efficiency of the design process. Shattering glass, twisted metal, and flying debris are rare sights in today’s automotive crash tests, as most crash simulations are performed digitally. However, documenting every modification in the design of virtual crash vehicle models…
The hepatitis E virus affects the liver. But infected liver cells secrete a viral protein that reacts with antibodies in the blood and may form complexes that can damage the filter structure of the kidneys, as researchers from the University of Zurich and the University Hospital Zurich have proven for the first time. The hepatitis E virus infects some 70 million people every year. “This infection is the most common form of acute hepatitis and a major global health problem,”…
University of Tübingen and Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) team investigates the effects of rising temperatures and carbon dioxide levels on agriculture. The changes scientists expect in the climate could cause the toxic metals naturally occurring in soils to become more mobile, destabilize ecosystems and increasingly enter the human food chain via agriculture. Such scenarios are particularly likely to occur in slightly acidic soils, which make up around two thirds of all soils. These are the conclusion of an…
TU researchers enable better protection for sending sensitive information. In today’s digital landscape, ensuring the privacy of online communications is more critical than ever, especially in professions that rely on confidentiality, such as law or politics. Two research groups from the Profile Topic Cybersecurity and Privacy at TU Darmstadt have developed EMC² (Encrypted Multi-Channel Communication), a method that enhances the security of sensitive messages by distributing trust across several existing communication channels. The team’s approach addresses the limitations of current…
To test complex brain functions during neurosurgical procedures, surgeons must operate on awake, locally anesthetized patients. This allows surgeons to interact with them and test how their intervention affects brain function. However, opening the skull while the patient is awake is extremely stressful for them psychologically. A new robot-assisted and optically precisely monitored laser procedure developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen is set to enable gentle, vibration-free and virtually silent craniotomies while the patient is…
Researchers discover new magnetic and electronic properties in kagome magnet thin films. A discovery by Rice University physicists and collaborators is unlocking a new understanding of magnetism and electronic interactions in cutting-edge materials, potentially revolutionizing technology fields such as quantum computing and high-temperature superconductors. Led by Zheng Ren and Ming Yi, the research team’s study on iron-tin (FeSn) thin films reshapes scientific understanding of kagome magnets — materials named after an ancient basket-weaving pattern and structured in a unique, latticelike…
NASA’s Coronal Diagnostic Experiment (CODEX) is ready to launch to the International Space Station to reveal new details about the solar wind including its origin and its evolution. Launching in November 2024 aboard SpaceX’s 31st commercial resupply services mission, CODEX will be robotically installed on the exterior of the space station. As a solar coronagraph, CODEX will block out the bright light from the Sun’s surface to better see details in the Sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona. “The CODEX instrument is a new generation…
“Doing instead of procrastinating”. This is the AI strategy presented by Prof. Constantin Haefner, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT, at the “AKL’24 – International Laser Technology Congress” in Aachen, Germany. Experts at the institute are putting this pragmatic strategy into practice in the German-Canadian AI-SLAM project, for example, in which an AI tool for the automated laser cladding of wear parts for the mining industry is being developed. AI-SLAM: Five letters stand for the ambitious German-Canadian…
Fraunhofer IWS Combines Nature-based Concepts with Sensor Technology and 3D Printing. Making harvesting robots, submarine grippers, and autonomous rovers on distant planets more universally applicable and autonomous in the future – researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dresden work on enabling them to “feel”: In various projects, they are working with academic and industrial partners on biomimetic artificial grippers. Combining 3D and dispensing printing with other technologies shall achieve this – fish also have…
Researchers from Bonn show which procedure reduces the amount of anesthetic discarded: Propofol is used in the operating room to induce anesthesia. To maintain anesthesia, a continuous infusion of the agent via a separate syringe pump is the standard procedure for total intravenous anesthesia. However, this is not entirely sustainable: propofol produces about 45 percent of the drug waste in the operating room, and a quarter of the agent remains unused. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the…
– Wireless Aggregation of Health Data. Health data, distributed across various applications, could be unified in a digital medical twin: This is how doctors could improve patient care with the future mobile communication standard 6G. Researchers from RPTU and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) are examining the necessary infrastructure. They are developing a functional demonstrator that fuses various sensors using mobile communication and a unified communication standard, making measurement data accessible at a glance. They will present…
By applying an electric field, the movement of microswimmers can be manipulated. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS), the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad and the University of Twente, Netherlands, describe the underlying physical principles by comparing experiments and theoretical modeling predictions. They are able to tune the direction and mode of motion through a microchannel between oscillation, wall adherence and centerline orientation, enabling different interactions with the environment. Microswimmers often need to independently…
Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Medicine MEVIS, the University Medical Center Freiburg, and Stryker Leibinger GmbH & Co. KG have been awarded the Research Prize for Digitalization in Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery 2024 for their publication entitled “Validation of a Finite Element Simulation for Predicting Individual Knee Joint Kinematics.” The award ceremony took place on October 25, 2024, during the German Congress for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery (DKOU 2024) in Berlin. Knee injuries are among the most common…
Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory have developed a new combination of imaging and computational methods to study connections between immune cells in breast cancer and melanoma. A growing cancer is shaped by more than just the tumor cells it contains; the tissue around a tumor also alters its biology. Now, researchers at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) have combined advanced imaging techniques with a new computational method to probe how immune cells interact with each other in never-before-seen detail, revealing that…
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