Lower cooling requirements, longer operating times, lower error rates: Quantum computers based on spin photons and diamond promise significant advantages over competing quantum computing technologies. The consortium of the BMBF project SPINNING coordinated by Fraunhofer IAF has succeeded in decisively advancing the development of spin-photon-based quantum computers. On October 22 and 23, 2024, the partners presented the interim project results at the mid-term meeting of the BMBF funding measure Quantum Computer Demonstration Setups in Berlin. Solving complex problems in seconds…
Mushrooms are existing in a breathtaking variety of shapes, colors and sizes. Especially in autumn, mushroom hunters are going into the forests to find the tastiest of them, prepare them in multiple ways and eat them with relish. However, it is well known that there are also poisonous mushrooms among them, and it is live saving to distinguish between them. But are these mushrooms really poisonous? Fiber cap mushroom. (c) Dirk Hoffmeister/Leibniz-HKI Researchers at Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the…
Novel Framework to Study Polygenic Diseases. The human genetic code is fully mapped out, providing scientists with a blueprint of the DNA to identify genomic regions and their variations responsible for diseases. Traditional statistical tools effectively pinpoint these genetic “needles in the haystack,” yet they face challenges in understanding how many genes contribute to diseases, as seen in diabetes or schizophrenia. A new study from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), published in PNAS, tackles this problem. Many…
New approach: Using the Pareto principle an international research team with Dr. Silvia Cattelan from the Leibniz Institute on Aging – Fritz Lipmann Institute analyzed the complex relationships between sperm length, body masse, sperm competition, and clutch size to capture evolutionary trade-offs among these traits. An international research team has developed an innovative method to study the evolution of sperm length in tetrapods. Using the Pareto principle, scientists from Germany and Italy analyzed the complex relationships between sperm length, body…
Researchers at Osaka University fabricate a protective nanoscale barrier of structured silica between a metal layer and analyte molecules, which leads to enhanced fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy for highly sensitive biosensing. While we might picture a biologist as a researcher hunched over a light microscope, carefully scrutinizing a single bacterium, modern scientists have more powerful instruments at their disposal to investigate, at much smaller scales, the internal structures of living cells. Fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy have become indispensable tools for…
Scientists have found an alternative way to produce atoms of the superheavy element livermorium. The new method opens up the possibility of creating another element that could be the heaviest in the world so far: number 120. The search for new elements comes from the dream of finding a variant that is sufficiently stable to be long-lived and not prone to immediate decay. There is a theory in nuclear physics about an island of stability of superheavy elements. This is…
For the first time, EPFL researchers have exclusively observed molecules participating in hydrogen bonds in liquid water, measuring electronic and nuclear quantum effects that were previously accessible only via theoretical simulations. Water is synonymous with life, but the dynamic, multifaceted interaction that brings H2O molecules together – the hydrogen bond – remains mysterious. Hydrogen bonds result when hydrogen and oxygen atoms between water molecules interact, sharing electronic charge in the process. This charge-sharing is a key feature of the three-dimensional…
Replacing organic solvents with molten salt lets researchers grow “previously unimaginable nanocrystals”. The type of semiconductive nanocrystals known as quantum dots are both expanding the forefront of pure science and also hard at work in practical applications including lasers, quantum QLED televisions and displays, solar cells, medical devices, and other electronics. A new technique for growing these microscopic crystals, published this week in Science, has not only found a new, more efficient way to build a useful type of quantum…
DNA method improves capacity and efficiency for digital archives, ASU researchers say. As the digital world expands, scientists are exploring DNA’s remarkable capacity to store data, converting this ancient molecule into a next-gen information archive. Since the 1980s, DNA has been considered an ideal medium for data storage due to its extraordinary density and stability. DNA can store up to a billion times more information in the same volume compared with traditional silicon-based storage, and encoded sequences can last for…
Researchers at Constructor University make crucial breakthrough in cell research. It is a breakthrough in cell research that’s poised to open up new possibilities in the fight against diseases. In cooperation with researchers from the China University of Petroleum, the working group of Dr. Werner Nau, Professor of Chemistry at Constructor University, has demonstrated the effectiveness of a new method of intracellular protein transport. The results of their research can now be read in Proceedings of the National Academy of…
A large multicenter study led by the Department of Neurology at MHH confirms deficits in word fluency and visual information processing. MOGAD is a rare autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. According to estimates, one to three in 100,000 people are affected. They may suffer from visual disturbances, paralysis, incontinence and pain. But do they also have cognitive impairments? Smaller scientific studies have so far provided contradictory findings. A team of researchers led by the Department of Neurology with…
How does the embryo in the rapeseed react to mechanical constraints? In 2021, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for elucidating the biology of mechanosensors. These discoveries revealed how mechanical forces generated by touch influence tissue differentiation and morphogenesis in animals and humans. Plants use similar means to sense mechanical forces, but the role of biomechanics and mechanosensory proteins is less understood. This particularly applies to embryogenesis. In a project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG),…
In the AqQua project Hereon is involved in monitoring global populations of organisms in water. Plankton and organic particles take up carbon from the atmosphere, transporting it from the water’s surface to the deep sea. As a result, the Earth’s climate is heavily influenced by life in the water. The AqQua project aims to determine how many of these microscopic organisms exist globally, how they are distributed, and how these patterns are changing due to climate change. Researchers are analyzing…
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have succeeded in elucidating the structure of specific photoreceptors. With their help, it may be possible to switch cellular activities on and off using light. This capability could become an important tool in biological research and medical applications. Researchers in biology and medicine have long dreamed of controlling the activities of cells without, for example, having to use chemicals. After all, in a structure as complex as an entire organism, unwanted side-effects can often arise. The ideal solution…
EU Twinning Project to Investigate Deep-Sea Food Webs around Madeira. A kick-off meeting was held yesterday in Funchal, Madeira, to officially launch the EU Twinning project TWILIGHTED. Over the next three years, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel will work as the German partner alongside institutions from Norway and Portugal to explore the twilight zone in waters around Madeira. At the same time, marine research in Madeira will be strengthened through knowledge transfer, with the goal to establish a…
…represents a breakthrough for tissue-interfaced bioelectronics. New material from the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering can create better brain-machine interfaces, biosensors, and pacemakers. The ideal material for interfacing electronics with living tissue is soft, stretchable, and just as water-loving as the tissue itself—in short, a hydrogel. Semiconductors, the key materials for bioelectronics such as pacemakers, biosensors, and drug delivery devices, on the other hand, are rigid, brittle, and water-hating, impossible to dissolve in the way hydrogels have traditionally been…
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