When our immune system comes into contact with SARS-CoV-2, it fights back and produces antibodies. A similar immune response is triggered by Corona vaccines. However, there is still little data available on the strength and durability of immune protection. A team led by Prof. Carsten Watzl from the IfADo, in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute oin Dortmund (MPI) and the Klinikum Dortmund, has now been able to detect high levels of neutralising antibodies in test persons even 300 days…
Some of the most famous problems in mathematics remain unsolved for centuries. For Erdős’ conjecture, it took fifty years for a solution to be found. Professor Matthew Kwan from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and mathematicians from Harvard and MIT present a proof that shows the existence of so-called high-girth Steiner triple systems. When Matthew Kwan heard about the Erdős conjecture during his studies, he did not expect to be part of proving this infamous mathematical theorem….
In motor neuron diseases of the nervous system, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commands can no longer be sent to the muscles. This gradually leads to paralysis. Physicist Dr. Thomas Herrmannsdörfer from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and physician Prof. Richard Funk from the TU Dresden formulated the idea to selectively revive the motor neurons using magnetic fields. Initial laboratory research results have proven them right and are encouraging them to further pursue their project and plan a prototype therapy…
Sensor of novel material an alternative for blood glucose measurement. An interdisciplinary team of researchers at TU Bergakademie Freiberg has developed a novel sensor from a bio-based material that enables enzyme-free measurement of glucose concentration in the blood. Anyone suffering from diabetes cannot live without them – the test strips for measuring blood glucose levels. They contain enzymes that react with glucose in the blood. “Once used, the conventional enzyme based photometric or electrochemical measurement no longer work and the…
Human eggs often contain the wrong number of chromosomes, leading to miscarriages and infertility. A research team led by Melina Schuh at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Multidisciplinary Sciences has discovered that human eggs are missing an important protein, which acts as a molecular motor. This motor helps to stabilize the machinery that separates the chromosomes during cell division. The researchers’ findings open up new avenues for therapeutic approaches that could reduce chromosome segregation errors in human eggs. A…
A multidisciplinary team at the UNIGE has succeeded in explaining the complex distribution of scales in the ocellated lizard by means of a simple equation. The shape-shifting clouds of starling birds, the organization of neural networks or the structure of an anthill: nature is full of complex systems whose behaviors can be modeled using mathematical tools. The same is true for the labyrinthine patterns formed by the green or black scales of the ocellated lizard. A multidisciplinary team from the…
An international research team of biomechanics optimizes robotic movements inspired by insects. A whole generation of gripping robots has been developed using a design concept originally known from fish fins. An international research team from Biomechanics, with participation from Kiel University (CAU), led by the University of Southern Denmark (SDU), has now optimized this gripping function inspired by insects and challenged this standard in robotics. They also transferred it from hand to foot elements for the first time. This would…
Microplastic researchers compare health risks of microparticles. Researchers at the University of Bayreuth want to find out the consequences of inhaled microplastics. In order to better understand them, they have conducted an interdisciplinary study to find out how the health risks of particles such as soot, grinding dust or asbestos are related to their physical properties. By comparing them with the properties of microplastic particles, more precise statements can be made about their potentially hazardous effects on health. Microplastics are…
Researchers make new discoveries about “megaripple” grain composition. An interdisciplinary team including researchers from Leipzig University has analysed an extensive collection of sand samples from so-called megaripple fields around the world and gained new insights into the composition of these sand waves. These could help settle debates about the mechanistic origin of some recently discovered enigmatic extraterrestrial sand structures and improve our ability to infer information about past weather and climate events from sediment records. The results of their investigations…
Mathematical simulations show the new approach may offer faster, cheaper, and more accurate detection, including identifying new variants. A novel approach to testing for the presence of the virus that causes Covid-19 may lead to tests that are faster, less expensive, and potentially less prone to erroneous results than existing detection methods. Though the work, based on quantum effects, is still theoretical, these detectors could potentially be adapted to detect virtually any virus, the researchers say. The new approach is…
Across a vast array of robotic hands and clamps, there is a common foe: the heirloom tomato. You may have seen a robotic gripper deftly pluck an egg or smoothly palm a basketball – but, unlike human hands, one gripper is unlikely to be able to do both and a key challenge remains hidden in the middle ground. “You’ll see robotic hands do a power grasp and a precision grasp and then kind of imply that they can do everything…
Flue gas level low-concentration carbon dioxide high-efficiency conversion made possible. Economically feasible electrochemical carbon dioxide conversion achieved. A Korean research team has developed a technology that can produce carbon monoxide (CO), which has various applications in industry, by direct conversion of flue gas level low-concentration carbon dioxide (CO2). The Korean Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, President Seok-jin Yoon) announced that the research team of Dr. Da Hye Won and Dr. Ung Lee at Clean Energy Research Center and Professor…
Until now, observing subatomic structures was beyond the resolution capabilities of direct imaging methods, and this seemed unlikely to change. Czech scientists, however, have presented a method with which they became the first in the world to observe an inhomogeneous electron charge distribution around a halogen atom, thus confirming the existence of a phenomenon that had been theoretically predicted but never directly observed. Comparable to the first observation of a black hole, the breakthrough will facilitate understanding of interactions between…
Researchers develop electrically switchable nanoantennas as basis for holographic video technology. Video conferencing played a key role during the Covid-19 pandemic and is set to dominate many meetings in the future. To realize the true feeling of a face-to-face dialog, three dimensional video is required and yet the holographic technology is still missing. Researchers at the University of Stuttgart in Germany have now introduced a completely new approach to realize such dynamic holographic displays, based on electrically switchable plasmonic nanoantennas…
A multi-disciplinary project driven by EMBL Australia researchers at Monash University and Harvard University has found a way to make antibiotics more effective against antibiotic-resistant bacteria – also known as ‘superbugs. Antimicrobial resistance to superbugs has been evolving and is one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity, according to the World Health Organization. This new research will provide a pathway to increasing the effectiveness of antibiotics, without clinicians having to resort to risky strategies of giving…
Easy and fast detection of viruses are crucial in a pandemic. Based on single-nanopore membranes of GSI, an international interdisciplinary team of researchers developed a test method that detects SARS-CoV-2 in saliva, without sample pretreatment, with the same sensitivity as a qPCR test, and in only 2 hours. On top, the sensor can distinguish infectious from non-infectious corona viruses — a crucial innovation. By linking different technologies, an interdisciplinary team of scientist of the Materials Research Department of GSI Helmholtzzentrum…
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