Study will sharpen understanding of precipitation’s influence on aerosols in the atmosphere. A new $620,000, three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Energy will enable a University of Kansas atmospheric scientist to research how aerosols, clouds and precipitation interact over ocean waters, with the goal of producing more accurate Earth System Models. Lead researcher David Mechem, professor and chair of geography & atmospheric science at KU, will use a wide array of data collected at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM)…

A new study by the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) uses sea grapes, an algae species from the Indo-Pacific, to show how the quality of algae products can be further improved in terms of nutrition. The research was published in the journal Algal Research. By 2050, the world’s population is expected to increase to around 10 billion people. Food production will have to keep pace with this growth. The oceans, with their great, often still untapped potential as…

Atlas of pancreas tumors reveals important new findings in treatment resistance, possible new therapies. Pancreatic cancer has few treatment options and limited survival, with only 9% of patients still living five years after diagnosis. But a detailed analysis of pancreatic cancer by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has revealed details of two key transition points in the development of these tumors — the shift from normal cells to precancerous cells, and the change from precancerous…

… expands experimental teaching and learning with intelligent technology. Experimental learning is indispensable for conveying science content in a comprehensible way in school lessons. Experimental materials are constantly being developed and offer new didactic possibilities. For example, researchers are working on an intelligent photometer at Technische Universität Kaiserslautern (TUK). In addition to its function as a measurement and experimentation platform, it is also capable of storing user paths in order to subsequently optimise the teaching and learning experience by means…

The number of tree species growing in regions close to the equator is significantly higher than in regions further north and south of the earth. An international study published in „Nature Ecology and Evolution“ investigates the causes of this with a precision never before achieved. It emphasizes that the diversity of tree species in the tropics does not depend solely on bioclimatic factors. The study is based on a cooperation of 222 universities and research institutions. On the part of…

… and explain the recent surge in COVID-19 infections. A new study is one of the first to perform a robust biophysical analysis on the delta variant. Since June, the number of COVID-19 infections started rising again, as the most transmissible omicron variant started picking up delta variant mutations leading to new subvariants BA.4/BA.5 and Deltacron variants. Out of all the five known variants of concern, which have been shown to evade therapeutic antibodies and vaccines developed against unmutated, original…

Networks adapt over time and in this way form a kind of memory. This is the key finding of a new study by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Göttingen and the Technical University of Munich. They show that the structure of blood vascular network is dynamic and can adapt to external factors. In particular, the scientists found that rarely used connections are weakening more and more until they disappear eventually. The vascular system within…

Researchers at Osaka University measured the photovoltaic properties of antimony sulfiodide:sulfide devices and discover a voltage that depends on the wavelength of incident light, which may help develop new light-sensing and imaging devices. Scientists from the Institute for Open and Transdisciplinary Research Initiatives at Osaka University discovered a new feature of solar cells made from antimony sulfiodide:sulfide composite they termed the wavelength-dependent photovoltaic effect (WDPE). The team determined that changing the color of incident light from visible to ultraviolet induced…

Is sustainable human exploration of Mars possible? What are the challenges on the ground and what impact will they have on us humans? Conversely, how will humans affect the new environment? And can Mars teach us lessons for Earth? As part of the “Humans on Mars” initiative, 60 researchers from the University of Bremen and other Bremen research institutes are investigating these very questions. On July 8, 2022, the University of Bremen is set to launch its large-scale initiative “Humans…

Materials that contain the axial Higgs mode could serve as quantum sensors to evaluate other quantum systems and help answer persistent questions in particle physics. An interdisciplinary team led by Boston College physicists has discovered a new particle – or previously undetectable quantum excitation – known as the axial Higgs mode, a magnetic relative of the mass-defining Higgs Boson particle, the team reports in the online edition of the journal Nature. The detection a decade ago of the long-sought Higgs…

Understanding platinum degradation could reduce waste and lower cost of a promising green technology, hydrogen fuel cells. The Science Fuel cells generate electricity from hydrogen, a “clean” fuel that produces only water when burned. Platinum is a key catalyst in this process. However, platinum degrades unevenly in fuel cells, resulting in still-usable platinum being discarded when “worn out” fuel cells are replaced. To improve fuel cell durability and reduce waste, this research studied the causes of uneven platinum degradation. These causes include…

… and then successfully transplanted. The Liver4Life research team owes its perfusion machine, which was developed in house, to the fact that it became possible to implant a human organ into a patient after a storage period of three days outside a body. The machine mimics the human body as accurately as possible, in order to provide ideal conditions for the human livers. A pump serves as a replacement heart, an oxygenator replaces the lungs and a dialysis unit performs…

Interdisciplinary top-level research in the field of tropical medicine is the goal of a new transnational network of excellence being established under the leadership of Professor Anna Förster of the University of Bremen. It is being funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). For many years, the University of Bremen has been cooperating with one of the best universities in Thailand, Mahidol University in Bangkok. It is one of the strategic partners of the University of Bremen. A highlight…

Researchers demonstrate that this part of the plants –the outermost part– can absorb up to 90% of harmful sunlight that is converted into heat. The cuticle – the outermost part of a plant, which acts as interphase between the plant and the environment– is becoming increasingly important in agriculture. It has already been shown that the cuticle has hydrologic properties, to prevent water loss, as well as mechanical properties, against fruit cracking, and plays a role in the defense against…

As the earth’s climate continues to warm, researchers predict wild animals will be forced to relocate their habitats – likely to regions with large human populations – dramatically increasing the risk of a viral jump to humans that could lead to the next pandemic. This link between climate change and viral transmission is described by an international research team led by scientists at Georgetown University and is published April 28 in Nature (“Climate change increases cross-species viral transmission risk” DOI…

Advance has implications for drug development and biological research. For nearly 40 years, drugmakers have used genetically engineered cells as tiny drug factories. Such cells can be programmed to secrete compounds that yield drugs used to treat cancer and autoimmune conditions such as arthritis. Efforts to develop and manufacture new biologic treatments may gain from a new technology for quickly sorting single, live cells in a standard laboratory setup. With microscopic, bowl-shaped hydrogel containers called “nanovials,” a UCLA-led research team…