Climate change may affect the production of maize (corn) and wheat as early as 2030 under a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario, according to a new NASA study published in the journal, Nature Food. Maize crop yields are projected to decline 24%, while wheat could potentially see growth of about 17%. Using advanced climate and agricultural models, scientists found that the change in yields is due to projected increases in temperature, shifts in rainfall patterns, and elevated surface carbon dioxide concentrations from…

Johns Hopkins Medicine study also suggests longer interval between virus exposure and first vaccine dose may enhance antibody response. In what is believed to be one of the largest studies of its kind, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have shown that antibody levels against SARS-CoV-2 (the COVID-19 virus) stay more durable — that is, remain higher over an extended period of time — in people who were infected by the virus and then received protection from two doses of messenger RNA…

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…

A thorough review of the history of sage grouse hunting and populations across the Intermountain West shows that declines in the bird’s numbers have prompted significant reductions in hunting opportunities in recent decades — with mixed results for grouse populations. Research led by University of Wyoming Professor Jeff Beck and Oregon State University Assistant Professor Jonathan Dinkins, a former UW postdoctoral researcher, examined the history of grouse hunting regulations in 11 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces — and the…

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…

New finding could help inform how zeolites are used in carbon capture and storage. Zeolites could be considered as nature’s workhorse. Filled with microscopic holes and channels, these ultraporous minerals can soak up environmental contaminants, filter drinking water, manage nuclear waste and even absorb carbon dioxide (CO2). Now, in the first study of its kind, Northwestern University researchers have analyzed ancient zeolite specimens collected from the edges of East Iceland to discover that zeolites separate calcium isotopes in a wholly…

TU Graz, the University of Leoben, the Austrian Fire Brigade Association and ILF Consulting Engineers have investigated the effects of e-vehicle fires in tunnel systems. The results are reassuring for passenger cars, but not for commercial vehicles. For the latter, as well as for fires in multistorey car parks, further investigations are urgently needed. The actual potential danger in the event of an accident with an e-car is still relatively unknown, but unsettling images of e-vehicles on fire are already…

New study from The University of Texas at Austin improves method for tracking drought severity and impact. In 2011, Texas experienced one of its worst droughts ever. The dry, parched conditions caused over $7 billion in crop and livestock losses, sparked wildfires, pushed power grids to the limit, and reduced reservoirs to dangerously low levels. And according to a recent study led by geoscientists at The University of Texas at Austin, the drought was worse than previously thought. The study,…

Fraunhofer IZM and the weißensee academy of art in Berlin have opened a unique open innovation lab for prototyping textile electronics. Fitted with the latest in high-tech equipment and machines, the Textile Prototyping Lab (TPL) can turn e-textile visions into real fabrics and garments with its interdisciplinary team of scientists and artists. Let’s make it official: 29 September 2021 will be a red letter day for all lovers of innovative textiles, with the Textile Prototyping Lab formally opened at Fraunhofer…

– new and early detection method for side effects on the heart muscle. Novel immunotherapies with “checkpoint inhibitors” (immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI)) have revolutionized the treatment of cancer in recent years and led to improved therapy results. The therapy is designed to “unleash” the patient’s own immune system so that cancer cells can be better recognized and attacked. A study by an interdisciplinary group of researchers at Bonn University Hospital (UKB) has shown that the novel cancer therapy can subclinically…

How resilient is our food supply? Temporarily empty shelves during the Corona crisis showed that the answer to this question is more urgent than ever. Guaranteeing people a supply of food that is both safe in terms of health and of high quality is an essential system-relevant tasks that is affected by complex factors and that needs to be rethought in many respects in view of several weaknesses in the system. Researchers from six Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Institutes have set themselves this…

Scientists are working hard to engineer the properties of nanostructures, such as atoms and molecules, to realize efficient logic devices that can operate at the fundamental scale of matter – the scale of atoms. To make “engineering” possible at that scale, researchers have to be able to look at the internal structure of an atom, the so-called orbital structure, where electrons are confined in a series of shells. In a study published this week in ACS Nano, the research led…

Transistors with a fibrous architecture similar to those of neurons are capable of forming artificial neural networks. Fibrous networks can be used in smart wearable devices and robots. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI)-based technologies have led to an astronomical increase in the amounts of data available for processing by computers. Existing computing methods often process data sequentially and therefore have large time and power requirements for processing massive quantities of information. Hence, a transition to a new computing paradigm is…

Inspired by a kind of tree leaf, scientists at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) discovered that the spreading direction of different liquids deposited on the same surface can be steered, solving a challenge that has remained for over two centuries. This breakthrough could ignite a new wave of using 3D surface structures for intelligent liquid manipulation with profound implications for various scientific and industrial applications, such as fluidics design and heat transfer enhancement. Led by Professor Wang Zuankai, Chair…

Crucial steps for adding chemical tag to transfer RNA revealed. The chemical steps in an important cellular modification process that adds a chemical tag to some RNAs have been revealed in a new study. Interfering with this process in humans can lead to neuronal diseases, diabetes, and cancers. A research team, led by chemists at Penn State, has imaged a protein that facilitates this RNA modification in bacteria, allowing the researchers to reconstruct the process. A paper describing the modification…