Stable and ordered single molecule layers on silicon through self-assembly; publication in ‘Nature Chemistry’. One vision that is currently driving material scientists is to combine organic molecules (and their diverse functionalities) with the technological possibilities offered by extremely sophisticated semiconductor electronics. Thanks to modern methods of micro- and nanotechnology, the latter designs ever more efficient electronic components for a wide variety of applications. However, it is also increasingly reaching its physical limits: Ever smaller structures for functionalizing semiconductor materials such…

Educational scientists at the University of Jena study the use of VR headsets in teacher training. Educational scientists at Friedrich Schiller University Jena are working on a new project studying how virtual reality can enrich teacher training – and thus also enhance teaching in schools. Digital learning has received a lot of attention and valuable input during the coronavirus pandemic, both in schools and universities. This topic must now be pursued further to develop, test and ultimately apply new methods….

Use of tablets in mathematics… Low-achieving pupils benefit more in mathematics lessons from learning materials on tablet PCs than high-achieving children. They are obviously helped by individualized learning paths, immediate feedback and the hands-on processing of interactive content. This conclusion was reached in a study conducted by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) with sixth-grade students. The team of researchers has developed an eBook for learning fractions, which is available free of charge in English, Spanish and German. Fractions are…

Welding 3D-printed components with the laser: This is the goal of the scientists at the Institut für Integrierte Produktion Hannover (IPH) gGmbH and the Laser Zentrum Hanno-ver e.V. (LZH). In the new research project “QualLa”, they want to develop an expert system that supports small and medium-sized enterprises in optimizing additive manufac-turing processes – so that the printed components can subsequently be welded soundly with the laser. For injection-molded plastic components, laser transmission welding is already an established industrial joining…

In the journal Nature Communications, an interdisciplinary team from the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces presents for the first time a laser-driven technology that enables them to create nanoparticles such as copper, cobalt and nickel oxides. At the usual printing speed, photoelectrodes are produced in this way, for example, for a wide range of applications such as the generation of green hydrogen. Previous methods produce such nanomaterials only with high energy input in classical reaction vessels and in…

A study coordinated by Luís Graça, principal investigator at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes (iMM; Portugal) and Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon (FMUL) used lymph nodes, tonsils and blood, to show how the cells that control production of antibodies are formed and act. The results published now in the scientific journal Science Immunology* unveiled key aspects about the regulation of antibody production, with significant importance for diseases where antibody production is…

New study suggests old rules on how ice breaks may not always hold up. Researchers at Aalto University in Finland have found strong evidence that warm ice – that is, ice very close in temperature to zero degrees Celsius – may fracture differently than the kinds of ice typically studied in laboratories or nature. A new study published in The Cryosphere takes a closer look at the phenomenon, studied at the world’s largest indoor ice tank on Aalto’s campus. Understanding…

Life expectancy of tapeworm-infected worker ants is significantly higher than that of their uninfected nest-mates and resembles that of ant queens. Ant workers that are infected with a tapeworm live much longer than their uninfected nest-mates. Parasitic infections are usually harmful to their hosts, but there are some exceptions. According to the results of a multi-year scientific study, ants of the species Temnothorax nylanderi show exceptionally high survival rates when infected with a tapeworm. “The lifespan of the infected ants…

Where do you find inspiration? New research suggests that a good place to look is in an art museum. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt, Germany, have found that appealing visual art can increase moments of inspiration. In a new article published in the journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, the authors report several experiments in which participants were asked to write short creative stories in response to different prompts. People reported feeling…

Mutations can disrupt protein binding through a “burr effect” thus interfering with the regulation of cell growth. Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) affects between one and two of every 10,000 new-born babies. This genetic disease leads to the formation of benign tumours which can massively impair the proper functioning of vital organs such as the kidneys, the liver and the brain. The disease affects different patients to varying degrees and is triggered by mutations in one of two genes, the TSC1…

Scientists from UNIGE and UZH have used a statistical physics approach to identify the lengthscales of key intercellular interactions which govern tissue healing. In material physics understanding how systems interact across the interfaces separating them is of central interest. But can physical models clarify similar concepts in living systems, such as cells? Physicists at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in collaboration with the University of Zurich (UZH), used the framework of disordered elastic systems to study the process of wound…

At the University Hospital of Tübingen, a clinical trial led by Professor Dr. Peter Kremsner, Director of the Institute for Tropical Medicine, Travel Medicine and Human Parasitology and Dr. Rolf Fendel, Research Group Leader at the Institute of Tropical Medicine partnered with the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), was able to show that the vaccine, “Sanaria PfSPZ-CVac”, which is being developed in Tübingen together with the biotechnology company Sanara Inc., provides 77 percent cross-train protection against malaria parasites. The…

New study collects data on pollutants in the atmosphere … One consequence of the coronavirus pandemic has been global restrictions on mobility. This, in turn, has had an effect on pollution levels in the atmosphere. Researchers from across the world are using this unique opportunity to take measurements, collect data, and publish studies. An international team led by Forschungszentrum Jülich’s Institute of Climate and Energy Research – Troposphere has now published a comprehensive review providing an overview of results up…

Workshop provided venue for discussion. Many people who have COVID-19 make a full recovery and return to their baseline state of health; however, some people have symptoms or other sequelae weeks or months after initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. These heterogeneous symptoms were the subject of the virtual “Workshop on Post-acute Sequelae of COVID-19” hosted on Dec. 2 and 4, 2020, by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), in collaboration with other institutes and centers of the National Institutes…

Pufferfish-inspired device relies on sunlight to produce clean drinking water. A new invention that uses sunlight to drive water purification could help solve the problem of providing clean water off the grid. The device resembles a large sponge that soaks up water but leaves contaminants – like lead, oil and pathogens – behind. To collect the purified water from the sponge, one simply places it in sunlight. The researchers described the device in a paper published this week in the…

New research provides insights into the process of diffusion in living systems, with implications from novel active coatings to understanding how pathogens are cleared from lungs. A drop of food coloring slowly spreading in a glass of water is driven by a process known as diffusion. While the mathematics of diffusion have been known for many years, how this process works in living organisms is not as well understood. Now, a study published in Nature Communications provides new insights on…