Experiments at GSI/FAIR determine properties of moscovium an. An international team led by scientists of GSI/FAIR in Darmstadt, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and the Helmholtz Institute Mainz, succeeded in determining the chemical properties of the artificially produced superheavy elements moscovium and nihonium (elements 115 and 113). Moscovium thus becomes the heaviest element ever chemically studied. Both of the newly characterized elements are more chemically reactive than flerovium (element 114), which was previously studied at GSI/FAIR. The results are published in…
A research group may have unraveled the mystery behind the locomotion of the ancient marine reptile, the plesiosaur, by recreating a bio-inspired control system that accounts for motion adjustment. Extinct animals have vastly different body shapes from animals still around today, making it difficult to determine how they moved by comparing them to living species. Additionally, fossils rarely preserve the soft limb tissues that scientists need to study locomotion and gain key insights into their lifestyles. Plesiosaurs roamed Earth’s prehistoric…
Dysferlin protein protects and shapes the membrane of heart muscle cells. Researchers from the Heart Center of the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) led by Priv.-Doz. Dr Sören Brandenburg have identified a protein that plays a central role in the heart’s adaptation to increased stress. The results of the study were published in the renowned journal ‘Circulation Research’. The heartbeat is carried out by specialized heart muscle cells called cardiomyocytes that can neither divide nor renew themselves. As a result,…
There is fresh momentum in our protein supply — and it’s moving along on six legs. Insects are a source of protein with a smaller resource footprint than conventional alternatives in every possible way. To ensure the safety of insect farms and their products, Fraunhofer researchers have developed a system that reliably detects pathogens right away, at low cost and with the possibility of automation. Little creepy-crawlies, big potential: From grasshoppers to beetles and migratory locusts, insects are a sustainable…
A research team led by Prof. JIANG Hailong, Prof. LUO Yi, and Prof. JIANG Jun from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) discovered a metal-organic framework (MOF) that suppress charge recombination, which is a major challenge in photocatalytic overall water splitting. Their study was published in Nature Chemistry. Photocatalytic overall water splitting for hydrogen production is considered the “Holy Grail” reaction of chemistry. However, a major challenge in this reaction is preventing the recombination of electrons and…
Research led by the University of Michigan has provided compelling evidence that could solve a fundamental mystery in the makeup of fibrils that play a role in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. “We’ve seen that patients have these fibril structures in their brains for a long time now,” said Ursula Jakob, senior author of the new study. “But the questions are what do these fibrils do? What is their role in disease? And, most importantly, can we do something…
The beta cells of the pancreas are responsible for releasing the hormone insulin, which is vital for the absorption of glucose from the bloodstream. Various factors can impair the ability of these cells to produce insulin. This can lead to the development of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Current studies indicate that dysfunctions of the primary cilia of the beta cells may also be a cause of T2D. Most cells in our body have immobile primary cilia. These small projections are…
The AI tool AlphaFold has been improved so that it can now predict the shape of very large and complex protein structures. Linköping University researchers have also succeeded in integrating experimental data into the tool. The results, published in Nature Communications, are a step toward more efficient development of new proteins for, among other things, medical drugs. In all living organisms, there is a huge variety of proteins that regulate cell functions. Basically, everything that happens in the body, from…
Positioning cobalt and copper in close proximity on an electrode facilitates selective conversion of the greenhouse gas CO₂ to ethanol / Prime example of sustainable chemical research. The continuing release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is a major driver of global warming and climate change with increased extreme weather events. Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have now presented a method for effectively converting carbon dioxide into ethanol, which is then available as a sustainable raw material for…
Why tumors shrink but don’t disappear. “As tumors grow very quickly, consume a lot of oxygen and their vascular growth can’t necessarily keep pace, they often contain areas that are poorly supplied with oxygen,” explains Johannes Karges. These areas, often in the center of the tumor, frequently survive treatment with conventional drugs, so that the tumor initially shrinks but doesn’t disappear completely. This is because the therapeutic agents require oxygen to be effective. The mechanism of action developed by Karges’…
Researchers detail the inner workings of the most complex and intricate molecular machine in human biology. Researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona have created the first blueprint of the human spliceosome, the most complex and intricate molecular machine inside every cell. The scientific feat, which took more than a decade to complete, is published today in the journal Science. The spliceosome edits genetic messages transcribed from DNA, allowing cells to create different versions of a protein…
By applying an electric field, the movement of microswimmers can be manipulated. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS), the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad and the University of Twente, Netherlands, describe the underlying physical principles by comparing experiments and theoretical modeling predictions. They are able to tune the direction and mode of motion through a microchannel between oscillation, wall adherence and centerline orientation, enabling different interactions with the environment. Microswimmers often need to independently…
Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory have developed a new combination of imaging and computational methods to study connections between immune cells in breast cancer and melanoma. A growing cancer is shaped by more than just the tumor cells it contains; the tissue around a tumor also alters its biology. Now, researchers at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) have combined advanced imaging techniques with a new computational method to probe how immune cells interact with each other in never-before-seen detail, revealing that…
Roughly one third of patients with depressive symptoms have elevated levels of inflammation. Inflammation is however often only measured using very broad and unspecific markers. To better understand the connection between depression and the immune system, researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry measured a large amount of different biological factors and identified patterns in the data. In the newly published study, first author Jonas Hagenberg and scientists from the Project Group Medical Genomics, led by Janine Knauer-Arloth, measured…
A landmark study led by WEHI and La Trobe University has found a potential new diagnostic marker that could be used to better detect the level of tissue damage in our bodies. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small ‘delivery trucks’ released by our cells that deliver important materials to other cells to aid cellular communication. This study revealed, for the first time, a link between levels of EVs in the blood and tissue damage caused by diseases such as leukaemia. Researchers hope to leverage the…
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…
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