Made from cheap chemicals, this polymer packs a punch. An imaginative approach to polymer surface coating has produced a sustainable way to remove mercury from water – while providing a wide range of protection including for preventing metal corrosion and solvent damage of plastic PVC pipes. The smart coating, made from low-cost chemicals from oil refining and other sources, also can prevent acid and water damage of concrete surfaces and be repaired in situ by a simple heating process, says…
… for early-phase drug discovery. The existence of various molecular arrangements that occur in the solid-state is called polymorphism. During early-phase drug discovery, researchers commonly look at hydrogen-bonding networks to identify potential metastable polymorphs. But what if a system doesn’t have hydrogen bonding? Or what if the hydrogen-bonding networks are the same in two different solid forms? Going beyond hydrogen-bonding networks with CSD-Materials CCDC’s CSD-Materials suite provides a comprehensive analysis of a potential active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) that helps researchers explore…
The formation of the greenhouse gas is driven by reactive oxygen species. It is well known that methane, a greenhouse gas, is produced by special microorganisms, for example in the intestines of cows, or in rice fields. For some years, scientists had also observed the production of methane in plants and fungi, without finding an explanation. Now researchers from Heidelberg and the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg have shed light on the underlying mechanism. Their findings suggest…
A single-celled marine microbe capable of photosynthesis and hunting and eating prey may be a secret weapon in the battle against climate change. A single-celled marine microbe capable of photosynthesis and hunting and eating prey may be a secret weapon in the battle against climate change. Scientists at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) have discovered a new species that has the potential to sequester carbon naturally, even as oceans warm and become more acidic. The microbe, abundant around the…
Molecular sieve membrane-based separation technology, featured with low energy consumption and small carbon footprint, has attracted much attention in gas separation. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are promising in gas separation membranes due to their diversified structures, high porosity and tailored functionalities. However, defect-free MOF membrane fabrication still remains challenging. Recently, a research group led by Prof. YANG Weishen and Dr. PENG Yuan from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has fabricated flexible soft-solid MOF composite membrane on commercial polyvinylidene fluoride…
A metal foam could underpin a low-cost method for generating carbon-free fuels, researchers from KAUST have shown. The team seamlessly coated the foam with iron and cobalt nanomaterials to create a highly active electrode for a device that splits water molecules to release oxygen and hydrogen, a potential green fuel. Due to the intermittent nature of wind and solar energy electricity, there is a need to develop methods to convert renewable electricity into a carbon-free fuel that could be stored…
… before spreading to other species. An international research team led by Queen Mary University of and Dr. Eckart Stolle from the Leibniz-Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIB) has discovered that a new form of ant society spread across species. They found that after the new form of social organization evolved in one species of fire ants, a “social supergene” carrying the genetic information for the new social form, spread into other species. This spread occurred through hybridisation,…
Scientists at the University of Cologne have shown that the recycling program of cells, autophagy, leads to the fusion of several single cells into multinucleated cell units during wound healing / publication in ‘The EMBO Journal’. A team led by Professor Dr. Maria Leptin has shown in animal models that autophagy, a mechanism of stress responses in cells, plays an important role in wound healing: When a wound develops, the process of autophagy is initiated and regulated by the protein…
… is first-ever fish described by a Maldivian scientist. Named after the country’s national flower, the species is added to the tree of life as part of the California Academy of Sciences’ global Hope for Reefs initiative. Though there are hundreds of species of fish found off the coast of the Maldives, a mesmerizing new addition is the first-ever to be formally described—the scientific process an organism goes through to be recognized as a new species—by a Maldivian researcher. The…
Findings could lead to new ways to treat brain injuries and disease. A single protein can reverse the developmental clock on adult brain cells called astrocytes, morphing them into stem-like cells that produce neurons and other cell types, UT Southwestern researchers report in a PNAS study. The findings might someday lead to a way to regenerate brain tissue after disease or injury. “We’re showing that it may be possible to reprogram the fate of this subset of brain cells, giving…
In the brain, neurons and astrocytes work together to process information and enable complex behavior and cognitive abilities. Astrocytes have many functions like controlling the blood-brain barrier, providing nutrients to the nervous tissue, and supporting its repair. An interesting feature of astrocytes is that they form large networks of connected cells. These couplings are made of specific membrane pores that are formed by a group of proteins called connexins. And through these connections, astrocytes can communicate with each other by…
… completes trial operation. The world’s first demonstration device for 1,000 tons/year production of gasoline from carbon dioxide (CO2) hydrogenation located in Zoucheng Industrial Park, Shandong province, China has completed its trial operation and technology assessment on March 4. The project was jointly developed by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Zhuhai Futian Energy Technology Co., Ltd. Hydrogenation of CO2 into liquid fuels and chemicals can not only realize the resource utilization of CO2,…
Researchers have made tiny ‘skyscrapers’ for communities of bacteria, helping them to generate electricity from just sunlight and water. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, used 3D printing to create grids of high-rise ‘nano-housing’ where sun-loving bacteria can grow quickly. The researchers were then able to extract the bacteria’s waste electrons, left over from photosynthesis, which could be used to power small electronics. Other research teams have extracted energy from photosynthetic bacteria, but the Cambridge researchers have found that…
Microglia, the immune cells of the brain, are known for eating up unwanted items like germs and debris, much as their counterparts do in the rest of the body. In early childhood, certain microglia remove unneeded connections, or synapses, to shape the adult brain’s organized circuitry. Now, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Professor Linda Van Aelst has found that in mice, microglia also help neurons grow synapses critical to cognitive functioning. “Most immune cells are known to target and eat—let’s call it…
Insights into the oxidation of hydrocarbons at vanadium pentoxide pave the way for a new catalyst design. The experimental elucidation of the structures at the interface between a working catalyst and the reacting molecules is the key to a fundamental understanding of heterogeneous catalysis. Researchers from the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society have reassigned the vibrational spectrum of vanadium pentoxide, an important catalyst for the synthesis of valuable products through the reaction of organic molecules with gas-phase…
New process for the production of active compounds. A research team at the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology – Hans Knöll Institute (Leibniz-HKI) in Jena, Germany has developed a new method to produce complex natural products in amoebae. These polyketides include various antibiotics but also olivetolic acid, a precursor of the herbal active ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The results were published in Nature Biotechnology. Polyketides are natural products with a wide range of therapeutic applications. Among them…
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