Latest News

Cystic Fibrosis Study Points to Potential Treatment

Researchers have discovered the mechanism by which the genetic defect underlying cystic fibrosis (CF) leads to fatal bacterial colonization of the lungs. The new findings, published today in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that an aerosol treatment aimed at balancing pH in lung cells could be developed to stave off or delay such infections.

The most common inherited lethal disorder in Caucasians, CF stems from mutations in a gene that

Bugs enjoy hamster sex

Bacteria caught mating with mammalian cells.

Cross-species coupling is generally frowned upon. But in the liberal labs of California it is actively being encouraged. Bugs that are persuaded to get down and dirty with hamster cells are rewriting sex manuals in the act.

Like humans, bacteria mate using a timely protruding phallus. It suckers a nearby bacterium and drags it close enough to shoot in DNA – a process called conjugation.

Although bacteria have been persuad

Study Shows Massive Magma Chamber Lies Beneath Vesuvius

Mount Vesuvius, the volcano most famous for blanketing the towns of Pompei and Herculaneum with lava and debris in 79 A.D., may be sitting atop a reservoir of magma that covers more than 400 square kilometers, a new study suggests. The finding, reported in the current issue of the journal Science by a group of Italian and French scientists, may lead to more accurate monitoring of the area surrounding the volcano.

Building on previous work that suggested the presence of a magma zone underne

New form of oxygen found

Scientists have detected a molecule they’ve been looking for since the 1920s.

Scientists in Italy have discovered a new form of oxygen 1 . In addition to the two well-known forms – ozone and the oxygen molecules in air – there is a third, they say, in which oxygen atoms are grouped in fours.

The oxygen molecules that we breathe (denoted O 2 ) consist of two oxygen atoms. This, the most stable form of oxygen, makes up about one-fifth of air. Ozone is

Smell rules fire ants

One gene controls whether a persistent pest serves one or many queens.

A protein that spots smell controls the power structure of fire ant colonies, Michael Krieger and Kenneth Ross of the University of Georgia, Athens, have discovered 1 . One form of the protein leads to nests with several queens living in harmony. The other leaves only one ruler.

Fire ants’ social life is of more than academic interest. The species (Solenopsis invicta) has spread from

Semiconductors get on our nerves

Nerve cells soldered to semiconductors cross computing with neuroscience

Scientists in the United States are soldering nerve cells to semiconductors. Christine Schmidt and colleagues from the University of Texas at Austin use a sliver of protein to connect neurons and tiny crystals of semiconductors called quantum dots 1 .

This cross between biology and electronics could have useful applications, including the manufacture of prosthetics operated directly by a

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Physics and Astronomy

Quantum vortices confirm superfluidity in supersolid

Supersolids are a new form of quantum matter that has only recently been demonstrated. The state of matter can be produced artificially in ultracold, dipolar quantum gases. A team led…

Imaging nuclear shapes by smashing them to smithereens

Scientists use high-energy heavy ion collisions as a new tool to reveal subtleties of nuclear structure with implications for many areas of physics. Scientists have demonstrated a new way to…

She uses light to modify matter

Part chemist, part physicist and 100% researcher, Niéli Daffé is interested in materials that change colour or magnetism when illuminated. She studies them using X-rays in her SNSF-supported research. From…

Life Sciences and Chemistry

Chalk-coated textiles cool in urban environments

As air temperatures stay elevated through fall months, people may still want clothes that cool them down while outside, especially if they live in cities that stay warmer than rural…

Key pathway leading to neurodegeneration in early stages of ALS identified

Findings point to potential for short-circuiting the progression of the fatal disease if diagnosed early. Approximately 5,000 people in the U.S. develop amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) each year. On average,…

Updated findings in preventive breast cancer vaccine study

Data presented at Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer Annual Meeting. Cleveland Clinic researchers are presenting updated findings from their novel study of a vaccine aimed at preventing triple-negative breast cancer,…

Materials Sciences

New material to make next generation of electronics faster and more efficient

With the increase of new technology and artificial intelligence, the demand for efficient and powerful semiconductors continues to grow. Researchers at the University of Minnesota have achieved a new material…

Beyond wires: Bubble technology powers next-generation electronics

New laser-based bubble printing technique creates ultra-flexible liquid metal circuits. As tiny as bubbles may seem, in engineers’ hands they can spark big innovations. Yokohama National University scientists have developed…

Polypropylene recyclates

… best quality at minimum cost thanks to precise stabilisation. Online characterisation, plastic formulations, more profitable. All organic substances, including plastics such as polypropylene (PP), undergo auto-oxidation in the presence…

Information Technology

Flexible beam-shaping platform optimizes LPBF processes

A new approach to beam shaping will soon make additive manufacturing more flexible and efficient: Fraunhofer ILT has developed a new platform that can be used to individually optimize laser…

Breakthrough in energy-efficient avalanche-based amorphization

… could revolutionize data storage. The atoms of amorphous solids like glass have no ordered structure; they arrange themselves randomly, like scattered grains of sand on a beach. Normally, making…

Expert for Distributed Satellite Systems

Small satellites that find and collect space debris: Mohamed Khalil Ben-Larbi is working towards this goal. He is the new Professor of Space Informatics and Satellite Systems at the University…