“It is a big step forward in the search for therapies for this type of cancer with poor prognosis” says Massimo Squatrito, main co-author of the study. Researchers at the CNIO and scientists from the School of Medicine of the University of Fribourg, Germany, lead the team that found the master regulator gene – a sort of general genetic switch – for the mesenchymal subtype of glioblastoma, considered to be the brain cancer with the poorest prognosis. The master regulator…

Researchers at the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience (MPFI) have developed a new imaging technique capable of visualizing the dynamically changing structure of dendritic spines with unprecedented resolution. For most, the relentless snapping of camera shutters is an all too familiar sound associated with trips and vacations. When venturing to a new place, travelers everywhere are constantly on the search for that picture-perfect, Instagram worthy shot. Persevering through many takes, amateur photographers fight blurred backgrounds, closed eyes, and photo-bombing…

The more than 70 sunless worlds are each roughly the mass of Jupiter. Using observations and archival data from several of NSF’s NOIRLab’s observatories, together with observations from telescopes around the world and in orbit, astronomers have discovered at least 70 new free-floating planets — planets that wander through space without a parent star — in a nearby region of the Milky Way. This is the largest sample of such planets found in a single group and it nearly doubles…

Supported by an NSF Early CAREER Award, John Harter’s research could have far-reaching consequences for quantum technology development. John Harter, an assistant professor of materials at UC Santa Barbara, has received an Early CAREER award from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the highest honor given by the foundation to junior faculty. He will receive more than $715,000 over five years in support of his cutting-edge research in quantum materials science and educational activities. “Professor John Harter is pursuing leading-edge research…

Efficiency rates for production machinery frequently fall far below what technology could achieve. The common reason is experienced employees are not always available when a failure occurs while other employees lack the experience to solve the actual cause. That is where MADDOX comes in. A smart and self-learning assistance system that uses machine learning methods to analyze machine and process data. Via pattern recognition it also searches for similarities in failures and downtimes that occurred in the past. The system…

Researchers develop a 2D tomography technique that will enable the search for Mach waves in the smallest droplets of quark-gluon plasma. The Science Nuclear scientists create the hottest matter in the universe by colliding nuclei at almost the speed of light. At such high temperatures, almost a million times hotter than the Sun, nuclear matter melts into a soup of subatomic particles called quarks and gluons. This quark-gluon plasma has almost no resistance to flow, making it the world’s most perfect…

Newfound black holes in dwarf galaxies shed light on the origin of our galaxy’s supermassive black hole. A team led by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has found a previously overlooked treasure trove of massive black holes in dwarf galaxies. The newly discovered black holes offer a glimpse into the life story of the supermassive black hole at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy. As a giant spiral galaxy, the Milky Way is…

Dresden physicist wins prize for world’s first image of a 3D magnetic field. A Dresden research team led by solid-state physicist Dr. Axel Lubk has succeeded in imaging the magnetic field of tiny magnetic nanovortices – called skyrmions – in three dimensions with a resolution of seven millionths of a millimeter. This is the first time ever that this has been achieved. For their pioneering work, the scientists have now been honored by the European Microscopy Society (EMS) with the…

Analysis offers new means to predict ‘cosmological signatures’ for models of dark matter. A team of physicists has developed a method for predicting the composition of dark matter—invisible matter detected only by its gravitational pull on ordinary matter and whose discovery has been long sought by scientists. Its work, which appears in the journal Physical Review Letters, centers on predicting “cosmological signatures” for models of dark matter with a mass between that of the electron and the proton. Previous methods…

As biocatalysts, enzymes manage the metabolism of all living things. They do this extremely precisely, because even a single incorrectly converted substance could have fatal consequences for the organism. Young researchers from the Leibniz Science Campus ComBioCat are using this selective approach of enzymes and proteins in general to develop catalysts of the future: so-called artificial metalloenzymes. In the future, combinations of bio- and chemical catalysts will be used to design complex molecules, e.g. for pharmaceuticals, in a targeted and…

Groundbreaking observation from Gemini Observatory suggests this and possibly other colossal stars are less massive than previously thought. By harnessing the capabilities of the 8.1-meter Gemini South telescope in Chile, which is part of the International Gemini Observatory operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, astronomers have obtained the sharpest image ever of the star R136a1, the most massive known star in the Universe. Their research, led by NOIRLab astronomer Venu M. Kalari, challenges our understanding of the most massive stars and suggests…

Nearly all vital functions in the human body are regulated by so-called G protein-coupled receptors on the cell surface. These receptors thus serve as attractive drug targets to treat various diseases. Researchers led by Prof. Stephan Grzesiek from the Biozentrum, University of Basel, have now discovered that empty spaces inside these receptors are important for their activation and thus for relaying messages to the inner cell. Their approach to locate these voids may help to direct the search for novel…

Many tumor cells mist themselves with a protective perfume that disables the immune system. But a drug already approved for other purposes can apparently render this weapon harmless. This is shown in a study by the University of Bonn and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, which has now appeared in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. The researchers now want to further optimize the compound. In the medium term, this could pave the way for new anti-cancer drugs. Many cancer…

Pain is an important alarm system that alerts us to tissue damage, but is expected to subside as injuries heal, but many patients experience persistent pain long after recovery. Now, a new study published in Science Translational Medicine points to possible new treatments for chronic pain with a surprising link to lung cancer. The work was spearheaded by an international team of researchers at IMBA – Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Harvard Medical School, and…

Cells have an efficient waste disposal system. Proxidrugs utilize this system as part of new treatments for cancer, infections and Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP are working with partners to develop this new drug class. Dr. Aimo Kannt, Head of Drug Discovery and Preclinical Research at Fraunhofer ITMP in Frankfurt, is currently researching a new class of drugs with sustained efficacy. “Traditional drugs work by binding to pathogenic proteins and blocking or…

Jupiter’s orbit shape plays key, overlooked role on Earth. Of all known planets, Earth is as friendly to life as any planet could possibly be — or is it? If Jupiter’s orbit changes, a new study shows Earth could be more hospitable than it is today. When a planet has a perfectly circular orbit around its star, the distance between the star and the planet never changes. Most planets, however, have “eccentric” orbits around their stars, meaning the orbit is…

Gemini observation of distant quasar uncovers evidence of first-generation star that died in ‘super-supernova’ explosion. Astronomers may have discovered the ancient chemical remains of the first stars to light up the Universe. Using an innovative analysis of a distant quasar observed by the 8.1-meter Gemini North telescope on Hawai‘i, operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, the scientists found an unusual ratio of elements that, they argue, could only come from the debris produced by the all-consuming explosion of a 300-solar-mass first-generation star….

Using bacteria of the Bartonella henselae species, researchers from Goethe University, Frankfurt University Hospital, the Paul Ehrlich Federal Institute for Vaccines and Biomedicines in Langen, and the University of Oslo demonstrated for the first time that antibodies can prevent certain surface proteins of bacterial pathogens from entering host cells. The findings are important for the development of new drugs against highly resistant infectious agents. Infections, especially those with highly resistant pathogens, pose a significant threat to human health. It is…

For the first time, physicists have observed novel quantum effects in a topological insulator at room temperature. This breakthrough, published as the cover article of the October issue of Nature Materials, came when Princeton scientists explored a topological material based on the element bismuth. The scientists have used topological insulators to demonstrate quantum effects for more than a decade, but this experiment is the first time these effects have been observed at room temperature. Typically, inducing and observing quantum states…

Cosmological observations of the orbits of stars and galaxies enable clear conclusions to be drawn about the attractive gravitational forces that act between the celestial bodies. The astonishing finding: visible matter is far from sufficient for being able to explain the development or movements of galaxies. This suggests that there exists another, so far unknown, type of matter. Accordingly, in the year 1933, the Swiss physicist and astronomer Fritz Zwicky inferred the existence of what is known now as dark…