Protein ZAP inhibits multiplication of SARS-CoV-2 by 20-fold. HZI and HIRI study investigates antiviral protein of the immune defence system. Scientists at the Würzburg Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig demonstrate for the first time how ZAP, a protein of the human immune defence system, inhibits the replication mechanism of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and can reduce the viral load by 20-fold. The findings were published today in the journal…

Experiment finds evidence for a long-sought particle comprising four neutrons. Understanding of nuclear forces might have to be significantly changed. While all atomic nuclei except hydrogen are composed of protons and neutrons, physicists have been searching for a particle consisting of two, three or four neutrons for over half a century. Experiments by a team of physicists of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) at the accelerator laboratory on the Garching research campus now indicate that a particle comprising four…

New study shows: Tropical seagrass meadows absorb in some cases significantly less carbon dioxide than long thought. To avert the worst consequences of climate change, humanity needs to considerably reduce the amount carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas, in the atmosphere over the coming years. To this end, a common suggestion is to restore natural CO2 reservoirs on the coasts that have been destroyed in many locations during the past decades. This includes mangrove forests, salt marshes and what are…

Model replicates features of complex disease, provides platform for screening existing drugs. Using a stem-cell-derived model, researchers have identified two drug candidates that may slow dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness for which no treatment exists. The scientists, from the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health, published their findings today in Nature Communications. “This stem-cell-derived model of dry AMD is a game-changer. Scientists have struggled to unravel this incredibly complex disease,…

Up to 20 percent of children and three percent of adults worldwide suffer from the chronic inflammatory skin disease eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis. Typical symptoms are dry, inflamed and very itchy patches of skin on the inside of the elbows or on the back of the knees – but eczema can occur all over the body. The condition is often triggered by exposure to allergens, which leads to an overactive immune response and an inflammatory reaction in the…

Perovskites are the great hope for further increasing the efficiency of solar modules in the future. Until now, their short service life has been considered the biggest hurdle to their practical use, but this could soon change. In the current issue of the renowned journal Nature Energy, researchers from the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nuremberg of the Forschungszentrum Jülich have presented a variant that stands out for its special stability. In tests at elevated temperature and illumination over 1450 hours of operation,…

When cells are exposed to ionising radiation, more destructive chain reactions may occur than previously thought. An international team led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics has for the first time observed intermolecular Coulombic decay in organic molecules, which is triggered by ionising radiation such as from radioactivity or from outer space. The effect damages two neighbouring molecules and ultimately leads to the breaking of bonds, as they also exist in DNA and proteins. The finding…

Despite damaged equipment, supply chain delays, COVID restrictions and event a blizzard, LaserSETI successfully installed its second observatory at Haleakala Observatory. Last summer the SETI Institute began installing a second LaserSETI Observatory, this time 10,000 feet above sea level at Haleakala Observatory, thanks to the University of Hawai’i’s Institute of Astronomy (IfA). As a result of challenges involving equipment damaged during shipping, supply chain delays for replacement parts, equipment malfunctions and even a blizzard in Hawai’i, the installation was delayed…

Human microbiome encodes resistance to acarbose. Acarbose is a commonly prescribed antidiabetic drug that helps control blood sugar levels by inhibiting human enzymes that break down complex carbohydrates. Now, new research from the laboratory of Princeton researcher Mohamed Donia demonstrates that some bacteria in the mouth and gut can inactivate acarbose and potentially affect the clinical performance of the drug and its impact on bacterial members of the human microbiome. The paper appeared online and in the December 2, 2021…

Puzzling result forces physicists to rethink ‘spin-triplet’ superconductivity. A Rice University-led study is forcing physicists to rethink superconductivity in uranium ditelluride, an A-list material in the worldwide race to create fault-tolerant quantum computers. Uranium ditelluride crystals are believed to host a rare “spin-triplet” form of superconductivity, but puzzling experimental results published this week in Nature have upended the leading explanation of how the state of matter could arise in the material. Neutron-scattering experiments by physicists from Rice, Oak Ridge National…

Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have developed a color-coded test that quickly signals whether newly developed nanoparticles — ultra small compartments designed to ferry medicines, vaccines and other therapies — deliver their cargo into target cells. Historically, nanoparticles have a very low delivery rate to the cytosol, the inside compartment of cells, releasing only about 1%–2% of their contents. The new testing tool, engineered specifically to test nanoparticles, could advance the search for next-generation biological medicines. The technology builds upon nanoparticles…

Researchers detect around 60 million nests of Antarctic icefish over a 240 square kilometres area in the Weddell Sea. Near the Filchner Ice Shelf in the south of the Antarctic Weddell Sea, a research team has found the world’s largest fish breeding area known to date. A towed camera system photographed and filmed thousands of nests of icefish of the species Neopagetopsis ionah on the seabed. The density of the nests and the size of the entire breeding area suggest…

Chromium defects in silicon carbide may provide a new platform for quantum information. The Science Quantum computers may be able to solve science problems that are impossible for today’s fastest conventional supercomputers. Quantum sensors may be able to measure signals that cannot be measured by today’s most sensitive sensors. Quantum bits (qubits) are the building blocks for these devices. Scientists are investigating several quantum systems for quantum computing and sensing applications. One system, spin qubits, is based on the control of…

The cumbersome search for leaks in air compressor units could soon be made much easier: Along with SICK AG, Fraunhofer IPA is developing an ancillary leak detection service for a smart flow sensor. Self-learning algorithms evaluate the readings and in so doing identify leaks. Under ISO 50001, businesses are obligated to save energy. They must set their own targets outlining how much energy they aim to save over the next few years – and then meet this target. One area…

Researchers at PSI have compared the electron distribution below the oxide layer of two semiconductors. The investigation is part of an effort to develop particularly stable quantum bits –and thus, in turn, particularly efficient quantum computers. They have now published their latest research, which is supported in part by Microsoft, in the scientific journal Advanced Quantum Technologies. By now, the future of computing is inconceivable without quantum computers. For the most part, these are still in the research phase. They…

A team mapping radio waves in the Universe has discovered something unusual that releases a giant burst of energy three times an hour, and it’s unlike anything astronomers have seen before. The team who discovered it think it could be a neutron star or a white dwarf—collapsed cores of stars—with an ultra-powerful magnetic field. Spinning around in space, the strange object sends out a beam of radiation that crosses our line of sight, and for a minute in every twenty,…

With the ART 4 …  project, the artist, Bruno Wilbert, would like to increase general interest in the climate, environmental and nature conservation issues that are important to all of us, promote projects in these areas and thank people who have already shown exemplary commitment. During his extensive internet research on the topics of climate, environmental and nature conservation, he was not only impressed by the numerous fantastic projects in these areas, but also again and again by the enormous…

Researchers at the Universities of Bonn and Regensburg have elucidated the structure of a central cellular inflammatory switch. Their work shows which site of the giant protein called NLRP3 inhibitors can bind to. This opens the way to develop new pharmaceuticals that could target inflammatory diseases such as gout, type 2 diabetes or even Alzheimer’s disease. The results are published in the journal Nature. In their study, the researchers investigated a protein molecule with the cryptic abbreviation NLRP3. This is…

Research team from the University of Tübingen encounters new type of star with unusual properties – possibly two white dwarfs which have merged. Astronomers from the Universities of Tübingen and Potsdam have discovered a new type of star. While hunting for “hot stars” with the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona, the team came across stars with unusual properties. While normal stellar surfaces are composed of hydrogen and helium, these stars, found under the direction of Professor Klaus Werner of the…

Atoms form a kagome pattern A kagome pattern is composed of three shifted regular triangular lattices. As a result, the kagome lattice is a regular pattern composed of stars of David. It is a common Japanese basket pattern which is where its name derives from. In condensed matter physics, materials crystallizing in a kagome lattice have first gained significant attention in the early 90’s. Until 2018, when FeSn as the first kagome metal was found, correlated electronic states in kagome…