First global study of coastal seas as carbon dioxide reservoirs possible. Coastal seas form a complex transition zone between the two largest CO2 sinks in the global carbon cycle: land and ocean. Ocean researchers have now succeeded for the first time in investigating the role of the coastal ocean in a seamless model representation. The team led by Dr. Moritz Mathis from the Cluster of Excellence for Climate Research CLICCS at Universität Hamburg and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon was able to…

New Approaches in Ocean Observation… Scientific research – not only confined to dedicated research vessels but also from non-scientific vessels and marine infrastructures. This is one of the ideas promoted by the Helmholtz Innovation Platform “Shaping an Ocean Of Possibilities” (SOOP). SOOP aims to develop new technologies and structures for ocean observation and has recently initiated a cooperation with HX Hurtigruten Expeditions. During cruise voyages to remote regions, ocean data will be collected for scientific purposes. The first expedition with…

Researchers at KIT develop a transparent metamaterial for energy-efficient light and temperature regulation in buildings. Maximizing natural light in buildings is popular and can save on energy costs. However, traditional glass roofs and walls also present problems such as glare, lack of privacy, and overheating. Alternative solutions, such as coatings and light-diffusing materials, have not yet provided a comprehensive remedy. New Material Combines Multiple Functions Researchers at the Institute for Microstructure Technology (IMT) and the Light Technology Institute (LTI) at…

Improves outlook for lymphoma patients… A team of cancer researchers, led by the University of Houston, has discovered a new subset of T cells that may improve the outcome for patients treated with T-cell therapies. T cell-based immunotherapy has tremendous value to fight, and often eliminate, cancer. The strategy activates a patient’s immune system and engineers a patient’s own T cells to recognize, attack and kill cancer cells. In this way, the body’s own T cells become living drugs. While…

Innovate UK has awarded funding to further optimise a unique and flexible floating offshore wind platform for applications in the Celtic Sea, a collaboration involving Swansea University. The funding will help establish the Launchpad project to ensure that, where possible, a local supply chain will support the fabrication, manufacture, and deployment of the platform, known as PelaFlex. Led by Marine Power Systems, Swansea University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering will be working with Ledwood Mechanical Engineering, Tata Steel UK, ABP (Associated…

Mobile measuring devices enable the research of atmospheric processes in higher air layers that have not yet been recorded by conventional measuring stations on the ground. The airborne flight systems therefore make an important contribution to research into the causes of climate change in the Arctic. A team of German researchers has combined two of these methods over Spitsbergen in recent weeks: Simultaneous measurements of meteorological parameters and minute aerosol particles were carried out using a tethered balloon system and…

DFKI unveils pioneering approach to safe and verifiable humanoid walking. Recent advances in robotics based on data-driven AI hold promise for a wide range of practical applications. However, ensuring the safety of these applications is a challenge. The German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in Bremen has developed innovative control methods for complex systems, combining the advantages of fast self-learning and reliable verification via symbolic models. With this hybrid AI approach, the project funded by the Federal Ministry of…

… identified for predicting adverse events of tuberculosis therapy. Borstel researchers are the first to develop a biomarker to predict the occurrence of neuropathic adverse events during therapy for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. The results have now been published in the journal Pathogens & Immunity. Every year, an estimated 410,000 people worldwide contract a multidrug-resistant form of tuberculosis. During treatment, approximately a quarter of patients experience linezolid-associated adverse drug reactions (ADRs) associated with one of the medicines, linezolid. These include nerve disorders…

New insights into protein factories in human mitochondria. The “power plants” of living cells, the mitochondria, probably evolved through endosymbiosis: A bacterium migrated into a primordial cell and eventually developed into an organelle that provides the cell with energy, among other things. Mitochondria produce some of the proteins they need themselves – with the help of special protein factories called mitoribosomes, which consist of RNA and proteins. Researchers in Göttingen have now provided a roadmap for how cells assemble human…

A research team led by Prof Ursula Wurstbauer from the Institute of Physics at the University of Münster has investigated how electrons in two-dimensional crystals can be collectively excited and controlled. The study is pioneering for understanding the electronic properties of crystal structures and specifically influencing them. If you make a material thinner and thinner, at a certain point it undergoes a seemingly miraculous transformation: A two-dimensional material that consists of only one or two layers of molecules sometimes has…

This groundbreaking research demonstrates a potential for quantum networks based on cold-atom integrated nanophotonic circuits. Researchers at Purdue University have trapped alkali atoms (cesium) on an integrated photonic circuit, which behaves like a transistor for photons (the smallest energy unit of light) similar to electronic transistors. These trapped atoms demonstrate the potential to build a quantum network based on cold-atom integrated nanophotonic circuits. The team, led by Chen-Lung Hung, associate professor of physics and astronomy at the Purdue University College…

Transmission of tuberculosis does not only depend on the pathogen. Different groups of TB bacteria exist worldwide with different regional distribution: some are generalists and can be found on many continents, others are very limited in their spread. An international team of researchers has now been able to show for the first time that the specialist strains spread more effectively among suitable hosts from the same geographical area, whereas generalist strains can spread in different host populations from a variety…

Recycling of Incineration Bottom Ash. Today, copper ore extraction is economically viable from a minimum content of 0.3 percent. Waste incineration produces ash with a fine fraction containing an average of 0.3 to 0.5 percent copper. However, its extraction is only worthwhile if the remaining mineral fraction can be utilized further. The University of Duisburg-Essen and partners from the waste incineration, processing, and cement industries developed a corresponding process in the EMSARZEM project. A practical test in an industrial format…

New approach for the production of resource-saving and durable catalysts benefits from varying interactions between noble metals and different carrier materials. The Objective: Best Possible Catalytic Performance Noble-metal catalysts are used in many processes in the chemical industry. A reduction of the amount of noble metal required for their production is an important contribution to a sustainable resource use. “Our approach will significantly improve the catalyst stability and ensure the formation of active noble-metal clusters even with a very low…

Scientists uncover an ancient immune-evading strategy shared by animal viruses and viruses that infect bacteria; findings may help in the development of new antiviral therapies. Viruses are tricky to keep up with. They evolve quickly and regularly develop new proteins that help them infect their hosts. These rapid shifts mean that researchers are still trying to understand a multitude of viral proteins and precisely how they increase viruses’ infecting abilities—knowledge that could be crucial for developing new or better virus-fighting…

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) recently imaged the shadows around the supermassive black holes in M 87 and Sgr A* at a wavelength of 1.3mm. Since angular resolution increases with decreasing observing wavelength, observations at a shorter wavelength provide an even sharper view into the immediate surroundings of black holes. A new publication on results of a VLBI pilot experiment of EHT telescopes mutually observing at the short wavelength of 0.87 mm now demonstrates the technical feasibility and sets a…

Scientists from Swansea University have developed a new tool to help identify optimal photovoltaic (PV) materials capable of maximising crop growth while generating solar power. In a recent study published in Solar RRL, academics from the University’s Department of Physics have been exploring the effect of semi-transparent PV materials placed over crops – an exemplary application of agrivoltaics (solar panels combined with agricultural settings). As part of this work, the team has developed an innovative freeware tool that predicts the…

Extremely clean air on the ground, warm air intrusions and sulphate aerosol at high altitudes – a Leipzig research project has gained new insights into clouds in Antarctica. From January to December 2023, the vertical distribution of aerosol particles and clouds in the atmosphere above the German Neumayer Station III of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) was investigated from the ground for the first time. The height-resolved measurements were the first of their…

A different qubit architecture could enable easier manufacturing of quantum computer building blocks without compromising performance. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have shown that a type of qubit whose architecture is more amenable to mass production can perform comparably to qubits currently dominating the field. With a series of mathematical analyses, the scientists have provided a roadmap for simpler qubit fabrication that enables robust and reliable manufacturing of these quantum computer building blocks. This…

Major breakthrough for the development of diamond-based quantum computers. Quantum computers and quantum communication are pioneering technologies for data processing and transmission that is much faster and more secure than with conventional computers. Qubits are the basic units of information in quantum computers; they are the quantum mechanical counterparts of the bits in ordinary data processing. Where, for example, laser pulses in a glass fiber transport information from A to B in classical digital communication, quantum mechanics uses individual photons….