Waste metal swarf used in experiment to transform it into a highly efficient catalyst to make hydrogen from water, a discovery that could make hydrogen production more sustainable. Image courtesy: University of Nottingham.
NOTTINGHAM.- Scientists have found a way to transform metal waste into a highly efficient catalyst to make hydrogen from water, a discovery that could make hydrogen production more sustainable. A team of researchers from the University of Nottingham's School of Chemistry and Faculty of Engineering has found that the surface of swarf, a byproduct of the metal machining industry, is textured with tiny steps and grooves on a nanoscale level. These textures can anchor atoms of platinum or cobalt, leading to an efficient electrocatalyst that can split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The research has been published in the Journal of Material Chemistry A. Hydrogen is a clean fuel that can be used to generate heat or power vehicles, and the only byproduct of its combustion is water vapor. However, most hydrogen production methods rely on fossil fuel feedstock. Electrolysis of water is one of the most promising green pathways for hydrogen productio ... More
UC Irvine Earth system scientists Hui Wang and Allison Welch collect Arctic vegetation samples on tussock tundra of the North Slope in Alaska. Image courtesy: Alex Guenther / UCI.
IRVINE, CA.- Arctic and boreal latitudes are warming faster than any other region on Earth. In three new studies, Earth system scientists at the University of California, Irvine report how the ecosystems in these regions are changing. In a study published in Global Change Biology, a team led by Earth system science Ph.D. candidate Jinhyuk Kim from the lab of James Randerson, professor of Earth system science, reveals how wildfires are increasing rates of photosynthesis in Canada and Alaska. They find that increasing wildfires are wiping out black spruce forests that grow relatively slowly and contribute to the organic layer of the underlying soils. In many areas, deciduous shrubs and trees, like willow and aspen, are moving in after a fire. These plants have a much higher metabolism, meaning they can establish themselves faster than spruce. In 2023, Canada saw its most devastating wildfire season, with over 46 million acres burned. The authors' wor ... More
Rutgers scientists measured the physical characteristics of surf clams collected from the waters off Virginia to assess their health. Image courtesy: D. Munroe.
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ.- The Atlantic surf clam, an economically valuable species that is the main ingredient in clam chowder and fried clam strips, has returned to Virginia waters in a big way, reversing a die-off that started more than two decades ago. In a comprehensive study of surf clams collected from an area about 45 miles due east from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, Rutgers scientists have found the population to be thriving and growing. A likely reason could be that environmental conditions have improved, and another possibility is that the clams have adapted, the scientists said. The report, published in the journal Estuaries and Coasts, details the characteristics of a population of healthy-size surf clams of different ages living just under the surface of the sandy ocean bottom. It's all a bit of a surprise. "It's unexpected and it's good news," said Daphne Munroe, an associate professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences in the ... More
Micaela Boiero Sanders and Wout Oosterheert at the electron cryo-microscope. Image courtesy: MPI of Molecular Physiology.
DORTMUND.- Actin is a highly abundant protein that controls the shape and movement of all our cells. Actin achieves this by assembling into filaments, one actin molecule at a time. The proteins of the formin family are pivotal partners in this process: positioned at the filament end, formins recruit new actin subunits and stay associated with the end by "stepping" with the growing filament. There are as many as 15 different formins in our cells that drive actin filament growth at different speeds and for different purposes. Yet, the exact mechanism of action of formins and the basis for their different inherent speeds have remained elusive. Now, for the first time, researchers from the groups of Stefan Raunser and Peter Bieling at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund have visualized at the molecular level how formins bind to the ends of actin filaments. This allowed them to uncover how formins mediate the add ... More
Siena Glenn, a Washington State University Ph.D. student uses a high-powered microscope. Image courtesy: Ted S. Warren, Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
PULLMAN, WA.- Some of the world's deadliest bacteria seek out and feed on human blood, a newly-discovered phenomenon researchers are calling "bacterial vampirism." A team led by Washington State University researchers has found the bacteria are attracted to the liquid part of blood, or serum, which contains nutrients the bacteria can use as food. One of the chemicals the bacteria seemed particularly drawn to was serine, an amino acid found in human blood that is also a common ingredient in protein drinks. The research finding, published in the journal eLife, provides new insights into how bloodstream infections occur and could potentially be treated. "Bacteria infecting the bloodstream can be lethal," said Arden Baylink, a professor at WSU's College of Veterinary Medicine and corresponding author for the research. "We learned some of the bacteria that most commonly cause bloodstream infections actually sense a chemical in human blood and swim toward it. ... More
An artistic representation of magnetic islands. Image courtesy: Kyle Palmer / PPPL Communications Department.
PRINCETON, NJ.- In their ongoing quest to develop a range of methods for managing plasma so it can be used to generate electricity in a process known as fusion, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have shown how two old methods can be combined to provide greater flexibility. While the two methods—known as electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) and applying resonant magnetic perturbations (RMP)—have long been studied, this is the first time researchers have simulated how they can be used together to give enhanced plasma control. "This is kind of a new idea," said Qiming Hu, a staff research physicist at PPPL and lead author of a new paper published in Nuclear Fusion about the work, which has also been demonstrated experimentally. "The full capabilities are still being figured out, but our paper does a great job of advancing our understanding of the potential benefits." Ultimately, scientists ... More
LAUSANNE.-EPFL researchers are targeting the next generation of soft actuators and robots with an elastomer-based ink for 3D printing objects with locally changing mechanical properties, eliminating the need for cumbersome mechanical joints. For engineers working on soft robotics or wearable devices, keeping things light is a constant challenge: heavier materials require more energy to move around, and – in the case of wearables or prostheses – cause discomfort. Elastomers are synthetic polymers that can be manufactured with a range of mechanical properties, from stiff to stretchy, making them a popular material for such applications. But manufacturing elastomers that can be shaped into complex 3D structures that go from rigid to rubbery has been unfeasible until now. “Elastomers are usually cast so that their composition cannot be changed in all three dimensions over short length scales. To overcome this problem, we developed DNGEs: 3D-print ... More
Io, as seen by the Galileo spacecraft. Image courtesy: JPL.
PASADENA, CA.- Jupiter's moon Io is the most volcanically active place in the solar system. During its 1.8-day orbit, this moon is gravitationally squeezed by Jupiter, leading to volcanic eruptions larger than any on Earth today. Io, Europa, and Ganymede are in an orbital configuration known as a Laplace resonance: For every orbit of Ganymede (the farthest of the three from Jupiter), Europa completes exactly two orbits, and Io completes exactly four. In this configuration, the moons pull on each other gravitationally in such a way that they are forced into elliptical, rather than round, orbits. Such orbits allow Jupiter's gravity to heat the moons' interiors, causing Io's volcanism and adding heat to the subsurface liquid ocean on icy Europa. How long has Io been experiencing volcanic upheaval? In other words, how long have Jupiter's moons been in this configuration? Two new studies from Caltech researchers measure sulfur isotopes within Io's atm ... More
TOKYO.- A team at the University of Tokyo have constructed an improved mid-infrared microscope, enabling them to see the structures inside living bacteria at the nanometer scale. Mid-infrared microscopy is typically limited by its low resolution, especially when compared to other microscopy techniques. This latest development produced images at 120 nanometers, which the researchers say is a thirtyfold improvement on the resolution of typical mid-infrared microscopes. Being able to view samples more clearly at this smaller scale can aid multiple fields of research, including into infectious diseases, and opens the way for developing even more accurate mid-infrared-based imaging in the future. The microscopic realm is where viruses, proteins and molecules dwell. Thanks to modern microscopes, we can venture down to see the inner workings of our very own cells. But even these impressive tools have limitations. For example, super-resolutio ... More
The results of the ETH researchers as an homage to Andy Warhol. The image shows the experimental results of topological pumping. Image courtesy: Quantum Optics Group / ETH Zurich.
ZURICH.- Researchers at ETH Zurich have studied topological effects in an artificial solid, making surprising observations. The new insights into topological pumping could be used for quantum technologies in the future. In principle, one shouldn’t compare apples to oranges. However, in topology, which is a branch of mathematics, one has to do just that. Apples and oranges, it turns out, are said to be topologically the same since they both lack a hole – in contrast to doughnuts or coffee cups, for instance, which both have one (the handle in the case of the cup) and, hence, are topologically equal. In a more abstract way, quantum systems in physics can also have a specific apple or doughnut topology, which manifests itself in the energy states and motion of particles. Researchers are very interested in such systems as their topology makes them robust against disorder and other disturbing influences, which are always present in natural physic ... More
A cast of the skull of Homo Heidelbergensis, one of the hominin species analysed in the latest study. Image courtesy: The Duckworth Laboratory.
CAMBRIDGE.- Climate has long been held responsible for the emergence and extinction of hominin species. In most vertebrates, however, interspecies competition is known to play an important role. Now, research shows for the first time that competition was fundamental to 'speciation' – the rate at which new species emerge – across five million years of hominin evolution. The study, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, also suggests that the species formation pattern of our own lineage was closer to island-dwelling beetles than other mammals. “We have been ignoring the way competition between species has shaped our own evolutionary tree,” said lead author Dr Laura van Holstein, a University of Cambridge biological anthropologist at Clare College. “The effect of climate on hominin species is only part of the story.” In other vertebrates, species form to fill ecological “niches” says van Holstein. Take Darwin’s finches: some evolved large beaks f ... More
Inhibitory neurons (magenta) and their synapses (green) in the mouse neocortex. Image courtesy: Biozentrum, University of Basel.
BASEL.- A sensitive perception of the environment is crucial for guiding our behavior. However, an overly sensitive response of the brain's neural circuits to stimuli can lead to neurodevelopmental disorders such as epilepsy. University of Basel researchers report in the journal Nature how neuronal networks in the mouse brain are fine-tuned. We are constantly exposed to a wide range of sensory stimuli, from loud noises to whispers. In order to efficiently process these diverse stimulus intensities, the brain needs to strike a balance in its responsiveness. An excessive sensitivity triggers an over-activation of nerve cells in response to a stimulus, leading to epileptic seizures. Conversely, insufficient sensitivity results in a reduced ability to perceive and discriminate stimuli. But how does the brain manage to be highly sensitive without becoming over-activated? "The key lies in maintaining a balance between neural excitation and ... More
Delft University of Technology researcher Gerard Verbiest in his nanoacoustics lab. Image courtesy: Studio Wavy / TU Delft.
DELFT.- Making ever smaller and more powerful chips requires new ultrathin materials: 2D materials that are only 1 atom thick, or even just a couple of atoms. Think about graphene or ultra-thin silicon membrane for instance. Scientists at TU Delft have taken an important step in application of these materials: they can now measure important thermal properties of ultrathin silicon membranes. A major advantage of their method is that no physical contact needs to be made with the membrane, so pristine properties can be measured and no complex fabrication is required. The findings are published in the journal APL Materials. "Extremely thin membranes have very different properties from the materials we see around us. For example, graphene is stronger than steel yet extremely flexible," says TU Delft researcher Gerard Verbiest. "These are properties that make these materials very suitable for use in sensors, provided those properties are prope ... More
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Team finds direct evidence of 'itinerant breeding' in East Coast shorebird species KINGSTON, RI.- Migration and reproduction are two of the most demanding events in a bird's annual cycle, so much so that the vast majority of migratory birds separate the two tasks into different times of the year. But a study by University of Rhode Island researchers has found direct evidence of a species—the American woodcock, a migratory shorebird from eastern and central North America—that overlaps periods of migration and reproduction, a rare breeding strategy known as "itinerant breeding." Their work, backed by collaborators across the East Coast, was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. "I think this is a very exciting moment for bird researchers," said Colby Slezak, a URI Ph.D. student in biological and environmental sciences who led the study. "It's interesting to see that these distinct periods in a bird's annual cycle are not so cut and dried. We often think of migration, breeding, fall migration and wintering as se ... More
Study finds that human neuron signals flow in one direction BERLIN.- Contrary to previous assumptions, nerve cells in the human neocortex are wired differently than in mice. Those are the findings of a new study conducted by Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin and published in the journal Science. The study found that human neurons communicate in one direction, while in mice, signals tend to flow in loops. This increases the efficiency and capacity of the human brain to process information. These discoveries could further the development of artificial neural networks. The neocortex, a critical structure for human intelligence, is less than five millimeters thick. There, in the outermost layer of the brain, 20 billion neurons process countless sensory perceptions, plan actions, and form the basis of our consciousness. How do these neurons process all this complex information? That largely depends on how they are "wired" to each other. "Our previous understanding of neural architecture in the neocortex ... More
Light show in living cells: New method allows simultaneous fluorescent labeling of many proteins VIENNA.- Observing proteins precisely within cells is extremely important for many branches of research but has been a significant technical challenge—especially in living cells, as the required fluorescent labeling had to be individually attached to each protein. The research group led by Stefan Kubicek at CeMM has now overcome this hurdle: With a method called "vpCells," it is possible to label many proteins simultaneously, using five different fluorescent colors. This automated high-throughput approach, aided by AI-assisted image recognition, opens up entirely new applications in various disciplines, from fundamental cell biology to drug discovery. The study has been published in the journal Nature Cell Biology. Without proteins, life as we know it would be inconceivable. They provide the structural framework for cells, act as enzymes to control metabolism, and enable cells to communicate with their environment as membrane receptors, transporter ... More
Merging nuclear physics experiments and astronomical observations to advance equation-of-state research EAST LANSING, MI.- For most stars, neutron stars and black holes are their final resting places. When a supergiant star runs out of fuel, it expands and then rapidly collapses on itself. This act creates a neutron star—an object denser than our sun crammed into a space 13 to 18 miles wide. In such a heavily condensed stellar environment, most electrons combine with protons to make neutrons, resulting in a dense ball of matter consisting mainly of neutrons. Researchers try to understand the forces that control this process by creating dense matter in the laboratory through colliding neutron-rich nuclei and taking detailed measurements. A research team—led by William Lynch and Betty Tsang at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB)—is focused on learning about neutrons in dense environments. Lynch, Tsang, and their collaborators used 20 years of experimental data from accelerator facilities and neutron-star observations to understand how particles interact in nuclear matter under a wide range of densitie ... More
Scientists discover new way to extract cosmological information from galaxy surveys BEIJING.- Scientists at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) and their international collaborators have recently developed a new method for efficiently extracting information from galaxy surveys. Their research results are published in the journal Communications Physics. Massive galaxy redshift surveys are powerful tools for probing the universe in this era of precision cosmology. By observing a great number of spectra from distant galaxies, astronomers are able to create density fields of galaxies at different epochs of the universe. These density fields carry crucial information about the clustering of galaxies, which is quantified by two-point and N-point (N>2) correlation functions. "The information content in the N-point functions is highly complementary to that in the two-point functions," said Zhao Gongbo, one of the lead authors of the study and a researcher at NAOC. "The N-point functi ... More
Compact quantum light processing: New findings lead to advances in optical quantum computing VIENNA.- An international collaboration of researchers, led by Philip Walther at University of Vienna, have achieved a significant breakthrough in quantum technology, with the successful demonstration of quantum interference among several single photons using a novel resource-efficient platform. The work published in Science Advances represents a notable advancement in optical quantum computing that paves the way for more scalable quantum technologies. Interference among photons, a fundamental phenomenon in quantum optics, serves as a cornerstone of optical quantum computing. It involves harnessing the properties of light, such as its wave-particle duality, to induce interference patterns, enabling the encoding and processing of quantum information. In traditional multi-photon experiments, spatial encoding is commonly employed, wherein photons are manipulated in different spatial paths to induce interference. These experiments require i ... More
First evidence of human occupation in lava tube cave in Saudi Arabia BRISBANE.- Recent strides in interdisciplinary archaeological research in Arabia have unveiled new insights into the evolution and historical development of regional human populations, as well as the dynamic patterns of cultural change, migration, and adaptation to environmental fluctuations. Despite the challenges posed by limited preservation of archaeological assemblages and organic remains in arid environments, these discoveries are reshaping our understanding of the region's rich cultural heritage. One such breakthrough led by Griffith University's Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE), in collaboration with international partners, comes from the exploration of underground settings, including caves and lava tubes, which have remained largely untapped reservoirs of archaeological abundance in Arabia. Through meticulous excavation and analysis, researchers have uncovered a weal ... More
Silent flight edges closer to take off, according to new research BRISTOL.- The mystery of how futuristic aircraft-embedded engines, featuring an energy-conserving arrangement, make noise has been solved by researchers at the University of Bristol. Their study, published in Journal of Fluid Mechanics, reveals for the first time how noise is generated and propagated from these engines, technically known as boundary layer ingesting (BLI) ducted fans. The paper is titled "Aeroacoustics of a ducted fan ingesting an adverse pressure gradient boundary layer." BLI ducted fans are similar to the large engines found in modern airplanes but are partially embedded into the plane's main body instead of under the wings. As they ingest air from both the front and from the surface of the airframe, they don't have to work as hard to move the plane, so it burns less fuel. The research, led by Feroz Ahmed from Bristol's School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering under the supervision of Professor Mahdi Azarpeyvand, ... More
New class of antimicrobials discovered in soil bacteria SEATTLE, WA.- Researchers have discovered toxic protein particles, shaped like umbrellas, that soil bacteria known as Streptomyces secrete to squelch competitors, especially others of their own species. The discovery of the umbrella toxin particles and related information about their structures, composition, and mode of action were published in Nature. The umbrella toxin proteins are the latest example of these bacteria's varied, combative strikes on their microscopic rivals. The crowded, diverse bacteria communities in which they live are a melee of antimicrobial attacks, counterattacks, and defenses. Ironically, many clinically used antibiotics are derived directly from, or are inspired by, molecules that bacteria use against each other in their natural habitat. Streptomyces' chemical weaponry against their competitors is one of the richest sources of such molecules. Among them is the common, broad-spectrum drug streptomycin. What makes these newly detected antibacterial toxins different is that, ... More
Capturing DNA origami folding with a new dynamic model DURHAM, NC.- Most people are familiar with the DNA double-helix. Its twisted ladder shape forms because the long pieces of DNA that make up our genome are exactly complementary—every adenine paired to a thymine, and every cytosine paired to a guanine. Sequences of these four nucleotides hold the information needed to build the proteins in our bodies, but they also encode their own double-helical structure. Since the 1980s, however, scientists have hijacked these pairing rules to build structures other than double helices. This field is called DNA nanotechnology, and its most popular implementation, DNA origami, lets researchers fold DNA into any shape, providing a powerful approach for building nanoscale devices and machines. DNA origami involves putting a long piece of DNA, called a scaffold, together with hundreds of carefully selected short pieces of DNA, called staples, in a test tube, and letting them fold together into the designed structure. The technology is remarkably efficient, with the w ... More
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But HOW Does Carbon Dioxide Trap Heat?
Flashback
On a day like today, Nobel Prize laureate Max von Laue died
April 24, 1960. Max Theodor Felix von Laue (9 October 1879 - 24 April 1960) was a German physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1914 for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals. In addition to his scientific endeavors with contributions in optics, crystallography, quantum theory, superconductivity, and the theory of relativity, Laue had a number of administrative positions which advanced and guided German scientific research and development during four decades. A strong objector to Nazism, he was instrumental in re-establishing and organizing German science after World War II. From 1914 to 1919, Laue was at the University of Frankfurt as ordinarius professor of theoretical physics. He was engaged in vacuum tube development, at the University of Würzburg, for use in military telephony and wireless communications from 1916.
