Materials research revolutionized by a small change
Scientists develop the next generation of highly efficient memory materials with atom-level control.
Science & Technology
Synthetic fuels and chemicals from CO2: Ten experiments in parallel
Why do just one experiment at a time when you can do ten? Researchers have developed an automated system, which allows them to research catalysts, electrodes, and reaction conditions for CO2 electrolysis up to ten times faster. The system is complement…
Light-controlled artificial maple seeds could monitor the environment even in hard-to-reach locations
Researchers have developed a tiny robot replicating the aerial dance of falling maple seeds. In the future, this robot could be used for real-time environmental monitoring or delivery of small samples even in inaccessible terrain such as deserts, mount…
Projected loss of brown macroalgae and seagrasses with global environmental change
Researchers predict that climate change will drive a substantial redistribution of brown seaweeds and seagrasses at the global scale. The projected changes are alarming due to the fundamental role seaweeds and seagrasses in coastal ecosystems and provi…
The density difference of sub-Neptunes finally deciphered
The majority of stars in our galaxy are home to planets. The most abundant are the sub-Neptunes, planets between the size of Earth and Neptune. Calculating their density poses a problem for scientists: depending on the method used to measure their mass…
No more stressing out over structural formulas
Structural formulas are a source of dread for many students, but they’re an essential tool in biology lessons. A study has now shown that the stress levels of students working with chemical formulas are significantly reduced if they are given simple ti…
New materials: Synthetic pathway for promising nitride compounds discovered
Chemists have successfully synthesized Ruddlesden-Popper nitrides for the first time, opening the door to new materials with unique properties.
Antarctic ice shelves hold twice as much meltwater as previously thought
Slush — water-soaked snow — makes up more than half of all meltwater on the Antarctic ice shelves during the height of summer, yet is poorly accounted for in regional climate models. The findings could have profound implications for ice shelf stabili…
First specific PET scan for TB could enable more effective treatment
A more accurate way to scan for tuberculosis (TB) has been developed, using positron emission tomography (PET). The team has developed a new radiotracer, which is taken up by live TB bacteria in the body. Radiotracers are radioactive compounds which gi…
Ammonites’ fate sealed by meteor strike that wiped out dinosaurs
Ammonites were not in decline before their extinction, scientists have found.
New mathematical model sheds light on the absence of breastfeeding in male mammals
Mathematicians ave put forward a hypothesis which suggests that the reason male mammals don’t breastfeed might be driven by the rich community of microbes that lives in breast milk and which plays an important part in establishing the gut microbiome of…
Long-standing marine mystery solved: How algae get nitrogen to grow
Scientists shed light on an unexpected partnership: A marine diatom and a bacterium that can account for a large share of nitrogen fixation in vast regions of the ocean. This symbiosis likely plays a key role for global marine nitrogen fixation and pro…
Important step forward in stem cell therapy for rare bowel disease
A new study has demonstrated the potential of stem cell therapy to treat those with Hirschsprung disease.
Groundbreaking discovery: Zinc can make crop yields more climate-resilient
Climate change, drought, increased temperature and other stressors challenge agricultural sustainability. Researchers have now made an unexpected discovery: zinc plays a pivotal role in the plant response to abiotic stress. This groundbreaking discover…
Just 4% of teen academy prospects play elite soccer (football)
Just four per cent of talented teen academy prospects make it to the top tier of professional football, a new study has shown. A sample of nearly 200 players, aged between 13-18, also revealed only six per cent of the budding ballers even go on to play…
Optimum protection against diabetes: Weight loss plus remission of prediabetes
People with prediabetes are advised to reduce their weight in order to prevent manifest diabetes. Researchers have now been able to show that people achieve the best diabetes protection when they reduce their weight and at the same time normalize blood…
New deep-learning model outperforms Google AI system in predicting peptide structures
Researchers have developed a deep-learning model, called PepFlow, that can predict all possible shapes of peptides — chains of amino acids that are shorter than proteins, but perform similar biological functions. Peptides are known to be highly flexib…
Emotional overeating fed by temperament, caregivers’ reactions to children’s emotions
A research team tracked children from infancy through age 3 to explore the roots of emotional overeating. Parents/caregivers were surveyed about the children’s temperaments and whether they consumed food to manage their emotions. The team found that wh…
Aromatic compounds: A ring made up solely of metal atoms
The term aromaticity is a basic, long-standing concept in chemistry that is well established for ring-shaped carbon compounds. Aromatic rings consisting solely of metal atoms were, however, heretofore unknown. A research team recently succeeded in isol…
Cheaper, more convenient method to detect asbestos
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has long been the gold standard for detecting asbestos fibers in air samples drawn at construction sites. But researchers have found that a cheaper, less labor-intensive method, scanning electron microscopy (SEM),…