Life in the smoke of underwater volcanoes

Disconnected from the energy of the sun, the permanently ice-covered Arctic deep sea receives miniscule amounts of organic matter that sustains life. Bacteria which can harvest the energy released from submarine hydrothermal sources could thus have an …

Engineering breakthrough in softbotics

Engineers have developed a soft material with metal-like conductivity and self-healing properties that is the first to maintain enough electrical adhesion to support digital electronics and motors. This marks a breakthrough in softbotics and the fields…

How climate change threatens Asia’s water tower

Tibet is known as the ‘Water Tower of Asia,’ providing water to about 2 billion people and supporting critical ecosystems in High Mountain Asia and the Tibetan Plateau, where many of the largest Asian river systems originate. This region is also one of…

Electrocatalysis under the atomic force microscope

A further development in atomic force microscopy now makes it possible to simultaneously image the height profile of nanometer-fine structures as well as the electric current and the frictional force at solid-liquid interfaces. A team has succeeded in …

In search of inflammatory Achilles heel

Neutrophils induce anti-inflammatory — or M2 — macrophages deep in their granulocyte core. The dense globular structures of granulomas in animals, particularly in the lungs, have been studied. Microbes and cancer cells may manipulate this permissive …