A Spreadable Interlayer Could Make Solid State Batteries More Stable
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- Written by Schwedischer Forschungsrat - The Swedish Research Council
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Solid state batteries are of great interest to the electric vehicle industry. Scientists at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, and Xi’an Jiaotong University, China now present a new way of taking this promising concept closer to large-scale application. An interlayer, made of a spreadable, ‘butter-like’ material helps improve the current density tenfold, while also increasing performance and safety.
Surgery Training with Robots and Virtual Reality
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- Written by Technologie-Zentrum Informatik und Informationstechnik
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The insertion of hip implants places high demands on surgeons. To help young doctors practice this operation under realistic conditions, scientists from the University of Bremen and Chemnitz University of Technology are developing a dynamic hip implant simulator. Users see the scene in virtual reality and operate surgical instruments connected to a robot.
Joint press release from the University of Bremen and Chemnitz University of Technology
The growing number of older people worldwide is leading to an increase in hip implants and other joint replacement operations. This also increases the need for highly qualified orthopedic surgeons, but the practical training of these operations is very difficult to carry out.
Technology Innovation for Neurology: Brain Signal Measurement Using Printed Tattoo Electrodes
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- Written by Technische Universität Graz
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TU Graz researcher Francesco Greco has developed ultra-light tattoo electrodes that are hardly noticeable on the skin and make long-term measurements of brain activity cheaper and easier.
In 2015 Francesco Greco, head of the Laboratory of Applied Materials for Printed and Soft electronics (LAMPSe, http://lampselab.com/) at the Institute of Solid State Physics at Graz University of Technology, developed so-called "tattoo electrodes" together with Italian scientists. These are conductive polymers that are printed using an inkjet printer on standard tattoo paper and then stuck to the skin like transfers to measure heart or muscle activity.
Reprogramming of Macroscopic Self-Assembly With Dynamic Boundaries
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- Written by Max-Planck-Institut für Intelligente Systeme
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Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart aim to understand the underlying process of self-assembly. Their findings not only provide valuable insights into fundamental physics, but could enable the design of functional materials or self-assembled miniature robots.
Stuttgart – Self-assembly is an autonomous process where complex and functional structures are created in a bottom-up manner by the organization of a large set of components. Each component locally interacts with the others to create patterns, often with an unknown outcome: in the end, the patterns do not necessarily have a pre-conceived design.
Utilizing Findings From Cancer Research: Understanding the Mechanisms of Immunity to SARS-COV-2
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- Written by Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
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Why does every person react differently to an infection with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2? Why do some people have no symptoms or only mild symptoms of COVID-19, the disease which it causes? And why do some people become so severely ill that they require ventilators or even die?
These questions are being investigated by Professor Mascha Binder, director of the Department of Internal Medicine IV at University Hospital Halle (Saale), together with her team and other partners from University Hospital Halle (UKH) and the Hanover Medical School.
Scientist From the University of Stuttgart Reveal Switching Mechanism of Plasmonic Pixels Based on Magnesium
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- Written by Universität Stuttgart
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Future display technologies such as virtual and augmented reality require higher pixel resolutions and optical contrast. However, the potential of state-of-the-art displays is limited by the individual pixel size to achieve necessary resolution. Researchers at the University of Stuttgart have now succeeded to observe switching processes at previously unattained nanometer resolution. It opens the door towards new and innovative ultra-high-resolution displays of the future. The journal Science Advances reports their groundbreaking work in its issue of May 08, 2020.
Magnetic Nanopropellers Deliver Genetic Material to Cells
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- Written by Max-Planck-Institut für Intelligente Systeme
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An interdisciplinary team of scientists from Stuttgart, Heidelberg, and London developed miniature magnetic nanopropellers that can deliver genetic material to cells. They used a magnetic material that outperforms the strongest known micromagnets, yet is chemically stable, non-toxic and biologically compatible. Such new nanopropellers hold great potential for biomedical applications and minimally invasive surgeries of the future.
Freiburg Researchers Show How to Control Individual Components of Self-Assembling Molecular Structures
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- Written by Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau
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In the development of autonomous systems and materials, self-assembling molecular structures controlled by chemical reaction networks are increasingly important. However, there is a lack of simple external mechanisms that ensure that the components of these reaction networks can be activated in a controlled manner.
A research team led by Prof. Dr. Andreas Walther and Prof. Dr. Henning Jessen from the Cluster of Excellence Living, Adaptive and Energy-autonomous Materials Systems (livMatS) and Jie Deng from the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry at the University of Freiburg are the first to show how individual components of self-assembling DNA-based structures can be activated and controlled using light-reactive photo switches. The researchers have published their results in the journal Angewandte Chemie.
LED Instead of Laser or Electron Beam: New Technology Revolutionizes 3D Metal Printing
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- Written by Technische Universität Graz
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A technology developed at Graz University of Technology uses LED instead of laser sources for the additive manufacturing of metal parts and optimizes 3D metal printing in terms of construction time, metal powder consumption, equipment costs and post-processing effort.
Selective LED-based melting (SLEDM) – i.e. the targeted melting of metal powder using high-power LED light sources – is the name of the new technology that a team led by Franz Haas, head of the Institute of Production Engineering at TU Graz, has developed for 3D metal printing and has now applied for a patent.
Activation of the SARS Coronavirus 2 Revealed
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- Written by Deutsches Primatenzentrum GmbH - Leibniz-Institut für Primatenforschung
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Infection researchers from the German Primate Center identify starting points for vaccine development and therapy.
The SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infects lung cells and is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The viral spike protein mediates entry of the virus into host cells and harbors an unusual activation sequence. The Infection Biology Unit of the German Primate Center (DPZ) - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research has now shown that this sequence is cleaved by the cellular enzyme furin and that the cleavage is important for the infection of lung cells. These results define new starting points for therapy and vaccine research. In addition, they provide information on how coronaviruses from animals need to change in order to be able to spread in the human population (Molecular Cell).
Additive Ideas in Demand: The AMable Project Promotes Flexible AM Solutions to Fight the Coronavirus
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- Written by Fraunhofer-Institut für Lasertechnik ILT
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The coronavirus is currently paralyzing public and private life and in many places there is a lack of medical equipment and viable solutions to protect society against the spread of the virus. Together with institutions from all over Europe, the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT is supporting companies in the EU project AMable in implementing Additive Manufacturing ideas that will help overcome bottlenecks in this fight. Now that AMable has already successfully paved the way for SMEs to industrial 3D printing with metal and plastic, the partners are offering aid and public funding for COVID-19 projects.
New Coating Stops The Corona Infection Chain
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- Written by better place
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The company itCoating has developed a new wipe-varnish coating, which is virus-proof, virus-repellent and virus-killing.
Tracking Down False Parkers in Cancer Cells
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- Written by Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
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In squamous cell carcinoma, a protein ensures that unneeded proteins are no longer disposed of. A research team at the University of Würzburg has switched off this protein for the first time. Squamous cell carcinoma is a very unusual type of cancer. They occur in many tissues – for example in the lungs, esophagus, pancreas, throat and pharynx, and on the skin.
Producing Human Tissue in Space
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- Written by Universität Zürich
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The University of Zurich has sent adult human stem cells to the International Space Station (ISS). Researchers from UZH Space Hub will explore the production of human tissue in weightlessness. On 6 March at 11:50 PM EST, the International Space Station resupply mission Space X CRS-20 took off from Cape Canaveral (USA). On board: 250 test tubes from the University of Zurich containing adult human stem cells. These stem cells will develop into bone, cartilage and other organs during the month-long stay in space.
Water Splitting Observed on the Nanometer Scale
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- Written by Max-Planck-Institut für Polymerforschung
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Whether as a fuel or in energy storage: hydrogen is being traded as the energy carrier of the future. To date, existing methodologies have not been able to elucidate how exactly the electrochemical process of water splitting into hydrogen and oxygen takes place at the molecular scale on a catalyst surface. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) in Mainz have now developed a new method to investigate such processes "live" on the nanometer scale. The new detailed insights into the splitting of water on gold surfaces could aid the design of energy-efficient electro-catalysts.
Cooling Magnets with Sound
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- Written by Universität Innsbruck
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Today, most quantum experiments are carried out with the help of light, including those in nanomechanics, where tiny objects are cooled with electromagnetic waves to such an extent that they reveal quantum properties. Now, a team of physicists led by Oriol Romero-Isart at the University of Innsbruck and the Austrian Academy of Sciences is proposing to cool microparticles with sound waves instead. While quantum physics is usually concerned with the basic building blocks of light and matter, for some time scientists have now been trying to investigate the quantum properties of larger objects, thereby probing the boundary between the quantum world and everyday life.
