Additive Manufacturing: Budget-friendly Retrofit of Module for Wire-based Laser Deposition Welding
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- Geschrieben von Fraunhofer-Institut für Produktionstechnologie IPT
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When economic or safety considerations rule out the use of powder materials in additive manufacturing, the option of wire-feed laser deposition welding resents itself. The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT in Aachen has developed a smart laser module for wire deposition welding, which can easily be integrated within existing process chains, handling systems or machine tools. The engineers from Aachen will be unveiling the LMD-W-20-L module for the first time to the visitors from industry at Formnext, the Fair for Additive Technologies in Frankfurt/Main, Hall 3, Booth E70, 13-16 November 2018.
HZB Researchers are Used to Boost the Efficiency of Silicon Solar Cells
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- Geschrieben von Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH
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The efficiency of a solar cell is one of its most important parameters. It indicates what percentage of the solar energy radiated into the cell is converted into electrical energy. The theoretical limit for silicon solar cells is 29.3 percent due to physical material properties. In the journal Materials Horizons, researchers from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and international colleagues describe how this limit can be abolished.
Molecular Multitools
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- Geschrieben von Max-Planck-Institut für Polymerforschung
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The functionalization of surfaces with different physical or chemical properties is a key challenge for many applications. For example, the defined structuring of a surface with hydrophobic and hydrophilic areas can be used for the separation of emulsions, like water and oil. However, the creation of user-defined surface properties is a challenge. Researches from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz (MPI-P), the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei and the University of Electronic Science and Technology in Chengdu (China) have now developed surfaces that can easily be patterned with different functionalities using visible light.
Decoding the Regulation of Cell Survival - A Major Step Towards Preventing Neurons from Dying
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- Geschrieben von DFG-Forschungszentrum für Regenerative Therapien TU Dresden
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An interdisciplinary and international research group led by Dr. Volker Busskamp from the Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden at the TU Dresden (CRTD) has decoded the regulatory impact on neuronal survival of a small non-coding RNA molecule, so-called miRNA, at the highest resolution to date. This deciphering of gene regulation primes applications for strengthening neurons in order to protect them from neurodegenerative diseases. The extensive systems biology methods used here could become a new standard for the way miRNAs are researched.
Breakthrough in Quantum Physics: Reaction of Quantum Fluid to Photoexcitation of Dissolved Particles
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- Geschrieben von Technische Universität Graz
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Researchers from Graz University of Technology have described for the first time the dynamics which takes place within a trillionth of a second after photoexcitation of a single atom inside a superfluid helium nanodroplet. In his research, Markus Koch, Associate Professor at the Institute of Experimental Physics of Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), concentrates on processes in molecules and clusters which take place on time scales of picoseconds (10⁻¹² seconds) and femtoseconds (10⁻¹⁵ seconds). Now Koch and his team have achieved a breakthrough in the research on completely novel molecular systems.
Pioneering Biologists Create a New Crop Through Genome Editing
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- Geschrieben von Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
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For the first time, researchers from Brazil, the USA and Germany have created, within a single generation, a new crop from a wild plant – the progenitor of our modern tomato – by using a modern process of genome editing. Starting with a “wild tomato” they have, at the same time, introduced a variety of crop features without losing the valuable genetic properties of the wild plant. Prof. Jörg Kudla from the University of Münster is involved in the study. The results have been published in the current issue of “Nature Biotechnology” (Advance Online Publication).
Chemists of TU Dresden Develop Highly Porous Material, More Precious than Diamonds
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- Geschrieben von Technische Universität Dresden
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World Record of Cavities. Porosity is the key to high-performance materials for energy storage systems, environmental technologies or catalysts: The more porous a solid state material is, the more liquids and gases it is able to store. However, a multitude of pores destabilizes the material. In search of the stability limits of such frameworks, researchers of the TU Dresden’s Faculty of Chemistry broke a world record: DUT-60 is a new crystalline framework with the world’s highest specific surface and the highest specific pore volume (5.02 cm3g-1) measured so far among all known crystalline framework materials.
Machine Learning Helps Improving Photonic Applications
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- Geschrieben von Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH
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Photonic nanostructures can be used for many applications, not just in solar cells, but also in optical sensors for cancer markers or other biomolecules, for example. A team at HZB using computer simulations and machine learning has now shown how the design of such nanostructures can be selectively optimised. The results are published in Communications Physics.
Master of the Tree – Novel Form of Dendritic Inhibition Discovered
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- Geschrieben von Max-Planck-Institut für Hirnforschung
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A unique feature that sets neurons apart from all other cells are their beautiful, highly elaborate dendritic trees. These structures have evolved to receive the vast majority of information entering a neuron, which is integrated and processed by virtue of the dendrites’ geometry and active properties. Higher brain functions such as memory and attention all critically rely on dendritic computations, which are in turn controlled by inhibitory synaptic input. A team of scientists, led by Johannes J. Letzkus (MPI for Brain Research), now has identified a novel form of inhibition that dominantly controls dendritic function and strongly depends on previous experiences.
Working the Switches for Axon Branching
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- Geschrieben von Max-Planck-Institut für Biochemie
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Our brain is a complex network with innumerable connections between cells. Neuronal cells have long thin extensions, so-called axons, which are branched to increase the number of interactions. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (MPIB) have collaborated with researchers from Portugal and France to study cellular branching processes. They demonstrated a novel mechanism that induces branching of microtubules, an intracellular support system. The newly discovered dynamics of microtubules has a key role in neuronal development. The results were recently published in the journal Nature Cell Biology.
Measuring Smallest Magnetic Fields in the Brain Using Diamond and Laser Technology
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- Geschrieben von Fraunhofer-Institut für Angewandte Festkörperphysik IAF
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In July 2018, a research project with an entirely innovative approach to measuring magnetic fields in tissue started at the Fraunhofer IAF: The scientists will produce and optimize NV centers in diamond in order to achieve highly sensitive magnet field detectors working at room temperature, and by those means develop the world’s first laser threshold magnetometer. Smallest magnetic fields, like the ones produced in neuronal networks or through brainwaves, can be detected with this technology. The research project »NV-doped CVD diamond for ultra-sensitive Laser Threshold Magnetometry«, short »DiLaMag«, is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Brought to Light – Chromobodies Reveal Changes in Endogenous Protein Concentration in Living Cells
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- Geschrieben von NMI Naturwissenschaftliches und Medizinisches Institut an der Universität Tübingen
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Scientists at the Natural and Medical Sciences Institute (NMI) in Reutlingen and the Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen have developed new molecular probes to monitor and quantify changes in the concentration of endogenous proteins by live-cell fluorescence microscopy. In a study now published in Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, Keller et al. describe how fluorescently labeled intrabodies (so-called chromobodies) are stabilized in the presence of their target proteins. Based on this newly uncovered property of chromobodies, the authors present a broadly applicable strategy to optimize chromobodies in order to visualize and measure changes of endogenous target proteins within living cells.
What Even Einstein didn't Know
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- Geschrieben von Technische Universität München
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It provides the basis for solar energy and global communications: the photoelectric effect. Albert Einstein described it over a century ago. For the first time, scientists from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the Max-Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ), and the TU Wien have now measured the absolute duration of the light absorption and of the resulting photoelectron which is released from a solid body.
Enjoying Virtual-reality-entertainment Without Headache or Motion Sickness
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- Geschrieben von Fraunhofer-Institut für Organische Elektronik, Elektronenstrahl- und Plasmatechnik FEP
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Scientists from Fraunhofer FEP developped a large-area high-resolution low-power OLED microdisplay with high framerates. The use of these microdisplays in VR glasses can help to avoid motion sickness. The new displays can be seen at awe europe in Munich/ Germany from October 18 to 19, 2018 at booth no. 322.
The Microbiota in the Intestines Fuels Tumour Growth
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- Geschrieben von Technische Universität München
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The team of Professor Dirk Haller at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) made an unexpected discovery while investigating the triggering factors of colon cancer: Cell stress in combination with an altered microbiota in the colon drives tumour growth. Previously, it was assumed that this combination only contributes to inflammatory intestinal diseases.
Patented Nanostructure for Solar Cells: Rough Optics, Smooth Surface
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- Geschrieben von Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH
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Thin-film solar cells made of crystalline silicon are inexpensive and achieve efficiencies of a good 14 percent. However, they could do even better if their shiny surfaces reflected less light. A team led by Prof. Christiane Becker from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) has now patented a sophisticated new solution to this problem.
