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Splitting Water: Nanoscale Imaging Yields Key Insights

Berkeley Lab researchers another step closer to reaping fuel from sunlight

In the quest to realize artificial photosynthesis to convert sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into fuel – just as plants do – researchers need to not only identify materials to efficiently perform photoelectrochemical water splitting, but also to understand why a certain material may or may not work. Now scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have pioneered a technique that uses nanoscale imaging to understand how local, nanoscale properties can affect a material’s macroscopic performance. (more…)

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Licht für die Wurzelentwicklung

Die Organbildung von Pflanzen passt sich mit Hilfe einer molekularen Uhr an äußere Bedingungen an

Die Freiburger Pflanzenbiologen Dr. Stefan Kircher und Prof. Dr. Peter Schopfer vom Institut für Biologie II der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität haben gezeigt, dass der Umweltfaktor Licht die Ausgestaltung des pflanzlichen Wurzelsystems durch Neubildung von Seitenwurzeln steuert. (more…)

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IBM Earns Record 9,100 Patents in 2018, Tops U.S. Patent List

IBM’s inventions include use of AI to help people converse, protect the earth’s lakes and combat voice phishing

ARMONK, N.Y., Jan. 8, 2019 — IBM (NYSE: IBM) inventors received a record 9,100 patents in 2018, marking the company’s 26th consecutive year of U.S. patent leadership. IBM led the industry in the number of artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, security and quantum computing-related patent grants.  (more…)

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New Nerve Gas Detector Built with Legos and a Smartphone

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a way to detect the presence, type and concentration of nerve agents in the field using Legos, a smartphone and a chemical sensor.

AUSTIN, Texas — Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have designed a way to sense dangerous chemicals using, in part, a simple rig consisting of a smartphone and a box made from Lego bricks, which could help first responders and scientists in the field identify deadly and difficult-to-detect nerve agents such as VX and sarin. (more…)

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Unsere Vorfahren waren gesünder als erwartet

Bioarchäologische Studie liefert erstmals Gesamtdarstellung zur Gesundheit der Europäer über einen Zeitraum von 2000 Jahren

Obwohl das frühe Mittelalter (zwischen 500 und 1000 n.Chr.) oft als „dunkles Zeitalter“ beschrieben wird, waren die Menschen damals gesünder als in den folgenden Zeiten – sogar bis in das industrialisierte 19. Jahrhundert hinein. Nicht nur die historischen Vorbilder der Sagenkönige Artus und Siegfried erfreuten sich guter Gesundheit, sondern auch die Mittel- und Unterschichten dieser frühen Zeit. (more…)

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Startup Licenses Invention to Enhance Skin Cancer Prevention

UA research has resulted in a melanin-producing compound for a systemic approach to preventing skin damage.

The University of Arizona has licensed two inventions developed in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry to startup MCR Therapeutics. The inventors, Minying Cai and Victor J. Hruby, developed targeted peptides through their research into drug design and bioactivity expression relating to hormone activity in the brain and periphery. (more…)

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A physics treasure hidden in a wallpaper pattern

An international team of scientists has discovered a new, exotic form of insulating material with a metallic surface that could enable more efficient electronics or even quantum computing. The researchers developed a new method for analyzing existing chemical compounds that relies on the mathematical properties like symmetry that govern the repeating patterns seen in everyday wallpaper. (more…)

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