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Latest news from laboratory, environment, chemistry, life science and quality control

• Experiments find the sweet spot for surface area and bubbles to store energy
  Electrolysis, passing a current through water to break it into gaseous hydrogen and oxygen, could be a handy way to store excess energy from wind or solar power. The hydrogen can be stored and used...
• Exchange of arms between chromosomes using molecular scissors
  The CRISPR/Cas molecular scissors work like a fine surgical instrument and can be used to modify genetic information in plants. The research teams of Professor Holger Puchta of Karlsruhe Institute ...
• Elucidating the mechanism of a light-driven sodium pump
  Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have succeeded for the first time in recording, in action, a light-driven sodium pump from bacterial cells. The findings promise progress in the deve...
• Exposure to ultrafine aerosol particles in German homes
  Residents of large German cities have it above all in their own hands how high the concentrations of ultrafine dust are in their homes. The level of pollution in the home depends only partially on ...
• Controlling cells with light
  Photopharmacology investigates the use of light to switch the effect of drugs on and off. Now, for the first time, scientific teams from Jena, Munich, and New York have succeeded in using this meth...
• What are the benefits of cleaning kitchen sponges in the microwave?
  During the corona crisis, household and kitchen hygiene is particularly important as many people are at home more, and are cooking for themselves more often, but at the same time are very conscious...
• Real-time monitoring of biomineralisation as an important process of bone formation
  21st century societal challenges such as demographic developments and an ageing population demand for new functional materials, such as for bone prostheses. Nature often serves as inspiration when ...
• Lighting the path for cells
  ETH researchers have developed a new method in which they use light to draw patterns of molecules that guide living cells. The approach allows for a closer look at the development of multicellular ...
• How interstitial ordering affects high-strength steels
  The performance of materials is strongly influenced by their alloying elements: Adding elements beyond the basic composition of the alloy can strongly influence the properties and performance of it...
• How to produce better electrodes
  Another step forward for renewable energies: The production of green hydrogen could be even more efficient in the future. By applying an unusual process step, chemists at Martin Luther University H...
• Crystal building by tiny magnets
  Tiny magnetic balls are a popular toy for building great 3D shapes. Imagine you'd want to use this principle for building crystal structures by self-assembly, is a spheroid still the best building ...
• On the road to non-toxic and stable perovskite solar cells
  The promising halide perovskite materials for solar energy conversion show high efficiencies, but this comes at a cost: The best perovskite materials incorporate toxic lead which poses a hazard to ...
• Comprehensive guidelines for microplastic extraction from environmental samples
  Today, microplastics can be detected in almost every ecosystem in the world. Despite intensive research into this massive environmental problem, it is still a challenge to identify and quantify the...
• A closer look at superconductors
  From sustainable energy to quantum computers: high-temperature superconductors have the potential to revolutionize today's technologies. Despite intensive research, however, we still lack the neces...
• A microbial strain capable of massive Succinic Acid production
  A research team led by Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee reported the production of a microbial strain capable of the massive production of succinic acid with the highest production efficiency t...
• Molecular basis of CLC transporter inhibition by fluoride
  The binding of protons and their transport through the cell membrane are crucial steps for many cellular processes. CLC chloride/proton transporters are present in almost every living cell and regu...
• Science and knowledge in a time of crisis
  From the preparation of guidelines and control materials for testing and better characterisation of the pandemic, to the detailed analysis of epidemiologic and economic impacts, the JRC is evaluati...
• Biodegradability of microcapsules
  In many areas of life, petroleum-based plastics are being replaced with biobased and biodegradable plastics. This also applies to microcapsules, which are used, for example, to encapsulate fragranc...
• Tracking the course of the COVID19 pandemic in wastewater
  The novel coronavirus has been successfully detected in wastewater - even at low concentrations, in samples collected at an early stage of the outbreak. Researchers at EPFL and Eawag are now workin...
• Humans can smell short-lived odorous molecules better
  The sense of smell is one of our oldest senses. Olfaction has always been one of mankind's important ways of interaction with the environment-an essential tool that helped us identify food and dang...
• News software to characterise 60 lipid classes in cells with mass spectrometry
  Researchers increasingly aim at utilising the manifold functions of lipids in our bodies, e.g. as blood fats or in blood coagulation, to better understand and predict diseases. An international ...