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

• Unconventional order in a low-dimensional magnet
  The analogy between the behaviour of different quantum particles which have the same quantum nature is one of the most fascinating aspects of science. A simple but prominent example is the analogy ...
• A new phosphorescent material from lignin
  Scientists have harnessed the natural ability of wood to faintly glow to develop a new sustainable phosphorescent material that could potentially be used in a wide number of applications, from medi...
• Putting a "Super Cork" on the Coronavirus
  Even though vaccines may be steering the world toward a post-pandemic normal, a constantly mutating SARS-CoV-2 necessitates the development of effective drugs. In a new study published in Nature Mi...
• New study on plastics paves the way for better products
  A breakthrough by researchers at the University of South Florida (USF) and collaborating institutions around the world could pave the way for better products, such as improved batteries, automobile...
• At threshold of fusion ignition
  On Aug. 8, 2021, an experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL's) National Ignition Facility (NIF) made a significant step toward ignition, achieving a yield of more than 1.3 mega...
• Alternative cement with low carbon footprint
  Researchers at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) in Germany and the Brazilian University of Pará have developed a climate-friendly alternative to conventional cement. Carbon dioxi...
• A glycosylation technology for industrial production processes
  Sustainability and use of renewable resources represent an important part of any production process with regard to circular economy and for the sake of our planet. With all the biomass available, u...
• A promising breakthrough: Nanocrystals made of amalgam
  Researchers at ETH have managed to produce nanocrystals made of two different metals using an amalgamation process whereby a liquid metal penetrates a solid one. This new and surprisingly intuitive...
• Methods for quantitative measurements of luminescent materials
  Tiny luminescent particles are used in more and more products today: from smartphones to OLED televisions to car headlights. For industry, exact knowledge of the luminescence efficiency is crucial....
• Microbes are engineered to convert sugar into 1,3-butadiene, used in synthetic rubber
  The future environmental footprint of the tire industry could be substantially shrunk thanks to a new ecofriendly way found by four RIKEN researchers that harnesses bacteria to make a chemical used...
• A versatile living polymerization method for aromatic amides
  Polymers occur frequently in nature. Typical examples include silk, wool, DNA, cellulose and proteins. While extracting them is usually a straightforward process, reproducing natural polymers is mo...
• A test that detects COVID-19 variants in your spit
  With the Delta variant wreaking havoc on unvaccinated populations and COVID-19 cases spiking around the world, the pandemic is far from over. Despite the impressively fast development of SARS-C...
• Graphene binds drugs which kill bacteria on implants
  Bacterial infections relating to medical implants place a huge burden on healthcare and cause great suffering to patients worldwide. Now, researchers at Chalmers, have developed a new method to pre...
• Neutralizing the SARS-CoV-2 sugar coat
  esearchers identify two sugar-binding proteins that impede the viral entry of circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants. The team, spearheaded by researchers at IMBA - Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of...
• Nitrogen inputs in the ancient ocean - underappreciated bacteria step into the spotlight
  It was long assumed that cyanobacteria were mainly responsible for fixing nitrogen on early Earth, thus making nitrogen available to the biosphere. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Marin...
• Newly developed, bioinspired cell delivery vehicles
  Nanocontainers can transport substances into cells where they can then take effect. This is the method used in, for example, the mRNA vaccines currently being employed against Covid-19 as well as c...
• A long day for microbes, and the rise of oxygen on Earth
  Life on Earth today relies on the presence of oxygen. However, the process behind the step-wise rise of oxygen levels in the atmosphere, which took place over nearly two billion years, remains unde...
• Digital sequence information: free access is crucial
  "Global problems such as the extinction of species and the decline of biological diversity, climate change, pandemics and hunger can only be solved with free access to digital sequence information"...
• Luminescent nanocrystals: new method for quantitative measurements of luminescent materials
  Luminescent materials are finding more and more applications in daily life: They are used in medical technology in diagnostic procedures, in photovoltaics, in security codes on banknotes, in the di...
• Understanding the physics in new metals
  In substances such as silicon or aluminium, the mutual repulsion of electrons hardly affects the material properties. Not so with so-called correlated materials, in which the electrons interact str...
• Water as a metal
  Every child knows that water conducts electricity - but this refers to "normal" everyday water that contains salts. Pure, distilled water, on the other hand, is an almost perfect insulator. It cons...
• Advanced neutron technologies galvanise research into advanced polymer electrolyte membranes (PEM)
  In a joint publication, scientists from University College London, CEA/University Grenoble Alpes, and LENS members ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) and Laboratoire Léon Br...