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• New space molecule largest ever detected using radioastronomy
  An asteroid has helped researchers discover the largest molecule ever detected by radioastronomy, and the third-largest identified in space. The discovery, published today in Science, provides furt...
• Hidden health risks of endocrine disruptors?
  The Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT, with its long-term expertise in cell models and toxicology, contributes to a new EU-funded project on health risks of endocrine disruptors....
• Plasticisers impair normal brain function in vertebrates
  Researchers at the University of Bayreuth have discovered that the plasticisers DEHP and DINP have negative effects on normal brain function in vertebrates. These plasticisers are used in products ...
• New method for producing innovative 3D molecules
  As its name suggests, ring-shaped "cage molecules" resemble a cage, and it is this three-dimensional structure that makes them significantly more stable than related, flat molecules. Consequently, ...
• A "chemical ChatGPT" for new medications
  Researchers from the University of Bonn have trained an AI process to predict potential active ingredients with special properties. Therefore, they derived a chemical language model - a kind of Cha...
• Ovulation filmed from start to finish for the first time
  Approximately 400 times in a woman's life, a mature egg makes the "leap." It is released into the fallopian tube, ready for fertilization by the sperm. Researchers led by Melina Schuh, Christopher ...
• Plant Guard Cells can Count Environmental Stimuli
  Plants adapt their water consumption to environmental conditions by counting and calculating environmental stimuli with their guard cells. Plant researchers from Würzburg report this in 'Current Bi...
• How immune cells really migrate
  In order to reach their target, for instance a tumor, immune cells have to leave the bloodstream or lymphatic vessels and migrate through connective tissue. Until now, scientists presumed that immu...
• Mechanism of Cobalt-Manganese Catalysts Deciphered
  The energy carrier hydrogen can be obtained from water by electrolysis. This works particularly well with Cobalt spinel electrocatalysts containing manganese. However, it was unclear why. Conven...
• Intra-molecular distances in biomolecules measured optically with Ångström precision
  A team led by physicists Steffen Sahl and Stefan Hell at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Multidisciplinary Sciences in Göttingen and the MPI for Medical Research in Heidelberg has succeeded in m...
• Nanostructures in the deep ocean floor hint at life's origin
  Researchers led by Ryuhei Nakamura at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) in Japan and The Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) of Tokyo Institute of Technology have discovered ...
• New insights into ammonia decomposition
  Using ammonia is regarded as a promising method of transporting hydrogen. However, an efficient process is also needed to convert it back into hydrogen and nitrogen. An international research te...
• ONE microscopy: from molecule to 3D structure with conventional microscopy
  Researchers at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) have developed a new method that makes it possible for the first time to image the three-dimensional shape of proteins with a convention...
• Cryo-EM and MD simulations unveil the mechanism of the potent neurotoxin α-latrotoxin
  The black widow spider is one of the most feared spider species. Its venom is a cocktail of seven different toxins that attack the nervous system. These so-called latrotoxins specifically paralyse ...
• How Climate Change Impacts Contaminants in the Sea
  Toxic trace elements such as lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium occur naturally in small quantities in coastal seas. However, human activities such as industry and agriculture contribute significan...
• The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024
  The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 with one half to David Baker, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA "for computational protein desi...
• Thaumatin: Natural sweetener with anti-inflammatory potential
  A new study by the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich shows for the first time that bitter tasting protein fragments (peptides) are produced in the sto...
• In-vitro Skin Makes Cell Reaction to Test Substance Measurable in Real Time
  The EU has banned animal testing for cosmetics and non-animal alternative methods are preferable for the risk assessment of new chemical substances. At the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engi...
• A protein determines the shape of bacteria and thus their capabilities
  Bacteria come in a wide variety of shapes, which are important for their fitness in their respective ecological niches. However, despite intensive research, the factors that determine the shape of ...
• Decoding symbiotic interactions in marine algae using Raman Spectroscopy
  In a recent study, researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT) and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena have shown how they can non-invasively and non-destructive...
• Plasma-coated paper as a plastic alternative for the packaging ndustry
  Plastic waste, harmful to the environment, has been increasing continually in Germany in recent years. Packaging generates particularly high volumes of waste. Plant-based coatings for paper packagi...
• Drinking water protection: Innovative sensor system enables fast, precise real-time analysis
  In an EU project, the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) is developing a method to detect fecal contamination in drinking water quickly and efficiently. A mini-sensor system is ...
• Soil and water pollution: an invisible threat to cardiovascular health
  Pesticides, heavy metals, micro- and nanoplastics in the soil and environmentally harmful chemicals can have a detrimental effect on the cardiovascular system, according to a review paper published...