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

• New computational method to calculate the forces between large molecules
  Why can geckos walk up walls? Why does nitrogen become liquid at -196 °C? Many everyday phenomena can be explained by van der Waals forces - weak bonds between molecules that are notoriously diffic...
• The smallest pixel in the world
  Physicists at the University of Würzburg have developed extremely small pixels using optical antennas and a clever design. These can be used in compact AR glasses, for example. Smart glasses, i...
• Climate protection as a business case
  Compile an emissions balance sheet, evaluate climate-protection measures and implement the most efficient of these first: Researchers from three Fraunhofer institutes have developed a method with w...
• Recyclable Fluorine improves properties of degradable polyester plastics
  Incorporating fluorine into certain polyesters accelerates polymer chain formation, makes longer chains accessible, and enables targeted modification of the material's properties. As a result, ...
• Microbial Strategy for Renewable Plastic
  Current demand for plastics and chemical raw materials is met through large-scale production of ethylene from fossil fuels. This makes it necessary to search for new, renewable processes. Using...
• Invisible poison: Airborne mercury from gold mining is contaminating African food crops
  In a recent study published in the European Geosciences Union (EGU) journal Biogeosciences, scientists have confirmed that mercury pollution from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is con...
• Microalgae convert CO₂ into useful basic chemicals
  Researchers in Saxony are developing biotechnological cell factories that do not require agricultural land or fossil raw materials. Chemnitz University of Technology, Leipzig University, and Fr...
• Studying cells with infrared vibration spectroscopy
  Infrared vibrational spectroscopy at BESSY II can be used to create high-resolution maps of molecules inside live cells and cell organelles in native aqueous environment, according to a new study b...
• Nanoplastics detected in animal cells
  Researchers at the Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN) in Dummerstorf and the University of Udine have detected the uptake of nanoplastics in farm animal cell cultures. The results pro...
• Environmentally friendly alternative to conventional ester production
  Researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT), Ruhr University Bochum and Evonik Oxeno have developed a novel catalyst system that enables the use of the climate gas carbon dioxide a...
• Catalyst turns greenhouse gas into energy carrier
  The energy transition requires not only new sources but also efficient ways to store and transport energy. Scientists at Kiel University (CAU) have now developed a novel catalyst that can convert c...
• Sustainable plastics from plants
  TU Graz is coordinating the European B3PO Doctoral Network, which is developing innovative materials from plant by-products. The EU has supplied funding of EUR 4.3 million for the project. As a...
• Green electronics thanks to biodegradable circuit boards
  Modern printed circuit boards are made from petroleum-based materials and are difficult to recycle. Empa researchers have developed a biodegradable version - an important step toward sustainable el...
• The world's chemical pollution: Current state
  The rapid production and distribution of chemicals in the environment means that regulatory risk assessment can no longer keep pace with their ever-increasing number. This is the conclusion reached...
• New Antibody blocks almost all known HIV variants in neutralization assays
  An international research team led by scientists from the DZIF at the University of Cologne has discovered an antibody that neutralizes the human immunodeficiency virus HIV-1 in almost all tested v...
• Nothing to laugh about, but reason for hope
  Chemists at Paderborn University discover new way to break down nitrous oxide, a climate pollutant. "In order to defy climate change, we need new approaches for the reduction of greenhouse gases," ...
• Rapid test for Influenza viruses: Simply taste your way to infection
  Influenza is much more than just a nasty cold - it is one of the most dangerous infectious diseases worldwide, claiming around half a million lives every year. What makes it particularly insidio...
• Saturn's moon emits organic compounds
  Saturn's moon Enceladus continuously ejects vast quantities of ice particles into space, originating from its subsurface ocean. Researchers at the University of Stuttgart and Freie Universität Berl...
• Nano plastic in the roots of wheat plants
  Microplastics and nanoplastics in soils are a growing environmental problem. The extent to which agricultural crops absorb these particles and whether they end up in food has so far been difficult ...
• Styrene oxide isomerase is proving to be a multifunctional helper for biotechnology
  The bacterial membrane enzyme styrene oxide isomerase can convert toxic compounds into valuable materials. Selvapravin Kumaran, a doctoral student in Professor Dirk Tischler's Microbial Biotechnolo...
• Fatty acids feed cancer-promoting bacteria
  It is well established that gut microbiome composition plays a pivotal role in human health - yet the precise connections are still not fully elucidated. Researchers at the Technical University...
• New mathematical tools for predicting uncertainty in models
  In a significant advancement for chemical engineering and data science, researchers have developed a new method to more accurately estimate uncertainty in nonlinear regression models - tools widely...
• Vitamin D3 concentrations are lowered by a common vitamin D supplement
  Taking vitamin D2 might lower the body's levels of the more efficient form of vitamin D, vitamin D3, according to new research from the University of Surrey, John Innes Centre and Quadram Institute...