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12/23/2021 Researchers from Konstanz, Novosibirsk and Würzburg make it possible to read out optically indistinguishable spin states with a new spectroscopy method - published in "Science". The change between singlet and triplet states of electron pairs in charge-separated states plays an important role in nature.

Scientists in Switzerland and Germany have achieved efficient electron-beam modulation using integrated photonics - circuits that guide light on a chip. The experiments could lead to entirely new quantum measurement schemes in electron microscopy. The transmission electron microscope (TEM) can image molecular structures at the atomic scale by using electrons instead of light, and has revolutionized materials science and structural biology.

A new study shows it's theoretically possible. The hypothesis could be tested soon with proposed Venus-bound missions. If life is there, how does it propagate in an environment as dry as the clouds of Venus? Paul Rimmer It's hard to imagine a more inhospitable world than our closest planetary neighbour.

A Yale-led team of chemists has unveiled the blueprints for a key enzyme that may contain design principles for a new generation of synthetic solar fuel catalysts. The research, led by Yale's Gary Brudvig and Christopher Gisriel, uses cryo-electron microscopy on a microorganism called Synechocystis to get an extreme close-up picture of Photosystem II, the enzyme in photosynthesis that uses water as a solar fuel, enabling researchers to observe how the enzyme works.

Discovery significantly improves stability in ethylene and hydrogen production via artificial photosynthesis A research team has developed a new artificial photosynthesis DEVICE COMPONENT with remarkable stability and longevity as it selectively converts sunlight and carbon dioxide into two promising sources of renewable fuels - ethylene and hydrogen.

Through their research efforts, the team was able to finally disprove an intuitive assumption that in order for two particles of matter to merge and form larger units (i.e. aggregates or clusters), they must be attracted to each other. As early as the turn of the century, a team of soft matter physicists headed by Christos Likos of the University of Vienna predicted on the basis of theoretical considerations that this does not necessarily have to be the case.

By crafting atomic-scale holes in atomically thin membranes, it should be possible to create molecular sieves for precise and efficient gas separation, including extraction of carbon dioxide from air, University of Manchester researchers have found. If a pore size in a membrane is comparable to the size of atoms and molecules, they can either pass through the membrane or be rejected, allowing separation of gases according to their molecular diameters.

By removing electricity from equation, discovery overcomes yearslong hurdle in robotics W hen you think of a robot, images of R2-D2 or C-3PO might come to mind. But robots can serve up more than just entertainment on the big screen. In a lab, for example, robotic systems can improve safety and efficiency by performing repetitive tasks and handling harsh chemicals.

Using data gathered from a specially equipped jet that spent a month flying through and studying wildfire plumes, scientists have a better understanding now of how wildfire smoke impacts air quality. Crucially, they found a mechanism for predicting the production of the pollutant ozone-which, at the ground level, can create poor breathing conditions and also harm ecosystems.

Chemists at the University of Geneva have developed a new technique for selecting assemblies of molecules, making it possible to find the best combinations for each protein to be combated quickly and cheaply. Our body must constantly defend itself against bacteria and viruses. It generates millions of different antibodies, which are selected to recognise the enemy and trigger the best possible immune response.

Researchers at EPFL, China, Spain and the Netherlands have built a micro-device that uses vibrating molecules to transform invisible mid-infrared light into visible light. The breakthrough ushers in a new class of compact sensors for thermal imaging and chemical or biological analysis. Image: Artistic view of the nanoparticle-in-groove plasmonic cavities.

By trapping light into tiny crevices of gold, researchers have coaxed molecules to convert invisible infrared into visible light, creating new low-cost detectors for sensing. It's like listening to slow-rippling earthquake waves by colliding them with a violin string to get a high whistle that's easy to hear, and without breaking the violin Jeremy Baumberg Detecting light beyond the visible red range of our eyes is hard to do, because infrared light carries so little energy compared to ambient heat at room temperature.

In the quest to study the womb and its role in reproductive health, researchers in the Turco lab and their collaborators have generated a cellular map of the human uterus and of endometrial organoids — lab-grown models of the womb's lining. The atlas, which is the most detailed of its kind, will help scientists to develop better models of the womb.

A Q&A with researchers who are focused on revealing the fine details of photosynthesis B erkeley Lab scientists specialize in investigating fundamental scientific questions that, when answered, could lead to world-changing advances in technology, medicine, or energy. One of these big questions is how, exactly, photosynthesis occurs.

Researchers have developed a jelly-like material that can withstand the equivalent of an elephant standing on it, and completely recover to its original shape, even though it's 80% water. At 80% water content, you'd think it would burst apart like a water balloon, but it doesn't: it stays intact and withstands huge compressive forces Oren Scherman The soft-yet-strong material, developed by a team at the , looks and feels like a squishy jelly, but acts like an ultra-hard, shatterproof glass when compressed, despite its high water content.

Spicy substance from pepper gets into breast milk after eating In part of a recent human study led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM), it was found that after eating a curry dish containing pepper, piperine - an alkaloid responsible for the pungency of pepper - was present in the milk of breastfeeding women.

Bioinformatics team develops method that enables fast and confident identification of small molecules Life More than a third of all medicines available today are based on active substances from nature and a research team from the University of Jena has developed a procedure to identify small active substance molecules much more quickly and easily.

Scientists at Bath have developed a more sustainable way of making pharmaceuticals that will cut waste and energy usage significantly. Chemistry researchers at the University of Bath have developed a new method using blue light to create pharmaceuticals in a more sustainable way, significantly reducing the amount of energy needed and the chemical waste created in the manufacture process.

A new study featured in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences offers a potential alternate approach that combines pressure and electrochemistry to stabilize superhydrides at moderate, perhaps even close to ordinary, pressures. Superhydrides are a materials system where temperature superconductivity has been achieved, but only at very high pressures.

Global law enforcement agencies are already using the new method UBC researchers have trained computers to predict the next designer drugs before they are even on the market, technology that could save lives. Law enforcement agencies are in a race to identify and regulate new versions of dangerous psychoactive drugs such as bath salts and synthetic opioids, even as clandestine chemists work to synthesize and distribute new molecules with the same psychoactive effects as classical drugs of abuse.