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Bristol scientists have demonstrated a new virtual reality [VR] technique which should help in developing drugs against the SARS-CoV-2 virus - and enable researchers to share models and collaborate in new ways. The innovative tool, created by University of Bristol researchers, and published in the Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling, will help scientists around the world identify anti-viral drug leads more rapidly.

Removing one charged molecule from a one-dimensional array causes the others to alternately turn 'on' or 'off,' paving the way for information transfer in tiny circuits Small electronic circuits power our everyday lives, from the tiny cameras in our phones to the microprocessors in our computers. To make those devices even smaller, scientists and engineers are designing circuitry components out of single molecules.

By Susanne Eigner The focus of the new CD laboratory is the reduction of interface resistances within the solid-state battery. The aim is to make this particularly safe energy storage system fit for electric vehicles and other high-energy applications. In recent years, intensive research has been carried out on solid-state electrolytes and materials have been developed which have a similarly high ionic conductivity to liquid electrolytes.

The focus of the new CD laboratory is the reduction of interface resistances within the solid-state battery. The aim is to make this particularly safe energy storage system fit for electric vehicles and other high-energy applications. In recent years, intensive research has been carried out on solid-state electrolytes and materials have been developed which have a similarly high ionic conductivity to liquid electrolytes.

With their ability to harness the strange powers of quantum mechanics, qubits are the basis for potentially world-changing technologies-like powerful new types of computers or ultra-precise sensors. Qubits (short for quantum bits) are often made of the same semiconducting materials as our everyday electronics.

Bioengineers at EPFL have used organoids - tiny lab-grown organs - to mimic the early development of the heart in the mouse embryo. The work is another step towards future bioartificial organs for research and transplants. There was a time when the idea of growing organs in the lab was the stuff of science fiction.

Atom-scale models could help refine established theories on how proteins interact with solutions It's a long-standing assumption that the presence of water influences how proteins fold. A new study is challenging the details. A paper in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters shows proteins that presumably evolved to avoid water as they fold may actually behave in ways scientists did not anticipate.

The sweet taste of sugar, energy intake and the regulatory process of hunger and satiety To date, very little is known about how sweetness perception contributes to satiety. This study, conducted by an Austrian-German team led by chemists Veronika Somoza and Barbara Lieder, provides new insights into the relationship between the sweet taste of sugar, energy intake and the regulatory process of hunger and satiety.

A long durability, low costs and high sustainability - the requirements for stationary energy storage systems, for example for wind or solar energy, are high. One promising perspective is the still young dual-ion technology. In a collaboration between Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the MEET Battery Research Center, scientists developed a new type of dual-ion battery.

Our researchers have developed a new way to turn the rubbish we throw away into chemicals that can help make fuel, medicines, fertilisers and biodegradable packaging. The low-cost, powerful method can turn old cooking oil and agricultural waste into biodiesel, and turn food scraps and plastic rubbish in to high-value chemical precursors, which are used make every day products.

How extremophilic bacteria survive in space for one year Galactic cosmic and solar UV radiation, extreme vacuum, temperature fluctuations: how can microbes exposed to these challenges in space survive? An international team around Space Biochemistry group at the University of Vienna investigated how the space-surviving microbes could physically survive the transfer from one celestial body to another.

The lithium-ion battery is currently state of the art, but has not yet realised its full potential. New electrode materials such as silicon instead of pure graphite in the anode offer a significantly increased electrochemical performance. Until now, this has been at the expense of the battery's lifespan.

Wildfires burning in the West affect not only the areas burned, but the wider regions covered by smoke. Recent years have seen hazy skies and hazardous air quality become regular features of the late summer weather. Many factors are causing Western wildfires to grow bigger and to generate larger, longer-lasting smoke plumes that can stretch across the continent.

Neutrons make structural changes in molecular brushes visible They look like microscopic bottle brushes: Polymers with a backbone and tufts of side arms. This molecular design gives them unusual abilities: For example, they can bind active agents and release them again when the temperature changes. With the help of neutrons, a research team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now succeeded to unveil the changes in the internal structure in course of the process.

Magnets are to be found everywhere in our daily lives, whether in satellites, telephones or on fridge doors. However, they are made up of heavy inorganic materials whose component elements are, in some cases, of limited availability. Now, researchers from the CNRS, the University of Bordeaux and the ESRF (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble) 1 have developed a new lightweight molecule-based magnet, produced at low temperatures, and exhibiting unprecedented magnetic properties.

A major goal in organic synthesis is to develop efficient reactions to convert feedstock chemicals (otherwise known as raw or natural materials) into valuable reagents that can be used to create pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. A powerful approach to this core scientific challenge is toconvert carbon-hydrogen bonds into carbon-heteroatom bonds.

Researchers at the University of Basel have developed a precisely controllable system for mimicking biochemical reaction cascades in cells. Using microfluidic technology, they produce miniature polymeric reaction containers equipped with the desired properties. This "cell on a chip" is useful not only for studying processes in cells, but also for the development of new synthetic pathways for chemical applications or for biological active substances in medicine.

Imagine a plastic bag that can carry home your groceries, then quickly degrade without harming the environment. Or a super-strong, lightweight plastic for airplanes, rockets, and satellites that can replace traditional structural metals in aerospace technologies. Machine learning and artificial intelligence have accelerated the ability to design materials with specific properties like these.

For the first time, the SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) flying observatory has provided direct and unambiguous evidence of water molecules on the moon beyond the permanent shadow at the poles. The infrared observatory, which is owned jointly by the US space agency NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) was able to detect the molecules in the moon's southern hemisphere using the FORCAST (Faint Object InfraRed CAmera for the SOFIA-Telescope) instrument.

Ribosomes are small "factories" in which proteins are assembled according to genetic construction plans. The maturation of ribosomes, of which every human cell contains up to a million, is a complicated, multi-phase process. Now, with the aid of cryo-electron microscopy, scientists from Heidelberg University and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München have been able to clarify an important step in ribosomal formation.