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Scientists from the Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg have successfully developed nanomaterials using a so-called bottom-up approach. As reported in the scientific journal ACS Nano, they exploit the fact that crystals often grow in a specific direction during crystallisation.

Neurons stochastically generated up to eight different versions of a protein-regulating neurotransmitter release, which could vary how they communicate with other cells. Neurons are talkers. They each communicate with fellow neurons, muscles, or other cells by releasing neurotransmitter chemicals at "synapse" junctions, ultimately producing functions ranging from emotions to motions.

The research units are aiming to reveal the potential of enzymatic catalysis and investigate the biological mechanisms that underlie bladder cancer. The German Research Foundation (DFG) has set up eight new research units. Two of them are at the University of Freiburg. Unlocking the potential of S -adenosylmethionine-dependent enzyme chemistry The research unit "Unlocking the Potential of S -adenosylmethionine-dependent Enzyme Chemistry" aims to develop the new potentials of enzymatic catalysis.

A novel way of removing chemical pollutants from wastewater could see the humble waterflea helping to create cleaner rivers and waterways. Tiny waterfleas could play a pivotal role in removing persistent chemical pollutants from wastewater - making it safe to use in factories, farms and homes, a new study reveals.

A more sustainable method of creating methanol - a key component of fuels, plastics, and medicines - has been developed by Cardiff scientists and an international team of collaborators. The process, which uses a highly active catalyst, converts oxygen and the natural gas methane into methanol at room temperature without the need for external energy sources such as light or electricity.

Scientists at Bath have developed a new desalination method that pumps water through a membrane without using any external pressure. Published on Thursday 21 September 2023 Last updated on Thursday 21 September 2023 Scientists have developed a new method that converts seawater into drinking water that could be useful in disaster zones where there is limited electrical power.

By implementing an innovative technology, any wastewater treatment plant would be able to produce methane from carbon dioxide in an environmentally friendly way. If some microorganisms present in wastewater treatment plants are additionally supplied with hydrogen and carbon dioxide, they produce pure methane.

Late last year, Caltech researchers revealed that they had developed a new fabrication technique for printing microsized metal parts containing features about as thick as three or four sheets of paper. Now, the team has reinvented the technique to allow for printing objects a thousand times smaller: 150 nanometers, which is comparable to the size of a flu virus.

Storing renewable energy as hydrogen could soon become much easier thanks to a new catalyst based on single atoms of platinum. The new catalyst, designed by researchers at City University Hong Kong (CityU) and tested by colleagues at Imperial College London, could be cheaply scaled up for mass use. The new electrocatalyst could be a major contributor to ultimately helping the UK meet its net-zero goals by 2050.

Woody biomass and wheat straw are all sources of the natural polymer lignin with more than 50 megatons of lignin produced annually at commercial scale. However, most is burned to produce energy, which alternatively could be used to make useful chemicals. A major issue with producing chemicals from lignin though is that the properties of lignin vary from source to source and from season to season.

Researchers at UCL have created one-atom-thick ribbons made of phosphorus alloyed with arsenic that could dramatically improve the efficiency of devices such as batteries, supercapacitors and solar cells. The research team discovered phosphorus nanoribbons in 2019. The "wonder material", predicted to revolutionise devices ranging from batteries to biomedical sensors, has since been used to increase lithium-ion battery lifetimes and solar cell efficiencies.

Life on a faraway planet - if it's out there - might not look anything like life on Earth. But there are only so many chemical ingredients in the universe's pantry, and only so many ways to mix them. A team led by scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has exploited those limitations to write a cookbook of hundreds of chemical recipes with the potential to give rise to life.

New research by the University of Liverpool's Chemistry Department represents an important breakthrough in the field of polymer science. In a paper published in the journal Nature Chemistry, and featuring on the front cover, Liverpool researchers use mechanochemistry to characterise how a polymer chain in solution responds to a sudden acceleration of the solvent flow around it.

Research team at Göttingen University develops plasmonic molecules from nanoparticles In the incredibly small world of molecules, the elementary building blocks - the atoms - join together in a very regular pattern. In contrast, in the macroscopic world with its larger particles, there is much greater disorder when particles connect.

University of Queensland researchers are developing a plastic that breaks down in seawater to help turn the tide on marine waste. Dr Ruirui Qiao from UQ's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology is refining new polymerisation techniques for an affordable and biodegradable plastic to replace existing products.

The CRISPR-Cas gene scissors enable researchers to study the genetic and cellular causes of autism in the lab - directly on human tissue. How does autism develop? Which genes and cells in the human brain contribute to it? A new brain organoid model allows researchers from the Department of Biosystems at ETH Zurich in Basel and colleagues from Vienna to investigate these questions in human cells.

An international team led by the Institute of Molecular Science (ICMol) of the University of Valencia has opened a new path in the research of so-called -magnet molecules-.

As part of the international CLOUD project at the nuclear research centre CERN, researchers at PSI have identified so-called sesquiterpenes - gaseous hydrocarbons that are released by plants - as being a major factor in cloud formation. This finding could reduce uncertainties in climate models and help make more accurate predictions.

MIT researchers work to transform truck powertrain design, with support from the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium. Close The transportation of goods forms the basis of today's globally distributed supply chains, and long-haul trucking is a central and critical link in this complex system. To meet climate goals around the world, it is necessary to develop decarbonized solutions to replace diesel powertrains, but given trucking's indispensable and vast role, these solutions must be both economically viable and practical to implement.

The findings, based on a single electrochemical process, could help cut emissions from the hardest-to-decarbonize industries, such as steel and cement. In the race to draw down greenhouse gas emissions around the world, scientists at MIT are looking to carbon-capture technologies to decarbonize the most stubborn industrial emitters.