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Researchers succeed in controlling multiple quantum interactions in a realistic material Materials with controllable quantum mechanical properties are of great importance for the electronics and quantum computers of the future.

For decades, materials scientists have taken inspiration from the natural world. They'll identify a biological material that has some desirable trait - such as the toughness of bones or conch shells - and reverse-engineer it. Then, once they've determined the material's "microstructure," they'll try to approximate it in human-made materials.

Research news The almost complete silence of the motors used in electric cars may pose a hazard to inattentive pedestrians. As a result, starting in summer 2019 all new electric and hybrid vehicles will have to be equipped with an acoustic warning system. Psychoacousticians at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are developing the corresponding sounds.

Researchers at the University of Nottingham's Institute for Aerospace Technology (IAT), together with academic staff from the Bioengineering and Human Factors Research Groups, have demonstrated that facial temperatures, which can be easily measured using a non-invasive thermal camera, are strongly correlated to mental workload.

Stanford researchers say one way to solve the mystery of why some breast cancers are more likely to spread could come from studying the cell's mechanical properties. Ovijit Chaudhuri and his lab are studying how mechanical properties of breast tissue influence tumor cells. (Image credit: Courtesy Department of Mechanical Engineering) One of the most puzzling questions in breast cancer research is why some tumors stay put, while rogue cells from others break free and spread to surrounding tissues, the first step toward creating a more lethal disease.

Using detailed 3D images, researchers have shown how bacteria have evolved molecular motors of different powers to optimize their swimming. The discovery, by a team from Imperial College London, provides insights into evolution at the molecular scale. Bacteria use molecular motors just tens of nanometres wide to spin a tail (or 'flagellum') that pushes them through their habitat.

Dyslexia is a learning difficulty which affects the ability to adopt the automatic reflexes needed to read and write. Several studies have sought to identify the source of the problems encountered by individuals with dyslexia when they read. Little attention, however, has been paid to the mechanisms involved in writing.

Dropping a smartphone on its glass screen, which is made of atoms jammed together with no discernible order, could result in it shattering. Unlike metals and other crystalline material, glass and many other disordered solids cannot be deformed significantly before failing and, because of their lack of crystalline order, it is difficult to predict which atoms would change during failure.

Babies as young as 10 months can assess how much someone values a particular goal by observing how hard they are willing to work to achieve it, according to a new study from MIT and Harvard University. This ability requires integrating information about both the costs of obtaining a goal and the benefit gained by the person seeking it, suggesting that babies acquire very early an intuition about how people make decisions.

Research news Childhood obesity is often attributed to a lack of exercise. So what about sports among elementary school students' A team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) pursued this question and collected the results of fitness tests for first-year students over a period of one decade. Their study shows that students did not lose their strength.

New research suggests vertical axis turbines, which may have fewer impacts on birds and the environment, could increase public support for new wind energy installations. With global carbon emissions on the rise, wind power continues to be an attractive option for states and countries looking to limit fossil fuel use and increase renewable energy.

Each of your cells contains two copies of 23 chromosomes, one inherited from your father and one from your mother. Theoretically, when you create a gamete - a sperm or an egg -  each copy has a 50-50 shot at being passed on. But the reality isn't so clearcut. Scientists have observed that chromosomes can "cheat," biasing the chance that they will make it into a sex cell.

Charging drivers at peak times could be the best way to help ease Melbourne's traffic woes, according to new research by the University of Melbourne. In a working paper,  Can Road Changes Alleviate Congestion , researchers Dr Leslie Martin and Mr Sam Thornton, from the Faculty of Business and Economics, analysed the economic and social impact of different charges levied on road use in Victoria.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's College of Engineering are taking a multidisciplinary approach to building synthetic muscles for applications in regenerative medicine and robotics. Each time a bicep flexes, millions of molecular motors work together in a complex process. These motors - called myosin - are chemically powered proteins.

When freezing droplets impact a surface, they generally either stick to it or bounce away. Controlling this response is crucial to many applications, including 3-D printing, the spraying of some surface coatings, and the prevention of ice formation on structures such as airplane wings, wind turbines, or power lines.

Research news More than 125 years ago, Otto Lilienthal laid the foundation for modern aviation with his innovative gliding apparatus, the "Normal Segelapparat". Only four specimens of the gliding apparatus have survived to this day, one of them at home in Deutsches Museum in Munich. Computer tomography investigations carried out by researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in collaboration with Airbus have for the first time provided a glimpse into the inner workings of the construction design.

Research news After a stroke, many people are unable to successfully perform basic hand movements in everyday life. The reason are symptoms of hemiparesis resulting from damage to the brain. These very frequently affect fine motor skills. A team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) is now paving the way to better diagnosis and more targeted therapy.

Motorised molecules driven by light have been used to drill holes in the membranes of individual cells, including cancerous ones. The technique shows promise for either bringing therapeutic agents into the cells or directly inducing the cells to die. Dr Robert Pal at Durham University worked with researchers at Rice and North Carolina State universities in the USA to demonstrate in laboratory tests how rotors in single-molecule nanomachines can be activated by ultraviolet light to spin at two to three million rotations per second and open membranes in cells.

When many people try to squeeze through a passageway at the same time, it creates a bottleneck that slows everyone down. It turns out the reverse is true for electrons, which can move through small openings more quickly when travelling in large groups than when flying solo. The theory of so-called superballistic flow predicts that electrons can pass more easily through constrictions by interacting with one another, and thereby "cooperating," than they can individually.