Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: chemistry – Page 65

AI-enhanced brain sensor tracks poorly understood chemistry

Researchers have developed a device that can simultaneously measure six markers of brain health. The sensor, which is inserted through the skull into the brain, can pull off this feat thanks to an artificial intelligence (AI) system that pieces apart the six signals in real time.

Being able to continuously monitor biomarkers in patients with traumatic brain injury could improve outcomes by catching swelling or bleeding early enough for doctors to intervene. But most existing devices measure just one marker at a time. They also tend to be made with metal, so they can’t easily be used in combination with magnetic resonance imaging.

Simultaneous access to measurements could improve outcomes for brain injuries.

Ultrafast electron imaging captures never-before-seen nuclear motions in hydrocarbon molecules excited by light

The interactions between light and nitroaromatic hydrocarbon molecules have important implications for chemical processes in our atmosphere that can lead to smog and pollution. However, changes in molecular geometry due to interactions with light can be very difficult to measure because they occur at sub-Angstrom length scales and femtosecond time scales.

Nanopore direct RNA sequencing finds cancer’s ‘fingerprint’ to improve early detection

Different types of cancer have unique molecular “fingerprints” which are detectable in early stages of the disease and can be picked up with near-perfect accuracy by small, portable scanners in just a few hours, according to a study published today in the journal Molecular Cell.

The discovery by researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona sets the foundation for creating new, non-invasive diagnostic tests that detect different types of cancer faster and earlier than currently possible.

The study centers around the ribosome, the protein factories of a cell. For decades, ribosomes were thought to have the same blueprint across the human body. However, researchers discovered a hidden layer of complexity—tiny chemical modifications which vary between different tissues, developmental stages, and disease.

Controlling matter at the atomic level: University of Bath breakthrough

Controlling matter at the atomic level has taken a major step forward, thanks to groundbreaking nanotechnology research by an international team of scientists led by physicists at the University of Bath.

This advancement has profound implications for fundamental scientific understanding. It is also likely to have important practical applications, such as transforming the way researchers develop new medications.

S smallest movie. In the film, single molecules, consisting of two atoms bonded together, were magnified 100-million times and positioned frame-by-frame to tell a stop-motion story on an atomic scale. +.

Physicists are getting closer to controlling single-molecule chemical reactions – could this shape the future of pharmaceutical research?

Scientists develop cost-effective lasers for extended short-wave infrared applications

Current laser technologies for the extended short-wave infrared (SWIR) spectral range rely on expensive and complex materials, limiting their scalability and affordability. To address these challenges, ICFO researchers have presented a novel approach based on colloidal quantum dots in an Advanced Materials article. The team managed to emit coherent light (a necessary condition to create lasers) in the extended SWIR range with large colloidal quantum dots made of lead sulfide (PbS).

This new CQD-based technology offers a solution to the aforementioned challenges while maintaining compatibility with silicon CMOS platforms (the technology used for constructing integrated circuit chips) for on-chip integration.

Their PbS colloidal quantum dots are the first semiconductor lasing material to cover such a broad wavelength range. Remarkably, the researchers accomplished this without altering the dots’ chemical composition. These results pave the way towards the realization of more practical and compact lasers.

Scientists develop coating for enhanced thermal imaging through hot windows

A team of Rice University scientists has solved a long-standing problem in thermal imaging, making it possible to capture clear images of objects through hot windows. Imaging applications in a range of fields—such as security, surveillance, industrial research and diagnostics—could benefit from the research findings, which were reported in the journal Communications Engineering.

“Say you want to use to monitor in a high-temperature reactor chamber,” said Gururaj Naik, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice and corresponding author on the study. “The problem you’d be facing is that the thermal radiation emitted by the window itself overwhelms the camera, obscuring the view of objects on the other side.”

A possible solution could involve coating the window in a material that suppresses thermal light emission toward the camera, but this would also render the window opaque. To get around this issue, the researchers developed a coating that relies on an engineered asymmetry to filter out the thermal noise of a hot window, doubling the contrast of thermal imaging compared to conventional methods.

First electrically pumped, continuous-wave semiconductor laser advances silicon photonics integration

Scientists have developed the first electrically pumped continuous-wave semiconductor laser composed exclusively of elements from the fourth group of the periodic table—the “silicon group.”

Built from stacked ultrathin layers of germanium-tin and germanium-tin, this new laser is the first of its kind directly grown on a silicon wafer, opening up new possibilities for on-chip integrated photonics. The findings have been published in Nature Communications. The team includes researchers from Forschungszentrum Jülich, FZJ, the University of Stuttgart, and the Leibniz Institute for High Performance Microelectronics (IHP), together with their French partner CEA-Leti.

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things are driving the demand for increasingly powerful, energy-efficient hardware. Optical data transmission, with its ability to transfer vast amounts of data while minimizing , is already the preferred method for distances above 1 meter and is proving advantageous even for shorter distances. This development points towards future microchips featuring low-cost photonic integrated circuits (PICs), offering significant cost savings and improved performance.

Shape-changing device helps visually impaired people perform location task as well as sighted people

Water electrolysis is a cornerstone of global sustainable and renewable energy systems, facilitating the production of hydrogen fuel. This clean and versatile energy carrier can be utilized in various applications, such as chemical CO2 conversion, and electricity generation. Utilizing renewable energy sources such as solar and wind to power the electrolysis process may help reduce carbon emissions and promote the transition to a low-carbon economy.

The development of efficient and stable anode materials for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) is essential for advancing Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) water electrolysis technology. OER is a key electrochemical reaction that generates oxygen gas (O₂) from water (H₂O) or hydroxide ions (OH⁻) during water splitting.

This seemingly simple reaction is crucial in energy conversion technologies like as it is hard to efficiently realize and a concurrent process to the wanted hydrogen production. Iridium (Ir)-based materials, particularly amorphous hydrous oxide (am-hydr-IrOx), are at the forefront of this research due to their high activity. However, their application is limited by high dissolution rates of the precious iridium.

Novel technique uses magnetic fields to probe long-term aging in batteries

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have developed and demonstrated an innovative set of methods to evaluate long-term aging in real-world battery cells. The methods, described in a recent paper, are based on a phenomenon called nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), commonly used in medical imaging. This is the first-ever NMRspectroscopy capability that can track in fine detail how the chemistry of commercial pouch battery cells evolves over years of operation.

Argonne develops a novel method that uses nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to characterize the chemical evolution inside battery cells over years of operation.

Reducing Risk of Opioid Addiction While Alleviating Pain

Increasing the levels of chemicals naturally produced in the body called endocannabinoids may thwart the highly addictive nature of opioids such as morphine and oxycodone while maintaining the drugs’ ability to relieve pain, according to Weill Cornell Medicine investigators working with researchers from The Center for Youth Mental Health at NewYork-Presbyterian. Endocannabinoids bind to cannabinoid receptors throughout the body that regulate activities, such as learning and memory, emotions, sleep, immune response and appetite.

Opioids prescribed to control pain can become addictive because they not only dull pain, but also produce a sense of euphoria. The preclinical study, published Nov. 29 in Science Advances, may lead to a new type of therapeutic that could be taken with an opioid regimen to only reduce the rewarding aspect of opioids.

In 2023, opioid abuse or overuse was responsible for more than 80,000 deaths, fueling a national crisis, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Illegal recreational drugs were ultimately responsible for many deaths, but not all of them. “When someone has surgery and is taking opioids for pain management, there’s always a risk of developing a dependence on these drugs,” said senior author Dr. Francis Lee, chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine and psychiatrist-in-chief at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.