Lifeboat Foundation

Scientists from UNSW Sydney have demonstrated a novel technique for creating tiny 3D materials that could eventually make fuel cells like hydrogen batteries cheaper and more sustainable.

In the study published in Science Advances, researchers from the School of Chemistry at UNSW Science show it’s possible to sequentially “grow” interconnected hierarchical structures in 3D at the nanoscale which have unique chemical and physical properties to support energy conversion reactions.

In chemistry, hierarchical structures are configurations of units like molecules within an organization of other units that themselves may be ordered. Similar phenomena can be seen in the natural world, like in flower petals and tree branches. But where these structures have extraordinary potential is at a level beyond the visibility of the human eye—at the nanoscale.

Plasma is matter that is so hot that the electrons are separated from atoms. The electrons float freely and the atoms become ions. This creates an ionized gas—plasma—that makes up nearly all of the visible universe. Recent research shows that magnetic fields can spontaneously emerge in a plasma. This can happen if the plasma has a temperature anisotropy—temperature that is different along different spatial directions.

This mechanism is known as the Weibel instability. It was predicted by plasma theorist Eric Weibel more than six decades ago but only now has been unambiguously observed in the laboratory. New research, now published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that this process can convert a significant fraction of the energy stored in the temperature anisotropy into magnetic field energy. It also finds that the Weibel instability could be a source of magnetic fields that permeate throughout the cosmos.

The matter in our observable universe is plasma state and it is magnetized. Magnetic fields at the micro-gauss level (about a millionth of the Earth’s magnetic fields) permeate the galaxies. These magnetic fields are thought to be amplified from weak seed fields by the spiral motion of the galaxies, known as the galactic dynamo. How the seed magnetic fields are created is a longstanding question in astrophysics.

Combining a map of gene regulatory sites with disease-associated loci has uncovered a new genetic risk factor of adult-onset macular degeneration (AMD), according to a new study publishing January 17 in the open access journal PLOS Biology by Ran Elkon and Ruth Ashery-Padan of Tel Aviv University, Israel, and colleagues. The finding advances the understanding of the leading cause of visual impairment in adults.

AMD is caused by dysfunction in the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE), a layer of tissue sandwiched between the photoreceptors that receive light, and the choriocapillaris, which nourishes the retina. Because of the central importance of the RPE in AMD, the authors began by exploring a transcription factor (a protein that regulates specific genes) called LHX2 which, based on the team’s analysis of mouse mutants, is central to RPE development. Knocking down LHX2 activity in RPE derived from human stem cells, they found that most affected genes were down-regulated, indicating that LHX2’s role was likely that of a transcriptional activator, binding to regulatory sites on the genome to increase activity of other genes.

The authors found that one affected gene, called OTX2, collaborated with LHX2 to regulate many genes in the RPE. By mapping the genomic sites that OTX2 and LHX2 could bind to, they showed that 68% of those that bound LHX2 were also bound by OTX2 (864 sites in all), suggesting they likely work together to promote the activity of a large suite of genes involved in RPE development and function.

Summary: Study uncovers new genetic risk factors for age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of vision loss in adults.

Source: PLOS

Combining a map of gene regulatory sites with disease-associated loci has uncovered a new genetic risk factor of adult-onset macular degeneration (AMD), according to a new study publishing January 17 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Ran Elkon and Ruth Ashery-Padan of Tel Aviv University, Israel, and colleagues.

Imagine you’re driving your Tesla, or an equivalent electric car, down the highway. Your battery is running low. Sure, you could pull off at the next exit and spend time, and energy, searching for a recharging station. Or you could simply change lanes and drive over special charging strips embedded in the road.

That’s the vision of Khurram Afridi, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering. He’s pioneering an innovative approach for the wireless charging of electric vehicles, autonomous forklifts and other mobile machines, while they remain in motion.

Continue reading “Research paves way for wireless charging of electric vehicles” »

It’s not just information that can move from one point in the universe to another, without passing through the space in between.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDM8bLfNsNQ

Private searches.

Exoplanet LH 475b has a radius about 99 percent the size of Earth’s, but that rocky radius is surrounded by either a choking atmosphere of carbon dioxide — or the vacuum of space, according to recent observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). But it’s definitely a planet, and that’s something astronomers couldn’t say for sure until now.

Astronomer Jacob Lustig-Yeager, of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, presented their work at the 241^st meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

Summary: A new biological sensor sends electrical information in response to the presence of an odor which the robot is able to detect and interpret.

Source: Tel Aviv University.

A new technological development by Tel Aviv University has made it possible for a robot to smell using a biological sensor. The sensor sends electrical signals as a response to the presence of a nearby odor, which the robot can detect and interpret.