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Blog – Page 5

Organoids have revolutionized science and medicine, providing platforms for disease modeling, drug testing, and understanding developmental processes. While not exact replicas of human organs, they offer significant insights.

The Siegert group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) presents a new model that reveals details of the developing nervous system’s response to viral infections, such as Rubella. This model could influence pharmaceutical testing, particularly benefiting drug safety for pregnant women.

Microglia are special cells in the human brain. Like a diligent ranger overseeing a forest and dealing with infestations and wildfires, scan the brain environment for germs and initiate an anti-inflammatory response to remove them. They also monitor the quantity of neurons () and their connections to ensure optimal brain function in adulthood.

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Nearly 16 million American adults have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but evidence suggests that more than 30% of them don’t respond well to stimulant medications like Ritalin and Adderall.

A new clinical trial provides a surprising explanation for why this may be the case: There are in how our are wired, including the chemical circuits responsible for memory and concentration, according to a new study co-led by the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) and performed at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center.

Our brain cells have different types of chemical receptors that work together to produce optimal performance of brain function. Differences in the balance of these receptors can help explain who is likely to benefit from Ritalin and other stimulant medications. That is the finding of the new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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In a recent study, researchers gained new insight into the lives of bacteria that survive by grouping together as if they were a multicellular organism. The organisms in the study are the only bacteria known to do this in this way, and studying them could help astrobiologists explain important steps in the evolution of life on Earth.

The work is published in the journal PLOS Biology.

The organisms in the study are known as multicellular magnetotactic bacteria (MMB). Being magnetotactic means that MMB are part of a select group of bacteria that orient their movement based on Earth’s magnetic field using tiny “compass needles” in their cells. As if that weren’t special enough, MMB also live bunched up in collections of cells that are considered by some scientists to exhibit “obligate” multicellularity, the trait on which the new study is focused.

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Physicists at TU Dortmund University have periodically driven a time crystal and discovered a remarkable variety of nonlinear dynamic phenomena, ranging from perfect synchronization to chaotic behavior within a single semiconductor structure. The team has now published its latest findings in the journal Nature Communications.

For their current research, Dr. Alex Greilich’s team from the Department of Physics utilized a highly robust time crystal, previously introduced in Nature Physics last year. The crystal, made of , was continuously illuminated with a laser during the initial experiment. This interaction caused a nuclear spin polarization, which in turn spontaneously generated oscillations, embodying the essence of a time crystal through periodic behavior under constant excitation.

In the newly published follow-up study, the team explored the dynamic phases of the time crystal. They illuminated the semiconductor periodically instead of continuously, while also varying the frequency of the periodic drive. The observed behavior of the time crystal, its , ranged from perfect to chaotic dynamics.

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Spintronics, an emerging field of technology, exploits the spin of electrons rather than their charge to process and store information. Spintronics could lead to faster, more power-efficient computers and memory devices. However, most spintronic systems require magnetic fields to control spin, which is challenging in ultracompact device integration due to unwanted interference between components. This new research provides a way to overcome this limitation.

As published in Materials Horizons, a research team led by the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) has introduced a novel method to control electron spin using only an . This could pave the way for the future development of ultra-compact, energy-efficient spintronic devices.

Their findings demonstrate how an emerging type of magnetic material, an altermagnetic bilayer, can host a novel mechanism called layer-spin locking, thus enabling all-electrical manipulation of spin currents at room temperature.

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Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) have developed an innovative method to study ultrafast magnetism in materials. They have shown the generation and application of magnetic field steps, in which a magnetic field is turned on in a matter of picoseconds.

The work has been published in Nature Photonics.

Magnetic fields are fundamental to controlling the magnetization of materials. Under static or slowly varying conditions, a material’s magnetization aligns with the external field like a compass needle. However, entirely new magnetization dynamics emerge when magnetic fields change on timescales—faster than the material’s response time.

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Researchers at the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) and at Florida International University report in the journal Science their insights on the emerging field of complex frequency excitations, a recently introduced scheme to control light, sound and other wave phenomena beyond conventional limits.

Based on this approach, they outline opportunities that advance fundamental understanding of wave-matter interactions and usher wave-based technologies into a new era.

In conventional light-wave-and sound-wave-based systems such as wireless cell phone technologies, microscopes, speakers and earphones, control over wave phenomena is limited by constraints, which stem from the fundamental properties of the materials used in these technologies.

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A team of researchers from University of Toronto Engineering has discovered hidden multi-dimensional side channels in existing quantum communication protocols.

The new side channels arise in quantum sources, which are the devices that generate the —typically photons—used to send secure messages. The finding could have important implications for quantum security.

“What makes quantum communication more secure than classical communication is that it makes use of a property of quantum mechanics known as conjugate states,” says Ph.D. student Amita Gnanapandithan, lead author on a paper published in Physical Review Letters.

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Scientists have developed a more stable platform for Majorana zero modes, exotic particles that could revolutionize quantum computing. Using a carefully engineered three-site Kitaev chain composed of quantum dots and superconducting links, the team achieved greater separation of MZMs, boosting th

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For the first time, scientists have characterized a promethium coordination complex, advancing the understanding of challenging lanthanide elements. Promethium, a rare earth element, is unique in that it lacks stable isotopes. As a result, it constantly decays, making it challenging to study. In

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