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Brain computer interface turns mental handwriting into text on screen
Researchers have, for the first time, decoded the neural signals associated with writing letters, then displayed typed versions of these letters in real time. They hope their invention could one day help people with paralysis communicate.
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Scientists uncover how resistance proteins protect plants from pathogens
A joint team at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Tsinghua University recently investigated the molecular mechanism by which the ZAR1 resistosome activates plant immunity.
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Building molecules like Tinkertoys? A breakthrough study may pave the way
University of Chicago Asst. Prof. Mark Levin and his team have discovered a way to create new molecules by cutting nitrogen atoms from molecules.
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An enzyme system for the hydrogen industry
An enzyme could make a dream come true for the energy industry: It can efficiently produce hydrogen using electricity and can also generate electricity from hydrogen. The enzyme is protected by embedding it in a polymer. An international research team with significant participation of scientists from Technical University of Munich (TUM) has presented the system in the renowned science journal Nature Catalysis.
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Efficiently smuggling drugs into cells
A new, patented method called Progressive Mechanoporation makes it possible to mechanically disrupt the membranes of cells for a short time period and let drugs or genes inside cells. In this way, researchers can test new therapies more easily than before.
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Giant sea lizard fossil shows diversity of life before asteroid hit
Scientists have identified the fossil of a giant mosasaur in Morocco that grew up to 8 metres long.
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Interactive typeface for digital text
A team of researchers at the Centre for Cognitive Science at TU Darmstadt has developed a computer font that adapts its appearance based on the user's interaction with the text. "AdaptiFont" measures a user's reading speed and interactively changes the font's shape seamlessly and continuously to allow the user to read text more easily. By employing an artificial intelligence algorithm, new personalized fonts are generated on the fly in such a way that they increase an individual reader's reading speed.
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Low levels of a simple sugar -- A new biomarker for severe MS?
Researchers from the ECRC in Berlin, together with scientists from the United States and Canada, have discovered a sugar molecule whose levels are reduced in the blood of patients with particularly severe multiple sclerosis. Their discovery could pave the way for a new therapeutic approach, the team reports in medical journal JAMA Neurology.
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Scientists design new drug compound to stop malaria in its tracks
Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute and the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis have designed a drug-like compound which effectively blocks a critical step in the malaria parasite life cycle and are working to develop this compound into a potential first of its kind malaria treatment.
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NUS scientists create a new type of intelligent material
Researchers from the National University of Singapore have created a new class of intelligent materials. It has the structure of a two-dimensional (2D) material, but behaves like an electrolyte - and could be a new way to deliver drugs within the body.
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A new bridge between the geometry of fractals and the dynamics of partial synchronization
In mathematics, simple equations can generate a complex evolution in time and intriguing patterns in space. One famous example of this is the Mandelbrot set, named after the French-American mathematician of Polish origin, Benoit B. Mandelbrot (1924-2010), the most studied fractal. This set is based on a single quadratic equation with only one parameter and one variable. The fascinating fractal patterns of the Mandelbrot set have attracted attention far beyond mathematics.
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Eco-friendly device developed at UL, Ireland detects real-time pipe damage
Eco-friendly device developed at University of Limerick in Ireland detects real-time pipe damage and could help to save water.
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Young adults vastly more affected by COVID pandemic in Ireland than older adults
A new study from Trinity College Dublin investigating the impact of the COVID pandemic on young adults finds that they are vastly more affected than older people, and the reverberations of the disruption to some will last decades.
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New method for producing synthetic DNA
Chemically synthesized short DNA sequences are extremely important ingredients with countless uses in research laboratories, hospitals and in industry, like in detecting COVID-19. Phosporamidites are necessary building blocks in the production of DNA sequences, but break quickly. Researchers from Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO) and Department of Chemistry at Aarhus University have developed a new patented way to efficiently manufacture the unstable building blocks immediately before they are to be used and thus streamline DNA production
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Excitation spectral microscopy integrates multi-target imaging and quantitative biosensing
The multiplexing capability of fluorescence microscopy provides valuable means for interrogating complex intracellular dynamics. Scientists from UC-Berkeley demonstrated that excitation spectral microscopy can integrate multi-target imaging of up to 6 subcellular structures with quantitative imaging of fluorescent biosensors in live cells. Among other results, they elucidated the evolution of the mitochondrial matrix pH in the complex, Parkin-mediated mitophagy pathway. This new spectral imaging scheme provides exceptional opportunities for highly multiplexed, quantitative fluorescence microscopy.
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Researchers develop methods to understand how tb consumes its favourite foods
Tuberculosis is a deadly yet curable infectious disease caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis which remains the second leading cause of infectious death globally. According to the World Health Organization, a total of 1.4 million people died from tuberculosis in 2019.
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10 years after obesity surgery: How did life turn out?
In a new study from Lund University and the University of Gothenburg, patients were interviewed about their experiences ten years after undergoing obesity surgery. The results show that the effect on eating and weight regulation persisted, whereas other problems, such as feelings of guilt about still not being healthy enough, remained.
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A hairpin to fight cancer
The inhibition of pathological protein-protein interactions is a promising approach for treating a large number of diseases, including many forms of cancer. A team of researchers has now developed a bicyclic peptide that binds to beta-catenin--a protein associated with certain types of tumor. The secret of their success is the cyclic nature and the hairpin shape of the peptide, which mimics a natural protein structure, they report in the journal Angewandte Chemie.
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Computer designs magnonic devices
Magnonic devices have the potential to revolutionize the electronics industry. Qi Wang, Andrii Chumak from University of Vienna and Philipp Pirro from TU Kaiserslautern have largely accelerated the design of more versatile magnonic devices via a feedback-based computational algorithm. Their "inverse-design" of magnonic devices has now been published in Nature Communications.
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On the road to smart cities: Where smart vehicles stand and where they're going
With rapid advancements in network connectivity technology, such as 5G and 6G, intelligent vehicles with AI-enabled technology and an internet-of-vehicles could soon replace ad-hoc smart vehicular networks. However, the successful integration of smart vehicles with society requires adequate computing frameworks. Now, a global team of computer scientists takes stock of computing paradigms for vehicular environments, highlighting strengths, challenges, and future directions for research in this field.
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