Although stopping climate change is challenging, it is imperative to slow it down as soon as possible by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But how can we meet the growing energy demand while reducing our use of polluting fossil fuels? Geothermal energy is an efficient, non-polluting solution but in certain cases geothermal operations must be handled with care. Reaching the most powerful sources of available energy means drilling deep into the layers of the earth's crust to find geothermal fluids with high energy content (hot water and gas released by magma).
Adding sewage sludge on soils does not promote antibiotic resistance, a study from University of Gothenburg shows.
Some of the antibiotics we use end up in sewage sludge, together with a variety of antibiotic resistant bacteria present in feces. Therefore, there is a widespread concern that spreading sludge on farmland would contribute to the development or spread of antibiotic resistance.
Kanazawa, Japan - The need to efficiently harvest solar energy for a more sustainable future is increasingly becoming accepted across the globe. A new family of solar cells based on perovskites--materials with a particular crystal structure--is now competing with conventional silicon materials to satisfy the demand in this area.
Quantum process tomography is often used to completely characterize an unknown quantum process. However, it may lead to an unphysical process matrix, which will cause the loss of information with respect to the tomography result. Professor Xian-Min Jin and his group from Center for Quantum Information Technologies in Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) reported a new quantum process tomography method which is based on convex optimization.
Tsukuba, Japan - The goal of most cancers is to grow and take over the host's body. The immune system has long been in the crosshairs of cancer researchers, as it plays a central role in defending the human body from foreign invasion. In a new study, researchers from the University of Tsukuba have revealed that tumors that produce a protein called soluble CD155 accumulate in the lungs of mice by disabling the immune system of the animals.
The quantum geometric tensor represents a central and ubiquitous concept in quantum mechanics, by characterizing the geometric structure of the Hilbert space. It is responsible to a number of striking phenomena, such as quantum phase transitions and novel topological matters, and has a wide range of applications in the area of quantum information and quantum metrology.
Patients who take statins in order to lower their blood cholesterol levels often complain about muscle problems, typically muscle pain. But why this occurs is still largely unresolved. In a recent study, the pharmaceutical scientists Professor Alexandra K. Kiemer und Jessica Hoppstädter from Saarland University have identified a potential causal relationship. According to the results of their work, statins cause enhanced production of a protein called 'GILZ' that impairs muscle cell function.
Researchers at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel have discovered a "clockwork" mechanism that controls cell division in bacteria. In two publications, in "Nature Communications" und "PNAS", they report how a small signaling molecule starts the "clock", which informs the cell about the right time to reproduce.
Reaching room-temperature superconductivity is one of the biggest dreams in physics. Its discovery would bring a technological revolution by providing electrical transport with no loss, ultra efficient electrical engines or generators, as well as the possibility of creating huge magnetic fields without cooling. The recent discoveries of superconductivity first at 200 kelvin in hydrogen sulfide and later at 250 kelvin in LaH10 have spurred attention to these materials, bringing hopes for reaching room temperatures soon.
The development of a quantum computer that can solve problems, which classical computers can only solve with great effort or not at all - this is the goal currently being pursued by an ever-growing number of research teams worldwide. The reason: Quantum effects, which originate from the world of the smallest particles and structures, enable many new technological applications. So-called superconductors, which allow for processing information and signals according to the laws of quantum mechanics, are considered to be promising components for realizing quantum computers.