305 articles from MONDAY 19.4.2021

Ocean currents modulate oxygen content at the equator

Due to global warming, not only the temperatures in the atmosphere and in the ocean are rising, but also winds and ocean currents as well as the oxygen distribution in the ocean are changing. For example, the oxygen content in the ocean has decreased globally by about 2% in the last 60 years, particularly strong in the tropical oceans. However, these regions are characterized by a complex system...

Sustainable chemical synthesis with platinum

Researchers used platinum and aluminum compounds to create a catalyst which enables certain chemical reactions to occur more efficiently than ever before. The catalyst could significantly reduce energy usage in various industrial and pharmaceutical processes. It also allows for a wider range of sustainable sources to feed the processes, which could reduce the demand for fossil fuels required by...

MicroMESH: A microscopic polymeric network to attack glioblastoma multiforme

A micro-sized polymeric net wrapping around brain tumors, just like a fishing net around a shoal of fish: this is microMESH, a new nanomedicine device capable of conforming around the surface of tumor masses and efficiently delivering drugs. It has been described by the researchers of the IIT—Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology) in Nature Nanotechnology. The new...

The challenge of presenting novel nanostructural bimetallic composite for catalysis

Solid-matrix catalysts called heterogeneous catalysts are among the most widespread industrial applications in reducing toxic gases, unburned fuel, and particulate matter in the exhaust stream from the combustion chamber. They are also used in energy, chemical, and pharmaceutical sectors, i.e., production of biodiesel, polymers, biomass/waste conversion into valuable products, and many others...

How scientists are 'looking' inside asteroids

Asteroids can pose a threat to life on Earth but are also a valuable source of resources to make fuel or water to aid deep space exploration. Devoid of geological and atmospheric processes, these space rocks provide a window onto the evolution of the solar system. But to really understand their secrets, scientists must know what's inside them.

Tracking topological conditions in graphene

Scientists have been able to demonstrate that graphene nanostructures can be generated by annealing of a nanostructured silicon carbide crystal for a few years. "These two-dimensional, spatially strongly restricted carbon bands exhibit a vanishingly small electrical resistance even at room temperature. They are thus ballistic," explains Prof. Dr. Christoph Tegenkamp, Head of the Professorship of...

Ice cap study promises new prospects for accurate local climate projections

New, detailed study of the Renland Ice Cap offers the possibility of modelling other smaller ice caps and glaciers with much greater accuracy than hitherto. The study combined airborne radar data to determine the thickness of the ice cap with on-site measurements of the thickness of the ice cap and satellite data. Researchers gathered data from the ice cap in 2015, and this work has now come to...

Your neighborhood may affect your brain health

Middle-age and older people living in more disadvantaged neighborhoods -- areas with higher poverty levels and fewer educational and employment opportunities--had more brain shrinkage on brain scans and showed faster decline on cognitive tests than people living in neighborhoods with fewer disadvantages, according to a new study.

Defects in a specific cell type may cause ulcerative colitis

There are many variants of 'goblet cells' in the intestines and they seem to have different functions, according to a new study. The study indicates that defects in goblet cells of a particular type may be a factor contributing to ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease.