Lifeboat Foundation

Circa 2017 A magnonic holographic matrix could be used to essentially treat the water in a solid-state way.

Researchers at the University of Sydney have applied quantum techniques to understanding the electrolysis of water, which is the application of an electric current to H₂O to produce the constituent elements hydrogen and oxygen.

They found that electrons can ‘tunnel’ through barriers in aqueous solutions away from the electrodes, neutralising ions of impurities in that water. This can be detected in changes in current, which has applications for biosensing, the detection of biological elements in solution.

Continue reading “Quantum tunnelling in water opens the way to improved biosensing” »

The coldest chemical reaction in the known universe took place in what appears to be a chaotic mess of lasers. The appearance deceives: Deep within that painstakingly organized chaos, in temperatures millions of times colder than interstellar space, Kang-Kuen Ni achieved a feat of precision. Forcing two ultracold molecules to meet and react, she broke and formed the coldest bonds in the history of molecular couplings.

“Probably in the next couple of years, we are the only lab that can do this,” said Ming-Guang Hu, a postdoctoral scholar in the Ni lab and first author on their paper published today in Science. Five years ago, Ni, the Morris Kahn Associate Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and a pioneer of ultracold chemistry, set out to build a new apparatus that could achieve the lowest temperature chemical reactions of any currently available technology. But they couldn’t be sure their intricate engineering would work.

Now, they not only performed the coldest reaction yet, they discovered their new apparatus can do something even they did not predict. In such intense cold—500 nanokelvin or just a few millionths of a degree above absolute zero—their molecules slowed to such glacial speeds, Ni and her team could see something no one has been able to see before: the moment when two molecules meet to form two new molecules. In essence, they captured a chemical reaction in its most critical and elusive act.

Biochemical makeover allows Escherichia coli to use carbon dioxide as a building block for its cells.

Julian Melchiorri’s “Exhale” is a piece of green lighting where algae help purify air. The prototype chandelier was recently at the London Design Festival.

Scientists have solved the structure of one of the key components of photosynthesis, a discovery that could lead to photosynthesis being ‘redesigned’ to achieve higher yields and meet urgent food security needs.

The study, led by the University of Sheffield and published today in the journal Nature, reveals the structure of cytochrome b6f — the protein complex that significantly influences plant growth via photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis is the foundation of life on Earth providing the food, oxygen and energy that sustains the biosphere and human civilisation.

Increases in life span are one of the greatest success stories of modern society. Yet, while most of us can expect to live longer, we are spending more years in ill health. Reducing this period of ill health at the end of life is the main aim of a group of scientists known as biogerontologists.

By studying aging in animals, including fruit flies, worms, and rodents, biogerontologists have identified biological phenomena involved with aging that all these organisms share. And some of these biological processes may also regulate aging in humans.

Scientists attempting to understand and improve the aging process have identified many molecules that appear to improve aging in these animals (although evidence in humans remains scant). These molecules include compounds found in grapes, apples, and even bacteria.

Chronic sleep loss could be linked to one sign of premature aging in the body, according to a new study published in Communications Biology. Using fitness tracker data, researchers showed that consumer sleep trackers can shine a light on the high costs of not getting enough sleep.

Growing evidence from mouse studies suggests that a healthy microbiome might improve poststroke outcomes.

Artificial muscles will power the soft robots and wearable devices of the future. But more needs to be understood about the underlying mechanics of these powerful structures in order to design and build new devices.

Now, researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have uncovered some of the fundamental physical properties of artificial muscle fibers.

“Thin soft filaments that can easily stretch, bend, twist or shear are capable of extreme deformations that lead to knot-like, braid-like or loop-like structures that can store or release energy easily,” said L. Mahadevan, the Lola England de Valpine Professor of Applied Mathematics, of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and of Physics. “This has been exploited by a number of experimental groups recently to create prototypical artificial muscle fibers. But how the topology, geometry and mechanics of these slender fibers come together during this process was not completely clear. Our study explains the theoretical principles underlying these shape transformations, and sheds light on the underlying design principles.”