Pump-probe spectroscopy is a versatile technique to explore ultrafast dynamics on the femtosecond timescale. Here the authors report a pump-probe experiment and quantum modeling combined study revealing dynamics of collective polaritonic states that are formed between a molecular photoswitch and plasmonic nanoantennas.
A new technique produces perovskite nanocrystals right where they’re needed, so the exceedingly delicate materials can be integrated into nanoscale.
The nanoscale refers to a length scale that is extremely small, typically on the order of nanometers (nm), which is one billionth of a meter. At this scale, materials and systems exhibit unique properties and behaviors that are different from those observed at larger length scales. The prefix “nano-” is derived from the Greek word “nanos,” which means “dwarf” or “very small.” Nanoscale phenomena are relevant to many fields, including materials science, chemistry, biology, and physics.
Scientists at Leipzig University, in collaboration with colleagues at Vilnius University in Lithuania, have developed a new method to measure the smallest twists and torques of molecules within milliseconds. The method makes it possible to track the gene recognition of CRISPR-Cas protein complexes, also known as “genetic scissors”, in real time and with the highest resolution. With the data obtained, the recognition process can be accurately characterised and modelled to improve the precision of the genetic scissors. The results obtained by the team led by Professor Ralf Seidel and Dominik Kauert from the Faculty of Physics and Earth Sciences have now been published in the prestigious journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology.
When bacteria are attacked by a virus, they can defend themselves with a mechanism that fends off the genetic material introduced by the intruder. The key is CRISPR-Cas protein complexes. It is only in the last decade that their function for adaptive immunity in microorganisms has been discovered and elucidated. With the help of an embedded RNA, the CRISPR complexes recognize a short sequence in the attacker’s DNA. The mechanism of sequence recognition by RNA has since been used to selectively switch off and modify genes in any organism. This discovery revolutionized genetic engineering and was already honored in 2020 with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna.
Occasionally, however, CRISPR complexes also react to gene segments that differ slightly from the sequence specified by the RNA. This leads to undesirable side effects in medical applications. “The causes of this are not yet well understood, as the process could not be observed directly until now,” says Dominik Kauert, who worked on the project as a PhD student.
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The messaging software company Slack sees massive potential in generative AI and large language models, allowing more automation to improve workplace productivity and efficiency, said Steve Wood, Slack’s SVP, product management at the VentureBeat Transform 2023 conference on Tuesday.
“For me, I think automation, integration and AI are going to have a profound impact on how we experience software going forward,” Wood said in his panel discussion with Brian Evergreen, founder and CEO of the Profitable Good Company, a leadership advisory firm.
(NewsNation) — Flying cars are coming sooner than you think.
Companies are looking to turn a decades-old concept, reminiscent of “The Jetsons,” into reality in just a few short years. Morgan Stanley predicts “the urban air mobility market could be worth more than $1 trillion by 2040,” according to a report from Business Insider.
Start-ups all over the world are working to get their flying cars up and running.
A newly discovered pathway for formaldehyde oxidation could be an important general mechanism in tropospheric chemistry. In the new route, absorption of sunlight allows organic molecules to react with atmospheric oxygen in a reaction that had not previously been observed. According to the researchers behind the findings, many compounds in the atmosphere are likely to undergo this process, particularly at low altitudes.
‘We discovered a new way molecules in the atmosphere can react,’ says Scott Kable at the University of New South Wales in Australia. He explains that in this process – called photophysical oxidation (PPO) – a molecule absorbs sunlight and before it breaks into fragments, it reacts with atmospheric oxygen to produce free radicals. In the common photochemical oxidation (PCO) reaction, which has been known for several decades, the molecules are first split by sunlight and then the fragments react with oxygen. ‘Importantly, the free radical fragments formed in the first step of PCO can be measured separately in the atmosphere or a lab,’ points out Kable.
The team demonstrated the PPO mechanism using formaldehyde as a model system. Meredith Jordan from the University of Sydney mentions that many organic compounds released to the environment turn into formaldehyde on their way to being oxidised to carbon dioxide. ‘But most importantly for our research, the spectroscopy and photochemistry of this compound are very well understood,’ she says. ‘Without this detailed pre-existing knowledge, we wouldn’t have been able to find the evidence of PPO.’
Tesla, Inc. TSLA Cybertruck updates, especially from influencers and the company’s fanbase, have been coming in thick and fast. Future Fund Managing Partner Gary Black is an analyst who is upbeat about the prospects for the electric pickup truck.
What Happened: Cybertruck deliveries are likely to “far exceed” Wall Street estimates, said Black in a tweet. He noted that the current consensus delivery estimates for 2024 and 2025 are 91,000 units and 160,000 units, respectively.
Following the ramp-up, Tesla is planning for annual production of 375,000 units, the analyst said. The consensus estimates are at least 200,000 per year short, he added.
I’m excited to share my latest article with Aporia Magazine, where I’m writing a series of stories on transhumanism. My latest article, on AI and religion, is now out.
Written by Zoltan Istvan.
A consensus of 350 top AI experts believes that by 2060 engineers could create a superintelligence to rival the human mind. This machine intelligence might create complex symphonies, direct blockbuster movies and run market-beating companies. But would it be sophisticated enough to understand spirituality, practice a religion or commune with a higher power?
Continue reading “How will religions deal with an omnipotent AI?” »
NASA’s Perseverance rover has found a diverse menagerie of organic molecules in a Martian crater, a new study reports.
Organic compounds are molecules composed of carbon, and often include other elements such as hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur. Previously, scientists had detected several types of organic molecules of Martian origin — in meteorites blasted off Mars by cosmic impacts that landed on Earth, and in Gale Crater on the Red Planet, which NASA’s Curiosity rover has been exploring since 2012.
The Emerald Ash Borer Network says that once the beetles reach their adult stage, the metallic green bugs will eat up foliage on ash trees – their only food source. But it’s the larvae that eat up the inner bark of ash trees and prevent nutrients and water from circulating.
Once that happens, Littleton officials said the tree that’s been attacked becomes structurally unsound and will die within just a few years.
It’s believed that the insects were introduced to the U.S. from Asia after tagging along on solid wood packing material, the network said. They were first discovered in the U.S. near Detroit in 2002, and have since expanded to at least 35 states as well as at least five Canadian provinces. Ash trees will typically lose most of their canopy within two years of an infestation and die within three to four years, the National Invasive Species Information Center says.
