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Archive for the ‘chemistry’ category: Page 129

Feb 22, 2023

Neuromorphic camera and machine learning aid nanoscopic imaging

Posted by in categories: chemistry, information science, nanotechnology, robotics/AI

In a new study, researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) show how a brain-inspired image sensor can go beyond the diffraction limit of light to detect miniscule objects such as cellular components or nanoparticles invisible to current microscopes. Their novel technique, which combines optical microscopy with a neuromorphic camera and machine learning algorithms, presents a major step forward in pinpointing objects smaller than 50 nanometers in size. The results are published in Nature Nanotechnology.

Since the invention of optical microscopes, scientists have strived to surpass a barrier called the , which means that the microscope cannot distinguish between two objects if they are smaller than a certain size (typically 200–300 nanometers).

Their efforts have largely focused on either modifying the molecules being imaged, or developing better illumination strategies—some of which led to the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. “But very few have actually tried to use the detector itself to try and surpass this detection limit,” says Deepak Nair, Associate Professor at the Center for Neuroscience (CNS), IISc, and corresponding author of the study.

Feb 21, 2023

Wearable Electronics Breakthrough: A Revolutionary Electrochemical Transistor

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, computing, wearables

A multidisciplinary Northwestern University research team has created a groundbreaking transistor that is expected to be optimal for bioelectronics that are high-performance, lightweight, and flexible.

The new electrochemical transistor is compatible with both blood and water and has the ability to amplify significant signals, making it highly beneficial for biomedical sensing. This transistor could make it possible to develop wearable devices that can perform on-site signal processing right at the biology-device interface. Some potential applications include monitoring heart rate and levels of sodium and potassium in the blood, as well as tracking eye movements to study sleep disorders.

“All modern electronics use transistors, which rapidly turn current on and off,” said Tobin J. Marks, a co-corresponding author of the study. “Here we use chemistry to enhance the switching. Our electrochemical transistor takes performance to a totally new level. You have all the properties of a conventional transistor but far higher transconductance (a measure of the amplification it can deliver), ultra-stable cycling of the switching properties, a small footprint that can enable high-density integration, and easy, low-cost fabrication.”

Feb 21, 2023

The mind-blowing science behind how our brains shape reality

Posted by in categories: chemistry, computing, neuroscience, science

Year 2021 Basically dmt may be a sorta chemical based computer that shapes our reality which could help understand why sometimes people have disorders of reality perception.


Do we see the world as it really is, or are we creating our own reality? We delve into the neuroscience behind the world that we experience.

Feb 21, 2023

Epigenetic and social factors both predict aging and health, but new research suggests one might be stronger

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, genetics, life extension, neuroscience

Can we objectively tell how fast we are aging? With a good measure, scientists might be able to change our rate of aging to live longer and healthier lives. Researchers know that some people age faster than others and have been trying to concisely measure the internal physiological changes that lead to deteriorating health with age.

For years, researchers have been using clinical factors normally collected at physicals, like hypertension, cholesterol and weight, as indicators to predict aging. The idea was that these measures could determine whether someone is a fast or slow ager at any point in their . But more recently, researchers have theorized that there are other biological markers that reflect aging at the molecular and cellular level. This includes modifications to a person’s genetic material itself, or epigenetics.

Continue reading “Epigenetic and social factors both predict aging and health, but new research suggests one might be stronger” »

Feb 21, 2023

Pass the NaCl: Scientists create new types of salt crystals that could exist on Europa

Posted by in categories: alien life, chemistry

A prime target in the search for extraterrestrial life is Europa, a moon of Jupiter that’s covered with a sheet of salty ice. But what kind of salt is there? Researchers say they’ve created a new kind of salt crystal that could fill the bill, and perhaps raise hopes for finding life under the ice.

This salt crystal is both exotic and common: It’s actually table salt — also known as sodium chloride, with the chemical formula NaCl — but bound up with water molecules to form a hydrate that doesn’t exist naturally on Earth.

Feb 20, 2023

Researchers propose new mechanism for early chemical evolution

Posted by in categories: chemistry, evolution, space

Scientists from The Ohio State University have a new theory about how the building blocks of life—the many proteins, carbohydrates, lipids and nucleic acids that compose every organism on Earth—may have evolved to favor a certain kind of molecular structure.

It has to do with a concept called chirality. A geometric property inherent to certain , chirality can dictate a molecule’s shape, chemical reactivity, and how it interacts with other matter. Chirality is also sometimes referred to as handedness, as it can be best described as the dichotomy between our hands: Though they are not identical, the right and the left hand are mirror images of each other, and can’t be superimposed, or exactly overlaid on one another.

In the journal ACS Earth and Space Chemistry, researchers now propose a new model of how the molecules of life may have developed their “handedness.”

Feb 20, 2023

Supramolecular assembly assists the synthesis of highly active carbon-nitrogen-based photo/electrocatalysts

Posted by in categories: chemistry, energy

In a paper published in the journal National Science Open, the morphology and structure regulation methods of supramolecular assembly are summarized. Then, recent progresses of supramolecular assembly derived carbon-nitrogen-based materials for photo/electrocatalysis are discussed. Furthermore, the developments and challenges in future are prospected.

The sustainable energy storage and conversion technologies based on redox reactions are promising pathway to solve . However, there is still lack of low-cost, ecofriendly and highly active photo/electrocatalysts, which play a crucial role in the .

In this review, the author first summarized the effects of temperature, solvent type, pH value and monomer on the morphology and structure of the supramolecular assembly. Then, the effects of morphology and structure regulation on the physicochemical properties of supramolecular assembly-derived carbon-nitrogen-based materials were discussed, which determined the essential properties of catalysts for a specific photo/electrocatalytic reaction.

Feb 20, 2023

Just an Ordinary Material? The Last Mysteries of Mica

Posted by in categories: chemistry, materials

A well-known mineral is once again the center of attention thanks to applications in electronics: the Vienna University of Technology shows that mica still possesses some surprises.

At first glance, mica appears to be quite ordinary: it is a prevalent mineral found in materials like granite and has undergone extensive examination from geological, chemical, and technical standpoints.

At first, it may seem that there’s nothing groundbreaking that can be uncovered about such a commonplace material. However, a team from the Vienna University of Technology has recently published a study in Nature Communications.

Feb 19, 2023

Surpassing All Existing Designs — Researchers Develop High-Voltage Microbattery With Exceptional Energy and Power Density

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, chemistry, military

A persistent technological challenge has been the difficulty in scaling down the electrochemical performance of large-format batteries to smaller, microscale power sources, hindering their ability to power microdevices, microrobots, and implantable medical devices. However, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have overcome this challenge by developing a high-voltage microbattery (9 V) with exceptional energy and power density, unparalleled by any existing battery design.

Material Science and Engineering Professor Paul Braun (Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering, Materials Research Laboratory Director), Dr. Sungbong Kim (Postdoc, MatSE, current assistant professor at Korea Military Academy, co-first author), and Arghya Patra (Graduate Student, MatSE, MRL, co-first author) recently published a paper detailing their findings in Cell Reports.

<em>Cell Reports</em> is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that published research papers that report new biological insight across a broad range of disciplines within the life sciences. Established in 2012, it is the first open access journal published by Cell Press, an imprint of Elsevier.

Feb 18, 2023

A molecular close-up

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, quantum physics

Imagine going for an MRI scan of your knee. This scan measures the density of water molecules present in your knee, at a resolution of about one cubic millimeter – which is great for determining whether, for example, a meniscus in the knee is torn. But what if you need to investigate the structural data of a single molecule that’s five cubic nanometers, or about ten trillion times smaller than the best resolution current MRI scanners are capable of producing? That’s the goal for Dr. Amit Finkler of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Chemical and Biological Physics Department.

In a recent study (Physical Review Applied, “Mapping Single Electron Spins with Magnetic Tomography”), Finkler, PhD student Dan Yudilevich and their collaborators from the University of Stuttgart, Germany, have managed to take a giant step in that direction, demonstrating a novel method for imaging individual electrons. The method, now in its initial stages, might one day be applicable to imaging various kinds of molecules, which could revolutionize the development of pharmaceuticals and the characterization of quantum materials.

The experimental set-up: A 30-micron-thick diamond membrane with one sensor, on average, at the top of each column, magnified 2,640 times (top) and 32,650 times (bottom)