news 2020

By Birgit Baustädter Power cuts have a wide variety of causes. Mostly we think of damaged power lines due to wind and weather or unplanned power surges that overload the grid. But solar storms can also lead to them. Electricity is omnipresent in our lives. So omnipresent that we no longer even consciously perceive it.

An international team of scientists reveals the genetic makeup of the people who lived in the Caribbean between about 400 and 3,100 years ago-at once settling several archaeologic and anthropologic debates, illuminating present-day ancestries and reaching startling conclusions about Indigenous population sizes when Caribbean cultures were devastated by European colonialism beginning in the 1490s.

Researchers from TU Graz, Med Uni Graz and Uni Graz are working on a digital interactive information system that automatically tailors medical content to individuals and their needs. Additional Images for download at the end of the text Can this digital medium make predictions about the individual information needs of users, recognize their cognitive abilities, and use this data to convey high-quality medical content in a comprehensible and clear manner?

By Christoph Pelzl Researchers from TU Graz, Med Uni Graz and Uni Graz are working on a digital interactive information system that automatically tailors medical content to individuals and their needs. Additional Images for download at the end of the text Can this digital medium make predictions about the individual information needs of users, recognize their cognitive abilities, and use this data to convey high-quality medical content in a comprehensible and clear manner?

When T-cells of our immune system become active, tiny traction forces at the molecular level play an important role. They have now been studied at TU Wien. Highly complicated processes constantly take place in our body to keep pathogens in check: The T-cells of our immune system are busy searching for antigens - suspicious molecules that fit exactly into certain receptors of the T-cells like a key into a lock.

By Birgit Baustädter Neither hard like stone, nor soft like soil: transition rock is important for almost every construction project, but difficult to study. But this is now possible at the TU Graz. Transition rock is soft rock and hard soil; it is inhomogeneous, anisotropic and brittle. "This material can be found almost everywhere where building activities are undertaken.

A wide array of technologies, ranging from lasers and optical telecommunication to quantum computing rely on nonlinear optical interaction. Typically, these nonlinear interactions, which allow a beam of light, for example, to change its frequency, are implemented by bulk materials. In a new study an international research team led by the University of Vienna have shown that structures built around a single layer of graphene allow for strong optical nonlinearities that can convert light.

By Susanne Eigner Researchers from TU Graz and acib succeed in the first enzyme-driven biocatalytic synthesis of nucleic acid building blocks. This facilitates the development of antiviral agents and RNA-based therapeutics. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic and the associated intensive search for therapeutics and vaccines, the chemical substance class of nucleosides is experiencing an enormous increase in interest.

By Mag. Beate Mosing The researchers at the sensory laboratory of the Institute of Analytical Chemistry and Food Chemistry at TU Graz know that "taste" alone is by no means the only decisive factor for culinary enjoyment. "From a scientific point of view, we only distinguish between sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami in terms of taste.

By Christoph Pelzl The SABATLE project coordinated by TU Graz focuses on the sustainability and safety of redox flow technologies, which are of immanent importance for the stabilization of the power grid. The increasing use of battery technologies in the mobility sector and in stationary applications has been leading to increasing efforts in battery research of operational safety and battery recycling.

By Birgit Baustädter If our energy system is to become more eco-friendly, there is no way to avoid hydrogen as an energy carrier. Researchers around the world are certain of this. Hydrogen is the first element in the periodic table. Not only here does it occupy a prominent place, but also in the discussion about an eco-friendly energy system of the future.

Computational design of novel protein structures is a promising tool to make superior biological materials with tailor-made properties, new pharmaceuticals or complex fine chemicals. Over the last two years research in my group focused on developing methods to design and functionalize de novo proteins.

By Cornelia Kröpfl BA MA When cars drive autonomously, technical faults can be fatal. Can we trust technology? Researchers at Graz University of Technology are working on calculating and ultimately proving this dependability. 75 billion everyday objects - from the smart watch and the self-driven car to entire production plants in Industry 4.0 - are to be joined up by 2025.

By Dr. Daniela Müller Oil, gas and coal were yesterday. Hydrogen could be the key to a green future. Its versatility has made hydrogen a research core area at Graz University of Technology for 50 years. What was that again about hydrogen, symbol H, a chemical element in the periodic table? That made the Hindenburg explode, removes hair dye and powers a few vehicles? Usually very little of what we learnt at school is remembered about it, apart from the oxyhydrogen gas reaction.

By Cornelia Kröpfl BA MA 30 years ago, data security was a niche topic. Today, researchers at TU Graz are laying the foundations for a completely new way of thinking about security. Including future developments. Not so long ago, the mobile phone was primarily used to store contact data. Today, smartphones know where we are and what media we read.

The Unruh-effect connects quantum theory and relativity. Until now, it could not be measured. A new idea could change this - in a completely different way than ever before. Is the vaccum really empty? Not necessarily. This is one of the strange results obtained by connecting quantum theory and the theory of relativity: The Unruh effect suggests that if you fly through a quantum vacuum with extreme acceleration, the vacuum no longer looks like a vacuum: rather, it looks like a warm bath full of particles.

High-resolution mass spectrometry promotes new methods for analysis Humans are exposed to various environmental or dietary molecules that can attenuate or even increase the effect of therapeutic drugs. Studies on the industrial chemical bisphenol A and the phytoestrogen genistein, for example, have shown drug-exposome interactions.

By Susanne Eigner The Christian Doppler Laboratory for Technology-Guided Electronic Component Design and Characterization investigates ways to better control electromagnetic interactions in smart networked devices, especially in the 5G frequency range. In smartphones and many other complex, wirelessly networked devices, sophisticated technologies are used to integrate the individual electronic components into the housing.

What causes the weathering of the Mars moon Phobos? Results from TU Wien give new insights, soon a spacecraft will retrieve soil samples. Of course, there is no weather in our sense of the word in space - nevertheless, soil can also "weather" in the vacuum of space if it is constantly bombarded by high-energy particles, such as those emitted by the sun.

Crucial new technologies such as hydrogen production or carbon capture require new catalysts. Experiments show: It's not just the material that matters, but also its atomic surface structure. On the way to a CO2-neutral economy, we need to perfect a whole range of technologies - including the electrochemical extraction of hydrogen from water, fuel cells, or carbon capture.