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Study shows that microplastics do not contribute to the mobility of organic pollutants in agricultural soils In agriculture, large quantities of nanoand microplastics end up in the soil through compost, sewage sludge and the use of mulching foils. The plastic particles always carry various pollutants with them.
Researchers discover biomarkers that indicate early brain injury in extreme premature infants Extremely premature infants are at a high risk for brain damage. Researchers at the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna have now found possible targets for the early treatment of such damage outside the brain: Bacteria in the gut of premature infants may play a key role.
Quantum computers become ever more powerful, but how can we be sure that the answers they return are accurate? A team of physicists from Vienna, Innsbruck, Oxford, and Singapore solves this problem by letting quantum computers check each other. Quantum computers are advancing at a rapid pace and are already starting to push the limits of the world's largest supercomputers.
Nearby star-forming region yields clues to the formation of our solar system A region of active star formation in the constellation Ophiuchus gives astronomers new insights into the conditions in which our solar system was born, showing how it may have become enriched with short-lived radioactive elements.
Researchers at the University of Vienna's Faculty of Physics in collaboration with colleagues from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the USA have uncovered a non-destructive mechanism to manipulate donor impurities within silicon using focused electron irradiation. In this novel indirect exchange process not one but two neighbouring silicon atoms are involved in a coordinated atomic "waltz", which may open a path for the fabrication of solid-state qubits.
Three dimensional (3D) nano-network promise a new era in modern solid state physics with numerous applications in photonics, bio-medicine, and spintronics. The realization of 3D magnetic nano-architectures could enable ultra-fast and low-energy data storage devices. Due to competing magnetic interactions in these systems magnetic charges or magnetic monopoles can emerge, which can be utilized as mobile, binary information carriers.
Three-dimensional (3D) configurations of atoms dictate all materials properties. Quantitative predictions of accurate equilibrium structures, 3D coordinates of all atoms, from a chemical graph, a representation of the structural formula, is a challenging and computationally expensive task which is at the beginning of practically every computational chemistry workflow.
What constitutes good relationship quality in times of crisis Relationships are crucial for our health and well-being. But which factors help to sustain a satisfying relationship, and can we predict which relationships make it through a crisis? An international team led by Stephanie Eder of the University of Vienna set out to investigate these questions during a time when 'hard lockdowns' were introduced throughout Europe.
Agriculture is the main source for the majority of the input of reactive N to terrestrial systems; large amounts of fertilizer N are lost from the root zone as nitrate through leaching and denitrification. Avoiding the combination of high external inputs with low resource use efficiency remains a major concern for the sustainability of N in agroecosystems.
The quantum movements of a small glass sphere could be controlled for the first time in Vienna by combining microscopy with control engineering, setting the course for future quantum technologies. A football is not a quantum particle. There are crucial differences between the things we know from everyday life and tiny quantum objects.
This pandemic year has seen us confined to our homes and restricted from travelling the world. Not so for some microscopic bacteria in the ocean: Throughout the globe, they partner up with clams from the family Lucinidae, which live unseen in the sand beneath the shimmering blue waters of coastal habitats.
The absorption of energy from laser light by free electrons in a liquid has been demonstrated for the first time. Until now, this process was observed only in the gas phase. The findings, led by Graz University of Technology, open new doors for ultra-fast electron microscopy. The investigation and development of materials crucially depends on the ability to observe smallest objects at fastest time scales.
Ancient sediments from caves have already proven to preserve DNA for thousands of years. The amount of recovered sequences from environmental sediments, however, is generally low, which difficults the analyses to be performed with these sequences. A study led by Ron Pinhasi and Pere Gelabert of the University of Vienna and published in Current Biology successfully retrieved three mammalian environmental genomes from a single soil sample of 25,000 years bp obtained from the cave of Satsurblia in the Caucasus (Georgia).
Soil bacteria have amazing strategies to attain energy in order to withstand stressful times Soils are one of the most diverse habitats on the planet. There are more than thousand microbial species per gram that significantly influence numerous environmental processes. However, the majority of these organisms are believed to be in a state of 'dormancy' due to environmental stress, such as nutrient-poor conditions.
Similarity in axis formation of sea anemones and sea urchins provides insight into axis formation in prehistoric animals Body axes are molecular coordinate systems along which regulatory genes are activated. These genes then activate the development of anatomical structures in correct locations in the embryo.
The animals' sound production does not only come from the trunk Communication is crucial for elephants that live in complex multi-tiered social systems. Apart from their iconic trumpets uttered through the trunk, Asian elephants also produce species-specific squeaks by buzzing their lips. This demonstrates once again the elephant's flexibility in sound production.
Properties of materials are often defined by imperfections in their atomic structure, especially when the material itself is just one atom thick, such as graphene. Researchers at the University of Vienna have now developed a method for controlled creation of such imperfections into graphene at length scales approaching the macroscopic world.
Aortic dissection is a life-threatening tear in the aortic wall. At present, little is known about the causes. Researchers at TU Graz have now developed algorithms and models designed to support early-stage diagnosis and treatment. Images for download at the end of the message. In most cases, aortic dissection is the result of a tear in the inner layer of the aortic wall, the intima.
The phenomenon of quantum nonlocality defies our everyday intuition. It shows the strong correlations between several quantum particles some of which change their state instantaneously when the others are measured, regardless of the distance between them. While this phenomenon has been confirmed for slow moving particles, it has been debated whether nonlocality is preserved when particles move very fast at velocities close to the speed of light, and even more so when those velocities are quantum mechanically indefinite.
Specialised bacteria in the oceans seafloor consume and recycle nucleic acids from dead biomass While best known as the code for genetic information, DNA is also a nutrient for specialised microbes. An international team of researchers led by Kenneth Wasmund and Alexander Loy from the University of Vienna has discovered several bacteria in sediment samples from the Atlantic Ocean that use DNA as a food source.
News from the Lab is a selection of science news that are significant or interesting for a broad readership.
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