news 2021

Noise limits the performance of modern quantum technologies. However, particles traveling in a superposition of paths can bypass noise in communication. A collaboration between the Universities of Hong-Kong, Grenoble and Vienna, as well as the Austrian Academy of Sciences, under the lead of Philip Walther, reveals novel techniques to reduce noise in quantum communication.

Currently there are more than 80 peptide drugs on the global market and about twice as many in clinical development. Due to their beneficial properties, these biomolecules play already an important role in the treatment of diseases such as diabetes, cancer, hormone disorders, HIV infection, and multiple sclerosis.

Microstructure and macroscopic electro-mechanical properties are closely coupled in so-called ferroelectric polymers. An explanation for the high temperature dependence of this coupling has now been found at TU Wien. In certain materials, electrical and mechanical effects are closely linked: for example, the material may change its shape when an electrical field is applied or, conversely, an electrical field may be created when the material is deformed.

In humans, differences in personalities have been evident since the ancient times. Personality in animals has long been ignored, but recently this question has received increasing research interest as it has been realized that personality has evolutionary and ecological significance. An international team of behavioral biologists from Austria, Brazil and the Netherlands, with Vedrana Šlipogor from the University of Vienna as leading author of the study, designed a set of tasks to assess personality of common marmosets.

A team at TU Wien was able to answer important questions about the immune system - with a trick reminiscent of paper folding. T-cells are an important component of our immune system: with the receptors they carry on their surface, they can recognise highly specific antigens. Upon detection of an intruder, an immune response is triggered.

By Birgit Baustädter Researchers use test beds to test a variety of components for structural durability and behaviour. But there is often no suitable infrastructure on the market. How do researchers deal with this? "This question is quickly answered," says Christian Ellersdorfer with a laugh. "We design and build a test bed according to our own requirements." Together with his colleagues, the researcher has already implemented several test beds for the Institute of Vehicle Safety at Graz University of Technology.

By Christoph Pelzl In the EU project TURANDOT, researchers from TU Graz investigated a sharkskin-like coating for engine blades and tracked the flow of cooling air in the engine. In this way, they make aircraft more fuel-efficient, less expensive and quieter. Additional Images for download at the end of the text An engine is more efficient and quieter the larger and slower the fan (note: that's the turbofan at the front of the jet engine) is.

How do you measure objects that you can't see under normal circumstances? Utrecht University and TU Wien (Vienna) open up new possibilities with special light waves. Laser beams can be used to precisely measure an object's position or velocity. Normally, however, a clear, unobstructed view of this object is required - and this prerequisite is not always satisfied.

For years, the metal nanoparticles used in catalysts have been getting smaller and smaller. Now, a research team at TU Wien in Vienna, Austria have shown that everything is suddenly different when you arrive at the smallest possible size: a single atom. Metals such as gold or platinum are often used as catalysts.

By Christoph Pelzl Using mathematical image processing, scientists at the BioTechMed-Graz research cooperation have found a way to create digital twins from human hearts. The method opens up completely new possibilities in clinical diagnostics. Additional Images for download at the end of the text [Update of the article on February 8, 2022] Although treatment options are constantly improving, cardiovascular diseases are still one of the most frequent causes of death in Europe.

Using mathematical image processing, scientists at the BioTechMed-Graz research cooperation have found a way to create digital twins from human hearts. The method opens up completely new possibilities in clinical diagnostics. Additional Images for download at the end of the text [Update of the article on February 8, 2022] Although treatment options are constantly improving, cardiovascular diseases are still one of the most frequent causes of death in Europe.

Agriculture and climate experts have warned for some years that extreme climate events including severe droughts with frequent heatwaves drop the production of major staple food crops like wheat causing a severe threat to food security.

In a new study, an international research team led by Sebastian Stumpf from the University of Vienna describes an exceptionally well-preserved skeleton of the ancient shark Asteracanthus. This extremely rare fossil find comes from the famous Solnhofen limestones in Bavaria, which was formed in a tropical-subtropical lagoon landscape during the Late Jurassic, about 150 million years ago.

By Susanne Eigner With their expertise in microbiome research, the researchers at the Institute of Environmental Biotechnology were able to demonstrate how a specific bacterium inside the seeds of rice plants effectively and in an eco-friendly way inhibits destructive plant pathogens. Rice is the staple food of about half the world's population.

Why do metal oxide surfaces behave differently? At TU Wien, a new research method was found to answer important questions. Metal surfaces play a role as catalysts for many important applications - from fuel cells to the purification of car exhaust gases. However, their behaviour is decisively affected by oxygen atoms incorporated into the surface.

Changes in daylength are a well-established annual timing cue for animal behavior and physiology. An international collaboration of scientists led by Kristin Tessmar-Raible at the Max Perutz Labs, a joint venture of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna, now shows that, in addition to daylength, marine bristle worms sense seasonal intensity changes of UVA/deep violet light to adjust the levels of important neurohormones and their behavior.

By Christoph Pelzl Austrian Road Safety Board, and TU Graz have investigated tobogganing accidents for the first time in a computer-simulated crash test. The results: Wearing a helmet and the correct sitting position dramatically reduce the risk of injury for children while tobogganing. More than 2,200 people are injured in toboggan accidents in Austria every year.

Three papers unveil the extraordinary diversity of animal sex chromosomes The sex chromosomes genetically define the developmental fate of an embryo to become a male or a female individual, and usually appear as one pair of morphologically different chromosomes between sexes. For example, women have one pair of XX chromosomes, while men have one pair of XY chromosomes.

Most native species are going locally extinct, while introduced tropical species thrive An international team led by Paolo G. Albano from the Department of Palaeontology at the University of Vienna quantified a dramatic biodiversity collapse of up to 95 per cent of native species in the Eastern Mediterranean.