news 2024

Important data, such as a Bitcoin wallet address, can be stored and concealed quite easily in ordinary plastic using 3D printers and terahertz radiation, scientists at TU Wien show. There are many ways to store data - digitally, on a hard disk, or using analogue storage technology, for example as a hologram.

Energy systems that are essential to our daily lives are increasingly threatened by wars, pandemics, climate change and other unexpected events. An international team of researchers has found that demand-side approaches have far greater potential to reduce our vulnerability to energy crises than supply-side measures.

Repeated or chronic liver injury, for example by viral hepatitis or alcohol consumption, triggers a complicated molecular process of scaring called liver fibrosis. Researchers at CeMM and MedUni Vienna have now succeeded in better understanding this process in a new study by examining gene activities at various stages of the liver disease.

Blockage of arterial blood vessels caused by atherosclerosis is largely responsible for heart attacks and strokes, which are the most common causes of death worldwide. The complex mechanisms that lead to pathological changes in the arteries are not yet fully understood. An international research team led by the Medical University of Vienna and the University Hospital of Würzburg has now made important progress in understanding this disease and identified potential new approaches for early detection and therapy.

A new spectroscopy method has been developed at TU Wien: Using a series of laser pusles, chemical analyses can be carried out much faster and more precisely than before. Whether you want to analyze environmental samples in nature or monitor a chemical experiment, you often need highly sensitive sensors that can "sniff out" even tiny traces of a certain gas with extreme accuracy.

Scientists predict that quantum computers will be able to discover drugs faster than conventional computers in the future Quantum computers have promising potential applications. One potential area of application is computer-aided research and development of new drugs. A team from the University of Vienna, together with researchers from Boehringer Ingelheim, BASF, Google, QC Ware and the University of Toronto, have investigated the possibilities of this technology in a review article published in the journal Nature Physics .

Researchers at the Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology at the Medical University of Vienna have further developed their Covid-19 vaccine, which has now shown promise in the fight against the Omikron variant of the virus. The results of their work were recently published in the top journal "Vaccines".

Female doctors generally rate the working conditions in primary care units (PCUs) highly. This is the result of a recent survey conducted by MedUni Vienna on work-life balance and satisfaction among female doctors working in primary care units. According to the study, there is a need to catch up in the areas of distribution of working hours and time for additional activities such as external teaching or further training.

In a recent study, researchers from the Complexity Science Hub and MedUni Vienna are analysing the entire health trajectory of almost nine million people in Austria for the first time. They identify critical points at which disease progression drifts apart significantly - with serious consequences for the lives of patients and for the healthcare system.

Paper printed on one side starts to curl with a delay of up to a few days. Researchers at TU Graz have discovered that this is due to solvents in the ink that over time migrate towards the unprinted side of the paper. Although mankind has been using paper for at least 2000 years, it still presents us with one or two mysteries.

The gastrointestinal tract is already known to researchers as a major storage site for microand nanoplastic particles (MNPs) in the human body. A research consortium consisting of the University of Vienna, the Medical University of Vienna and other partners under the leadership of CBmed GmbH in Graz has now investigated the effects of the tiny plastic particles on cancer cells in the human gastrointestinal tract.

Quantum sensor technology promises even more precise measurements of physical quantities. A team led by Christian Roos at the University of Innsbruck has now compared the signals of up to 91 quantum sensors with each other and thus successfully suppressed the noise caused by interactions with the environment.

Non-rigid postal items with flexible packaging - such as poly bags - pose problems for logistics companies during automatic sorting. Thanks to modern simulation methods, there is now a widely applicable solution. Anyone who orders something online would like to have the parcel delivered reliably, quickly and undamaged.

Bionic reconstruction, in which functionless limbs are replaced by mechatronic limbs, can restore mobility and quality of life to accident patients. However, the high-resolution transmission of information from the brain to the machine remains a demanding challenge. An interdisciplinary research team led by Vlad Tereshenko and Oskar Aszmann from MedUni Vienna's Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery has now made further significant progress as part of a study.

The material delays the formation of ice crystals and reduces the adhesion of ice layers. Thanks to an innovative production method, the coating is very robust and adheres to numerous surfaces. Ice-repellent coatings have been around for some time, but until now they have been very sensitive and detach quite quickly from the surfaces they are meant to protect.

Checkpoint PHDGH in tumor-associated macrophages influences immune response and tumor growth A study by a scientific team from the University of Vienna and the MedUni Vienna, recently published in the top-class journal Cellular & Molecular Immunology , has a promising result from tumor research: The enzyme phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (PHDGH) acts as a metabolic checkpoint in the function of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and thus on tumor growth.

Scientists at ISTA present a new mathematic model for cooperation Human coexistence depends on cooperation. Individuals have different motivations and reasons to collaborate, resulting in social dilemmas, such as the well-known prisoner's dilemma. Scientists from the Chatterjee group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) now present a new mathematical principle that helps to understand the cooperation of individuals with different characteristics.

New findings enable more accurate prediction of the carbon cycle Warmer soils harbour a greater diversity of active microbes, according to a new study from researchers at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CeMESS) at the University of Vienna. The study, published in Science Advances , represents a significant shift in our understanding of how microbial activity in the soil influences the global carbon cycle and possible feedback mechanisms on the climate.

New climate model shows more extreme rainfall in the tropics with increased temperatures Understanding cloud patterns in our changing climate is essential to making accurate predictions about their impact on society and nature. Scientists at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology published a new study in the journal Science Advances that uses a high-resolution global climate model to understand how the clustering of clouds and storms impacts rainfall extremes in the tropics.

Hawaii: Environmental data from shallow-water corals provide a glimpse 500,000 years into the past During the IODP Expedition 389 "Hawaiian Drowned Reefs" off the coast of Hawaii, scientists recovered a total of 426 meters of cores from the seafloor in water depths ranging from 130 to 1240 meters.