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Synchrotron radiation provides insight into the interior of modern energy storage devices: researchers at Montanuniversität Leoben have used synchrotron radiation to uncover a central interaction in supercapacitors and precisely describe its influence on the transport of charge carriers during operation - a finding that paves the way for more powerful energy storage devices and could even contribute to the removal of perpetual chemicals from water.

A recent study led by the Center for Public Health at the Medical University of Vienna shows that in people who are obese or overweight and are treated with so-called incretin-based drugs, changes in taste perception may be linked to differences in appetite regulation. The study, published in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, thus provides important evidence that sensory changes could be an additional factor in the effect of these therapies.

How do you find objects buried in sand or hidden in thick fog? A team from the Institut Langevin (Paris) and TU Wien (Vienna) has developed an astonishing method. Can we reveal objects that are hidden in environments completely opaque to the human eye? With conventional imaging techniques, the answer is no: a dense cloud or layer of material blocks light so completely that a simple photograph contains no information about what lies behind it.

Using an advanced method, researchers at TU Graz and the Centre for Electron Microscopy have detected plastic in the roots of wheat plants. Whether the particles reach the ears of grain will be shown by further tests. Microplastics and nanoplastics in soils are a growing environmental problem. The extent to which agricultural crops absorb these particles and whether they end up in food has so far been difficult to prove.

A research team working at MedUni Vienna has demonstrated that a specific component of the immune system (PTX-3) remains at significantly higher levels in the blood of patients who have suffered from severe COVID-19, even months after the acute infection has subsided. This study identified PTX-3 as a potential biomarker for existing tissue damage, long-term immune activation and also for complications following COVID-19.

From cell damage to empty batteries, ISTA chemists put singlet oxygen on a leash Researchers from the Freunberger group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) have unveiled pivotal insights into the redox chemistry of oxygen and reactive oxygen species (ROS). While some ROS play essential roles in cell signaling, the particularly harmful singlet oxygen damages cells and degrades batteries.

An Austria-wide research team coordinated by MedUni Vienna has demonstrated for the first time in a large observational study that the drug risdiplam leads to a significant improvement in motor function in adult patients with 5q-associated spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The results close an important evidence gap, as previous approval studies had mainly examined children.

A new transistor technology does not require semiconductor doping - offering decisive advantages for controlling and reading quantum chips. The smaller electronic components become, the more complex their manufacture becomes. This has been a major problem for the chip industry for years.

An exotic quantum phenomenon manifests itself under conditions where one would not normally expect it, show scientists at TU Wien (Vienna). Nature has many rhythms: the seasons result from the Earth's movement around the sun, the ticking of a pendulum clock results from the oscillation of its pendulum.

ISTA scientists collect snapdragon flowers in the Pyrenees to trace their ancestry Every season, scientists from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) go on field trips to the Pyrenees. Their mission: gather snapdragon flowers to understand their genetic makeup. In a recently published study in Molecular Ecology, theyshow how nature uses color genes to keep two varieties of snapdragons distinct, even when they share the same habitat.