Aktualitäten 2019

A very special kind of light is emitted by tungsten diselenide layers. The reason for this has been unclear. Now an explanation has been found at TU Wien (Vienna). It is an exotic phenomenon that nobody was able to explain for years: when energy is supplied to a thin layer of the material tungsten diselenide, it begins to glow in a highly unusual fashion.

By Christoph Pelzl The new method developed at TU Graz and the University of Vienna is leading to a better understanding of natural protein modifications and improved protein therapeutics. Additional at the end of the text Some of the body's proteins are not just made up of amino acids, they are also 'decorated' with lipid chains, which significantly influence the biological functions of the protein.

Researchers show path of zearalenone through the womb using new technology The human foetus is considered to be particularly sensitive to environmental contaminants. A team led by Benedikt Warth from the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Vienna and Tina Bürki from the Swiss Materials Science and Technology Institute, Empa, has now been able to demonstrate for the first time how the widespread food estrogen zearalenone behaves in the womb.

By Birgit Baustädter Did you know that the first Austrian satellite to go into space was built in TU Graz's labs? TUGSAT-1 has been observing stars for more than six years - and it's not the only object made in Graz that is hurtling through space. "The night after the launch I was lying awake in bed and I thought to myself: amazing! This is something that I held in my hands and now it's flying through space," recalls Otto Koudelka, sitting at a glass conference table at the Inffeldgasse site in Graz.

By Birgit Baustädter In chemical analysis, when electron microscopes reach their limits, the field emission microprobe steps in. With this equipment, taking analysis down to the next level of magnitude is no problem. The wafer-thin black flake shines like a flattened precious stone. The flake is locked in a silver sample container sitting on a clean tray waiting to be pushed into a large machine on the opposite side of the lab.

Chemists investigate the interactions of metal complexes and light Metal complexes show a fascinating behavior in their interactions with light, which for example is utilized in organic light emitting diodes, solar cells, quantum computers, or even in cancer therapy. In many of these applications, the electron spin, a kind of inherent rotation of the electrons, plays an important role.

"An experiment of nature" after the end-Cretaceous mass extinction An international research team led by Giuseppe Marramà from the Institute of Paleontology of the University of Vienna discovered a new and well-preserved fossil stingray with an exceptional anatomy, which greatly differs from living species.

Is it possible to borrow energy from an empty space? And if yes, do we have to give it back? Energy values smaller than zero are allowed - at least within certain limits. Energy is a quantity that must always be positive - at least that's what our intuition tells us. If every single particle is removed from a certain volume until there is nothing left that could possibly carry energy, then a limit has been reached.

A new measurement protocol, developed at TU Wien (Vienna), makes it possible to measure the quantum phase of electrons - an important step for attosecond physics. It is like a microscope for time: Today's methods of attosecond physic allows us to measure extremely short time intervals. With the help of short laser pulses, physical processes can be investigated on a time scale of attoseconds - that is billionths of a billionth of a second.

The quantum superposition principle has been tested on a scale as never before in a new study by scientists at the University of Vienna in collaboration with the University of Basel. Hot, complex molecules composed of nearly two thousand atoms were brought into a quantum superposition and made to interfere.

Scientists use deep neural networks to achieve simulations on long time scales The prediction of molecular reactions triggered by light is to date extremely time-consuming and therefore costly. A team led by Philipp Marquetand from the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Vienna has now presented a method using artificial neural networks that drastically accelerates the simulation of light-induced processes.

By Birgit Baustädter Torsten Mayer-Gürr surveys the Earth. He may work in an office in Steyrergasse in Graz, but his measuring device flies more than 400 kilometres overhead. Over 400 kilometres above us in the heavens, Tom and Jerry chased each other for years. One of them always out in front, the other in hot pursuit at a varying distance.

Researchers from European countries discuss life in the Universe at the University of Vienna Astrobiology is a young, rapidly developing branch of science that seeks to address the question of whether life exists, or has existed, elsewhere in the Universe. It is by nature an interdisciplinary science that explores the origins of life, the conditions, and processes that support or challenge life, the influence of different environmental conditions on preservation and detection of biosignatures of past and present life.

The interplay of quantum mechanics and special relativity requires a new alphabet to send reliable quantum messages Quantum information relies on the possibility of writing messages in a quantum particle and reading them out in a reliable way. If, however, the particle is relativistic, meaning that it moves with velocities close to the speed of light, it is impossible for standard techniques to unambiguously decode the message and the communication fails.

For the first time, a team led by Innsbruck physicist Ben Lanyon has sent a light particle entangled with matter over 50 km of optical fiber. This paves the way for the practical use of quantum networks and sets a milestone for a future quantum internet. The quantum internet promises absolutely tap-proof communication and powerful distributed sensor networks for new science and technology.

The research group of Nuno Maulide from the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna has, in cooperation with the Research Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, achieved the synthesis of a potential immunosuppressive agent by modification of a naturally occurring compound.

The theories of quantum mechanics and gravity are notorious for being incompatible, despite the efforts of scores of physicists over the past fifty years. However, recently an international team of researchers led by physicists from the University of Vienna, the Austrian Academy of Sciences as well as the University of Queensland (AUS) and the Stevens Institute of Technology (USA) have combined the key elements of the two theories describing the flow of time and discovered that temporal order between events can exhibit genuine quantum features.

Scientists study individuals who lived during the Migration Period Led by Ron Pinhasi from the University of Vienna, Austria and Mario Novak from the Institute for Anthropological Research in Zagreb, Croatia the study combines bioarchaeological isotopic and ancient DNA methods to analyze the dietary patterns, sex, and genetic affinities of three Migration Period (5th century CE) individuals who were recovered from a pit in the city of Osijek in eastern Croatia.

Sleeping with the head tucked in the back feathers is a common behavior exhibited by most species of birds. In a recent study, scientist from the Vetmeduni Vienna and the University of Vienna found, that the hiding of the head during sleep reduces heat loss and conserves energy reserves. However sleeping with the head tucked is risky for the birds.

Austrian and Chinese scientists have succeeded in teleporting three-dimensional quantum states for the first time. High-dimensional teleportation could play an important role in future quantum computers. Researchers from the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the University of Vienna have experimentally demonstrated what was previously only a theoretical possibility.