news 2024

Despite the same pelvis-to-head ratio, Japanese macaques do not suffer the same birth complications as humans An international research team led by the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna has used long-term demographic data from Japanese macaques - a monkey species within the family of Old World monkeys - to show that, unlike humans, there is no maternal mortality in these primates linked to childbirth.

An international research team has achieved a breakthrough in atomically thin antiferromagnetic tunnel junctions. This shows the great potential of antiferromagnetic materials for storage technology. Spintronics (spin electronics) deals with the use of electron spin in electronic devices. In contrast to conventional electronics, which only uses the charge of the electrons, spintronics also uses the spin of the electrons, i.e. a "direction of rotation" at the atomic level, to store and process information.

Integrating post-quantum security algorithms into hardware was previously considered a challenge. A research team at Graz University of Technology has developed standardized hardware with additional security measures. They are not yet a reality, but in the not too distant future, sophisticated, powerful quantum computers will be available.

Help in the search for missing persons: New JKU method enables three-dimensional perception of drone images in real time. This works even with strong occlusion and at long distances. Human visual depth perception, i.e. the ability to perceive objects at different distances, is essentially based on the fact that our eyes see slightly different images in terms of perspective.

Spin waves with short wavelengths make magnonic computer components possible A new study by the University of Vienna, the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart and the Helmholtz Centres in Berlin and Dresden represents an important step towards further miniaturizing computer components and making them more energy-efficient.

Almost everyone knows about HIV. Fewer people know about its relative, HTLV-1. However, HTLV-1 can cause serious illnesses, including cancer. To develop ways to combat this virus, understanding its structure is essential. Martin Obr and Florian Schur from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and US colleagues now show the virus in close-up in a new paper, published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology .

Using smartly trained neural networks, researchers at TU Graz have succeeded in generating precise real-time images of the beating heart from just a few MRI measurement data. Other MRI applications can also be accelerated using this procedure. Medical imaging using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is very time-consuming since an image has to be compiled from data from many individual measurements.

Palaeontologists trace the influence of humans using predatory snail boreholes Predatory snails drill holes in the shells of their prey. Using these boreholes, a research team led by palaeontologist Martin Zuschin from the University of Vienna was able to create a time series of predator-prey relationships in the northern Adriatic over the past millennia.

Thanks to innovations in design, control and production technology, brushless drives for pumps and ventilation systems work more efficiently and quietly.

Thanks to innovations in design, control and production technology, brushless drives for pumps and fan systems work more efficiently and quietly. Users of electrical appliances and the automotive industry do benefit. Small electric motors can be found in many household appliances, tools and computers as well as in modern cars, where they drive auxiliary units such as pumps and fans.

Science has provided more than enough evidence to develop a collective and global approach to tackle the proliferation of plastic pollution. This is the conclusion of an international research team including environmental psychologist Sabine Pahl from the University of Vienna. The current Science publication particularly emphasises the urgency of a global agreement to curb plastic pollution.

In a recent study published in the scientific journal "Blood", researchers from MedUni Vienna show that haemorrhages are more common in cancer patients than previously thought and are associated with a poor prognosis and an increased risk of death. The results emphasise the need to devote more attention to this serious complication in clinical practice and research in the future.

Mammals with distant evolutionary ties but similar ecological roles evolved comparable inner ear shapes A new study reveals the surprisingly convergent evolution in the inner ear of mammals. An international research team led by Nicole Grunstra from the University of Vienna and Anne Le Maître from the Konrad Lorenz Institute (KLI) for Evolution and Cognition Research (Klosterneuburg) showed that a group of highly divergent mammals known as Afrotheria and distantly related, but ecologically very similar mammals independently evolved similar inner ear shapes.

In contrast to annual plants, perennial wheat offers a more diverse microbiome and has a significantly lower impact on soil and environment - as has just been proven by researchers at TU Graz's Institute of Environmental Biotechnology. From an ecological point of view, the cultivation of annual cereal crops is a burden on nature.

A team of interdisciplinary scientists from Australia and Austria has developed a method to understand how butterflies form their fascinating colors. The research study, which was led by Bodo Wilts, Professor of Materials Physics at the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, sheds new light on a previously little-understood phenomenon in nature.

Abstract algebra and algebraic geometry to connect quantum physics with number theory Several fields of mathematics have developed in total isolation, using their own 'undecipherable' coded languages. In a new study published in PNAS , Tamás Hausel, professor of mathematics at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), presents "big algebras," a two-way mathematical 'dictionary' between symmetry, algebra, and geometry, that could strengthen the connection between the distant worlds of quantum physics and number theory.

Scientists at the TU Wien and the University of Vienna have uncovered the detailed structure of the aluminum oxide surface, a challenge that has baffled researchers for decades. Aluminum oxide (Al2O3), also known as alumina, corundum, sapphire, or ruby, is one of the best insulators used in a wide range of applications: in electronic components, as a support material for catalysts, or as a chemically resistant ceramic, to name a few.

Surgical removal of the prostate to treat prostate cancer is currently determined on the basis of tissue sample analysis (Gleason grading). As this method is invasive and often unreliable, scientists around the world are looking for alternatives. A research team at MedUni Vienna has now developed a new method that can be used to identify those patients for whom surgical treatment is the best option.

The results of a multicentre study on multiple sclerosis recently published in the journal "Neurology" could significantly improve the treatment of this chronic inflammatory disease. Researchers from the Medical Universities of Innsbruck and Vienna and the Inselspital, University Hospital Bern have shown that two or more lesions in the brain visible on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) within one year are an indication in favour of intensifying treatment.