news 2024

The human brain is not only larger and contains more nerve cells than the control center of other species, it is also networked in a very special way: Thick bundles of nerves connect brain regions like highways over long distances, such as the left and right hemispheres of the brain. A team of researchers at IMBA, in cooperation with MedUni Vienna, has now presented the first organoid model in which these information "highways" can be studied.

A team of materials scientists at the University of Leoben is working on improving medical implants with the help of additive manufacturing. Their research work was recently published in the journal "Advanced Functional Materials". Dipl.-Ing. Sepide Hadibeik, Dr. Florian Spieckermann and Jürgen Eckert from the Department of Materials Science at the University of Leoben, in cooperation with the Swiss Advanced Manufacturing Center in Biel, have used an advanced process for the additive manufacturing of metallic glasses for the first time.

Safely entering potentially unsafe areas with a robot from a distance using VR goggles. Eduardo Veas is making this possible at the Institute of Interactive Systems and Data Science at TU Graz.

Ancient grave find in Wels provides new insights through interdisciplinary research. When a grave was discovered in Wels 20 years ago, the find was thought to be the early medieval double burial of a married couple together with a horse due to its unusual characteristics. Only now has it been possible to clarify the biological sex and relationship of the buried persons using the latest archaeological technologies.

Blocking "switches" of the immune system has revolutionized the treatment of patients with various metastatic cancers. In 2018, the discovery of this principle was recognized by the Nobel Prize in Medicine. An international research team has now shown that the simultaneous inhibition of two "immune switches", PD-1 and LAG-3, can lead to the killing of lung cancer cells after just a few weeks.

PLS (Passenger Lymphocyte Syndrome) is a potentially life-threatening risk in lung transplants that has hardly been researched and is often underestimated in clinical practice. However, the complication occurs more frequently than previously thought, as shown by a recent study at the Department of Transfusion Medicine and Cell Therapy in collaboration with the Department of Thoracic Surgery at MedUni Vienna and University Hospital Vienna.

Aloe vera, chia, ginger, blueberries, avocado and the like: the title "superfood" has already been awarded to many foods. It stands for fruits, seeds, vegetables and more that are said to have a particularly health-promoting effect in one or more areas due to their ingredients. One of these superfoods was researched as part of a study at the Medical University of Graz by Sandra Holasek from the Department of Immunology at the Otto Loewi Research Center: the local aronia berry and its juice.

New assistant professor at ISTA investigates how cells keep track of time The human body has adapted to Earth's day and night cycle.

Adaptation of the photosynthetic mechanism in air plants (Tillandsia) occurs through gene duplication Researchers at the University of Vienna, along with collaborators from France, Germany, Switzerland and the USA, have achieved a major breakthrough in understanding how genetic drivers influence the evolution of a specific photosynthesis mechanism in Tillandsia (air plants).

Clonal haematopoiesis is a phenomenon caused by mutations in haematopoietic stem cells and can lead to blood cancer. We now know that it occurs also in people with normal blood counts, where it is associated with an increased risk of life-threatening atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. A research team at the Medical University of Vienna has now developed a genetic testing procedure to detect clonal haematopoiesis, which, when used in combination with an ultrasound examination of the carotid artery, allows to identify patients at high cardiovascular risk.

Cannabinoids are endogenous hormones or naturally occurring molecules found in various plants, most commonly known as THC (?9-tetrahydrocannabinol) in cannabis plants. The therapeutic potential of these compounds is the subject of intensive research, yet their psychoactive and addictive properties stimulate intensive debate.

Only a few tree species are flexible enough to survive a century of rapid climate change Europe's forests have already been severely affected by climate change. Thousands of hectares of trees have already died due to drought and bark beetles. Scientists from the University of Vienna and the Technical University of Munich have now investigated which trees can be used for reforestation.

Special thorium-containing crystals, developed over many years at TU Wien, were crucial in tracking down the long-sought thorium transition. Emerald, ruby, amethyst and many other gemstones have one thing in common: they consist of a perfectly regular crystal structure into which foreign atoms are incorporated in low concentrations.

The "thorium transition", which physicists have been looking for for decades, has now been excited for the first time with lasers. This paves the way for revolutionary high precision technologies, including nuclear clocks. Physicists have been hoping for this moment for a long time: for many years, scientists all'around the world have been searching for a very specific state of thorium atomic nuclei that promises revolutionary technological applications.

A recent study in the journal Science takes the most comprehensive look yet at the past and future of global biodiversity: intensive land use reduced biodiversity by up to around 10 percent over the course of the 20th century. By 2050, the climate crisis could become the main factor, alongside land use, for further losses in biodiversity.

Researchers from TU Graz and the University of Graz have digitised a broken altar stone from Lavant so that citizens can put it together on the internet. The aim is to achieve what generations of archaeologists have failed to do. The Bishop's church at Kirchbichl in Lavant in East Tyrol is one of the most important early Christian monuments in Austria.

When pathogens invade the body, the immune system must react immediately and prevent or contain an infection. But how do our immune cells stay ready when there is no attacker in sight? Scientists from Vienna and Salzburg have come up with an intriguing explanation: They are stimulated by healthy tissue.

New unusual giant virus discovered in wastewater treatment plant near Vienna The single-celled organism Naegleria fowleri ranks among the deadliest human parasites. Researchers around Matthias Horn and Patrick Arthofer from the Center for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science at the University of Vienna, in an international collaboration, have discovered viruses that infect this harmful microbe.

Dyes, such as those used in the textile industry, are a major environmental problem. At TU Wien, efficient filters have now been developed - based on cellulose waste. Using waste to purify water may sound counterintuitive. But at TU Wien, this is exactly what has now been achieved: a special nanostructure has been developed to filter a widespread class of harmful dyes from water.

We visit Sabrina Vorderegger in the Biomedical Sciences research laboratory at SALK. Sabrina started as a researcher at the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences in February, she was hired specifically for the Interreg project NETTLE. The aim of the project is to obtain natural extracts from various alpine plant species with interesting biological activities that are typical of the Austrian-Italian border region.