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Differences between the fireplaces indicate ingenious use Whether for cooking, heating, as a light source or for making tools - it is assumed that fire was essential for the survival of people in the Ice Age. However, it is puzzling that hardly any well-preserved evidence of fireplaces from the coldest period of the Ice Age in Europe has been found so far.

Manuele Landini from the University of Innsbruck was part of an international team led by researchers at CNR Nanotec in Lecce, Italy, that has demonstrated the emergence of a supersolid phase of matter in a photonic crystal polariton condensate. This pioneering work, published in Nature , introduces a new platform for exploring supersolidity beyond traditional ultracold atomic systems.

Researchers at MedUni Vienna have joined forces with the Viennese start-up TAmiRNA to develop a test that aims to improve the safety of liver surgery. The invention by Alice Assinger and Patrick Starlinger is based on the precise analysis of circulating microRNAs and is now ready for the market. Postoperative liver failure remains the most common cause of death after liver resection.

The transition to low-emission technologies such as electric vehicles and photovoltaic systems is central to climate protection and also brings major benefits for public health, e.g. through less air pollution. However, these technological solutions use materials such as so-called technologically critical elements (TCEs), some of which are potentially harmful to the environment and human health.

Can exoskeletons make strenuous activities easier and allow people to do hard work for longer and in a healthier way? A study by TU Graz says yes, but not always. Hard physical work is not healthy for anyone in the long term. Sooner or later, many people suffer from back, joint or muscular complaints.

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.

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.

Using 3D printing technology and ultrasonic joining technique, researchers at TU Graz succeeded in attaining an extremely strong joining of the renewable raw material wood with metal and polymer composite. The renewable raw material wood is climate-neutral and at the same time light and strong, making it fundamentally attractive for use in vehicle manufacturing.

In an analysis of smartphones of ten manufacturers, researchers at TU Graz have found that the Android kernels used are vulnerable to known attacks - so-called one-day exploits - despite existing protection mechanisms. Smartphones are a constant companion and important work tool for many people. In addition to contacts, appointments and emails, the devices are increasingly being used for sensitive tasks such as online banking or official matters.

Many decisions are being made by neural networks. But are they rational and fair? Methods to ensure this are being developed at TU Wien. Many decisions that were previously made by humans will be left to machines in the future. But can we really rely on the decisions made by artificial intelligence? In sensitive areas, people would like a guarantee that the decision is actually sensible, or at least that certain serious errors have been ruled out.

TU Wien (Vienna) has patented a completely new method of dampening vibrations. This is an important step for precision devices such as high-performance astronomical telescopes. When everything shakes, precision is usually impossible - everybody who has ever tried to take a photo with shaky hands or make handwritten notes on a bumpy bus journey knows that.

Better understanding of this natural formation process offers potential for technical developments A new interdisciplinary study led by molecular biologist Florian Raible from the Max Perutz Labs at the University of Vienna provides exciting insights into the bristles of the marine annelid worm Platynereis dumerilii.

In a joint project between MedUni Vienna and TU Wien, the world's first 3D-printed "brain phantom" has been developed, which is modelled on the structure of brain fibres and can be imaged using a special variant of magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI). As a scientific team led by MedUni Vienna and TU Wien has now shown in a study, these brain models can be used to advance research into neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis.

ISTA researchers welcome AI use in science, but remain cautious From identifying complex morphologies in the brain to analyzing the properties of storm clouds, artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms are aiding several research projects employing deep learning and machine learning at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA).

A new approach to producing artificial tissue has been developed at TU Wien: Cells are grown in microstructures created in a 3D printer. Is it possible to grow tissue in the laboratory, for example to replace injured cartilage? At TU Wien (Vienna), an important step has now been taken towards creating replacement tissue in the lab - using a technique that differs significantly from other methods used around the world.

In the Christian Doppler Laboratory under his leadership, Franz Wotawa has developed test and monitoring procedures with company partner AVL that make common driver assistance systems safer. Intelligent Speed Assist, Emergency Brake Assist, Emergency Lane Keeping Assist, Driver Drowsiness Assist, Reversing Assist, Low Concentration Warning System or Emergency Brake Lights - from July 2024, a whole range of safety and driver assistance systems will be mandatory for all new cars in the European Union.

Positive experiences mitigate aversion to artificial intelligence as advice Generative artificial intelligence (AI) generates data that is similar to the human way of thinking. If a generative artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT functions as "practice advice" for overcoming personal or social challenges, it is considered by people to be less competent than human experts.

By Falko Schoklitsch Based on the vanillin made usable for electricity storage in 2020, an AI-optimised prototype of an environmentally friendly electricity storage system is now being developed in an international project. In 2020, Stefan Spirk from the Institute of Bioproducts and Paper Technology at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) described the research achievement with which he and his team had succeeded as a "ground-breaking success in the field of sustainable energy storage technologies" to make redox flow batteries more environmentally friendly.

Researchers at TU Graz and the Helmholtz Center for Information Security have discovered a novel security gap in all common CPUs that can hardly be mitigated. Main processors (CPUs) of computers are designed to run multiple applications simultaneously. This is beneficial for efficiency, but poses a security risk.

Scientists from the University of Vienna have now designed an unconditionally secure system for shopping in digital settings Have you ever been compelled to enter sensitive payment data on the website of an unknown merchant? Would you be willing to consign your credit card data or passwords to untrustworthy hands? Scientists from the University of Vienna have now designed an unconditionally secure system for shopping in such settings, combining modern cryptographic techniques with the fundamental properties of quantum light.