Category Archives: Technology
Controlling single molecule conductance with a new class of covalent bond formation
One of the greatest inventions of the 20th century, if not the greatest, was the transistor. It revolutionized the electronics industry and changed the way people around the world lived, learned, worked, and played. Its invention marked the […]
How chirality information can transfer over long distances
Usually, optical activity is understood as the ability some substances have to change the handedness of polarized light when it goes through them. Molecules that show optical activity have no plane of symmetry. The commonest case of this is in […]
Metal atoms enhance quantum dot coupling in metal-organic nanoporous networks
A quantum dot (QD) is a nanometric crystalline structure of semiconductor materials. In a QD electrons are confined in a region of space, thus creating a well defined structure of energy levels that depends very much on the size […]
A bacterium behind celiac disease?
I am sure you know people who have decided to go gluten-free because they want to be healthy. However, for most of these people buying gluten free products is just a way of throwing money away since only about […]
Neuron-like chips could help revert neurological damage
A team of scientists at two British universities, Bath and Bristol, have developed neuron-like chips that could revert the neurological damage caused by neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. These chips do not only resemble neuronal function but are also […]
Tracking the tautomerization of a single molecule in space and time
There are chemical compounds, called isomers, that have the same molecular formulae but different molecular structures or different arrangements of atoms in space. In constitutional isomerism the molecules have different molecular structures: i.e., they may be different types of compound, […]
Heterogeneous sorroundings are critical in the analysis of nerve ablation for treating chronic pains
Chronic pain is one of the most common problems of advanced age. Even though the combination of physical therapy and analgesics such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is effective in chronic pain treatments, it only confers short-term benefits. On the other […]
An additional contribution to the spin Hall effect induced by an electric current
The interactions between moving charges and magnetic fields can be quite complicated; more if we consider the quantum effects. One example is the collection of Hall effects.
Imagine that we have a conductor or a semiconductor through which a current […]
Huisgenases, new protein catalysts which are not enzymes
Proteins can perform a huge number of biological functions with amazing efficiency. In order to achieve these different functions, proteins rely on the precise 3D arrangement of functional groups which are referred to as the protein fold. Some of these […]
T cells could be key for early Alzheimer’s detection
For a long time Alzheimer disease has been studied mostly as a neuronal disease. However, recently the role of the immune system is getting more attention and its involvement more clear. Recent research has shown that a subpopulation of […]