Category archives: Technology

Counting single proteins with a superconducting nanowire 

Counting single proteins with a superconducting nanowire 

NanotechnologyQuantum physics

By César Tomé

The detection, identification, and analysis of macromolecules is needed in many areas of life sciences, including protein research, diagnostics, and analytics. Mass spectrometry is often used as a detection system for proteins – a method that typically separates charged particles (ions) according to their mass-to-charge-ratio and measures the intensity of the signals generated by a […]

A new approach to covariate shift adaptation

A new approach to covariate shift adaptation

Computer scienceMathematicsRobotics

By BCAM

In probability theory and statistics, a collection of random variables is independent and identically distributed (iid) if each random variable has the same probability distribution as the others and all are mutually independent. Most supervised machine learning methods assume that training and testing or production samples are drawn iid from the same underlying distribution. But […]

First experimental evidence of hopfions in crystals

First experimental evidence of hopfions in crystals

Condensed matterMaterialsPhysics

By César Tomé

Hopfions, magnetic spin structures predicted decades ago, have become a hot and challenging research topic in recent years. The first experimental evidence has just been presented in Nature . A deeper understanding of how different components of materials function is important for the development of innovative materials and future technology. The research field of spintronics […]

Crosslinking pectin for the simultaneous removal of multiple pollutants from water

Crosslinking pectin for the simultaneous removal of multiple pollutants from water

Chemical engineeringChemistryDIPC Polymers

By DIPC

Chemical contamination of water bodies on one hand, and water shortages due to overexploitation on the other, have increased the need for effective and efficient water treatment and decontamination processes. Two important aspects need to be taken into consideration to define what is an “effective and efficient” treatment. First, as current methods of removing pathogens […]

Nanocolloids as hosts for light-propelled machineries

Nanocolloids as hosts for light-propelled machineries

DIPC Advanced materialsMaterials

By DIPC

nanocolloids The increasing attention to the design and experimental development of self-oscillating matter is primarily motivated by the potential use of such systems in emerging technologies (e.g., light engines) comprising compact components and minimum energy consumption. Self-oscillation is the generation of a periodic change in a system fuelled by a steady, non-periodic power source. The […]

New generation sensors for the prevention of the next pandemic

New generation sensors for the prevention of the next pandemic

BiomedicineMaterialsMedicine

By BCMaterials

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the vulnerabilities of our society to infectious diseases and the limitations of the tools available for viruses detection. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and antigens tests have been useful to monitor and contain the extension of the last pandemic, however it demonstrated to have severe limitations. PCR is a highly […]

What a roof’s material can do to lower energy demand

What a roof’s material can do to lower energy demand

EnergyMaterials

By César Tomé

roof Concrete sidewalks, black asphalt streets, traffic, brick and steel buildings. These common city elements can retain heat and increase temperatures in a phenomenon called the urban heat island effect. With increasingly warming temperatures during the summer months, urban cities like Chicago need to arm decision makers and communities with information about strategies to help […]

A new imaging technique allows visualisation inside intact animals

A new imaging technique allows visualisation inside intact animals

BiomedicineMolecular biology

By Rosa García-Verdugo

One of the biggest challenges of medical imaging technologies is actually resolving the structures of interest, be it a tumour, a lung or a blood vessel, without the “noise” from other bodily parts like skin or muscle. A new imaging technique allows for visualisation inside intact animals at higher resolution than ever before. A team […]

The enigmatic charge order of kagome (Cs,Rb)V<sub>3</sub>Sb<sub>5</sub>

The enigmatic charge order of kagome (Cs,Rb)V3Sb5

DIPC Advanced materialsMaterials

By DIPC

The intricate relationship between lattice geometry and topological electronic behaviour determines the ground state properties of materials. The non-trivial band topology of the kagome lattice – it consists of the vertices and edges of the trihexagonal tiling – is being extensively explored as candidates to engineer Dirac fermions, topological flat bands, magnetic Weyl semimetals or […]