Category archives: Technology

Enzybiotics, from phages to the inhaler.

Enzybiotics, from phages to the inhaler.

BiomedicineMedicineMicrobiologyPharmacy

By Invited Researcher

I n the age of bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics, the so-called superbacteria, it is critical to our future the development of novel therapeutic strategies. Lytic enzymes encoded by bacteriophages – viruses that specifically kill bacteria, also called lysins or enzybiotics, are effective agents for preventing and controlling diseases caused by Gram+ bacteria, including Streptococcus […]

Catalysis depends on the crystallographic plane of the catalyst

Catalysis depends on the crystallographic plane of the catalyst

ChemistryCondensed matterMaterialsNanotechnology

By DIPC

A catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change. As the catalyst itself takes part in the reaction it may undergo a physical change. Hence, if catalysts take the form of nanoparticles, any physical feature of the nanoparticle interacting with the reacting molecules may […]

Self-knotting bionic proteins

Self-knotting bionic proteins

ChemistryMaterials

By Invited Researcher

Some heteropolymers can be designed to spontaneously self-assemble in complex pre-determined knotted structures. In the past, we referred to such designable heteropolymers as “bionic proteins”. Here we present an extensive study on self-knotting bionic proteins. As our everyday experience with ropes teaches us, knots form spontaneously in polymer chains of sufficient length and flexibility have […]

The costs of going green

The costs of going green

EconomicsEnergy

By José Luis Ferreira

A tax on carbon emissions is an efficient way to make firms and consumers internalize the environmental costs due to climate change. However, there are many other aspects to consider in a transition from a fossil-fueled economy to a cleaner one. In a past article we presented the case for subsidies on research to develop […]

Origin of the mysterious blue fluorescence of polymer carbon dots

Origin of the mysterious blue fluorescence of polymer carbon dots

ChemistryCondensed matterMaterialsNanotechnologyQuantum physics

By DIPC

A quantum dot is a nanometric crystalline structure of semiconductor materials. In a quatum dot electrons are confined in a region of space, thus creating a well defined structure of energy levels that depends very much on the size and shape of the quantum dot. This structure resembles that of atoms, that is why sometimes […]

Nonequilibrium effects in hybrids of electron systems with spontaneously broken symmetries

Nonequilibrium effects in hybrids of electron systems with spontaneously broken symmetries

Condensed matterMaterialsNanotechnologyQuantum physics

By DIPC

Imagine a military regiment in formation. That we will call symmetry. Now imagine the same regiment when it is dismissed by the commanding officer: at once the soldiers disperse and tend to form domains (groups) or pairs. Hence, we can say that the symmetry is spontaneously broken. Both superconductors and ferromagnets are examples of electron […]

The convergence of neuroscience and artificial intelligence

The convergence of neuroscience and artificial intelligence

Computer scienceNeuroscienceRobotics

By Julián Estévez

Several researchers in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) are warning about an AI winter, which means that scientists might lose the interest on the discipline, institutions reduce drastically the funding towards its research and lose presence in the public debate. It wouldn’t be the first AI winter though. The last two decades have been […]

Open-sea experiments on a spar floating support for offshore wind turbines

Open-sea experiments on a spar floating support for offshore wind turbines

MathematicsMechanical Engineering

By BCAM

Floating structures are becoming increasingly popular. They are used by several industries, some have been in business for decades, like those dedicated to oil and gas, some are newer, like renewables (wind, wave, tidal), and there are still some other uses, like ports, while there is a constant flow of new ideas that imply their […]