Life sciences have never been more digital. To learn more about life processes‚ biologists are collecting massive quantities of data that computer scientists analyze by means of sophisticated computational models that they develop.

EPFL researchers have developed GEMLI‚ a pioneering tool that could democratize and vastly improve how we study the journey of cells from their embryonic state through to specialized roles in the body‚ as well as their changes in cancer and other diseases. The advance is reported in Nature Communications.

An international team of researchers led by groups from the Max Planck Institute in Marburg and the Philipps University in Marburg has stumbled upon the first regular molecular fractal in nature. They discovered a microbial enzymecitrate synthase from a cyanobacteriumthat spontaneously assembles into a pattern known as the Sierpinski triangle. Electron microscopy and evolutionary biochemistry studies indicate that this fractal may represent an evolutionary accident.

New options for making finely structured soft‚ flexible and expandable materials called hydrogels have been developed by researchers at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT).

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biology have produced intriguing evidence of how environmental factors and genetic adaptation can lead to the evolution of novel and aggressive traits and behaviors in nematodes.

Optimizing electrochemical reactions is essential for the transition to renewable energies. In electrochemical reactions‚ electric currents and potential differences are used to binding and induce reactions. Electrochemistry is a pre-requisite for hydrogen production‚ and for battery technology‚ and thus for sustainable chemistry.

Researchers have explained the mechanisms behind a counterintuitive phenomenon: Making a phase transition effective requires less energy if it is initiated by two pulses of light instead of just one. The energy needed to complete the phase transition has been reduced by 6% and could be further optimized. These results have the potential to be transferred to other materials‚ offering new avenues for precise material control and technological innovation.

While there';s no regulation in the U.S. for what';s in organic shampoos‚ they tend to contain ingredients perceived as safe or environmentally friendly. However‚ these ";clean"; shampoos separate and spoil faster than those made with synthetic stabilizers and preservatives. Now‚ researchers in ACS Sustainable Chemistry &;amp; Engineering demonstrate that a simple processspinning organic shampoo at high speedsimproved the final products'; shelf lives and ability to clean hair.

A study of oxygen molecules interacting with atomically thin layers of materials being developed as new generations of semiconductors could significantly improve control over the fabrication and applications of these two-dimensional (2D) materials.

In the early morning of 22 May 2021‚ a magnitude 7.4 quake rattled China';s remote Maduo County on the Tibetan Plateau. It was the most recent in a series of nine earthquakes with a magnitude of 7 or greater since 1997‚ and its surface rupture was twice as long as the global average for similarly sized quakes. The tremor occurred on the eastern part of the relatively immature left-lateral Jiangcuo fault system‚ which slips slowly‚ about 1 millimeter per year‚ and was unmapped before the quake.