news 2024

Examining tissues, cells, and proteins under a microscope helps us prevent and combat diseases. To study this, we need to precisely determine the dimensions of the biological structure. However, a biological sample may appear flatter under the light microscope than it actually is. Researchers at Delft University of Technology have now demonstrated for the first time that this distortion is not constant, contrary to what many scientists have assumed for decades.

TU/e researcher Imke Krauhausen built new electronic devices based on neuromorphic computing Our brain can process complex information at lightning speed using very little energy. This is why there is rapidly growing interest in the human brain as a model for the development of new computer technology.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified timber harvesting areas in Gabon and Congo boast a greater abundance of larger mammals, such as leopards, gorillas, and elephants, than non-FSC forests. Utrecht University researcher Joeri Zwerts and colleagues conclude this based on 1.3 million camera trap images gathered in fourteen commercially exploited forests.

The recent discovery of the comammox bacterium might prove pivotal in a new and improved approach to wastewater purification that will be more efficient according to research carried out by Pieter Blom. Mr Blom will receive his PhD on the subject from Radboud University on 4 April. Water treatment facilities remove nitrogen, among other substances, from wastewater before releasing it back into the environment.

Chimpanzees that are unable to figure out a complex puzzle on their own, are capable of learning the solution from other chimps that were trained to solve it. Utrecht University researcher Edwin van Leeuwen and international colleagues conclude this based on experiments conducted with groups of chimpanzees in Zambia.

Scientists from Delft University of Technology present a new technique to identify proteins. Proteins carry out essential functions in our cells, while playing a crucial role in diseases like cancer and COVID-19 infection. The researchers identify proteins by reading out the fingerprint, and comparing the fingerprint to patterns from a database.