Category Environment/Geology

Under the influence of interferons, chronic viral infections cause strong inflammation. This causes the B cells to initiate an inadequate immune response which first optimizes the production of antibodies for a short period, but then rapidly subsides. (Image: University of Basel)

Scientists at the University of Basel discovered a fundamental new mechanism explaining the inadequate immune defense against chronic viral infection. These results may open up new avenues for vaccine development. In the course of an infection or upon vaccination, B cells, produce antibodies that bind viruses and inactivate them. In the context of chronic viral infections such as HIV or hepatitis C virus, however, antibody production by B cells is quantitatively inadequate and starts too late.

A team of scientists...

Degrading wood with fungi — rather than burning it — could be a new way to heat indoor spaces. Credit: jirawat thawornpipatdej/Shutterstock.com

In colder weather, people have long been warming up around campfires and woodstoves. Lately, this idea of burning wood or other biomass for heat has surged in popularity as an alternative to using fossil fuels. Now, in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, scientists report a step toward a “greener” way to generate heat with biomass. Rather than burning it, which releases pollutants, they let fungi break it down to release heat.

The benefit of biomass, which consists of plant material and animal waste, is that there is no shortage...

The cosmic microwave background over the whole sky, with the unusual ‘Cold Spot’ feature circled at the lower right. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Portsmouth

The map of cosmic void positions – large empty spaces with relatively few galaxies – and superclusters – huge regions with many more galaxies than normal – can be used to measure the effect of dark energy ‘stretching’ the universe. The results confirm the predictions of Einstein’s theory of gravity. Lead author Dr Seshadri Nadathur from the University’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation said: “We used a new technique to make a very precise measurement of the effect that these structures have on photons from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) – light left over from shortly after the Big Bang – passing through them...

© Photo Fraunhofer IGB Various raw materials as building blocks for plastics.

A process for manufacturing high-quality plastics from terpenes, a waste stream of the cellulose production has been developed by Fraunhofer researchers. Even if fossil resources got much cheaper in the last years there are big efforts to replace standard plastics by substances made from renewable resources. A reduced consumption of fossil resources is especially important because of the climate change caused by the release of CO2. Apart from the production of biodegradable polymers, for example for packaging applications, there is a big interest in high performance materials made from renewable resources.

The synthesis of polyamides from terpenes was developed at BioCat – Bio, Electro and Chemocataysis, the Str...