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This is a fluorescent microscopy image showing accumulation of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE, red) in human dendritic cells treated with synthetic F. tularensis PE containing liposomes. Blue indicates the cell nucleus.
Credit: NIAID

NIH scientists see therapeutic potential against bacteria, viruses. National Institutes of Health researchers have identified a naturally occurring lipid – a waxy, fatty acid – used by a disease-causing bacterium to impair the host immune response and increase the chance of infection. Inadvertently, they also may have found a potent inflammation therapy against bacterial and viral diseases.

Lipids are known to help Francisella tularensis bacteria, the cause of tularemia, to suppress host inflammation when infecting mouse and human cells...

A newly developed stealth sheet can hide hot objects like human bodies or military vehicles from infrared cameras. Credit: PHOTO BY HONGRUI JIANG

Infrared cameras are the heat-sensing eyes that help drones find their targets even in the dead of night or through heavy fog. Hiding from such detectors could become much easier, thanks to a new cloaking material that renders objects – and people – practically invisible. “What we have shown is an ultrathin stealth ‘sheet.’ Right now, what people have is much heavier metal armor or thermal blankets,” says Hongrui Jiang, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Warm objects like human bodies or tank engines emit heat as infrared light...

1.2m, 5.2kg turbine blade fabricated entirely with cellulose and chitosan, the most ubiquitous biopolymers on earth and produced in large amounts in almost every ecosystem. Both ingredients are obtained from by-products of the industry, resulting in production with negative ecological footprint.

Researchers have recently demonstrated the use of cellulose to sustainably manufacture/fabricate large 3D objects. Their approach diverges from the common association of cellulose with green plants and is inspired by the wall of the fungus-like oomycetes, which is reproduced introducing small amounts of chitin between cellulose fibers. The resulting fungal-like adhesive material(s) (FLAM) are strong, lightweight and inexpensive, and can be molded or processed using woodworking techniques.

Cellulose...