A research team at the Technical University of Munich has developed molecular nanoswitches that can be toggled between two structurally different states using an applied voltage. They can serve as the basis for a pioneering class of devices that could replace silicon-based components with organic molecules. Credit: Yuxiang Gong / TUM / Journal of the American Chemical Society

An international research team led by physicists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has developed molecules that can be switched between two structurally different states using an applied voltage. Such nanoswitches can serve as the basis for a pioneering class of devices that could replace silicon-based components with organic molecules.

The development of new electronic technologies drives the incessant redu...

In a series of experiments conducted by researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, clothing treated with an insecticide known as permethrin had strong toxic effects on three primary species of ticks known to spread disease-causing pathogens in the United States (shown here, left to right): the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis), lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum), and American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis). Exposure to permethrin interfered with the ticks’ ability to move properly, making them sluggish and likely interfering with their ability to bite.

Lab tests show germ-carrying ticks can’t move properly after contact with treated garments. The case for permethrin-treated clothing to prevent tick bites keeps getting stronger...

MIT engineers have designed an ingestible sensor equipped with bacteria programmed to sense environmental conditions and relay the information to an electronic circuit. Credit: Lillie Paquette/MIT

Ultra-low-power sensors carrying genetically engineered bacteria can detect gastric bleeding or other gastrointestinal problems. This “bacteria-on-a-chip” approach combines sensors made from living cells with ultra-low-power electronics that convert the bacterial response into a wireless signal that can be read by a smartphone...

One of the new dark-galaxy candidates, identified through a combination of spectral information (left) and images reflecting the emission of gas (middle) and stars (right). The position of the dark-galaxy candidate is marked by the red circle. Credit: R. A. Marino / MUSE

The identification of at least six candidates for dark galaxies could help filling an important gap in our understanding of galaxy evolution. Dark galaxies have a few (if any) stars in them and are, for that reason, notoriously difficult to detect with current instruments.

Despite substantial progress over the past half a century in understanding of how galaxies form, important open questions remain regarding how precisely the diffuse gas known as the ‘intergalactic medium’ is converted into stars...