Neta Shlezinger et al. Sterilizing immunity in the lung relies on targeting fungal apoptosis-like programmed cell death, Science (2017). DOI: 10.1126/science.aan0365

A team from U.S., Germany and Israel has found that mice are able to ward off fungal lung infections because their immune systems cause fungal spores to die. In their paper published in the journal Science, the team describes the means by which they discovered how mice are able to ward off fungal lung infections and what their findings might mean for human patients.

Most people breathe in approximately 1000 fungal spores every single day. But the means by which people ward off fungal infections in the lungs has not been understood...

A cross section through the fibril illustrating the stepwise overlapping arrangement of the Aβ proteins Credit: Forschungszentrum Jülich / HHU Düsseldorf / Gunnar Schröder

A team from Germany and the Netherlands has determined the structure of an amyloid fibril with previously unachieved resolution. The fibrils of the body’s own amyloid beta (Aβ) protein are the main constituent of brain protein deposits associated with Alzheimer’s. The atomic-level 3D structure elucidated by the scientists reveals previously unknown aspects of the growth of harmful deposits and the effect of genetic risk factors.

The structure reveals how the many single Aβ protein molecules are staggered in layers on top of each other and are arranged into protofilaments...

Schematic of a quantum network: single photons transmit quantum information between the network nodes, where they are stored in an atomic gas. (Illustration: University of Basel, Department of Physics)

Physicists from the University of Basel have developed a memory that can store photons. These quantum particles travel at the speed of light and are thus suitable for high-speed data transfer. The researchers were able to store them in an atomic vapor and read them out again later without altering their quantum mechanical properties too much. This memory technology is simple and fast and it could find application in a future quantum Internet.

Even today, fast data transfer in telecommunication networks employs short light pulses...

In a so-called target chamber, the light pulse of the high-performance laser DRACO hits a gas-jet. The aim is to accelerate electrons to almost the speed of light on a distance shorter than a pencil’s width. Credit: HZDR / F. Bierstedt

Optimum conditions for Laser Plasma acceleration. Conventional electron accelerators have become an indispensable tool in modern research. The extremely bright radiation generated by synchrotrons, or free electron lasers, provides us with unique insights into matter at the atomic level. But even the smallest versions of these super microscopes are the size of a soccer field. Laser plasma acceleration could offer an alternative: with a much smaller footprint and much higher peak currents it could be the basis for the next generation of compact light sources...