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    Researchers identify the Target of Immune Attacks on Liver Cells in Metabolic Disorders

    August 22, 2022, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    illustration of human liver anatomy
    Illustration of human liver anatomy. Credit: Shutterstock

    When fat accumulates in the liver, the immune system may assault the organ. A new study from Weill Cornell Medicine researchers identifies the molecule that trips these defenses, a discovery that helps to explain the dynamics underlying liver damage that can accompany type 2 diabetes and obesity.

    In a study published Aug. 19 in Science Immunology, researchers mimicked these human metabolic diseases by genetically altering mice or feeding them a high-fat, high-sugar diet. They then examined changes within the arm of the rodent’s immune system that mounts defenses tailored to specific threats...

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    New Heat-Tolerant, High-Capacity Capacitor created with Solid Electrolytes Borrowed from All-Solid-State Batteries

    August 22, 2022, Categories  Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    New heat-tolerant, high-capacity capacitor created with solid electrolytes borrowed from all-solid-state batteries
    Bulk-type symmetric all-solid-state capacitor, with a LBSC SE layer between two electrode layers of an LBSC-CNT composite (left), showed low resistance and were operable at 100–300 °C (right). Credit: Hayashi, Osaka Metropolitan University

    Capacitors are energy storage devices—consisting of two electrodes and an electrolyte—that are capable of rapid charging and discharging because of charge adsorption and desorption properties at the electrode-electrolyte interface...

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    Building Blocks of the Future for Photovoltaics

    August 19, 2022, Categories  Physics

    Artistic representation showing the twisted layers of tungsten diselenide (top) and molybdenum disulphide (bottom). Following excitation using light, a multitude of optically “dark” excitons form between the layers. These “dark” excitons are electron-hole pairs bound by Coulomb interaction (light and dark spheres connected by field lines), which cannot be directly observed using visible light. One of the most interesting quasiparticles is the “moiré interlayer exciton” – shown in the middle of the image – in which the hole is located in one layer and the electron in the other...
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    Seeing Universe’s Most Massive Known Star

    August 19, 2022, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This comparison image shows the exceptional sharpness and clarity of the Zorro imager on the 8.1-meter Gemini South telescope in Chile (left) when compared to an earlier image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (right). The new Gemini South image allowed astronomers to clearly distinguish the star R136a1 from its nearby stellar companions, providing the data needed to reveal that – while still the most massive star known in the Universe – it is less massive than previously thought. 

    Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
    Acknowledgment: Image processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab) & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab); NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope 

    Groundbreaking observation from Gemini Observ...

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