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Diamond is one of the most prized materials in advanced technologies due to its unmatched hardness, ability to conduct heat and capacity to host quantum-friendly defects. The same qualities that make diamond useful also make it difficult to process. Engineers and researchers who work with diamond for quantum sensors, power electronics or thermal management technologies need it in ultrathin, ultrasmooth layers. But traditional techniques, like laser cutting and polishing, often [...]

Currently, half of patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and acute lymphoblastic leukemia—two types of cancer that affect blood cells—do not respond adequately to treatment with CAR-T cells. The therapy involves harvesting the patient’s own defense cells (T lymphocytes), modifying them in the laboratory to make them capable of destroying tumor cells, and reinjecting them into the body. These refractory cases usually relapse after conventional immunotherapy. To [...]

A group of researchers affiliated with the Center for Innovation in New Energies (CINE) has developed a method for purifying materials that is simple, economical and has a low environmental impact. The scientists have managed to improve the efficiency of a film that can be used in some green hydrogen production processes. Known as mullite-type bismuth ferrite (Bi ₂ Fe ₄ O ₉), the material has been used as a photoelectrocatalyst in the production of hydrogen by photoelectron oxidation, [...]

The deconstruction of cellulose is essential for the conversion of biomass into fuels and chemicals. But cellulose, the most abundant renewable polymer on the planet, is extremely recalcitrant to biological depolymerization. Although composed entirely of glucose units, its crystalline microfibrillar structure and association with lignin and hemicelluloses in plant cell walls make it highly resistant to degradation. As a result, its degradation in nature is slow and requires complex enzymatic [...]

The gene encoding an enzyme from a firefly, discovered at the Sorocaba campus of the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) in Brazil, has given rise to a biosensor capable of detecting pH changes in mammalian cells—which could be useful, for example, in studying diseases and assessing the toxicity of a drug candidate. The luciferase from the species Amydetes vivianii changes color from bluish-green to yellow and red as acidity decreases in fibroblasts, the most common cell [...]

A deadly fungal epidemic in Brazil is evolving fast: pollution, cats, and genetics may be fueling its unstoppable spread. Brazil is facing the world’s largest and most persistent sporotrichosis epidemic, a fungal infection spread primarily through cats. A new study reveals an alarming genetic diversity in the fungus, suggesting that urban pollutants may be accelerating its evolution. Researchers identified molecular markers that could enhance diagnostics and treatments, while also [...]

  It is a deep question, from deep in our history: when did human language as we know it emerge? A new survey of genomic evidence suggests our unique language capacity was present at least 135,000 years ago. Subsequently, language might have entered social use 100,000 years ago. Our species, Homo sapiens, is about 230,000 years old. Estimates of when language originated vary widely, based on different forms of evidence, from fossils to cultural artifacts. The authors of the [...]

A technology developed by the Brazilian company brain4care has been shown to be able to measure absolute values of intracranial pressure (ICP) more accurately than existing non-invasive methods. This is the result of a study published in the journal npj Digital Medicine by researchers from the University of São Paulo in Brazil, the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, Emory University in the United States, and the company itself. “The study included the largest number [...]

In physics, a system composed of two substances can be modeled in accordance with classical mixture theory, which considers the fraction corresponding to each constituent and the interactions among constituents. Examples include the coexistence of high-and low-density phases in supercooled water, and the coexistence of metal puddles in an insulating matrix in the Mott metal-insulator transition. Read more