Lifeboat Foundation

The retina and optic nerve share most of the brain’s biochemical properties – this way, they provide a ‘window’ into the biochemistry of the brain.

To address this lack of technological means for the early detection of TBI, Pola Goldberg Oppenheimer, a Professor in Micro-Engineering and Bio-Nanotechnology at the University of Birmingham, UK, has developed a groundbreaking laser-based, eye-safe device (EyeD) technology. This technology can detect molecular changes that reflect brain damage by scanning the back of the eye with a handheld device.

Direct meta-selective C–H functionalization of pyridines is of paramount importance, but such reactions remain limited and highly challenging. Here, the authors report an electrochemical methodology in which nucleophilic sulfinates allow meta-sulfonylation of pyridines through a redox-neutral dearomatization-rearomatization strategy.

A new study published in The Astrophysical Journal, led by Assistant Professor of Astronomy Rana Ezzeddine and UF alumnus Jeremy Kowkabany, with collaborators, reports the discovery of a star that challenges astronomers’ understanding of star evolution and formation of chemical elements, and could suggest a new stage in their growth cycle.

It is widely accepted that as stars burn, they lose lighter elements like lithium in exchange for heavier elements like carbon and oxygen, but an analysis of this new star revealed that not only was its lithium content high for its age, but was higher than the normal level for any star at any age.

This star, named J0524-0336 based on its coordinates in space, was discovered recently by Ezzeddine as part of a different study that used surveying to look for older stars in the Milky Way. It is an evolved star, meaning that it is in the later stages of its “life” and is beginning to grow unstable. That also means that it is much larger and brighter than most other stars of its type, estimated to be about 30 times the size of the sun.

Researchers have developed a technique to trap light within an organic material, forming a hybrid quantum state that gives rise to novel physical and chemical properties.

An international team of researchers led by the University of Ottawa has gone back to the kitchen cupboard to create a recipe that combines organic material and light to create quantum states.

Professor Jean-Michel Ménard, leader of the Ultrafast Terahertz Spectroscopy group at the Faculty of Science, coordinated with Dr. Claudiu Genes at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (Germany), and with Iridian Spectral Technologies (Ottawa) to design a device which can efficiently modify properties of materials using the quantum superposition with light.

An international group of researchers has developed a novel approach that enhances the efficiency of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), a key process in renewable energy technologies. By introducing rare earth single atoms into manganese oxide (MnO2), the group successfully modulated oxygen electronic states, leading to unprecedented improvements in OER performance.

A long-running research endeavor reveals key chemical players that cement memories in place—and still more have yet to be discovered.

By Simon Makin

The persistence of memory is crucial to our sense of identity, and without it, there would be no learning, for us or any other animal. It’s little wonder, then, that some researchers have called how the brain stores memories the most fundamental question in neuroscience.

Using a polymer to make a strong yet springy thin film, scientists led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are speeding the arrival of next-generation solid-state batteries. This effort advances the development of electric vehicle power enabled by flexible, durable sheets of solid-state electrolytes.

The sheets may allow scalable production of future solid-state batteries with higher energy density electrodes. By separating negative and positive electrodes, they would prevent dangerous electrical shorts while providing high-conduction paths for ion movement.

These achievements foreshadow greater safety, performance and energy density compared to current batteries that use liquid electrolytes, which are flammable, chemically reactive, thermally unstable and prone to leakage.

Summary: Researchers developed a brain-inspired AI technique using neural networks to model the challenging quantum states of molecules, crucial for technologies like solar panels and photocatalyst.

This new approach significantly improves accuracy, enabling better prediction of molecular behaviors during energy transitions. By enhancing our understanding of molecular excited states, this research could revolutionize material prototyping and chemical synthesis.

A team of scientists led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) recently made an unprecedented observation of how promethium, a rare element, forms chemical bonds in aqueous solutions.

This groundbreaking discovery was made using the Beamline for Materials Measurement (BMM), a beamline funded and operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, at the National Synchrotron Light Source II, a DOE Office of Science user facility at DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory.