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Released: 20-Aug-2020 8:25 AM EDT
When learning on your own is not enough
University of Vienna

We make decisions based on not only our own learning experience, but also learning from others. But with the presence of other people’s choices, how do we learn from them to better inform our own learning? Is social learning processed differently from direct learning? In a new study, published in "Science Advances", neuroscientist Lei Zhang of the University of Vienna provides empirical evidence that there are parallel computations for direct learning and social learning and they are carried out in distinct but interacting regions in the brain.

   
Released: 18-Aug-2020 8:15 AM EDT
Evolution in real-time: How bacteria adapt to their hosts
University of Vienna

Some bacteria become increasingly infectious when they have to move from cell to cell in order to survive. Bacteria that invade animal cells in order to multiply are widespread in nature. Some of these are  pathogens of humans and animals. In the environment, they are often found inside unicellular organisms. A research team led by Matthias Horn at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science at the University of Vienna has made use of  laboratory experiments to gain a better understanding of how these bacteria adapt to their host cell over time and become increasingly infectious under certain conditions.

   
Released: 4-Aug-2020 8:35 AM EDT
Between shark and ray: The evolutionary advantage of the sea angels
University of Vienna

Angel sharks are sharks, but with their peculiarly flat body they rather resemble rays. An international research team led by Faviel A. López-Romero and Jürgen Kriwet of the Institute of Palaeontology has now investigated the origin of this body shape. The results illustrate how these sharks evolved into highly specialised, exclusively bottom-dwelling ambush predators and thus also contribute to a better understanding of their threat from environmental changes.

Released: 7-Jul-2020 8:55 AM EDT
Towards improved wound healing – Chemical synthesis of a trefoil factor peptide
University of Vienna

Milestone for therapeutic development of peptides against gastrointestinal disordersThe fascinating family of trefoil factor peptides brings hope to both research and industry to improve the treatment of chronic disorders such as Crohn’s disease. For the first time, a team led by ERC awardee Markus Muttenthaler from the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna succeeded in the synthesis and folding of the peptide TFF1, a key player in mucosal protection and repair.

Released: 3-Jul-2020 6:55 AM EDT
A new way towards super-fast motion of vortices in superconductors discovered
University of Vienna

An international team of scientists from Austria, Germany and Ukraine has found a new superconducting system in which magnetic flux quanta can move at velocities of 10-15 km/s. This opens access to investigations of the rich physics of non-equilibrium collective systems and renders a direct-write Nb-C superconductor as a candidate material for single-photon detectors.

Released: 1-Jul-2020 7:15 AM EDT
The mystery of pollen sterility and its reversion in pigeon pea revealed in a new study
University of Vienna

The Vienna Metabolomics Centre (VIME), University of Vienna, in collaboration with International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), based in India has made a breakthrough in pigeonpea by resolving the mystery behind fertility-sterility transition in pigeonpea.

Released: 10-Jun-2020 5:05 AM EDT
Cellular Stress Causes Cancer Cell Chemoresistance
University of Vienna

Postgenomic technologies reveal new mechanism of stress-induced chemoresistanceResistance of cancer cells against therapeutic agents is a major cause of treatment failure, especially in recurrent diseases. An international team around the biochemists Robert Ahrends from the University of Vienna and Jan Medenbach from the University of Regensburg identified a novel mechanism of chemoresistance which has now been published in "Nature Communications".

28-May-2020 6:55 AM EDT
Material and Genetic Resemblance in the Bronze Age Southern Levant
University of Vienna

Different "Canaanite" people from the Bronze Age Southern Levant not only culturally, but also genetically resemble each other more than other populations. A team around Ron Pinhasi from the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology found in a recent study that their DNA is a mixture of two populations: The Chalcolithic Zagros and Early Bronze Age Caucasus. The results have been published in "Cell".

Released: 27-May-2020 7:40 AM EDT
The evolutionary puzzle of the mammalian ear
University of Vienna

How could the tiny, tightly connected parts of the ear adapt independently to the amazingly diverse functional and environmental regimes encountered in mammals? A group of researchers from the University of Vienna and the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research proposed a new explanation for this evolutionary puzzle.

Released: 22-May-2020 7:50 AM EDT
First fossil nursery of the great white shark discovered
University of Vienna

An international research team led by Jaime A. Villafaña from the Institute of Palaeontology at the University of Vienna discovered the first fossil nursery area of the great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias in Chile. This discovery provides a better understanding of the evolutionary success of the largest top predator in today's oceans in the past and could contribute to the protection of these endangered animals. The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Released: 19-May-2020 7:50 AM EDT
Nature Unveiling Herself Before Science
University of Vienna

21st century societal challenges such as demographic developments and an ageing population demand for new functional materials, such as for bone prostheses. Nature often serves as inspiration when designing these materials. In a recent study published in Analytical Chemistry, a team led by ERC awardee Dennis Kurzbach of the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Vienna reports an innovative approach for high-resolution real-time monitoring of calcium phosphate mineralisation, which is an important natural process for the formation of, e.g., bone, carapace and teeth. They showed how next generation NMR technology allows to create new knowledge about the efficiency of natural materials.

Released: 23-Apr-2020 8:45 AM EDT
Giant teenage shark from the Dinosaur-era
University of Vienna

Scientists of the University of Vienna examined parts of a vertebral column, which was found in northern Spain in 1996, and assigned it to the extinct shark group Ptychodontidae. In contrast to teeth, shark vertebrae bear biological information, like body size, growth, and age and allowed the team surrounding Patrick L.

Released: 9-Mar-2020 8:25 AM EDT
Atomic fingerprint identifies emission sources of uranium
University of Vienna

Uranium is not always the same: depending on whether this chemical element is released by the civil nuclear industry or as fallout from nuclear weapon tests, the ratio of the two anthropogenic, i.e. man-made, uranium isotopes 233U and 236U varies. These results were lately found by an international team grouped around physicists from the University of Vienna and provides a promising new "fingerprint" for the identification of radioactive emission sources.

Released: 26-Feb-2020 8:15 AM EST
Each Mediterranean island has its own genetic pattern
University of Vienna

A Team around Anthropologist Ron Pinhasi from the University of Vienna – together with researchers from the University of Florence and Harvard University – found out that prehistoric migration from Africa, Asia and Europe to the Mediterranean islands took place long before the era of the Mediterranean seafaring civilizations.

Released: 11-Feb-2020 10:00 AM EST
Dancing Matter: New form of movement of cyclic macromolecules discovered
University of Vienna

Physicists show unique polymer behavior using computer simulationsEmploying a computer simulation, physicists Maximilian Liebetreu and Christos Likos have shown a unique dynamic behavior of cyclic polymers. Their motion can be distinguished into phases, and the scientists were able to observe the so-called "inflation phase" for the first time.

Released: 5-Feb-2020 6:05 AM EST
Targeting the Cancer Microenvironment
University of Vienna

The recognition of bacterial infections or foreign substances is mediated and controlled by the human immune system. This innate and adaptive immune system comprises the most important metabolic and cellulare processes to fight against infections and other diseases.

30-Jan-2020 10:00 AM EST
A Quantum of Solid
University of Vienna

Researchers in Austria use lasers to levitate and cool a glass nanoparticle into the quantum regime. Although it is trapped in a room temperature environment, the particle’s motion is solely governed by the laws of quantum physics. The team of scientists from the University of Vienna, the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) published their new study in the journal Science.

Released: 8-Jan-2020 7:05 AM EST
A new form of glass through molecular entanglement
University of Vienna

Physicists at the University of Vienna in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research have discovered a new type of glass formed by long, cyclic molecules. The scientists successfully demonstrated that by making parts of the rings more mobile, the rings become more strongly entangled and the molecular fluid glassifies.

Released: 6-Dec-2019 12:35 PM EST
Has physics ever been deterministic?
University of Vienna

Researchers from the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the University of Vienna and the University of Geneva, have proposed a new interpretation of classical physics without real numbers. This new study challenges the traditional view of classical physics as deterministic.In classical physics it is usually assumed that if we know where an object is and its velocity, we can exactly predict where it will go.

Released: 5-Dec-2019 10:25 AM EST
How flowers adapt to their pollinators
University of Vienna

The first flowering plants originated more than 140 million years ago in the early Cretaceous. They are the most diverse plant group on Earth with more than 300,000 species. In a new study in Communications Biology, evolutionary biologists around Agnes Dellinger and Jürg Schönenberger from the University of Vienna have analysed 3-dimensional models of flowers and found that flower shapes can evolve in a modular manner in adaptation to distinct pollinators.

Released: 3-Dec-2019 8:05 AM EST
Meteorite-Loving Microorganism
University of Vienna

The archaeon Metallosphaera sedula can uptake and process extraterrestrial material. This is shown by an international team led by astrobiologist Tetyana Milojevic, who examines microbial fingerprints on meteorite materials. The researchers also conclude that M. sedula colonizes meteorite minerals faster than those of terrestrial origin.

Released: 22-Nov-2019 5:05 AM EST
United in musical diversity
University of Vienna

Two articles in the most recent issue of Science support the idea that music all around the globe shares important commonalities, despite many differences. Cognitive biologists Tecumseh Fitch and Tudor Popescu of the University of Vienna suggest that human musicality unites all cultures across the planet.

Released: 12-Nov-2019 7:05 AM EST
Applying biodiversity conservation research in practice
University of Vienna

One million species are threatened with extinction, many of them already in the coming decades. This unprecedented loss of biodiversity threatens valuable ecosystems and human well-being. But what is holding us back from putting conservation research into practice? The journal Biological Conservation has published a collection of 14 articles on this topic.

Released: 8-Nov-2019 3:05 AM EST
Ancient Rome: A 12,000-Year History of Genetic Flux, Migrations and Diversity
University of Vienna

Scholars have been all over Rome for hundreds of years, but it still holds some secrets – for instance, relatively little is known about where the city’s denizens actually came from. Now, an international team led by Researchers from the University of Vienna, Stanford University and Sapienza University of Rome, is filling in the gaps with a genetic history that shows just how much the Eternal City’s populace mirrored its sometimes tumultuous history.

Released: 4-Nov-2019 9:00 AM EST
From cone snail venom to pain relief
University of Vienna

Conotoxins are bioactive peptides found in the venom that marine cone snails produce for prey capture and defense. They are used as pharmacological tools to study pain signalling and have the potential to become a new class of analgesics. To date, more than 10,000 conotoxin sequences have been discovered.

   
14-Oct-2019 8:00 AM EDT
Many cooks don't spoil the broth: Manifold symbionts prepare their host for any eventuality
University of Vienna

Deep-sea mussels, which rely on cooperative symbiotic bacteria for their food, harbor a surprisingly high diversity of these bacterial "cooks": Up to 16 different bacterial strains live together in the mussel's gills, each with its own abilities and strengths. Thanks to this diversity of symbiotic bacterial partners, the mussel is prepared for all eventualities. The mussel bundles up an all-round carefree package, a German-Austrian research team including Jillian Petersen from the University of Vienna and Rebecca Ansorge and Nicole Dubilier from the Max-Planck-Institute for Marine Microbiology now reports in Nature Microbiology.

Released: 10-Oct-2019 5:05 AM EDT
Placenta Transit of an Environmental Estrogen
University of Vienna

The human foetus is considered to be particularly sensitive to environmental contaminants. A team led by Benedikt Warth from the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Vienna and Tina Bürki from the Swiss Materials Science and Technology Institute, Empa, has now been able to demonstrate for the first time how the widespread food estrogen zearalenone behaves in the womb.

   
Released: 4-Oct-2019 3:05 AM EDT
The fast dance of electron spins
University of Vienna

Metal complexes show a fascinating behavior in their interactions with light, which for example is utilized in organic light emitting diodes, solar cells, quantum computers, or even in cancer therapy. In many of these applications, the electron spin, a kind of inherent rotation of the electrons, plays an important role. Recently, the chemists Sebastian Mai and Leticia González from the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna succeeded in simulating the extremely fast spin flip processes that are triggered by the light absorption of metal complexes. The study is published in the journal "Chemical Science".

Released: 2-Oct-2019 7:05 AM EDT
Fossil fish gives new insights into the evolution
University of Vienna

An international research team led by Giuseppe Marramà from the Institute of Paleontology of the University of Vienna discovered a new and well-preserved fossil stingray with an exceptional anatomy, which greatly differs from living species. The find provides new insights into the evolution of these animals and sheds light on the recovery of marine ecosystems after the mass extinction occurred 66 million years ago.

Released: 23-Sep-2019 8:35 AM EDT
2000 atoms in two places at once
University of Vienna

The quantum superposition principle has been tested on a scale as never before in a new study by scientists at the University of Vienna in collaboration with the University of Basel. Hot, complex molecules composed of nearly two thousand atoms were brought into a quantum superposition and made to interfere. By confirming this phenomenon – “the heart of quantum mechanics”, in Richard Feynman’s words – on a new mass scale, improved constraints on alternative theories to quantum mechanics have been placed. The work will be published in Nature Physics.

Released: 11-Sep-2019 6:05 AM EDT
From years to days: Artificial Intelligence speeds up photodynamics simulations
University of Vienna

The prediction of molecular reactions triggered by light is to date extremely time-consuming and therefore costly. A team led by Philipp Marquetand from the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Vienna has now presented a method using artificial neural networks that drastically accelerates the simulation of light-induced processes.

Released: 28-Aug-2019 4:05 AM EDT
A molecular "Trojan Horse"
University of Vienna

The research group of Nuno Maulide from the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna has, in cooperation with the Research Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, achieved the synthesis of a potential immunosuppressive agent by modification of a naturally occurring compound.

Released: 22-Aug-2019 8:05 AM EDT
Cranial deformation as an indicator for cultural membership
University of Vienna

Led by Ron Pinhasi from the University of Vienna, Austria and Mario Novak from the Institute for Anthropological Research in Zagreb, Croatia the study combines bioarchaeological isotopic and ancient DNA methods to analyze the dietary patterns, sex, and genetic affinities of three Migration Period (5th century CE) individuals who were recovered from a pit in the city of Osijek in eastern Croatia. They are associated with the presence of various nomadic people such as the Huns and/or Germanic tribes like the Gepids and Ostrogoths in this part of Europe. The results of the study are published in the recent issue of "PLOS ONE".

Released: 22-Aug-2019 8:05 AM EDT
Quantum gravity’s tangled time
University of Vienna

The theories of quantum mechanics and gravity are notorious for being incompatible, despite the efforts of scores of physicists over the past fifty years. However, recently an international team of researchers led by physicists from the University of Vienna, the Austrian Academy of Sciences as well as the University of Queensland (AUS) and the Stevens Institute of Technology (USA) have combined the key elements of the two theories describing the flow of time and discovered that temporal order between events can exhibit genuine quantum features.

12-Aug-2019 11:00 AM EDT
How do atoms vibrate in graphene nanostructures?
University of Vienna

In order to understand advanced materials like graphene nanostructures and optimize them for devices in nano-, opto- and quantum-technology it is crucial to understand how phonons – the vibration of atoms in solids – influence the materials’ properties. Researchers from the University of Vienna, the Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Japan, the company JEOL and La Sapienza University in Rome have developed a method capable to measure all phonons existing in a nanostructured material. This is a breakthrough in the analysis of nanoscale functional materials and devices. With this pilot experiment using graphene nanostructures these researchers have shown the uniqueness of their approach, which will be published in the latest issue of Nature.

5-Aug-2019 8:00 AM EDT
Symphony of Genes
University of Vienna

One of the most exciting discoveries in genome research was that the last common ancestor of all multicellular animals - which lived about 600 million years ago - already possessed an extremely complex genome. Many of the ancestral genes can still be found in modern day species (e.g., human). However, it has long been unclear whether the arrangement of these genes in the genome also had a certain function. In a recent study in Nature Ecology and Evolution, the biologists led by Oleg Simakov and Ulrich Technau show that not only individual genes but also these gene arrangements in the genome have played a key role in the course of animal evolution.

Released: 1-Aug-2019 4:05 AM EDT
From Japanese basket weaving art to nanotechnology with ion beams
University of Vienna

The properties of high-temperature superconductors can be tailored by the introduction of artificial defects. An international research team around physicist Wolfgang Lang at the University of Vienna has succeeded in producing the world's densest complex nano arrays for anchoring flux quanta, the fluxons.

Released: 25-Jul-2019 6:05 AM EDT
How to trick electrons to see the hidden face of crystals
University of Vienna

The 3D analysis of crystal structures requires a full 3D view of the crystals. Crystals as small as powder, with edges less than one micrometer, can only be analysed with electron radiation. With electron crystallography, a full 360-degree view of a single crystal is technically impossible.

Released: 23-Jul-2019 6:05 AM EDT
When the pigeon and the letter do not travel together
University of Vienna

In standard communication the pigeon always carries the message; the information is linked to a physical entity/particle. Counter to intuition, in a new counterfactual communication protocol published in NPJ Quantum Information, scientists from the University of Vienna, the University of Cambridge and the MIT have experimentally demonstrated that in quantum mechanics this is not always true, thereby contradicting a crucial premise of communication theory.

11-Jul-2019 7:00 AM EDT
Scientists gain new insights into the mechanisms of cell division
University of Vienna

Mitosis is the process by which the genetic information encoded on chromosomes is equally distributed to two daughter cells, a fundamental feature of all life on earth. Scientists led by Alexander Dammermann at the Max Perutz Labs, a joint venture of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna, now examine how centrioles contribute to this process. The findings, published in "Developmental Cell", help to elucidate the function of these tiny cellular structures in mitosis.

Released: 9-Jul-2019 7:05 AM EDT
Tungsten as interstellar radiation shielding?
University of Vienna

A boiling point of 5900 degrees Celsius and diamond-like hardness in combination with carbon: tungsten is the heaviest metal, yet has biological functions - especially in heat-loving microorganisms. A team led by Tetyana Milojevic from the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Vienna report for the first time rare microbial-tungsten interactions at the nanometer range.

Released: 8-Jul-2019 7:05 AM EDT
Playfully discover atom manipulation
University of Vienna

The team of Toma Susi at the University of Vienna uses a state-of-the-art electron microscope, the UltraSTEM, to manipulate strongly bound materials with atomic precision. Since the instruments used are fully computerized.

Released: 5-Jul-2019 4:05 AM EDT
The Ancestor of the Great White Shark
University of Vienna

Mackerel sharks (Lamniformes) are a group consisting of some of the most iconic sharks we know, including the mako shark (the fastest shark in the world), the infamous great white shark and Megalodon, the biggest predatory shark that has ever roamed  the world’s oceans.

Released: 18-Jun-2019 7:05 AM EDT
Antidepressants can reduce the empathic empathy
University of Vienna

Depression is a disorder that often comes along with strong impairments of social functioning. Until recently, researchers assumed that acute episodes of depression also impair empathy, an essential skill for successful social interactions and understanding others.

Released: 14-May-2019 6:05 AM EDT
Symbionts as lifesavers
University of Vienna

When people fall ill from bacterial infection, the first priority is to treat the disease. But where do these pathogens come from and how do they thrive in the environment before the infection occurs? An international team led by Matthias Horn from the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science at the University of Vienna has tackled this question using an important bacterial pathogen that causes lung disease.

Released: 6-May-2019 5:05 AM EDT
Quantum computing with Graphene Plasmons
University of Vienna

A novel material that consists of a single sheet of carbon atoms could lead to new designs for optical quantum computers. Physicists from the University of Vienna and the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Barcelona have shown that tailored graphene structures enable single photons to interact with each other. The proposed new architecture for quantum computer is published in the recent issue of npj Quantum Information.

Released: 24-Apr-2019 7:05 AM EDT
Rapid destruction of Earth-like atmospheres by young stars
University of Vienna

The discoveries of thousands of planets orbiting stars outside our solar system has made questions about the potential for life to form on these planets fundamentally important in modern science. Fundamentally important for the habitability of a planet is whether or not it can hold onto an atmosphere, which requires that the atmosphere is not completely lost early in the lifetime of the planet.

1-Apr-2019 5:05 AM EDT
The evolution of bird-of-paradise sex chromosomes revealed
University of Vienna

Birds-of-paradise are a group of songbird species, and are known for their magnificent male plumage and bewildering sexual display. Now, an international collaborative work involving Dept. of Molecular Evolution and Development of University of Vienna, Zhejiang University of China, and Swedish Museum of Natural History analyzed all together 11 songbird species genomes, including those of five bird-of-paradise species, and reconstructed the evolutionary history of their sex chromosomes.

Released: 29-Mar-2019 6:05 AM EDT
Quantum Optical Cooling of Nanoparticles
University of Vienna

Physicists develop new methodWhen a particle is completely isolated from its environment, the laws of quantum physics start to play a crucial role. One important requirement to see quantum effects is to remove all thermal energy from the particle motion, i.e. to cool it as close as possible to absolute zero temperature. Researchers at the University of Vienna, the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are now one step closer to reaching this goal by demonstrating a new method for cooling levitated nanoparticles.

Released: 5-Mar-2019 9:00 AM EST
When Changing One Atom Makes Molecules Better
University of Vienna

Chemists in Vienna find a method to replace hydrogen with fluorine in organic moleculesThe development and improvement of pharmaceuticals plays the central role in the ongoing battle against human disease. Organic synthesis is the field that enables these developments as it offers the toolbox to diversify chemical structures.


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