Hydrogels with electrical and antibacterial properties suitable for neural interfaces have been created in a piece of work at the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country The Materials + Technology research group at the UPV/EHU’s Faculty of Engineering-Gipuzkoa has, in collaboration with the University of Strasbourg, developed some hydrogels with potential biomedical applications. Starch was used…
Quantum Artificial Life Created on the Cloud
A scenario of artificial intelligence could see the emergence of circumstances in which models of simple organisms could be capable of experiencing the various phases of life in a controlled virtual environment. This is what has been designed by the QUTIS research group at the UPV/EHU’s Department of Physical Chemistry, but the scenario is that…
Researchers Find a Molecular Key for Delaying the Progression of Multiple Sclerosis
The Combination of Two Proteins Exerts a Regenerating Effect in Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s disease is currently the second most widespread neurogenerative pathology. It is a motor disorder caused by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the black substance of the brain. These neurons are the nerve cells that produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter that plays a key role in the modulation of involuntary movements. The research carried out…
Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings: A Difficult Challenge for Southern Europe
Over the coming years there is a legal commitment for all the countries of Europe to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, which boils down to constructing nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEBs), in other words, buildings that consume the minimum of energy. The EU Directive 31/2010 establishes two key deadlines: that all public buildings must be…
Researchers Report First Nanometrically Sized Superelastic Alloy
UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country researchers have explored superelasticity properties on a nanometric scale based on shearing an alloy’s pillars down to nanometric size. In the article published in Nature Nanotechnology, the researchers found that below one micron in diameter, the material behaves differently and requires much higher stress for it to be deformed. This superelastic…
Self-cleaning, Anti-reflective, Microorganism-resistant Coatings Developed
Researchers at the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country are modifying surface properties of materials to obtain specific properties at a lower cost. Alexander Santiago, a researcher in the Department of Polymer Science and Technology at the UPV/EHU’s Faculty of Chemistry, has developed three types of functional coatings that are resistant to microorganisms and have self-cleaning…
Pushing a Single-Molecule Switch
Everybody knows the force that is required to activate a light switch on a wall – a finger is enough. But how much force do you need to apply if the device was dramatically reduced to the “nanoscale world”, that is, how much force do you need to operate a “single-molecule switch”? This fundamental question…
First Evidence of Neanderthal Cannibalism Discovered in Northern Europe
These remains display a large proportion of cut marks caused by stone tools when the meat was cut, and the bones display fractures as a result of having been broken to extract the marrow. Some bones were also used as tools for shaping stone tools. The Ikerbasque researcher Asier Gómez-Olivencia, who is currently working at…