Science LinX news

Some light-emitting diodes (LEDs) created from perovskite, a class of optoelectronic materials, emit light over a broad wavelength range. Scientists from the University of Groningen have now shown that in some cases, the explanation of why this happens is incorrect.

Photosynthetic systems in nature transport energy very efficiently towards a reaction centre, where it is converted into a useful form for the organism. Inspired by Nature, Physicist Richard Hildner from the University of Groningen and his colleagues have investigated energy transport in an artificial system made from nanofibres.

Scientists from the University of Groningen have developed a method that combines different resolution levels in a computer simulation of biological membranes. Their algorithm backmaps a large-scale model that includes features, such as membrane curvature, to its corresponding coarse-grained molecular model. This has allowed them to zoom in on toxin-induced membrane budding and to simulate a full-sized mitochondrial lipid membrane. Their approach, which was published in the journal Nature Communications on 8 May, opens the way to whole-cell simulations at a molecular level.

Proefjes uit de Zpannend Zernike brochure.

Science LinX newsletter for April 2020

Dit voorjaar testen leerlingen van 3 en 4 vwo van het Leeuwarder Lyceum en de Lindenborg de lesmodule Voedselweb structuren in een agrarisch landschap die ontwikkeld is vanuit het Europese project over duurzame landschappen SUSTAIN.

Technicians from the Kapteyn Institute of Astronomy have been asked to build another 66 detectors for the ALMA radio telescope in Chile, together with partners in Sweden and Italy.

Met de Molecula app kun je markers scannen om erachter te komen hoe moleculen er in 3D uitzien. Met de markers en de app kun je een leuke moleculenspeurtocht maken in je eigen huis.

Two students from the University of Groningen traveled to Cambodia with the 'Your Future Energy' solar cell practical to make thousands of secondary school students enthusiastic about clean energy.

To find out more about birds such as the black-tailed godwit, ecologists have been conducting long-term population studies using standardized information on reproductive behaviour—such as dates of egg laying or hatching. New information gathered using geolocators on godwits in the Netherlands shows that traditional observation methods can lead to inaccurate data.

Normaal is de Bernoulliborg op de Zernike Campus het kloppend hart van de Bèta Battle finale, nu vond die door de omstandigheden online plaats. Vijf scholen hebben de finaleronde gespeeld. Eindwinnaar is het Rudolph Pabus Cleveringa Lyceum uit Appingedam

A promising method for delivery of DNA for gene therapy genes involves the use of DNA/lipid complexes (lipoplexes). Scientists at the University of Groningen have now used advanced simulations to investigate how these lipoplexes deliver DNA fragments into cells. The results can be used to improve their efficiency.

Katja Loos, Professor of Polymer Chemistry at the University of Groningen, is conducting science while industry representatives are looking over her shoulder. Loos does not consider this scary. On the contrary, it inspires her and her colleagues from six other Dutch universities.

Lead-based perovskites are very promising materials for the production of solar panels. They efficiently turn light into electricity but they also present some major drawbacks: the most efficient materials are not very stable, while lead is a toxic element. University of Groningen scientists are studying alternatives to lead-based perovskites.

University of Groningen scientists observed the characteristics of a single enzyme inside a nanopore. This revealed that the enzyme can exist in four different folded states, or conformers, that play an active role in the reaction mechanism. These results will have consequences for enzyme engineering and the development of inhibitors.

‘Het Waddenfonds’ contributes 1.5 million euros to the project “The darkness of the Wadden region”. This project of the Nature and Environment Federation of North Holland, in collaboration with the University of Groningen, Staatsbosbeheer, Natuurmonumenten and the Nature and Environment Federations of Friesland and Groningen, aims to stimulate sustainable tourism throughout the Wadden region by experiencing the darkness. The total costs of this project are over 3 million euros.

Researchers of the University of Groningen and the Max Planck Institute have found that starlings sleep five hours less per night during the summer. Compared to winter, the birds take more mid-day naps and live under higher sleep pressure. During full-moon nights, starlings sleep around two hours less than usual.

Ajay Kottapalli is a scientist who turns to nature for inspiration to build new sensors. Two years ago, hejoined the University of Groningen as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the ENgineering and TEchnology institute Groningen (ENTEG).

Het Kasteel te Groningen vormde donderdag 5 maart het decor voor de inmiddels traditionele wedstrijd in de wetenschapscommunicatie, FameLab. Elf onderzoekers stonden te popelen om hun wetenschappelijk onderzoek uit te leggen in een drie-minuten-presentatie zonder PowerPoint.

University of Groningen microbiologists discovered that Lactococcus lactis cells growing in a clonal population can differ in the uptake system they use. Furthermore, the choice for either system is maintained over many generations. It is the first time that such stable heterogeneity is observed in an amino acid uptake pathway.

The spread of antibiotic resistance is partly due to the ability of bacteria to pick up DNA from their surroundings. A new study, which started at the University of Groningen, showed that drugs blocking this ability (which is called ‘competence’) in the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae can indeed stop the spread of resistance in mice.

Op de Huishoudbeurs 2020 stonden drie containers van Expeditie NEXT-On Tour in het midden van één van de hoofdhallen vol in het zicht. In de containers worden korte experimenten en mini-colleges aangeboden, onder meer door Science LinX.

Actin filaments have several important functions inside cells. For one, they support the cell membrane by binding to it. Simulations performed at the University of Groningen, supported by experiments, provide a molecular view on this very fundamental process.

Chemical & Engineering News (a publication of the American Chemical Society) recently published two articles on papers by Ben Feringa: one about a muscle that is flexed by molecular motors and the other about a new environmentally friendly process that makes useful building blocks for plastic and pills.

Secretary Tineke Kalter was the first UG staff member to hear that Ben Feringa had been awarded the Nobel Prize. The effects are still noticeable a year later. ‘We still receive dozens of requests every day.’

Egbert Boekema has spent almost his entire academic career working on a single problem: elucidating the structure of the proteins responsible for photosynthesis. His official farewell was on 27 September.

The Origins Centre will tackle questions submitted to the National Science Agenda about the origin of life on Earth and in the Universe. A number of scientists from the University of Groningen have a leading role in this Centre. Part 1 of a series: the background to the Origins Centre.

University of Groningen / Science LinX present five images for Nobel-winning motors by Ben Feringa

Ben Feringa is awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize for Chemistry

Science LinX presents three graphene videos.

A short film on a research project by Sijbren Otto, who wants to create life in the lab via chemical evolution.