News overview 2019

Simulations by scientists from the University of Groningen and Utrecht University showed that it is unlikely that the North Atlantic Current , which is responsible for the mild climate in northwestern Europe, will come to a complete stop. However, there is a 15 percent likelihood that there will be a temporary change in the current in the next 100 years.

University of Groningen enzyme engineer Marco Fraaije and colleagues from Italy and Argentina reconstructed the ancestral genetic sequences for three FMO genes and subsequently studied the enzymes. The ancestral enzymes proved to be stable enough to study and revealed how FMOs metabolize toxic substances.

Het in het najaar gestarte duisternismeetnetwerkx van het Kapteyn Instituut en ScienceLinX is recent uitgebreid met twee nieuwe sensoren in Boerakker en De Zilk (Zuid-Holland).

University of Groningen chemists Ruth Dorel and Ben Feringa have constructed a catalyst that can produce different products and is controlled using light.

Maar liefst 57 middelbare scholieren waren 28 november op bezoek bij Science LinX voor de regionale voorronde van de European Union Science Olympiad (EUSO).

Ruim 20 kinderen uit groepen 7 en 8 van basisscholen uit de directe omgeving van de Zernike Campus hebben hard gewerkt om hun surprise een technische upgrade te geven in het Sinterklaas Surprise Lab.

For all FSE staff: join in at the Education and Outreach Day on 10 December

Some photons carry too much energy for the material of solar panels to absorb. These photons produce ‘hot electrons’, and the excess energy of these electrons is converted into heat. Scientists from the University of Groningen have now shown that it may be easier than expected to harvest this excess energy.

Associate Professor Justin Ye, head of the Device Physics of Complex Materials group at the University of Groningen, studied superconductivity in a double layer of molybdenum disulfide and discovered new superconducting states.

Science LinX newsletter for November 2019

Tijdens het Festival della Scienza vertegenwoordigt Science LinX de Groningse wetenschap met een 12-daags programma voor jong en oud in het Italiaanse Genua.

University of Groningen scientists have now taken an important step towards transistors that operate using the spin of electrons, rather than their charge.

Enthousiaste scholieren van scholen uit Assen en Groningen zijn op hun vrije zaterdag naar de Zernike Campus gekomen om deel te nemen aan de ‘Astro Data Science Hackathon’.

Scientists from the University of Groningen (the Netherlands) and the University of Würzburg (Germany) have investigated a simple biomimetic light-harvesting system.

University of Groningen physicist Dr Kumar Sourav Das created curved spin transport channels. Together with his colleagues, he discovered that this new geometry makes it possible to independently tune charge and spin currents.

Science LinX newsletter for October 2019

Scientists at the University of Groningen have constructed synthetic vesicles in which ATP, the main energy carrier in living cells, is produced. This metabolic network will eventually be used in the creation of synthetic cells.

Physicists from the University of Groningen constructed a two-dimensional spin transistor, in which spin currents were generated by an electric current through graphene.

A phenomenon that is well known from chaos theory was observed in a material for the first time ever, by scientists from the University of Groningen. This ‘spatial chaos’ in a material was first predicted in 1985 and could be used in applications such as adaptable neuromorphic electronics.

Science LinX newsletter for September 2019

University of Groningen scientists, with an international team of colleagues, have now discovered a key mechanism in the tuberculosis bacteria which prevents the immune cells from killing them: the bacteria produce a unique type of antacid which gives the immune cells indigestion.

The arrival of humans in New Zealand, some 700 years ago, triggered a wave of extinction among native bird species. Calculations by scientists from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and Massey University in New Zealand show that it would take at least 50 million years of evolution to restore the biodiversity that has been lost.

On 24 June, Paul Zomer defended his PhD thesis at the University of Groningen. Zomer used the technological know-how that he acquired during his research at the company HQ Graphene, which he co-owns with Niko Tombros.

Science LinX newsletter for July/August 2019

University of Groningen Professor of Drug Design, Alexander Dömling, has devised a method to rapidly synthesize thousands of new molecules and evaluate their properties as potential drugs. In a paper published by Science Advances on 5 July, he shows that this method works well when applied to boronic acid chemistry, an important technique in synthetic organic chemistry.

Professor of Astronomy Amina Helmi investigates how the Milky Way got its present shape. The Gaia satellite mission, in which she plays an important role, has provided a cornucopia of data so far. Now, Helmi is involved in the building of a new instrument that will be mounted onto an Earth-based telescope and that will provide even more information.

Self-cleaning surfaces and laboratories on a chip become even more efficient if we are able to control individual droplets. University of Groningen professor Patrick Onck, together with colleagues from Eindhoven University of Technology, have shown that this is possible by using a technique known as mechanowetting.

Pyrolysis, heating in the absence of oxygen, is a technique to turn wood chips into valuable chemicals. University of Groningen Professor of Chemical Engineering Erik Heeres is involved in producing ‘green gold’ from organic waste.

So, you want to be a scientist? In that case, know that simply mastering your chosen subject is only the beginning. Fortunately, there is a series of books about these three topics, written by University of Groningen Dean of Talent Development Ritsert Jansen.

Scientists at the Stratingh Institute for Chemistry at the University of Groningen, together with collaborators from the University of Amsterdam, the University of Twente and the European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy in Italy, have been able to follow the entire sequence of structural transformations in a new class of molecular switches for the first time.

In his latest paper, newly appointed Professor in Energy and Environmental Scienceis Klaus Hubacek describes how Chinese cities export their pollution to neighbouring regions. His work combines economics and environmental science into models that show the global consequences of regional policies.

Taking an evolutionary view can inspire new ideas in clinical microbiology. That is why clinicians, bioinformaticians analysing pathogens and evolutionary biologists should all work together. These are the conclusions of a diverse group of scientists led by University of Groningen microbiologist Marjon de Vos, in a short review published by The Lancet Infectious Diseases on 29 April.

Science LinX newsletter for March 2019

A new study by scientists from the Universities of Groningen and Manchester, which was published in Applied Physics Letters on 21 February 2019, shows how best to study this transfer from electonspins to a non-conductive magnet.

At the SRON Groningen workshop, scientists and technicians have assembled three survey telescopes to look for the optical source of gravitational waves.

In September 2017, Science LinX started an EU-funded project to involve secondary school pupils and their teachers from the Netherlands, Spain and Cyprus in research as real ‘citizen scientists’. Project leader Maaike de Heij explains what has been done so far.

University of Groningen scientists have developed nanopores that can be used to directly measure the mass of peptides. An article on this discovery was published on 19 February in Nature Communications.

VSC, de sectororganisatie van wetenschapsmusea en science centers waar ook Science LinX bij aangesloten is, vraagt om het instellen van een speciaal fonds of een regeling voor het financieren van goede wetenschapscommunicatie.

University of Groningen scientists Casper van der Kooi and Doekele Stavenga used microscopy and mathematical models describing how light interacts with petals of poppies, to find out how the vibrant colours are created.

Scientists led by Prof. Justin Ye of the University of Groningen have now managed to produce devices with stable germanene. The material is an insulator, and it becomes a semiconductor after moderate heating and a very good metallic conductor after stronger heating.

The ferroelectric polymer PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) has interesting properties and could be used to store information or energy. University of Groningen scientists have created block copolymers from PVDF that leave its ferroelectricity intact, but allow them to tune its characteristics.

When it comes to realizing low-power electronic devices, spintronics look promising. However, to generate a suitable spin current, you need a relatively large magnet. An alternative method that uses a special type of molecule has been proposed, but the big question is: does it work? University of Groningen PhD student Xu Yang has constructed a theoretical model which describes how to put this new method to the test.

Science LinX newsletter for February 2019

An alternative to PET can be made from bio-based furan molecules, but to polymerize these furans you need toxic catalysts and high temperatures. Now, polymer chemists from the University of Groningen, led by Prof. Katja Loos, have described an enzyme-based polymerization method.

In a study published on 18 January in the journal Nature Communications, scientists from the University of Groningen show that gut bacteria can metabolize levodopa into dopamine. As dopamine cannot cross the blood-brain barrier, this makes the medication less effective.

A team of scientists led by University of Groningen Professor of Systems Chemistry, Sijbren Otto, have discovered a new class of complex folding molecules that emerge spontaneously from simple building blocks. The results were published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society on 16 January.