All posts tagged: Molecular

A molecular biologist explains the ultimate body hack for daily anxiety

A molecular biologist explains the ultimate body hack for daily anxiety

Published by Daniella Wilson

We ought to listen to our bodies more. Yet, we rarely make time for this, even though it is completely fundamental to our well-being. But being in tune with our bodies, not just our brains, is exactly what Dr Estanislao Bachrach, who holds a PhD in molecular biology specialising in neuroscience, encourages us to do.  The scientist and author invites us to reconnect with ourselves and truly get to know our body, because it’s what actually provides the brain with vital information for everything it decides to do, feel and think.  The aim? To use the body as a tool for self-knowledge to achieve a major goal: strengthening our sensory intelligence to help us with anxiety, decision-making and even empathising with people we don’t like.  We caught up with the expert to find out more in an in-depth Q&A. You highlight a fascinating idea: ‘Let your body be your brain’. Why should we make this our goal? Well, it’s not so much a goal we must set ourselves. My job is simply to share a …

Why coffee tastes bitter, according to molecular biology

Why coffee tastes bitter, according to molecular biology

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Regular coffee drinkers know there is a big difference between a brew’s aroma and its taste. A cup may smell warm and full-bodied only to leave you with a lingering bitterness behind the first sip. Researchers have long known a coffee’s potentially acrid flavor profile is dictated at a molecular level thanks to your tongue’s taste receptors, but how that occurs has remained a mystery. Now, a team at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has the answer thanks to precise imaging technology—and their findings may have much wider ramifications beyond the coffee pot. The details were published in the journal Nature Structure & Molecular Biology, and focuses on TAS2R43, one of our 26 different bitter taste receptors. These mechanisms are expressed throughout the human body, and likely evolved to guard the species against toxic substances as well as helping regulate our metabolisms. “Bitter taste receptors are thought to be important for detecting toxins, pathogens, and harmful …

Molecular add-on helps chiral perovskite semiconductors detect visible light

Molecular add-on helps chiral perovskite semiconductors detect visible light

Published by Jenni Sidey

A material built to tell left-handed light from right-handed light has long had a frustrating weakness. It mostly ignored visible light. That limitation may now be easing. A University at Buffalo-led team reports that it paired a chiral semiconductor with a non-chiral molecule that absorbs visible light more readily, producing a hybrid system that not only responds to visible wavelengths but also keeps the optical handedness that makes chiral materials unusual in the first place. The work, published in Nature Communications, centers on chiral perovskites, a class of semiconductors whose structures come in left- and right-handed forms. Those materials can respond differently to left- and right-circularly polarized light, making them attractive for polarized-light detection, optical communication systems and other optoelectronic uses. The problem is that many chiral semiconductors work best under higher-energy ultraviolet light, not the visible wavelengths used in many practical devices. “We were able to transfer the properties of chirality to a non-chiral molecule,” said Wanyi Nie, associate professor in the University at Buffalo Department of Physics and the study’s corresponding author. “The …

New deep-UV pocket scope provides instant molecular imaging

New deep-UV pocket scope provides instant molecular imaging

Published by Jenni Sidey

Minutes matter when a surgeon is deciding how much tissue to remove. Yet for centuries, medical imaging has leaned on stains and dyes that take time and change what you are trying to study. During surgery, traditional staining can take 20 to 30 minutes, and that pause can slow decisions about tumor margins. In routine pathology, the wait often stretches longer because samples go through preparation steps that alter the very molecules under inspection. A new handheld device aims to change that rhythm. In a paper, researchers led by Professor Guoan Zheng at the University of Connecticut describe a deep-ultraviolet ptychographic pocket-scope called DART. The name is short, but the idea is sweeping. Instead of relying on dye binding, the device reads signals that already exist inside living material. “DART provides molecular information instantly, and because it’s based on intrinsic molecular properties rather than dye binding, the results are inherently quantitative and reproducible,” Zheng said. The system uses deep-ultraviolet light to measure how DNA and proteins naturally absorb specific wavelengths. That absorption becomes a direct, …

BAM’s molecular printing platform transforms on-site PFAS analysis

BAM’s molecular printing platform transforms on-site PFAS analysis

Published by skeptic

Using molecularly imprinted polymers and fluorescence sensing, researchers at BAM have developed a portable solution to rapidly detect ‘forever chemicals’. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are among the analytically most challenging compounds in today’s chemical management. Their diversity, chemical stability and occurrence down to trace levels require sophisticated analytical techniques. While such laboratory techniques are essential for regulatory evaluation and environmental monitoring, they are unable to deliver the rapid feedback needed for industrial process control and emissions management. To address this gap, BAM has developed a new on-site PFAS analysis approach that delivers fast, application-oriented results directly at the point of need.¹ The method uses advanced molecular recognition integrated into a compact system that provides reliable results within minutes. Instead of attempting comprehensive PFAS detection, the system targets specific PFAS subclasses relevant to a particular application, enabling speed and robustness. Molecular imprinting as the basis for selectivity The sensing concept relies on molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), synthetic recognition elements designed to selectively bind certain molecules or groups of related molecules. By choice of an adequate …

New molecular cage tech solves short-chain PFAS removal

New molecular cage tech solves short-chain PFAS removal

Published by skeptic

A new adsorption method shows strong PFAS capture performance, including hard-to-remove short-chain compounds. Contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, widely known as PFAS, continues to pose complex challenges for water authorities and environmental regulators worldwide. These synthetic chemicals, used in industrial processes, firefighting foams and a wide range of consumer goods, persist in soil and water systems and have been detected in drinking water supplies across multiple countries. Now, researchers at Flinders University report progress toward more effective PFAS removal, particularly targeting short-chain variants that have proven difficult to eliminate with conventional treatment technologies. Addressing a persistent water treatment gap Long-chain PFAS compounds can sometimes be reduced through activated carbon filtration or other standard adsorption methods. However, shorter-chain molecules are more mobile in water and less likely to bind effectively to existing materials, limiting PFAS capture rates in many treatment systems. The research team, led by Dr Witold Bloch of the university’s College of Science and Engineering, has developed a nano-scale molecular structure designed to selectively bind these smaller PFAS molecules. At the centre of …

High-Speed Photography Explained, from Edgerton to Molecular Movies

High-Speed Photography Explained, from Edgerton to Molecular Movies

Published by skeptic

What if you could slow down time so much that the invisible became visible? Veritasium takes a closer look at how advancements in high-speed imaging have unlocked a hidden world, revealing phenomena that occur in mere fractions of a second. Imagine watching a bullet pierce an apple, not as a blur, but as a series of intricate, mesmerizing moments. Or witnessing light itself ripple through space, captured frame by frame. These aren’t just feats of technology, they’re windows into the extraordinary, reshaping how we understand motion, light, and even the dynamics of molecules. The ability to slow down video footage indefinitely has not only transformed science but also challenged the limits of what we thought was possible. In this overview, we’ll explore the fascinating evolution of high-speed imaging, from Harold Edgerton’s iconic strobe photographs to today’s trillion-frame-per-second cameras. Along the way, you’ll uncover how this technology bridges the gap between art and science, offering both practical applications and breathtaking visuals. But it’s not without its challenges, balancing clarity and speed requires ingenious solutions, and the …