Tag Archives: purdue university research
Achieve dramatically change the phase of light by nanoantennas
It has been shown that certain sets of tiny plasmonic nanoantennas can manipulate light with high precision and in ways hitherto unassumable that could make feasible many kinds of optical innovations, such as more powerful microscopes teller, efficient telecommunications, and computers more potent.
Researchers who have achieved these milestone nanoantennas have used to abruptly change a property of light: the stage. Light is transmitted as waves, not very different in concept to the waves. A wave has highs and lows. The phase defines these highs and lows in the light.
Hitherto unknown bacterial strategy to ensure the success of an infection
We have identified a strategy used by bacteria to take over healthy cells during infection. The finding could lead to development of drugs aimed to sabotage this mechanism.
The team of Zhao-Qing Luo in Purdue University has discovered a new enzyme used by the bacterium Legionella pneumophila, cause of Legionella, to control the half cell agency attacked in order to quarter. Legionellosis is a severe form of pneumonia, and the discovery of the enzyme could lead to the design of a new therapy able to save lives.
Production of biofuels based on the digestive system of termites
He has discovered a cocktail of enzymes in the guts of termites that could better overcome the obstacles to the production of fuels from woody biomass.
The team of Mike Scharf, professor of molecular physiology and urban entomology at Purdue University has found that these enzymes in the intestines of termites exert a decisive role in the ability of insects to break down the wood they eat.
Storms altered by the presence of cities under them
Urban areas modify the storms, so they can grow stronger and more violent as they move away from the cities and move to nearby areas in the direction towards which the wind blows. This seems to indicate the results of a new study.
Using data from 10 years of storms in the Indianapolis metropolitan area and vicinity, Dev Niyogi, a professor of agronomy and earth and atmospheric sciences at Purdue University, watched the storms were altered as they were approaching an urban area.
A common contaminants can cause multiple sclerosis
They found evidence that a compound known for his recurring role polluting the environment can also play another important role as a cause of multiple sclerosis. They have also concluded that, following the role of this pollutant, it could perhaps use an existing medicine and now used as a treatment for hypertension, to treat multiple sclerosis.
In the study that has allowed these findings, it was found that the toxic substance, acrolein, was 60 percent more abundant in the tissues of the spinal cord of mice with a disease similar to multiple sclerosis than in healthy mice.
The research findings represent the first specific laboratory evidence of the existence of a link between acrolein and multiple sclerosis.
Only recently have researchers begun to know the details of what that acrolein does to the human body.
Special Adhesive Oysters
Oyster reefs are in decline. Over fishing and pollution have reduced some populations by 98 percent over the past two centuries.
With the growing awareness of the vital role they have oysters in filtering water, preventing erosion, coastal protection from damage caused by storms, and provide habitat for other species, scientists have been investigating how to make oyster reefs, in order to better understand these organisms and advise potential for reintroduction projects.
At the same time, various experts have been studying various adhesives used by marine animals, discovering fundamental properties that could lead to major technological innovations, such as a more efficient replacement for medical sutures, or the development of coatings which prevent barnacles adhere to the hulls of ships.
New Heat Pump Design to Reduce Heating Costs at Very Cold Climate Zones
A new type of heat pump is being developed at Purdue University that could benefit residents in areas with cold weather, reducing by half the money they spend on heating. Conventional heat pumps provide heating in winter and cool air in summer, but they are very efficient in very cold climates.
The new heat pump can maintain a high degree of efficiency even when the temperature outside the building is very low.
Larger cells, the key size of a new apple variety
Peter Hirst, professor of horticulture at Purdue University has found that an anomaly in certain causes some apples grow to a size well above the rest, because their cells do not divide the blocks as normal.
The finding shows that the new variety is approximately 38 per cent heavier and has a diameter 15 percent larger than normal.
The phenomenon has never before been seen in apples. It is a rarity for this fruit.
Future Temperatures Could Exceed the Limits of Habitability
Plausible scenarios of global warming in the worst case may involve temperatures lethal to humans in the next century, according to results of an investigation conducted by experts from Purdue University in the United States and the University of New South Wales South, Australia.
For the first time, we calculated wet bulb temperature (WB temperature) higher tolerable and disturbing conclusion is that this threshold could be exceeded for the first time in human history where the emissions of greenhouse gases continue without being mitigated.
Toward Development of a New Type of Fuel gel
A group of engineers and scientists in the food industry are working together to build a new fuel type gel, designed to improve safety, performance and scope of rockets for military and space applications.
“This is a very multidisciplinary,” says Stephen Heister, professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University who is leading one of the two project teams.
Gelled fuels are inherently safer than liquids because they do not leak or seep as easily as do the liquid. Also allow better control rockets what is possible with solid fuels used today. The gelled fuel engines that use could be accelerated, slowed and controlled more accurately than conventional rockets using solid fuel.