Physicists at the Ðǿմ«Ã½ have succeeded in watching a silver catalyst at work for the first time with the aid of an atomic force microscope. The observations made during an Ullmann reaction have allowed the researchers to calculate the energy turnover and, potentially, to optimize the catalysis.
It is impossible to predict the onset of schizophrenic psychosis. If factors linked to a risk of psychosis can be identified, however, these may yield significant insights into its underlying mechanisms.
Scientists at the Ðǿմ«Ã½ have developed nanoparticles which can serve as efficient contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging.
In psychiatric clinics with an exclusively open-door policy, the risk of patients committing suicide or absconding from treatment is no higher than in clinics with locked wards. This has been demonstrated in a study by the Ðǿմ«Ã½ and the University Psychiatric Clinics of Basel (UPK), in which around 350,000 cases were analyzed over a period of 15 years.
Brief, directed smartphone exercises can help quickly improve our mood. This is the latest finding from psychologists at the Ðǿմ«Ã½ and their international colleagues, reported in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.
In a quantum computer, quantum states form the smallest information units and replace the binary code used by today’s computers. Until now, these so-called qubits were typically created in a semiconductor using individual electrons, but these were vulnerable to dephasing. Now, an international team of researchers led by physicists from the Ðǿմ«Ã½ has succeeded in using a missing electron to create a qubit.
A research team at the Ðǿմ«Ã½â€™s Biozentrum has discovered that the choroid plexus, a largely ignored structure in the brain that produces the cerebrospinal fluid, is an important regulator of adult neural stem cells.
One day, quantum computers will perform rapid calculations and solve complex tasks for us. However, there are a few hurdles to overcome along the way. Basel-based physicist Dr James Wootton is searching for methods that allow information to be encoded and then decoded again using quantum mechanics. And a game for smartphones is going to help him do so.
Even single cells are able to remember information if they receive the order from their proteins. Researchers at the Ðǿմ«Ã½â€™s Biozentrum have discovered that proteins form pairs to give the signal for storing information in the cell’s memory.