Category: Archive

The midgut of a mosquito may hold the key to preventing mosquito-borne diseases like Zika and Dengue, according to research published in PLOS Pathogens.

A mosquito’s ability to replicate and transmit a virus depends on the metabolic environment of tissues in its midgut: the primary site of infection. By targeting the sphingolipid pathway, which links together several pathways important for cell signaling and subcellular structure that are altered by virus infection, researchers could devise strategies that stall viral replication in the mosquito and prevent its transmission to humans.

A new type of all-terrain microbot that moves by tumbling could help usher in tiny machines for various applications.

The “microscale magnetic tumbling robot,” or ?TUM (microTUM), is about 400 by 800 microns, or millionths of a meter, smaller than the head of a pin. A continuously rotating magnetic field propels the microbot in an end-over-end or sideways tumbling motion, which helps the microbot traverse uneven surfaces such as bumps and trenches, a difficult feat for other forms of motion.

New research has demonstrated how the nano-architecture of a silkworm’s fiber causes “Anderson localization of light,” a discovery that could lead to various innovations and a better understanding of light transport and heat transfer.

Researchers have demonstrated how to create a super-strong aluminum alloy that rivals the strength of stainless steel, an advance with potential industrial applications.

Purdue University is part of a team led by the University of Dayton Research Institute, funded with a $9.8 million, three-year contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory, for research and development in materials and structures for reusable hypersonic vehicles.

Hypersonic vehicles, which travel at speeds faster than five times the speed of sound, experience significant thermal and aerodynamic loads, said Steven P. Schneider, a professor in Purdue’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

A consortium of Purdue University researchers, industry members from pharmaceutical and food processing sectors, as well as equipment makers and others, are working together at the Advanced Lyophilization Technology Hub, or LyoHub, at Purdue to modernize a process that has not changed fundamentally in 70 years even though it has a worldwide annual market of about $16 billion. The freeze-drying process, formally known as lyophilization, is used to make everything from lifesaving drugs and biotech products to foods.

Purdue University will lead a new national center to develop brain-inspired computing for intelligent autonomous systems such as drones and personal robots capable of operating without human intervention.

The Center for Brain-inspired Computing Enabling Autonomous Intelligence, or C-BRIC, is a five-year project

Researchers at Purdue University just made high throughput screening, a process often used in drug discovery, 10 times faster than previous methods.

Purdue University researchers have visualized temperature changes produced by ultra-small heat sources, gold strips formed on top of the semiconductor indium gallium arsenide. The work has potential implications for the design of high-speed transistors and lasers. This image (a) depicts the device structure and experimental setup, an optical image (b) of the fabricated device and (c) an experimental thermal image.

Plants that grow well tend to be sensitive to heat and drought, and plants that can handle those stresses often have stunted growth. A Purdue University plant scientist has found the switch that creates that antagonism, opening opportunities to develop plants that exhibit both characteristics.