Scientists have captured the high-resolution structures of one of the key proteins of photosynthesis in plants, recording a moment in the catalytic cycle. They found that water is forced out of the protein's active site through channels on its surface in a way that resembles the action of a syringe plunger.
Annihilation (mutual destruction of matter and antimatter) has long been used in PET scanners. Now an interdisciplinary team from Poland has developed a lightweight and cheap new-generation tomography scanner - J-PET, which measures the rate of this annihilation in various tissues. This new biomarker makes it possible to create brain maps with completely new information, e.g. about glioma.
Researchers from Kraków and foreign partners have studied the adaptive mechanisms of bacteria collected from the International Space Station (ISS). The findings indicate that microorganisms isolated from the interior of the ISS have adapted to life in space.
The wolf population in Europe is recovering. However, more frequent exposure to contact with humans is not enough for wolves to stop fearing us, according to preliminary analyses of research conducted by a team led by Dr. Dries Kuijper from the Mammal Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Białowieża.
Three new species of buttercups have been identified near Darłowo in Western Pomerania by Dr. Adam T. Halamski from the Institute of Paleobiology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The new species: the Amalasuntha buttercup, the Griffin buttercup and the Darłowo buttercup, were named to commemorate, among others, the queen of the Ostrogoths and the Pomeranian Griffin dynasty.
The costumes of kings, royal mothers and a bishop from medieval Nubia have been reconstructed by Polish scientists and designers based on paintings that once decorated the walls of the cathedral in Faras. This unique collection of oriental fashion were presented at the Louvre in Paris on October 17.
The Wrocław Medical University has been named the best university in Poland according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE WUR) ranking. Over 2,000 universities from around the world were ranked based on several indicators, such as research quality and cooperation with industry.
Scientists from the Wrocław University of Science and Technology are completing work on a prototype bionic hand prosthesis for people with forearm amputations. The device is controlled with signals sent by muscles on the stump of the amputated limb, and artificial intelligence is used to analyse them.
Scientists from the Wrocław University of Technology and the University of Wrocław used technical computed tomography to re-examine a harpoon made of roe antlers and a bear bone from thousands of years ago. Thanks to new techniques, we can learn more even about very old discoveries, says Dr. Tomasz Płonka from the University of Wrocław.
Bioinks are 'inserts' made of microgels for printing elements that resemble the structure of human tissues. A Polish scientist is working on developing innovative materials that change their properties during printing and will create more realistic models of breast cancer.
Scientists from the Wrocław University of Science and Technology are completing work on a prototype bionic hand prosthesis for people with forearm amputations. The device is controlled with signals sent by muscles on the stump of the amputated limb, and artificial intelligence is used to analyse them.
