In a race against time: Nuclear clocks and 3D printing on humans
In Russia, the first 3D bioprinting was performed directly on a person, they learned how to search for devices using communication networks and created an ultra-flexible material for smart clothes. China has tested the world's second nuclear clock, and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded for mirror molecules for drug production. Read more about the interesting science news of the week in the Izvestia collection.
Russia has created an ultra-flexible material for wearable sensors
Scientists at the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology have developed a material for wearable electronic devices that can withstand repeated strong bending without reducing work efficiency. Experts have created elements based on a polymer composite with the addition of molybdenum oxide nanoparticles. Thanks to the polymer, the material is protected from moisture, and the nanoparticles make it more stable.
According to the developers, a neural network based on the created elements can recognize human physical activity with an accuracy of about 90%. This allows the development to be applied in fitness bracelets, smart clothes, medical sensors and robotics.
And we learned how to determine accurate geolocation without GPS.
Specialists from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology have developed a new technique that allows you to determine the coordinates of a mobile phone without using satellite systems such as GLONASS or GPS. At the same time, the technology provides comparable accuracy. The standard data exchanged between the devices and the base stations is sufficient for its operation. Basic calculations are made based on the signal strength of the mobile network. This approach makes it possible to calculate the geolocation of a moving object.
"The mobile terminal continuously measures the signal parameters from base stations, which is a standard function that works regardless of the availability of satellite signals," said Grigory Seregin, director of the Research Center for Mobile Communication Components and Manufacturing Technologies at MIPT. — We conducted long-term experimental studies when driving a modem in a car and showed that these measurements are enough to build a model of radio wave propagation and determine the coordinates of an object with an accuracy of 3 to 20 meters, which is comparable to the results of satellite navigation systems even without a SIM card installed. In fact, we use the existing infrastructure of communication networks as a navigation one.
The key parameter in the operation is the power of the received cell tower reference signal (RSRP). Unlike the indicators characterizing the quality of a radio channel, it is directly related to the level of the received signal and therefore can be used to build a model of radio wave propagation. This parameter is selected as the source data for calculating coordinates.
The first 3D bioprinting on a human
The DOKA RC5 medical robot, developed by NUST MISIS in collaboration with 3D Bioprinting Solutions, performed 3D bioprinting directly on the damaged area of the patient's skin. According to the doctors, no abnormalities were detected during the experiment. The system scanned the desired area, created a three-dimensional model of it, and applied a hydrogel with living cells.
The developers have managed to solve one of the main problems of this technology — printing on uneven surfaces. The robot is able to reproduce a given digital model with up to 90% accuracy and maintain the required distance between the printing system and the patient's skin, even if the position of the treated area changes during breathing.
If further tests confirm the effectiveness and safety of the technology, it will be registered as a medical device. In the future, the development may become one of the methods of skin repair in case of severe damage.
China has tested a nuclear clock
Tsinghua University researchers have created the world's second nuclear clock, in which time is measured by transitions in the nucleus of an atom, rather than by the state of electrons. This approach will improve the accuracy of measurements in the future. Chinese scientists have also established that crystals with thorium-229 nuclei can be manufactured independently of each other without compromising the accuracy of devices based on them.
So far, the new development is inferior to atomic clocks in terms of accuracy, but in the future it may become the basis of a practical time standard. The nucleus is much smaller than an entire atom, so its properties are less dependent on external electric and magnetic fields. The developers suggest that it is possible to improve the characteristics of nuclear clocks by changing the structure of thorium crystals or increasing the power of lasers. However, the experimental possibilities are limited by the rarity of the thorium-229 isotope.
After further improvements, nuclear clocks can be used in a wider range of tasks than atomic clocks. The combined use of two types of instruments can also help in the search for dark matter.
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded for "mirror molecules" for creating medicines
The discovery of "nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis" became the basis for awarding the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. It was awarded to French scientist Henri Kagan and Japanese researcher Kenso Soai. Kagan discovered a new way to control chemical reactions, which makes it possible to produce one of the mirror isomers in large volumes. These are chemicals that are mirror images of each other. It is used for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, food flavors, perfumes, and new materials. And Kenso Soai developed the first chemical reaction to produce such an isomer.
This Nobel Prize was awarded for new types of catalysis (the process of accelerating a chemical reaction using a catalyst. — Ed.) and the features of catalysis that make it possible to obtain chiral compounds. For example, the right and left hands have the property of chirality — they seem to be the same, but at the same time they cannot be combined. It's the same with molecules. All nature and living organisms consist of only one isomer, explained Alexander Terentyev, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, member of the scientific committee of the National Prize in the Field of Future Technologies "Challenge".
— Kagan discovered a very interesting effect in his work: when we use a catalyst in which there is only a small excess of a particular chiral compound, we get a mixture as a result of the reaction in which the excess of the chiral compound is much greater than in the catalyst. This is the meaning of the nonlinear effect," the scientist said.
Since all living organisms consist of substances with only one type of isomer, their other types — a different type of chirality — can be dangerous, the expert added.
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