Researchers discovered how sea anemones distribute sugar from symbionts to recycle nitrogen waste, enabling them to build massive reef ecosystems. The study reveals that sea anemones play a major role in recycling scarce nitrogen, challenging the belief that algae are the sole actors.
A recent study identified orthophosphate as a contaminant in some antiscalants that promotes bacterial growth, while HEDP-based antiscalants showed no biofouling effect. The research aims to develop simple low-tech tests for desalination plants to reduce energy consumption and extend membrane lifespan.
Scientists have engineered plants to produce peptides with antibiotic activity against drug-resistant pathogens, which also enhances stability and prolongs activity. The resulting plants yield potent drugs at significantly lower costs than traditional methods, making them an environmentally friendly option for pharmaceutical production.
Researchers at KAUST have developed a sustainable method for producing butadiene, a key component of synthetic rubber, using the Lebedev process and modernized catalysts. The new approach eliminates the need for fossil reserves and reduces environmental impact.
Researchers have developed a new technology to sequence individual mitochondria in single cells, allowing for unbiased analysis of full-length mtDNA. This has revealed complex patterns of pathogenic mtDNA mutations and the potential risks of off-target mutations in genetic editing strategies.
A toolkit for coral gardening could accelerate reef recovery in Saudi Arabia and globally. The Maritechture TM system includes tiles, stackable crates, and coral pods to create artificial reefs that attract natural coral settlement.
A recent project at KAUST has reported multifunctional logic gates that offer users a range of hardware security advantages, including tamper protection and watermarking. The gates use spintronic devices called magnetic tunnel junctions, which can be easily switchable and obscure their layout, making them hard to reverse engineer.
Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) successfully integrated two-dimensional materials on silicon microchips, achieving high integration density, electronic performance, and yield. The resulting hybrid devices exhibit special electronic properties that enable low-power consumption artificial neural ne...
Researchers have discovered the critical role of linker histone protein H1 in plant immune responses to bacterial and fungal infections. The study found that mutant plants with knocked-out H1 isoforms exhibited higher defense gene expression and resistance to infection, but lacked priming ability.
Research at KAUST demonstrates that most of the Red Sea is underlain by oceanic crust, overturning the assumption that it's an extended rift basin. The team mapped the transition from a rift to seafloor spreading and found approximately two-thirds of the Red Sea is currently covered by oceanic crust.
Researchers have demonstrated an easy method to alter VCSELs to reduce speckles, improving their suitability for applications like lighting and holography. By changing the device shape, they introduced chaotic behavior, allowing more modes to be emitted and reducing speckle density.
A team of researchers at KAUST has developed a biological method to produce size-controlled palladium nanoclusters anchored on the surface of Geobacter sulfurreducens, outperforming benchmark catalysts in water-splitting reactions. This eco-friendly approach could provide a sustainable solution for high-performance catalysis.
A protein complex formed of HuR and YB1 is crucial for messenger RNA stability during muscle-fiber formation. Further research could help scientists influence protein synthesis and develop novel therapeutics for muscle-related pathologies.
Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science & Technology have developed a two-step process that cuts food waste by reducing microbial growth. The treatment, which combines UV-C irradiation and vacuum sealing, extends shelf life by 67% for animal products like salmon, and up to 124% for strawberries.
Researchers at KAUST have developed a rapid and sensitive soil moisture sensor using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) to optimize water usage in agriculture. The MOF-based sensor shows high sensitivity and selectivity for water even in the presence of metal ions, enabling precise irrigation management.
Researchers at KAUST have developed a sustainable method for creating high-performance porous membranes from plastic waste, using bio-based solvents to dissolve polyolefins. This process reduces the environmental footprint of industrial separations and creates access to fresh water.
A new model has integrated two classic approaches to improve disease spread predictions, accounting for age-specific contact patterns and location-specific data. The model outperformed previous approaches in simulation studies and case studies, providing valuable insights into disease prevention and control.
A new solar distillation device, developed by KAUST professors and researchers, can purify brine from seawater with high efficiency. The device produces double the freshwater production rate of existing technology, meeting the drinking needs of two people daily.
Researchers at KAUST have discovered the molecular mechanisms of DNA repair by studying the interaction between two enzymes, Lig1 and PCNA. Lig1 seals nicks in DNA by attaching to a ring-shaped protein called PCNA, which dislodges another enzyme FEN1 to prepare for sealing.
Researchers developed a novel, calibration-free, and reconstruction-free imaging technique that directly obtains a clear image from a single shot of speckle images. The method uses real-time video imaging to build a three-dimensional image, taking slices through the speckles.
Researchers at KAUST developed a high-efficiency metal-free battery using ammonium cations as charge carriers, outperforming existing analogues with a record operation voltage of 2.75 volts. This breakthrough provides potential for lowering battery costs and enabling large-scale applications.
KAUST researchers have designed and built novel organic scintillator materials for detecting X-rays at low doses, overcoming stability issues with existing ceramic or perovskite materials. The new approach uses heavy atoms to improve X-ray absorption capability and exciton utilization efficiency.
A new form of thin-film device technology using alternative semiconductor materials could contribute to a more sustainable IoT. Wireless power harvesting from the environment using photovoltaic cells and RF energy harvesters is being explored.
A team of researchers at KAUST has developed a new method to replace toxic chlorinated solvents with plant-derived alternatives in organic solar cell manufacture. The study reveals that terpene-based solvents can be used without affecting the light-capturing performance of the cells, resulting in an 85% lower carbon footprint.
Researchers at KAUST have developed acoustic tweezers that use spinning sound waves to manipulate ultrasmall objects with precision. This technology has the potential to enable precise control of submillimeter objects in opaque media, such as soft biological tissues.
Researchers have found that corals in the northern Red Sea have not experienced mass bleaching despite high heat stress due to their acquired temperature tolerance around 7,000 years ago. The region's reefs are expected to be among the last standing by the end of the century under projected warming scenarios.
A recent study has unveiled how nucleotide excision repair (NER) is controlled at the molecular level, shedding light on its role in cancer treatment. The research revealed that TFIIH uses XPG to stimulate motor activity and locate damaged DNA, licensing XPG nuclease activity to excise it.
A KAUST research team studied the interaction between nitrogen gas and hydrocarbons in oil reservoirs. They found a direct correlation between nitrogen solubility and oil swelling, enhancing oil recovery. The study also sheds light on CO2 storage with impurities like methane and nitrogen.
Researchers at KAUST have discovered a key protein that acts as a master switch for plant immunity, suggesting a simpler way to develop more resilient crops. The protein, OXI1, triggers the production of immune-promoting molecules, but its overactivity can harm plants.
Researchers at KAUST have developed a soft and flexible electronic 'e-skin' that can detect minute temperature differences between inhalation and exhalation, as well as touch and body motion. The material's island-bridge atomic structure provides an inherent softness and flexibility ideal for on-skin applications.
A new bioreactor system developed by KAUST scientists delivers gases to maintain physiological environments, reducing unpredictable shifts in cell growth. The system allows for more accurate and reproducible experiments in biomedical research.
Scientists at KAUST created a novel approach to secure microgrids by embedding hardware performance counters in solar inverters. This innovative solution can detect malware with over 97% accuracy using time series classifiers, providing an effective defense countermeasure for low-cost and low-complexity.
Scientists at KAUST have identified dynamic regions, called cryptic binding sites, that can be targeted by drugs to treat cancer. The study reveals how molecular motion influences ligand binding to BTB domains, a critical part of many proteins involved in disease.
Researchers at KAUST have developed a spintronics-based logic lock to defend chip security, which can be integrated into electronic chips to fend off malicious attacks. The design uses magnetic tunnel junctions to scramble the circuit's operation unless the correct key combination signal is supplied.
A new AI-based chemical sensor can accurately detect specific gases in the air by analyzing temperature changes in a microbeam resonator. The device uses machine learning to differentiate between gases with varying thermal conductivities, achieving 100% accuracy in identifying helium, argon, and CO2.
Researchers at KAUST develop a novel multivariate skew-elliptical link model to address the challenges of highly imbalanced health data. The new model provides a better fit to COVID-19 datasets and offers flexibility over existing models.
Researchers discover chemical inhibitor TIS108 significantly lowers Striga infestation without affecting plant growth or grain yield. The study shows canonical strigolactones contribute to seed germination in root parasitic weeds and play a major role in stimulating invasion by Striga.
KAUST researchers have designed a smart glass system that can encode data into the light passing through it, allowing for wireless data transmission. The system uses polarization manipulation to eliminate flicker problems and can transmit data at rates of up to 16 Kilobits per second.
Researchers at KAUST developed an inverse mixture-design approach using machine learning to create high-performance transport fuels. The model accurately predicted fuel properties and identified suitable blends, offering a promising solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
A KAUST-led team creates selective anode catalysts for stable and efficient hydrogen evolution in seawater splitting. The nanoreactors exhibited high electrocatalytic activity and stability due to their unique structure, isolating the electrolysis from side reactions.
A team at KAUST has created an ultrathin dielectric metalens that improves focusing capabilities and can be scaled down for integration with photonics equipment. The metalens, designed from a custom array of TiO2 nanopillars atop a DBR, offers negligible intrinsic loss and easy fabrication.
Scientists have developed an enzyme that effectively breaks down signaling molecules used by bacteria to produce biofilms. The enzyme, LrsL, has exceptional efficacy in suppressing biofilm formation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium known for causing hospital-acquired infections.
Researchers have discovered that zinc ions tune the ability of human serum albumin to prevent α-synuclein aggregation, a process linked to Parkinson's disease. Zinc binding alters HSA's chaperone function, blunting fibril formation and slowing down protein deposition that can lead to neurodegeneration.
The study reveals how the activating partner PI5P interacts with two different regions of regulatory protein UHRF1, showing its role in modulating complex proteins. This finding could breathe new life into the search for UHRF1-directed medicines.
Researchers at KAUST have developed ultrathin polymer-based ordered membranes that simultaneously exhibit high water flux and high salt rejection. The membranes display excellent performance in both forward and reverse osmosis configurations, surpassing those containing advanced materials like carbon nanotubes and graphene.
Scientists have identified long interspersed nuclear element-1 (L1) RNA as a promising new target for treating progeroid syndromes. Increased L1 RNA expression in cells from patients with these disorders led to deactivation of an enzyme, causing cell aging.
Researchers at KAUST have identified thermophilic bacteria with potential to degrade oil contamination. The study reveals that certain bacteria can secrete surfactants and absorb emulsified petroleum into their cells for degradation via enzymatic activity.
A team of researchers has identified three new turtle nesting sites in the central Red Sea, which could inform efforts to protect endangered sea turtles. The discovery was made using drone surveillance and sediment samples to identify optimal nesting conditions.
The study revealed an alternative pathway for cysteine biosynthesis in animals, using enzymes similar to those found in fungi and bacteria. This challenges the previous assumption that corals rely on symbiotic relationships with algae for cysteine production.
A recent study reveals that anthropogenic air pollution contributes significantly to poor air quality and climate change in the Middle East. The research found that hazardous fine particulate matter from human activities accounts for around 53% of aerosol visible optical depth, posing a significant health risk.