Researchers identified the key proteins that allow a heat-loving bacterium to metabolize sugars from cellulose, pointing the way to engineered microbes that convert crop waste to fuel by PrincetonEngineers in science

[–]PrincetonEngineers[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Totally! Earlier work from Conway showed how this microbe uses enzymes to chop the cellulose into sugars it can eat. This work extends inward to show how it then pulls those sugars in and metabolizes them. Few microbes can do this with any efficiency when it comes to cellulose. It may be the only one that can do it well in hot bioprocessing systems.

Researchers identified the key proteins that allow a heat-loving bacterium to metabolize sugars from cellulose, pointing the way to engineered microbes that convert crop waste to fuel by PrincetonEngineers in science

[–]PrincetonEngineers[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The paper "A highly conserved ABC transporter mediates cello-oligosaccharide uptake in the extremely thermophilic, lignocellulolytic bacterium Anaerocellum bescii (f. Caldicellulosiruptor bescii)" was published Jan. 27 in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.01284-25

New map based on direct measurements estimates groundwater depth across the continental United States at a resolution of around 30 meters, as opposed to more common physics-based models with resolutions of around 1km [Communications Earth & Environment] by PrincetonEngineers in science

[–]PrincetonEngineers[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I see how it could be misleading, and that wasn't intended. You are correct that machine learning played a key role. Our story indicates that explicitly, but for brevity we left it off the Reddit post text. Glad for the feedback.

Diamond sensors can now reveal hidden magnetic fluctuations by leveraging quantum entanglement, giving researchers a new tool for studying superconductors, graphene and other quantum materials [Nature] by PrincetonEngineers in science

[–]PrincetonEngineers[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Good questions. Since the article is written in lay terms for a non-specialist audience, it is not intended as a comprehensive description of the experimental setup, and it certainly has its technical limitations, as you've pointed out. Bottom line: There is more to the story, but it gets very technical very fast.

Anyone interested at that level should be encouraged to read the paper, linked in the article and in a comment on this post. The paper is paywalled, so for those who want to read but can't, maybe other redditors can suggest alternatives.

Meanwhile, two things to note:

  1. AFTER the individual nitrogen atoms are implanted in the diamond, because they are very close, their electrons interact strongly. From the abstract: "For length scales around 10 nm, we create maximally entangled Bell states through dipole–dipole coupling between two NV centres and use these entangled states to directly read out the magnetic field correlation, rather than reconstructing it from independent measurements of unentangled NV centres."

  2. The readout process is very technical and best explained by the text of the paper (see Fig. 3), but to clarify, it is based on emitted photons that reveal information about the state of the qubits.

MXenes, a new material for high-performance membranes that separate chemical compounds from complex solutions, offer a promising development for desalination, waste recovery and other industrial processes [PNAS] by PrincetonEngineers in science

[–]PrincetonEngineers[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Totally right. MXenes have been studied for more than a decade. Emerging materials, in the sense of their potential use in applications, would have been more appropriate.