The gravitational wave window is now open. It is then imperative to build quantitative models of neutron stars that use all the available tracers to constrain fundamental physics at the highest densities and magnetic fields. The most magnetic neutron stars, the magnetars, have been recently suggested to be powering a large variety of explosive and transient events.

Silkworms produce a fibrous material to form their cocoons. The fibres have long been used to make silk fabrics for high-end clothing. More recently, the versatile protein polymers in the cocoons have been exploited for biomedical applications. In addition to biocompatibility, elasticity, and structural strength, silk fibroin offers transparency, permeability, and a refractive index that all make it particularly attractive for use in the eye. SILK-EYE is pioneering the development of the next generation of corneal implants and lenses exploiting these characteristics.

In the past decade, increasing evidence has supported the role of integrated mechanical and chemical signalling networks in controlling cell activity and regulating wound repair. Harnessing mechanotransduction, the ways in which cells convert mechanical stimuli into electrochemical activity, is a growing area of research in skin repair. However, techniques are needed to turn non-invasive stimuli into cellular signals that are tightly controlled in space and time, so as to promote healing in deep tissues. The EU-funded SIROCCO project is exploiting 'magnetic switches' to get the job done.

Thermal and solar energy as well as body movement are all sources of energy. They can be exploited by advanced technology, obviating the need for battery recharging. These local ambient sources of energy can be captured and stored. However, their low intensity and intermittent nature reduces the recovery of energy by microscale instruments, highlighting the need for an integrated multisource energy harvester. Existing methods combine different single source scavengers in one instrument or use multifunctional materials to concurrently convert various energy sources into electricity.

Researchers are about to move beyond several fundamental questions in partial differential equations (PDEs) and Euler’s remarkable equation for an incompressible fluid will play a central role in this. The EU-funded FLUSPEC project has set out to prove that the curvature of the interface blows up in finite time due to the appearance of kinks of controlled geometry.

Process intensification aims to dramatically improve processes and achieve more compact, cleaner, safer and more energy-efficient technologies. Catalysis is critical to chemical production and using two catalysts in one reactor has the potential to achieve many of the goals of process intensification. However, if there is a mismatch between supply and demand – when the first reaction proceeds more quickly than the second is able to use the products as reactants – the potential of these tandem catalytic processes is not realised.

Investigador: ANDREU LLOBERA ADAN
Centro: INSTITUTO DE MICROELECTRONICA DE BARCELONA