While scientists agree that the heart relies on hydraulic forces to fill up with blood, for whatever reason these forces have never been measured – that is, until now. New research published in Scientific Reports shows for the first time how much the heart relies on a hydraulic mechanism for diastole – or the transfer of blood from its smaller chambers, the atria, to fill up its larger ones, the ventricles.

Researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology are planning the clinical trial of a new treatment for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes which harnesses liver cells’ own ability to burn accumulated fats. In a study involving 86 people with varying degrees of fatty liver disease, researchers from KTH Science for Life Laboratory(SciLifeLab) research center and Gothenburg University found that the liver has the ability...

Every molecule holds a complex landscape of moving atoms – and the ability to single out and examine individual nuclear vibrations may unlock to the secret to predicting and controlling chemical reactions. Now, a method, developed by researchers in Sweden, enables biotech researchers to do just that. A method offers unprecedented detail in measuring molecular motion and energy – enabling better control and understanding of chemic...

Even though it is hotter than the surface of the Sun, the crystallised iron core of the Earth remains solid. A study from KTH Royal Institute of Technology may finally settle a longstanding debate over how that’s possible, as well as why seismic waves travel at higher speeds between the planet’s poles than through the equator. Spinning within Earth’s molten core is a crystal ball – actually a mass formation of almost ...

By all appearances, cows have little in common with spiders. Yet despite the two species’ obvious differences, new research shows that ordinary milk can be used to spin artificial silk – a breakthrough that could open new doors for alternative plastics and regenerative medicine. Researchers from Sweden’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology and the German research center, DESY, recently reported they have spun strands of prote...

  Now the ball is rolling for KTH's investment in a training and collaboration model that aims at finding innovative solutions to global challenges. The focus of the KTH Global Development Hub is the exchange and cooperation between KTH and various selected partner universities in sub-Saharan countries.

An online course led by Sweden’s history-making astronaut Christer Fuglesang is offering students the chance to learn from a personal perspective on space travel, and earn a certificate. Human Spaceflight: An Introduction is a massive open online course (MOOC) from KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The five-week programme begins on Monday January 23; free enrolment via edX is open to students and professionals worldwide.

If you’ve ever been startled by the sudden appearance of an ambulance while blasting music in your car, then you appreciate the value of a loud siren. Fortunately, your car is probably equipped already to receive warning signals on its audio system, thanks to a solution developed by students at KTH. In Stockholm, ambulances will soon be piloting a system that interrupts whatever you’re listening to – be it CDs, Bluetooth or...

The rollout of Sweden’s first wireless charging buses earlier this month was coupled with something the rest of the world could use – namely, a tool for cities to determine the environmental and financial benefits of introducing their own electrified bus networks. The bus system analysis model was presented during ceremonies marking the debut of wireless charging buses in Stockholm – the first in all of Scandinavia.

It’s only a matter of time before drugs are administered via patches with painless microneedles instead of unpleasant injections. But designers need to balance the need for flexible, comfortable-to-wear material with effective microneedle penetration of the skin. Researchers from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm say they may have cracked the problem.

A technique offers better sensitivity and accuracy in detecting an essential biomarker of cancer and inflammatory diseases. Hypochlorous acid HOCl is one of the reactive molecules that our immune system dispatches to attack invading pathogens or potentially harmful irritants. The oxidant is also generated as a result of tissue damage that causes – or even exacerbates – inflammatory diseases such as lung and liver disease, heart a...

Researchers recently found that light emitting diodes’ efficiency can be impeded by trace amounts of iron, which is a byproduct of LED production. That conclusion was the result of an international study involving KTH Royal Institute of Technology and other universities, including UC Santa Barbara, Rutgers University, the University of Vienna and the Center for Physical Sciences and Technology.

For all of its benefit to society, the technology we use for medical imaging is nevertheless flawed. Relevant little details go undetected due to limitations in resolution. But a recent investment in research at KTH aims to improve the picture – by at least 10 times. There are today several ways to explore how our bodies look inside. Computerised tomography (CT) and X-ray are two of the most widely-known techniques.

While bridge collapses are rare, there have been enough of them to raise concerns in some parts of the world that their condition is not sufficiently monitored. Sweden is taking a hi-tech approach to its aging infrastructure. Researchers from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm are rigging up the country’s bridges with multiple sensors that allow early detection of wear and tear. The bridges can even tweet throughout the course o...

While abundant in nature, cellulose is difficult and expensive to find in pure or high quality form. Now however a Swedish research team involving researchers from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and the Karolinska Institute has developed an efficient, accurate and non-destructive way to detect the occurrence and purity of cellulose. The technique, which was published in Scientific Reports, can be applied in mixtures of biopolymers...

Leukemia is a disease in which each cell can exhibit different genetic traits, and now KTH researchers have found a cheap way to examine individual leukemia cells. Reported in Nature Communications, the breakthrough could transform leukemia treatment. Cells are packed with genetic information that can be used to improve treatment of diseases such as cancer, but the RNA sequencing methods typically used today have one limitation: they don&rsq...

Research that was recognised with the Nobel Prize in Physics this week has spawned an entirely new research area that could lead to super-fast quantum computers. “It’s great that the prize goes toward a field that represents basic research but also is on the verge of many exciting possibilities, says Oscar Tjernber, professor of material physics at KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

Photonics, or the practical use of light, will be a key technology for innovation and technological development in this century, just as electronics was in the previous one. Photonics is a necessary tool for large areas of basic research and vital to many societal functions, due to rapid development in areas such as IT, energy monitoring, lighting, medicine and health.

Researchers at the Department of Micro- and Nanosystems at KTH have developed a new way to simultaneously shape and surface treat plastic components. The method can reduce the manufacturing cost of medical devices, such as diagnostic tools for various diseases. When plastic components in various diagnostic tools, such as "labs-on-a-chip", are manufactured today, they are first shaped by injection molding, and thereafter surface treated to at...

In the coming days, a telescope designed and built at KTH will be launched into the stratosphere to observe the small pulsar at the centre of the spectacular Crab Nebula. Carried aloft by a 150-diametre helium balloon about 40km above Earth, the telescope will by used by researchers at KTH to determine the polarisation of radiation waves emitted by the Crab pulsar, says Physics Professor Mark Pearce, the project leader at KTH Royal Institute of T...