Nanotechnology News

August 20, 2016

New Way to Display 3-D Structure of Molecules

Down to the Wire: GM Bacteria Carry Electricity

Nanorobots Target Cancerous Tumors

Gaming Using a Stretchy Touchpad

Latest Headlines

updated 11:46am EDT

Spider Silk: Mother Nature's Bio-Superlens

Aug. 19, 2016 — Hot on the heels of a paper revealing that a team of researchers has used a nanobead-derived superlens to break the perceived resolution barrier, the same team has achieved ... read more

Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes Could Cut Energy in Hydrocarbon Separations

Aug. 18, 2016 — A research team has demonstrated a new carbon-based molecular sieve membrane that could dramatically reduce the energy ... read more

Curbing the Life-Long Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury

Aug. 17, 2016 — A fall down the stairs, a car crash, a sports injury or an explosive blast can all cause traumatic brain injury (TBI). Patients often recover. But in the days or weeks following the hit, they can ... read more

Researchers Resolve a Problem That Has Been Holding Back a Technological Revolution

Aug. 16, 2016 — Researchers have cleared that obstacle by developing a new way to purify carbon nanotubes -- the smaller, nimbler semiconductors that are expected to ... read more

Let's Roll: Material for Polymer Solar Cells May Lend Itself to Large-Area Processing

Aug. 12, 2016 — An international team's findings provide important clues for designing polymer solar cells approaching target for power ... read more

DNA Dominoes on a Chip

Aug. 9, 2016 — Normally, individual molecules of genetic material repel each other. However, when space is limited DNA molecules must be packed together more tightly. This case arises in ... read more

Smarter Self-Assembly Opens New Pathways for Nanotechnology

Aug. 8, 2016 — Scientists have just developed a way to direct the self-assembly of multiple molecular patterns within a single material, producing new nanoscale architectures. This is a ... read more

Scientists Count Microscopic Particles Without Microscope

Aug. 9, 2016 — Scientists put forward a simple new way of counting microscopic particles in optical materials. A laser beam passing through such a material splits and forms a pattern of numerous bright spots on a ... read more

Nothing, and Something, Give Concrete Strength, Toughness

Aug. 9, 2016 — What does one need to strengthen or toughen concrete? A lot of nothing. Or something, say investigators in a ... read more

Lithium-Ion Batteries: Capacity Might Be Increased by Six Times

Aug. 8, 2016 — The capacity of lithium-ion batteries might be increased by six times by using anodes made of silicon instead of graphite. Researchers have observed for the first time in ... read more

Nano-Engineers Produce Liquid-Repellent Paper

Gerd Binnig Chemistry Under the Microscope

French Inventor Wins Award for Work on Nanocapsules

Robot Is Unbeatable at Rock-Paper-Scissors

X-Ray Optics on a Chip

Aug. 18, 2016 — Waveguides are widely used for filtering, confining, guiding, coupling or splitting beams of visible light. However, creating waveguides that could do the same for X-rays has posed tremendous ... read more

Unraveling Knotty Chemical Structures Enables Rapid Screening of Anti-Cancer Compounds

Aug. 15, 2016 — A graduate student has devised an ingenious way to make tiny knotted and interlocked chemical structures that have been impossible for chemists to fabricate until ... read more

Nanoribbons in Solutions Mimic Nature

Aug. 15, 2016 — Graphene nanoribbons twist and bend like DNA or proteins in a solution and their rigidity can be tuned, making them potentially useful for biomimetic applications, according to ... read more

Silicon Brings More Color to Holograms

Aug. 12, 2016 — Silicon holograms harness the full visible spectrum to bring holographic projections one step closer, report scientists. A research team has now demonstrated the hologram of three flat images at ... read more

Simplified Approach to Drug Development With Upsalite

Aug. 10, 2016 — For the first time, researchers have revealed the nanostructure of the mesoporous magnesium carbonate Upsalite and pore size control was achieved without organic templates or swelling agents. By ... read more

Tailored Probes for Atomic Force Microscopes

Aug. 10, 2016 — Atomic force microscopes make the nanostructure of surfaces visible. Their probes scan the investigation material with finest measurement needles. Researchers have now succeeded in adapting these ... read more

Researchers Combine Simulation, Experiment for Nanoscale 3-D Printing

Aug. 6, 2016 — A research team has created a high-power simulation and design process to print free-standing 3-D structures on the nanoscale using focused electron beam induced deposition. The simulation-guided ... read more

New X-Ray Microscopy Technique Images Nanoscale Workings of Rechargeable Batteries

Aug. 4, 2016 — An X-ray microscopy technique has given scientists the ability to image nanoscale changes inside lithium-ion battery particles as they charge and discharge. The real-time images provide a new way to ... read more

Computer Modeling for Designing Drug-Delivery Nanocarriers

Aug. 4, 2016 — Researchers have developed a computer model that will aid in the design of nanocarriers, microscopic structures used to guide drugs to their targets in the body. The model better accounts for how the ... read more

Phase-Change Device Imitates the Functionality of Neurons

Aug. 4, 2016 — Scientists have created randomly spiking neurons using phase-change materials to store and process data. This demonstration marks a significant step forward in the development of energy-efficient, ... read more

Next Generation Anode to Improve Lithium-Ion Batteries

Aug. 3, 2016 — Researchers have created a new silicon-tin nanocomposite anode that could lead to lithium-ion batteries that can be charged and discharged more times before they reach the end of their useful lives. ... read more

Perpetual 'Ice Water': Stable Solid-Liquid State Revealed in Nanoparticles

Aug. 3, 2016 — Researchers have discovered that gallium nanoparticles can form a solid core surrounded by a liquid outer layer over a temperature span of 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. The discovery marks the first time ... read more

Carbon Nanotube 'Stitches' Make Stronger, Lighter Composites

Aug. 3, 2016 — Aerospace engineers have designed carbon nanotube 'stitches' that strongly bind composites, which could produce lighter, more damage-resistant ... read more

Getting Light in Shape With Metamaterials

Aug. 3, 2016 — Converting light from one wavelength to a shorter wavelength is typically inefficient. To tackle that inefficiency, a team built a structure with metallic cavities that improves the light conversion ... read more

Better Contrast Agents Based on Nanoparticles

Aug. 3, 2016 — Scientists have developed nanoparticles which can serve as efficient contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging. This new type of nanoparticles produce around ten times more contrast than the ... read more

Magnetic Atoms Arranged in Neat Rows

Aug. 3, 2016 — Physicists have successfully created one-dimensional magnetic atom chains for the first time. Their breakthrough provides a model system for basic research in areas such as magnetic data storage, as ... read more

Gentle Cancer Treatment Using Nanoparticles Works

Aug. 3, 2016 — Cancer treatments based on laser irridation of tiny nanoparticles that are injected directly into the cancer tumor are working and can destroy the cancer from within. Researchers have developed a ... read more

Gold Particles Shown to Boost Prototype Cancer Therapies

Aug. 2, 2016 — Gold isn’t just for the Olympics -- it’s also being used for potential cancer therapies, report scientists. For the first time, a peptide ‘zipcode’ has been used in combination with gold to ... read more

Unlocking the Secrets of Creeping Concrete

Aug. 2, 2016 — Concrete is everywhere -- a ubiquity owed to its strength as a building material. Despite its strength, however, it has a pernicious but inescapable tendency to 'creep,' or deform ... read more

Ultracompact Photodetector

Aug. 2, 2016 — Data traffic is growing worldwide. Glass-fiber cables transmit information over long distances at the speed of light. Once they have reached their destination, however, these optical signals have to ... read more

Thursday, August 18, 2016