Apr 29, 2023 (Nanowerk News) An international team of astronomers has discovered 25 new sources of repeating fast radio bursts (FRBs), these explosions in the sky that come from far beyond the Milky Way. This discovery brings the total number of confirmed FRB sources to 50. Based on data gathered...
Previously unknown intracellular electricity may power biology
Apr 29, 2023 (Nanowerk News) The human body relies heavily on electrical charges. Lightning-like pulses of energy fly through the brain and nerves and most biological processes depend on electrical ions traveling across the membranes of each cell in our body. These electrical signals are possible, in part, because of...
Improved gene editing method could power the next generation of cell and gene therapies
Apr 29, 2023 (Nanowerk News) A new approach to the genetic engineering of cells promises significant improvements in speed, efficiency, and reduction in cellular toxicity compared to current methods. The approach could also power the development of advanced cell therapies for cancers and other diseases, according to a study from...
Spiraling beams differentiate antiferromagnetic states
Apr 29, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Using spiraling x-ray beams generated at the Advanced Light Source (ALS), researchers differentiated between energetically equivalent (“degenerate”) states in an antiferromagnetic lattice (Physical Review B, "Antiferromagnetic real-space configuration probed by dichroism in scattered x-ray beams with orbital angular momentum"). The work shows the potential of...
More power from waste heat
Apr 29, 2023 (Nanowerk News) When fossil fuels, but also biofuels, are burned, large amounts of the energy are lost as waste heat. Thermoelectric materials could convert this heat into electricity, but they are not yet efficient enough for technical application. A team from the Max Planck Institut für Eisenforschung...
Deep-learning system explores materials’ interiors from the outside
Apr 29, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Maybe you can’t tell a book from its cover, but according to researchers at MIT you may now be able to do the equivalent for materials of all sorts, from an airplane part to a medical implant. Their new approach allows engineers to figure out...
Highly dexterous robot hand can operate in the dark
Apr 28, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Think about what you do with your hands when you’re home at night pushing buttons on your TV’s remote control, or at a restaurant using all kinds of cutlery and glassware. These skills are all based on touch, while you’re watching a TV program or...
New germanium-tin transistor as alternative to silicon
Apr 28, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Over the past 70 years, the number of transistors on a chip has doubled approximately every two years – according to Moore’s Law, which is still valid today. The circuits have become correspondingly smaller, but an end to this development appears to be in sight....
Perovskite solar cells’ instability must be addressed for global adoption
Apr 28, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Mass adoption of perovskite solar cells will never be commercially viable unless the technology overcomes several key challenges, according to researchers from the University of Surrey. Perovskite-based cells are widely believed to be the next evolution of solar energy and meet the growing demand for...
Dynamic 3D structure extraction from HS-AFM images
Apr 28, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Allowing the direct observation of biomolecules in dynamic action, high-speed AFM has opened a new avenue to dynamic structural biology. An enormous amount of successful applications within the last 15 years provide unique insights into essential biological processes at the nanoscale – visualizing, for example,...