Nov 17, 2023 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Over the past few decades, scientists have discovered that combining multiple metal elements into a single material can give rise to extraordinary new properties and functions. For example, specialized steel alloys made of iron and precise mixes of other metals have yielded steels that are...
Breakthrough in water treatment – the polyphenylene/carbon nanotube composite membrane
Nov 17, 2023 (Nanowerk News) In a new study published in the journal Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering ("Conductive and stable polyphenylene/CNT composite membrane for electrically enhanced membrane fouling mitigation"), researchers from Dalian University of Technology have have introduced a groundbreaking polyphenylene/carbon nanotube (PP/CNT) composite membrane. This cutting-edge development...
The mind’s eye of a neural network system
Nov 17, 2023 (Nanowerk News) In the background of image recognition software that can ID our friends on social media and wildflowers in our yard are neural networks, a type of artificial intelligence inspired by how own our brains process data. While neural networks sprint through data, their architecture makes...
Synergistic multi-level graphene-MOF hybrid membrane advances water purification
Nov 16, 2023 (Nanowerk Spotlight) The growing global water crisis poses a severe threat to human health worldwide. With water pollution from toxic contaminants like dyes, heavy metals, and volatile organic compounds worsening, innovative solutions are needed to treat and purify water for human use and environmental remediation. Membrane-based filtration...
Hydrogen near tipping point to accelerate decarbonization
Nov 15, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Hydrogen is poised to accelerate the global energy transition as the industry exhibits steep learning curves and finds ways to produce the gas more efficiently and at lower cost, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Mannheim and Harvard Business School....
Nanoparticles for optimized cancer therapy
Nov 15, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest types of cancers in humans. It is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the western world. The early stages of the disease often progress without symptoms, so diagnosis is usually very late. Another problem: Advanced tumors...
‘Never witnessed before’ – Astronomers baffled by repeat explosions 100 billion times the energy of the Sun
Nov 16, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Astronomers are baffled by a mysterious and extremely bright event in the distant Universe, nicknamed the “Tasmanian Devil”, which has been observed to explode repeatedly and emit more energy than hundreds of billions of stars like our Sun. The report, published in Nature ("Minutes-duration optical...
Breakthrough in human liver organoid technology advances liver research
Nov 16, 2023 (Nanowerk News) For decades, scientists have faced substantial challenges in developing robust experimental models that accurately mimic human liver biology. Traditional cell lines and animal models often fail to replicate key aspects of human hepatic structure and function. This limitation has hampered progress in unraveling the molecular...
The universe is expanding faster than theory predicts
Nov 15, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Astronomers have known for decades that the universe is expanding. When they use telescopes to observe faraway galaxies, they see that these galaxies are moving away from Earth. Key Takeaways The universe is expanding at an accelerating rate, faster than current cosmological models predict, a...
Scientists 3D-print hair follicles in lab-grown skin
Nov 15, 2023 (Nanowerk News) A team led by scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has 3D-printed hair follicles in human skin tissue cultured in the lab. This marks the first time researchers have used the technology to generate hair follicles, which play an important role in skin healing and function....