Jan 17, 2024 (Nanowerk News) The shape, size and optical properties of 3-dimensional nanostructures can now be simulated in advance before they are produced directly with high precision on a wide variety of surfaces. Nanoprobes or optical tweezers with sizes in the nanometre range are now within reach. For around...
Researchers observe what ubiquitination hinges on
Jan 17, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers at Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI), Kanazawa University report in Nano Letters ("Structural dynamics of E6AP E3 ligase HECT domain and involvement of flexible hinge loop in ubiquitin chain synthesis mechanism") how the flexibility of a protein hinge plays a crucial role in the...
Material science advance could lead to airplanes that optimize their shape in flight
Jan 16, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Materials and objects could take on different shapes by themselves through a method developed at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Breakthrough tests showed how microscale melting and cooling of a wide range of materials – such as plastics and metals – can be manipulated to...
Contact lenses to diagnose glaucoma
Jan 16, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Glaucoma effects around 70 million people worldwide and can cause irreversible loss of vision if not treated – but around half of those living with the condition are not aware of it. Usually developing slowly over time, many cases of glaucoma are only picked up...
Modified soft material promises better bioelectronics
Jan 16, 2024 (Nanowerk News) The scientific community has long been enamored of the potential for soft bioelectronic devices, but has faced hurdles in identifying materials that are biocompatible and have all of the necessary characteristics to operate effectively. Researchers have now taken a step in the right direction, modifying...
Squishy, metal-free magnets to power robots and guide medical implants (w/video)
Jan 16, 2024 (Nanowerk News) “Soft robots,” medical devices and implants, and next-generation drug delivery methods could soon be guided with magnetism—thanks to a metal-free magnetic gel developed by researchers at the University of Michigan and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany. The material is the...
Chemists find new way to rid boron nitride nanotubes of impurities
Jan 16, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Very strong, light materials that can withstand extremely high temperatures could usher in next-generation spacecraft, enhance current devices or enable the development of new biomedical imaging or hydrogen storage applications, among others. To this end, Rice University scientists in the lab of Angel Martí have...
Study reveals a reaction at the heart of many renewable energy technologies
Jan 16, 2024 (Nanowerk News) A key chemical reaction — in which the movement of protons between the surface of an electrode and an electrolyte drives an electric current — is a critical step in many energy technologies, including fuel cells and the electrolyzers used to produce hydrogen gas. For...
Light-driven molecular jackhammers destroy cancer cells
Jan 16, 2024 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Scientists have long explored using light to precisely control molecular-scale machines inside living cells for applications like targeted drug delivery. However, progress in this promising field has been incremental. Early light-sensitive molecular actuators were structurally too simple to produce meaningful mechanical motions in complex intracellular...
Advancement in thermoelectricity could light up the Internet of Things
Jan 16, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers from Osaka University and collaborating partners have improved the efficiency of heat-to-electricity conversion in gallium arsenide semiconductor microstructures. By judicious spatial alignment of electrons within a two-dimensional electron gas system with multiple subbands, one can substantially enhance the power factor compared with previous iterations...