Dec 17, 2025 PI's latest 6-axis alignment system is available in one-sided and double-sided configurations, upright for PIC assembly or inverted, for photonics wafer-probing applications. (Nanowerk News) PI (Physik Instrumente) announced the release of the F-713, the latest upgrade to its highly regarded F-712, 6-axis alignment system for photonics chips,...
Machine Learning model predicts protein binding on gold nanoclusters for biomedicine
Dec 17, 2025 A generalizable ML framework predicts protein interactions with ligand-stabilized gold nanoclusters, supporting faster design of bioimaging, sensing and drug delivery materials. (Nanowerk News) The adsorption of proteins onto nanomaterial surfaces is fundamental to many biological applications, including bioimaging and biosensing to targeted drug delivery. Gold nanoclusters, in...
3D-printed helixes show promise as THz optical metamaterials
Dec 17, 2025 Researchers have optimized and 3D-printed helix structures as optical materials for Terahertz (THz) frequencies, a potential way to address a technology gap for next-generation telecommunications, non-destructive evaluation, chemical/biological sensing and more. (Nanowerk News) The printed microscale helixes reliably create circularly polarized beams in the THz range and,...
A 3D-printed Christmas tree made entirely of ice (w/video)
Dec 17, 2025 Physicists 3D-printed an ice Christmas tree using only water and a vacuum, but no refrigeration. Time-lapse shows it printing, then melting when the pump stops. (Nanowerk News) The secret of the tree lies in so-called evaporative cooling. This is the same principle mammals use to regulate their...
Quantum batteries charge faster when engineered to mimic black hole information scrambling
Dec 17, 2025 Quantum spin chains that simulate black hole physics can boost quantum battery charging power and reduce charging times by exploiting rapid information scrambling dynamics. (Nanowerk Spotlight) Black holes scramble quantum information faster than any other physical system in the universe. This extreme scrambling, which rapidly spreads local...
New quantum chemistry method to unlock secrets of advanced materials
Dec 15, 2025 Method could help explain how transport properties emerge from quantum effects in materials like solar cells and superconductors. (Nanowerk News) A new computational approach developed at the University of Chicago promises to shed light on some of the world’s most puzzling materials—from high-temperature superconductors to solar cell...
Twisted graphene unlocks thermal sensing with built-in logic
Dec 17, 2025 Twisted graphene heterostructures detect temperature with 99% accuracy, reduce thermal image errors by 46%, and execute logic operations, mimicking how biological skin senses heat. (Nanowerk Spotlight) The human eye remains an engineering marvel that artificial systems struggle to match. Nature's solution to vision involves not just capturing...
Research upturns assumptions about battery failure
Dec 17, 2025 New insights into single-crystal cathode degradation point to longer-lasting, safer batteries. (Nanowerk News) New research from Argonne National Laboratory and the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) has solved a major battery mystery that has led to capacity degradation, shortened lifespan and, in some cases,...
Empress cicada wings repurposed as powerful low cost SERS substrates
Dec 16, 2025 Silver coated nanospikes on empress cicada wings amplify Raman signals by up to a million times, offering a scalable low cost route to sensitive molecular detection. (Nanowerk News) Zoom in far enough on an empress cicada wing, and a strange landscape materializes. At the nanoscale, densely packed...
To get lifelike movement from synthetic materials, researchers can embrace chaos
Dec 16, 2025 Chemical reactions that are sensitive to force could help power engineered materials that beat, twitch and shiver like living tissue for new applications in robotics and other technologies. (Nanowerk News) When people think of high-powered machines, they'd likely think of muscle cars before their own muscles. But...