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Categories: Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published Buckle up! A new class of materials is here
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Would you rather run into a brick wall or into a mattress? For most people, the choice is not difficult. A brick wall is stiff and does not absorb shocks or vibrations well; a mattress is soft and is a good shock absorber. Sometimes, in designing materials, both of these properties are needed. Materials should be good at absorbing vibrations, but should be stiff enough to not collapse under pressure. A team of researchers from the UvA Institute of Physics has now found a way to design materials that manage to do both these things.
Published Researchers finds a way to reduce the overheating of semiconductor devices
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have identified a method for improving the thermal conductivity of thin metal films in semiconductors using surface waves for the first time in the world.
Published The 'breath' between atoms -- a new building block for quantum technology
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have discovered they can detect atomic 'breathing,' or the mechanical vibration between two layers of atoms, by observing the type of light those atoms emitted when stimulated by a laser. The sound of this atomic 'breath' could help researchers encode and transmit quantum information.
Published First X-ray of a single atom
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have taken the world's first X-ray SIGNAL (or SIGNATURE) of just one atom. This groundbreaking achievement could revolutionize the way scientists detect the materials.
Published World's fastest electron microscope
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have succeeded in filming the interactions of light and matter in an electron microscope with attosecond time resolution.
Published A nanocrystal shines on and off indefinitely
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Optical probes have led to numerous breakthroughs in applications like optical memory, nanopatterning, and bioimaging, but existing options have limited lifespans and will eventually 'photobleach.' New work demonstrates a promising, longer-lasting alternative: ultra-photostable avalanching nanoparticles that can turn on and off indefinitely in response to near-infrared light from simple lasers.
Published Color-changing material shows when medications get too warm
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Some foods and medicines, such as many COVID-19 vaccines, must be kept cold. As a step toward a robust, stable technique that could indicate when these products exceed safe limits, researchers report a class of brilliantly colored microcrystals in materials that become colorless over a wide range of temperatures and response times. As a proof of concept, the team packaged the color-changing materials into a vial lid and QR code.
Published Biological specimens imaged with X-rays without damage
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have managed to image delicate biological structures without damaging them. Their new technique generates high resolution X-ray images of dried biological material that has not been frozen, coated, or otherwise altered beforehand -- all with little to no damage to the sample. This method, which is also used for airport baggage scanning, can generate images of the material at nanometer resolution.
Published Protein-based nano-'computer' evolves in ability to influence cell behavior
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The first protein-based nano-computing agent that functions as a circuit has been created. The milestone puts them one step closer to developing next-generation cell-based therapies to treat diseases like diabetes and cancer.
Published Making the structure of 'fire ice' with nanoparticles
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Cage structures made with nanoparticles could be a route toward making organized nanostructures with mixed materials, and researchers have shown how to achieve this through computer simulations.
Published Medical 'microrobots' could one day treat bladder disease, other human illnesses
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Engineers have designed a new class of 'microrobots' several times smaller than the width of a human hair that may be able to treat human illnesses like interstitial cystitis -- a painful bladder disease that affects millions of Americans.
Published Physical chemists develop photochromic active colloids shedding light on the development of new smart active materials
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In nature, the skin of cephalopods (animals with tentacles attached to the head) exhibits unparalleled camouflage ability. Their skin contains pigment groups that can sense changes in environmental light conditions and adjust their appearance through the action of pigment cells. Although intricate in nature, this colour-changing ability is fundamentally based on a mechanical mechanism in which pigment particles are folded or unfolded under the control of radial muscles. Inspired by this natural process, a research team forms dynamic photochromic nanoclusters by mixing cyan, magenta and yellow microbeads, achieving photochromism on a macro scale.
Published An edible CBD coating could extend the shelf life of strawberries
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Soon, you'll be able to get a box of freshly picked, sweet strawberries from the grocery store or local farm stand. But it's disappointing when you get them home and find that the ones at the bottom have started to rot. To increase the berries' shelf life, researchers have incorporated cannabidiol -- a non-hallucinogenic compound from cannabis known as CBD -- and sodium alginate into an edible antimicrobial coating.
Published New priming method improves battery life, efficiency
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Engineers have developed a readily scalable method to optimize a silicon anode priming method that increases lithium-ion battery performance by 22% to 44%.
Published Metal-filtering sponge removes lead from water
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Engineers have developed a new sponge that can remove metals -- including toxic heavy metals like lead and critical metals like cobalt -- from contaminated water, leaving safe, drinkable water behind. In proof-of-concept experiments, the researchers tested their new sponge on a highly contaminated sample of tap water, containing more than 1 part per million of lead. With one use, the sponge filtered lead to below detectable levels.
Published 'Super-resolution' imaging technology
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers describe developing a super-resolution imaging platform technology to improve understanding of how nanoparticles interact within cells.
Published Leaky-wave metasurfaces: A perfect interface between free-space and integrated optical systems
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed a new class of integrated photonic devices -- 'leaky-wave metasurfaces' -- that convert light initially confined in an optical waveguide to an arbitrary optical pattern in free space. These are the first to demonstrate simultaneous control of all four optical degrees of freedom. Because they're so thin, transparent, and compatible with photonic integrated circuits, they can be used to improve optical displays, LIDAR, optical communications, and quantum optics.
Published Engineers tap into good vibrations to power the Internet of Things
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In a world hungry for clean energy, engineers have created a new material that converts the simple mechanical vibrations all around us into electricity to power sensors in everything from pacemakers to spacecraft.
Published A touch-responsive fabric armband -- for flexible keyboards, wearable sketchpads
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source It's time to roll up your sleeves for the next advance in wearable technology -- a fabric armband that's actually a touch pad. Researchers say they have devised a way to make playing video games, sketching cartoons and signing documents easier. Their proof-of-concept silk armband turns a person's forearm into a keyboard or sketchpad. The three-layer, touch-responsive material interprets what a user draws or types and converts it into images on a computer.
Published Self-folding origami machines powered by chemical reaction
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have harnessed chemical reactions to make microscale origami machines self-fold -- freeing them from the liquids in which they usually function, so they can operate in dry environments and at room temperature.