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New Microscopy Technique Helps Gain Key Insights into Structure of Telomeres

A new imaging technique has allowed researchers at North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Pittsburgh to see how DNA loops around a protein that aids in the formation of a special structure in telomeres. The work provides new insights into the structure of telomeres and how they are maintained.

12 Feb 2016

PSI Researchers Fabricate Nanoscale Matterhorn Models Using 3D Photolithography

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute have produced large numbers of detailed models of the Matterhorn, each one less than a tenth of a millimetre in size. With this, they demonstrated how 3-D objects so delicate could be mass-produced. Materials whose surface is covered with a pattern of such tiny 3-D structures often have special properties. What nature has exploited for so long could be instructive for a number of industrial applications. Many snakes glide over sand aided by 3-D structures on their skin that significantly reduce friction. Along the same lines, machine parts could be furnished with a comparable structure, thereby minimizing wear and tear.

12 Feb 2016

Scientists Discover Unusual Behavior of Electrons in Graphene

Electrons which act like slow-pouring honey have been observed for the first time in graphene, prompting a new approach to fundamental physics.

12 Feb 2016

Novel Carbon Thin Film Deposition Method Provides Energy Storage Capability to Microchips

After more than half a decade of speculation, fabrication, modeling and testing, an international team of researchers led by Drexel University’s Yury Gogotsi, PhD , and Patrice Simon, PhD, of Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, France, have confirmed that their process for making carbon films and micro-supercapacitors will allow microchips and their power sources to become one and the same.

12 Feb 2016

Breakthrough Method Paves Way for Development of Tunable Lens Arrays

Have you ever noticed that when heated a film of oil in a pan doesn’t remain completely flat? Instead, it forms a wavy pattern that resembles the exterior of an orange. These sorts of deformations inspired a group of researchers at the Technical University of Darmstadt, in Germany, to explore whether they could be used to improve and streamline microfabrication processes.

12 Feb 2016

Nanolaser Developed by TUM Physicists Helps Cost-Effectively Fabricate High-Performance Photonic Components

Physicists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed a nanolaser, a thousand times thinner than a human hair. Thanks to an ingenious process, the nanowire lasers grow right on a silicon chip, making it possible to produce high-performance photonic components cost-effectively. This will pave the way for fast and efficient data processing with light in the future.

12 Feb 2016

Retractable Protein Nanoneedles to Break Cell Barriers

The ability to control the transfer of molecules through cellular membranes is an important function in synthetic biology; a new study from researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and Harvard Medical School (HMS) introduces a novel mechanical method for controlling release of molecules inside cells.

12 Feb 2016

Development of Nanowire Lasers Could Open New Research Frontier for Optoelectronics

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and UC Berkeley have found a simple new way to produce nanoscale wires that can serve as tiny, tunable lasers.

12 Feb 2016

Researchers Make Breakthrough in Understanding of Graphene’s Basic Properties

Graphene is going to change the world — or so we’ve been told.

12 Feb 2016

Researchers Use Linac Coherent Light Source to Image Exploding Nanoparticles

Photographers capture high-speed motion using cameras with a split-second shutter speed feature. Similar to these photographers, scientists examine very small materials using specific instruments, which are capable of seeing changes that occur in the blink of an eye.

11 Feb 2016

Research Team Uses Light Reflection of Interface Nanostructures for Non-Toxic Ink Printing

From dot-matrix to 3-D, printing technology has come a long way in 40 years. But all of these technologies have created hues by using dye inks, which can be taxing on the environment. Now a team reports in ACS Nano the development of a colorless, non-toxic ink for use in inkjet printers. Instead of relying on dyes, the team exploits the nanostructure of this ink to create color on a page with inkjet printing.

11 Feb 2016

Kiel University Researchers Aim to Detect 100 Biomarkers on the Chip

A whole lab in your hand: researchers at Kiel University have developed a chip that can recognise various proteins in a drop of blood. This could make medical diagnoses much quicker and cheaper in the future.

11 Feb 2016

Researchers Develop Sensitive Ricin Biosensors Based on Aptamers

Tiny rocketlike particles that move around on their own in a hydrogen peroxide solution can detect trace amounts of the lethal toxin ricin within minutes (ACS Sens. 2016, DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.5b00300). They could someday provide a quick, easy way to detect the bioterrorism agent in food and water samples without having to bring them back to a lab. The particles, made of graphene oxide and platinum, carry sensor molecules that glow when they bind to ricin.

11 Feb 2016

Researchers Analyze Various Applications of Designer DNA Nanocages

Living systems rely on a dizzying variety of chemical reactions essential to development and survival. Most of these involve a specialized class of protein molecules — the enzymes.

11 Feb 2016

Development of Novel Transistor Could Revolutionize Thin-Film Electronic Devices

A new transistor, capable of revolutionizing thin-film electronic devices, has been developed by an engineering research team at the University of Albert (U of A).

11 Feb 2016