Nov 24, 2021 (Nanowerk News) Retrofitting an existing masonry cavity walled building with a green or living wall can reduce the amount of heat lost through its structure by more than 30%, according to new research. The study, conducted at the University of Plymouth, centred around the Sustainability Hub –...
Ultra-thin computer grows into bone to monitor health data
Nov 24, 2021 (Nanowerk News) A team of University of Arizona researchers has developed an ultra-thin wireless device that grows to the surface of bone and could someday help physicians monitor bone health and healing over long periods. The devices, called osseosurface electronics, are described in a paper published in...
Origami, kirigami inspire mechanical metamaterials designs
Nov 23, 2021 (Nanowerk News) The ancient arts of origami, the art of paper-folding, and kirigami, the art of paper-cutting, have gained popularity in recent years among researchers building mechanical metamaterials. Folding and cutting 2D thin-film materials transforms them into complex 3D structures and shapes with unique and programmable mechanical...
Analysis of Mars’s wind-induced vibrations sheds light on the planet’s subsurface properties
Nov 23, 2021 (Nanowerk News) Seismic data collected in Elysium Planitia, the second largest volcanic region on Mars, suggest the presence of a shallow sedimentary layer sandwiched between lava flows beneath the planet’s surface. These findings were gained in the framework of NASA’s InSight mission (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations,...
Nanotechnology offers pain relief for tooth sensitivity
Nov 23, 2021 (Nanowerk News) In an Australian first, researchers from The University of Queensland have used nanotechnology to develop effective ways to manage tooth sensitivity (ACS Applied Nano Materials, "Calcium-Doped Silica Nanoparticles Mixed with Phosphate-Doped Silica Nanoparticles for Rapid and Stable Occlusion of Dentin Tubules"). Dr Chun Xu from...
New device modulates visible light – without dimming it
Nov 23, 2021 (Nanowerk News) Over the past several decades, researchers have moved from using electric currents to manipulating light waves in the near-infrared range for telecommunications applications such as high-speed 5G networks, biosensors on a chip, and driverless cars. This research area, known as integrated photonics, is fast evolving,...
How positively and negatively charged ions behave at interfaces
Nov 23, 2021 (Nanowerk News) How positively and negatively charged ions behave at the interface between a solid surface and an aqueous solution has been investigated by researchers from the Cluster of Excellence RESOLV at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum, its sister research network CALSOLV in Berkeley, and the University of Evry...
From science fiction to printing meat
Nov 21, 2021 (Nanowerk News) And, get ready for 4D printing, a morphing tech that sounds impossible – much like 3D printing once did Some may have heard of 3D printing in the 1980s and 1990s, but the majority probably never heard the term until after the turn of the...
Appearance and origin of oxidation in 2D nanomaterials akin to tree rings
Nov 22, 2021 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) represent a large family of layered semiconductor materials of the type MX2, with M a transition metal atom (Mo, W, etc.) and X a chalcogen atom (S, Se, or Te). One layer of M atoms is sandwiched between two layers of...
Before geoengineering, some fundamental chemistry
Nov 23, 2021 (Nanowerk News) It’s a tempting thought: With climate change so difficult to manage and nations unwilling to take decisive action, what if we could mitigate its effects by setting up a kind of chemical umbrella—a layer of sulfuric acid in the upper atmosphere that could reflect the...