Dec 21, 2021 (Nanowerk News) The iridescent shimmer that makes birds such as peacocks and hummingbirds so striking is rooted in a natural nanostructure so complex that people are only just beginning to replicate it technologically. The secret to how birds produce these brilliant colors lies in a key feature...
Creating invisibility with superconducting materials
Dec 21, 2021 (Nanowerk News) Invisibility devices may soon no longer be the stuff of science fiction. A new study published in Nanophotonics ("Invisibility concentrator based on van der Waals semiconductor α-MoO3") by lead authors Huanyang Chen at Xiamen University, China, and Qiaoliang Bao, suggests the use of the material...
Sensor based on quantum physics could detect SARS-CoV-2 virus
Dec 21, 2021 (Nanowerk News) A novel approach to testing for the presence of the virus that causes Covid-19 may lead to tests that are faster, less expensive, and potentially less prone to erroneous results than existing detection methods. Though the work, based on quantum effects, is still theoretical, these...
A new platform for controlled design of printed electronics with 2D materials
Dec 21, 2021 (Nanowerk News) A study, published in Nature Electronics ("Charge transport mechanisms in inkjet-printed thin-film transistors based on two-dimensional materials"), led by Imperial College London and Politecnico di Torino researchers reveals the physical mechanisms responsible for the transport of electricity in printed two-dimensional (2D) materials. The work identifies...
Could acid-neutralizing life-forms make habitable pockets in Venus’ clouds?
Dec 21, 2021 (Nanowerk News) It’s hard to imagine a more inhospitable world than our closest planetary neighbor. With an atmosphere thick with carbon dioxide, and a surface hot enough to melt lead, Venus is a scorched and suffocating wasteland where life as we know it could not survive. The...
To make tire rubber, add bacteria and sugar
Dec 20, 2021 (Nanowerk News) Four RIKEN researchers have succeeded in using genetically engineered bacteria, Escherichia coli, to convert glucose into a key synthetic compound used to make tires (Nature Communications, "Direct 1,3-butadiene biosynthesis in Escherichia coli via a tailored ferulic acid decarboxylase mutant"). The chemical in question, 1,3-butadiene, doesn’t...
Engineers produce the world’s longest flexible fiber battery (140 meters)
Dec 20, 2021 (Nanowerk News) Researchers have developed a rechargeable lithium-ion battery in the form of an ultra-long fiber that could be woven into fabrics. The battery could enable a wide variety of wearable electronic devices, and might even be used to make 3D-printed batteries in virtually any shape. The...
Step forward in quest to develop living construction materials and beyond
Dec 20, 2021 (Nanowerk News) Some engineered living materials can combine the strength of run-of-the-mill building materials with the responsiveness of living systems. Think self-healing concrete, paint that changes color when a specific chemical is detected or material that could reproduce and fill in a crack when one forms. This...
Are black holes and dark matter the same?
Dec 20, 2021 (Nanowerk News) Proposing an alternative model for how the universe came to be, a team of astrophysicists suggests that all black holes—from those as tiny as a pin head to those covering billions of miles—were created instantly after the Big Bang and account for all dark matter....