Feb 16, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Researchers from the RIKEN Guardian Robot Project in Japan have made an android child named Nikola that successfully conveys six basic emotions. The new study, published in Frontiers in Psychology ("An Android for Emotional Interaction: Spatiotemporal Validation of Its Facial Expressions"), tested how well people...
Scientists show how artificial intelligence can help to study protein complexes
Feb 15, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Hamburg have developed a new method for studying proteins. The team has succeeded in developing an AI-based method for analysing cryo-electron microscopy data. In future, this will enable several protein complexes...
Slicing the way to wearable sensor prototypes
Feb 15, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Engineers at UC Berkeley have developed a new technique for making wearable sensors that enables medical researchers to prototype test new designs much faster and at a far lower cost than existing methods. The new technique replaces photolithography — a multistep process used to make...
Novel nanoparticles target gene therapy directly into the lungs
Feb 15, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Researchers at the Tufts University School of Engineering are building a reputation for precision targeting in drug delivery. Their tools: tiny lipid-based nanoparticles (LNPs) that can be fine tuned to latch on to specific tissues, organs, even cell types within the body. Their latest creation:...
Researchers ‘tune’ gel-forming protein molecules to boost their versatility for biomedical applications
Feb 15, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Self-assembling protein molecules are versatile materials for medical applications because their ability to form gels can be accelerated or retarded by variations in pH, as well as changes in temperature or ionic strength. These biomaterials, responsive to physiological conditions, can therefore be easily adapted for...
Strong and elastic, yet degradable: protein-based bioplastics
Feb 15, 2022 (Nanowerk News) More than eight million tons of plastic end up in the oceans every year—a serious danger for the environment and health. Biodegradable bioplastics could provide an alternative. In the journal Angewandte Chemie ("Biosynthetic Structural Proteins with Super Plasticity, Extraordinary Mechanical Performance, Biodegradability, Biocompatibility and Information...
Researchers create molecule that can pave way for mini-transistors
Feb 15, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have succeeded in developing a simple hydrocarbon molecule with a logic gate function, similar to that in transistors, in a single molecule. The discovery could make electric components on a molecular scale possible in the future. The results are...
Sustainable chemistry based on wood
Feb 15, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Producing materials for solar cells, light-emitting diodes and other organic electronics applications as sustainably as possible: A team from Würzburg's Faculty of Chemistry is working on this. Some hikers carry a small solar power plant with them: a foil is attached to their backpack that...
Fabrication of perovskite solar cells with just a piece of paper? A new method tells you how! (w/video)
Feb 15, 2022 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Perovskite semiconductor solar cells are a very exciting photovoltaic technology possessing similar efficiencies to silicon but cast or printed in thin films via liquid inks. A new method that uses a simple sheet of paper to deposit the perovskite films that does without any expensive...
speed of sound used to measure elasticity of materials
Feb 15, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Researchers at the University of Nottingham have devised a revolutionary new technique for measuring the microscopic elasticity of materials for the first time. Known as SRAS, the technology works by measuring the speed of sound across the material’s surface (Acta Materalia, "Measurement of the single...