Jun 23, 2022 (Nanowerk News) A new citizen science project, led by researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities with support from NASA, allows volunteers to play an important role in helping scientists learn more about the atmosphere on Jupiter. Citizen scientists can help astrophysicists categorize tens of thousands...
Filming electrons at work
Jun 23, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Physicists at TU Berlin’s Institute of Optics and Atomic Physics have developed a new method that enables moving images of periodic processes to be acquired in a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Examples of these processes include switching in state-of-the-art electronic components known as semiconductor nanostructures....
New artificial intelligence tool to predict protein function
Jun 23, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new statistical tool that they have used to predict protein function. Not only could it help with the difficult job of altering proteins in practically useful ways, but it also works by...
Energy researchers invent chameleon metal that acts like many others
Jun 23, 2022 (Nanowerk News) A team of energy researchers led by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities have invented a groundbreaking device that electronically converts one metal into behaving like another to use as a catalyst for speeding chemical reactions. The fabricated device, called a “catalytic condenser,” is the...
A novel crystal structure sheds light on the dynamics of extrasolar planets
Jun 22, 2022 (Nanowerk News) For decades, scientists have looked to the strange worlds beyond our solar system to understand more about our home planet. A team of researchers using the resources of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory recently discovered more about those planets without leaving...
Biodegradable electronic ink for recyclable printed electronics
Jun 22, 2022 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Electronics are integral to modern society, but electronic waste (e-waste) presents a complex and growing challenge in the path toward a circular economy – a more sustainable economic system that focuses on recycling materials and minimizing waste. More than 53 million metric tons of e-waste...
The first organic bipolar transistor
Jun 22, 2022 (Nanowerk News) The invention of the transistor in 1947 by Shockley, Bardeen and Brattain at Bell Laboratories ushered in the age of microelectronics and revolutionized our lives. First, so-called bipolar transistors were invented, in which negative and positive charge carriers contribute to the current transport, unipolar field...
Technique allows researchers to align gold nanorods with magnetic fields
Jun 22, 2022 (Nanowerk News) An international team of researchers has demonstrated a technique that allows them to align gold nanorods using magnetic fields, while preserving the underlying optical properties of the gold nanorods. “Gold nanorods are of interest because they can absorb and scatter specific wavelengths of light, making...
Innovative ferroelectric material could enable next-generation memory devices
Jun 22, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Ferroelectric materials are substances with spontaneous electrical polarization. Polarization refers to the separation of the negative and positive charges within a material. For ferroelectric materials, this means the “memory” of the material’s prior state (referred to as hysteresis) can store information in a way similar...
Can robotics help us achieve sustainable development?
Jun 22, 2022 (Nanowerk News) An international team of scientists, led by the University of Leeds, have assessed how robotics and autonomous systems might facilitate or impede the delivery of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Their findings identify key opportunities and key threats that need to be considered while...