Apr 13, 2023 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Enzymatic biofuel cells (BFCs) have long held the promise of creating efficient, wearable, and environmentally friendly devices, but their potential has been hampered by the complexities and high costs associated with using multiple enzymes in their design. A new, groundbreaking study published in Nano-Micro Letters...
Boosting AI with optimized phase change memory
Apr 14, 2023 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Phase change memory (PCM) is a type of non-volatile memory technology that stores data at the nanoscale by changing the phase of a specialized material between crystalline and amorphous states. In the crystalline state, the material exhibits low electrical resistance, while in the amorphous state,...
New family of wheel-like metallic clusters exhibit unique properties
Apr 14, 2023 (Nanowerk News) While the wheel does not need to be reinvented, there are benefits to the development of new nano-wheels, according to a multi-institute research team based in China. The group fabricated a novel family of metallic compounds, each of which exhibit unique properties desirable for next-generation...
Microwaves advance solar-cell production and recycling
Apr 14, 2023 (Nanowerk News) A microwave technology invented at Macquarie University will improve the manufacture of solar cells and make them easier to recycle. During the fabrication of solar panels, silicon goes through several high-temperature processes known as annealing. Currently the cells are cooked in an oven. But in...
Oxygen nanocarriers to help phototherapy combat tumors
Apr 13, 2023 (Nanowerk News) The effectiveness of photodynamic therapy is limited by the lack of oxygen in solid cancers. Now, researchers in the EU OXIGENATED project, led by the CIC biomaGUNE research professor Sergio Moya, have created drug nanocarriers to deliver oxygen to the tumor. This strategy could improve...
Multi-compartment membranes for multicellular robots: Everybody needs some body
Apr 14, 2023 (Nanowerk News) We typically think of robots as metal objects, filled with motors and circuits. But the field of molecular robotics is starting to change that. Like the formation of complex living organisms, molecular robots derive their form and functionality from assembled molecules stored in a single...
Safe bioink for artificial organ printing
Apr 14, 2023 (Nanowerk News) The development of biomaterials for artificial organs and tissues is active due to an increase in accidental injuries and chronic diseases, along with the entry into a super-aged society. 3D bioprinting technology, which uses cells and biomaterials to create three-dimensional artificial tissue structures, has recently...
Uncovering the secrets of how chromosomes assemble
Apr 13, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Experiments using extracts from African clawed frog eggs have revealed how a key protein complex is regulated to assemble chromosomes during cell division (eLife, "Cell cycle-specific loading of condensin I is regulated by the N-terminal tail of its kleisin subunit"). This finding could help to...
Quantum ‘magic’ could help explain the origin of spacetime
Apr 13, 2023 (Nanowerk News) A quantum property dubbed ‘magic’ could be the key to explaining how space and time emerged, a new mathematical analysis by three RIKEN physicists suggests (Physical Review D, "Probing chaos by magic monotones"). It’s hard to conceive of anything more basic than the fabric of...
The largest cosmic blast ever, pinpointed
Apr 13, 2023 (Nanowerk News) The location of the brightest cosmic explosion ever recorded was pinpointed at 2.4 billion light years from Earth by a team of astronomers. The blast, known as a gamma-ray burst (GRB), was first picked up by sensors on veteran spacecraft Voyager 1 last October, only...