Jul 26, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Scientists have unraveled the step-by-step activation process of a protein with a deep evolutionary history in all domains of life, opening the door to harnessing its functions for use as a biotechnology tool. The protein belongs to the “superfamily” of Argonaute proteins, which previous research...
Better 3D printing for the future
Jul 26, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Over the last decade, 3D printing technologies have experienced unprecedented developments and changes. They now enable to fabricate rapidly and at a very competitive cost complex three-dimensional objects. It makes 3D printers especially attractive and pertinent for various fields, including the aerospace industry or medical...
Enhanced light absorption in thin silicon photodetectors with photon-trapping structures
Jul 26, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Photonic systems are quickly gaining traction in many emerging applications, including optical communications, lidar sensing, and medical imaging. However, the widespread adoption of photonics in future engineering solutions hinges on the cost of manufacturing photodetectors, which, in turn, largely depends on the kind of semiconductor...
Researchers develop atomic spin oscillator with high stability
Jul 26, 2023 (Nanowerk News) A research group from the National Time Service Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a hybrid high-stability atomic spin oscillator based on a Rb-Xe atomic comagnetometer. The research is recently published in Physical Review Applied ("Self-Driven Hybrid Atomic Spin Oscillator"). Atomic comagnetometers...
A nano switchable polar column system that allows high-density data storage
Jul 26, 2023 (Nanowerk News) In today’s world of digital information, an enormous amount of data is exchanged and stored on a daily basis. In the 1980s, IBM unveiled the first hard drive—which was the size of a refrigerator—that could store 1 GB of data, but now we have memory...
Biomolecular nanomotors for precision medicine
Jul 25, 2023 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Nanomedicine, a field that has seen enormous strides since its inception in 1999, is focused on improving therapeutic agents through the exploitation of nanoscale properties of materials. Over the past two to three decades, a myriad of nanoparticle systems of varying shapes, sizes, and compositions...
Pioneering study signals new era of environment-friendly programmable bioelectronics
Jul 25, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Researchers have created a unique microscopic toolkit of ‘green’ tuneable electrical components, paving the way for a new generation of bioelectronic devices and sensors. The University of Bristol-led study, published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ("An expandable, modular de novo protein...
New image reveals secrets of planet birth
Jul 25, 2023 (Nanowerk News) A spectacular new image released today by the European Southern Observatory gives us clues about how planets as massive as Jupiter could form. Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), researchers have detected large dusty clumps, close to a...
Molecular highway for electrons in organic light-emitting diodes
Jul 25, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are now widely used. For use in displays, blue OLEDs are additionally required to supplement the primary colours red and green. Especially in blue OLEDs, impurities give rise to strong electrical losses, which could be partly circumvented by using highly complex...
Extraordinarily strong, lightweight material combines DNA and glass
Jul 25, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Materials that are both strong and lightweight could improve everything from cars to body armor. But usually, the two qualities are mutually exclusive. Now, University of Connecticut researchers and colleagues have developed an extraordinarily strong, lightweight material using two unlikely building blocks: DNA and glass....