Jan 25, 2024 (Nanowerk News) The science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke selected his own seven wonders of the world in a BBC television series in 1997. The only astronomical object he included was SS 433. It had attracted attention already in the late 1970s due to its X-ray emission...
Autonomous synthesis robot uses AI to speed up chemical discovery
Jan 25, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Chemists of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) have developed an autonomous chemical synthesis robot with an integrated AI-driven machine learning unit. Dubbed ‘RoboChem’, the benchtop device can outperform a human chemist in terms of speed and accuracy while also displaying a high level of ingenuity....
Harnessing cellular scaffolding for microscopic railways in nanotechnology and medicine (w/video)
Jan 25, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Princeton researchers have learned to harness the gossamer scaffolding that maintains the structure of living cells and used it to develop a nanotechnology platform. The technique eventually could lead to advances in soft robotics, new medicines, and the development of synthetic systems for high-precision biomolecular...
The curious case of zero dimensions in nanomaterials (w/video)
Jan 25, 2024 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Dimensions typically refer to the measurable extent of height, width, and depth, defining an object's presence in physical space. However, in the weird and wonderful quantum world, even the notion of dimensions gets turned upside down. Enter the concept of "zero-dimensional" nanomaterials – tiny particles...
The moon is shrinking, causing landslides and instability in lunar south pole
Jan 25, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Earth’s moon shrank more than 150 feet in circumference as its core gradually cooled over the last few hundred million years. In much the same way a grape wrinkles when it shrinks down to a raisin, the moon also develops creases as it shrinks. But...
Advanced full-color image sensor technology enables simultaneous energy harvesting and imaging
Jan 25, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Organic-based optoelectronic technology is increasingly recognized as an energy-efficient solution for low-power indoor electronics and wireless IoT sensors. This is largely due to its superior flexibility and light weight compared to conventional silicon-based devices. Notably, organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) and organic photodetectors (OPDs) are leading...
New 2D material with super-heavy electrons discovered
Jan 24, 2024 (Nanowerk News) A new 2D quantum material has been discovered. The material consists of atom-thin layers of cerium, silicon and iodine (CeSiI) and is the first example of a 2D material with heavy fermions. It is presented in a new study by researchers in materials science at...
New superconducting material discovered in transition metal dichalcogenide materials
Jan 24, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Supported by the electrical transport and magnetic measurement systems of the Steady High Magnetic Field Facility, a research team from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered a new superconducting material called (InSe2)xNbSe2, which has a unique lattice structure....
Machine learning-driven prediction of strain engineering in graphene
Jan 24, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Two-dimensional (2D) materials like graphene can exhibit exotic quantum mechanical behaviors when subjected to intentional structural distortions. By tweaking interatomic spacings through strain or perturbing electron densities with defects, researchers can finely tune electromechanical characteristics and engineer these atomically thin materials for cutting-edge applications from...
Hacking DNA to make next-gen nanomaterials
Jan 24, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Columbia University, and Stony Brook University have developed a universal method for producing a wide variety of designed metallic and semiconductor 3D nanostructures—the potential base materials for next-generation semiconductor devices, neuromorphic computing, and advanced energy applications. The new method, which...