Apr 04, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Ultra-light, thermally insulating and biodegradable: Cellulose-based aerogels are versatile. Empa researchers have succeeded in 3D printing the natural material into complex shapes that could one day serve as precision insulation in microelectronics or as personalized medical implants. Their work has been published in Advanced Science...
Laser-guided self-assembly enables precise fabrication of micro-rolls for advanced applications
Apr 04, 2024 (Nanowerk Spotlight) The quest to create intricate three-dimensional microstructures has long captivated scientists and engineers, driven by the immense potential these tiny constructs hold for revolutionizing fields such as electronics, photonics, and biomedicine. However, the journey from concept to reality has been fraught with challenges. Conventional fabrication...
Galaxies get more chaotic as they age
Apr 03, 2024 (Nanowerk News) An international team led by Australian research centre ASTRO 3D reports that age is the driving force in changing how stars move within galaxies. Galaxies start life with their stars rotating in an orderly pattern but in some the motion of stars is more random....
Intelligent liquid
Apr 04, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a programmable metafluid with tunable springiness, optical properties, viscosity and even the ability to transition between a Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid. The first-of-its-kind metafluid uses a suspension of small,...
‘Smart swarms’ of tiny robots inspired by natural herd mentality
Apr 03, 2024 (Nanowerk News) In natural ecosystems, the herd mentality plays a major role – from schools of fish, to beehives to ant colonies. This collective behavior allows the whole to exceed the sum of its parts and better respond to threats and challenges. This behavior inspired researchers from...
Silicon carbide data storage technology could preserve information for millions of years
Apr 03, 2024 (Nanowerk Spotlight) The relentless growth of digital data, fueled by the rapid expansion of the internet, social media, and cloud technologies, has created an urgent need for innovative data storage solutions. In 2012, the amount of digital data worldwide surpassed one zettabyte (ZB or 1021 bytes), marking...
Must mRNA be cloaked in a lipid coat to serve as a vaccine?
Apr 03, 2024 (Nanowerk News) The Uchida Laboratory, led by Prof. Satoshi Uchida at the Department of Advanced Nanomedical Engineering, Medical Research Institute, Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU), in collaboration with the Innovation Center of NanoMedicine (iCONM), Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Kyorin University, and NANO MRNA Co.,...
Researchers discover ‘neutronic molecules’
Apr 03, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Neutrons are subatomic particles that have no electric charge, unlike protons and electrons. That means that while the electromagnetic force is responsible for most of the interactions between radiation and materials, neutrons are essentially immune to that force. Instead, neutrons are held together inside an...
Novel high entropy alloy nanoparticle catalysts for growing high-density carbon nanotubes
Apr 03, 2024 (Nanowerk News) High entropy alloys (HEAs) have attracted significant attention in various fields due to their unique properties such as high strength and hardness, and high thermal and chemical stabilities. Unlike conventional alloys, which typically incorporate small quantities of one or two additional metals, HEAs constitute a...
Gadolinium-based compound designed with technological applications at the nanoscale
Apr 03, 2024 (Nanowerk News) A team led by Professor Carolina Sañudo, Laboratory of Molecular Nanoscience of the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Barcelona, has designed a new molecular compound based on gadolinium (Gd) — a chemical element that can generate a magnetocaloric effect. Gd is of particular...