May 09, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Boronic acid has been used in organic chemistry for decades, even though it is not present in any organism. ‘It gives rise to different chemical reactions than those we find in nature,’ explains Gerard Roelfes, Professor of Biomolecular Chemistry & Catalysis at the University of...
Beat the heat with radiative cooling
May 09, 2024 (Nanowerk News) As consumer electronics become ever more compact, while still boasting increased processing power, the need to manage waste heat from microcircuits has grown to become a major concern. Some scientific instruments and nanoscale machines require careful consideration of how localized heat will be shunted out...
Innovative electrospinning method creates advanced ceramic nanofibers and springs
May 09, 2024 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Ceramics boast impressive strength and durability, but their inherent rigidity and brittleness have long hindered applications demanding flexibility, such as filters, sensors, wearable devices and flexible electronics. Materials scientists have pursued methods to capture the desirable properties of ceramics like titania and zirconia in a...
Scientists observe and analyze a phenomenon that combines optical-electrical-mechanical properties in a 2D atomic layer
May 08, 2024 (Nanowerk News) The results of observation and analysis of a phenomenon that combines optical, electrical, and mechanical properties in a two-dimensional atomic layer were revealed by a joint Korean-American research team and published in Nano Letters ("Optically Triggered Emergent Mesostructures in Monolayer WS2"). The Gwangju Institute of...
Swarms of miniature robots clean up microplastics and microbes, simultaneously (w/video)
May 08, 2024 (Nanowerk News) When old food packaging, discarded children’s toys and other mismanaged plastic waste break down into microplastics, they become even harder to clean up from oceans and waterways. These tiny bits of plastic also attract bacteria, including those that cause disease. In a study in ACS...
Atomic-scale telegraphy with light
May 08, 2024 (Nanowerk News) In the 1880s Heinrich Hertz discovered that a spark jumping between two pieces of metal emits a flash of light – rapidly oscillating electromagnetic waves – which can be picked up by an antenna. To honour his groundbreaking work, the unit of frequency was named...
Webb hints at possible atmosphere surrounding rocky exoplanet
May 08, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope may have detected atmospheric gases surrounding 55 Cancri e, a hot rocky exoplanet 41 light-years from Earth. This is the best evidence to date for the existence of any rocky planet atmosphere outside our solar system. Renyu Hu...
Strictly no dancing
May 08, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Since the discovery of quantum mechanics more than a hundred years ago, it has been known that electrons in molecules can be coupled to the motion of the atoms that make up the molecules. Often referred to as molecular vibrations, the motion of atoms act...
AI and holography bring 3D augmented reality to regular glasses
May 08, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers in the emerging field of spatial computing have developed a prototype augmented reality headset that uses holographic imaging to overlay full-color, 3D moving images on the lenses of what would appear to be an ordinary pair of glasses. Unlike the bulky headsets of present-day...
The interference of many atoms, and a new approach to boson sampling
May 08, 2024 (Nanowerk News) In daily life, when two objects are “indistinguishable,” it’s due to an imperfect state of knowledge. As a street magician scrambles the cups and balls, you could, in principle, keep track of which ball is which as they are passed between the cups. However, at...