Dec 05, 2018 (Nanowerk Spotlight) The idea has been around for a while that selected segments of RNA or DNA could be used therapeutically – so-called therapeutic nucleic acids (TNAs) – to affect gene or cell function. The attraction for researchers is the flexibility that TNAs' versatility, programmability, and modularity...
New technique could help build quantum computers of the future
Jun 11, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Quantum computers have the potential to solve complex problems in human health, drug discovery, and artificial intelligence millions of times faster than some of the world’s fastest supercomputers. A network of quantum computers could advance these discoveries even faster. But before that can happen, the...
A chain of copper and carbon atoms may be the thinnest metallic wire
Jun 11, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers from the Laboratory for Theory and Simulation of Materials at EPFL have used computational methods to identify what could be the thinnest possible metallic wire, as well as several other one-dimensional materials with properties that could prove interesting for many applications. One-dimensional (or 1-D)...
Fully 3D-printed shape memory mini-actuators can move small soft robots
Jun 11, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers from North Carolina State University have demonstrated miniature soft hydraulic actuators that can be used to control the deformation and motion of soft robots that are less than a millimeter thick. The researchers have also demonstrated that this technique works with shape memory materials,...
New computer vision method helps speed up screening of electronic materials
Jun 11, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Boosting the performance of solar cells, transistors, LEDs, and batteries will require better electronic materials, made from novel compositions that have yet to be discovered. To speed up the search for advanced functional materials, scientists are using AI tools to identify promising materials from hundreds...
Programmable wave-based computer advances analog computing
Jun 11, 2024 (Nanowerk Spotlight) The pursuit of faster and more efficient computing has been a driving force in technological progress for decades. As the demand for computational power continues to grow, researchers are exploring novel approaches that go beyond the limitations of conventional digital computers. One promising avenue is...
Switching nanomagnets using infrared lasers
Jun 11, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Physicists at TU Graz have calculated how suitable molecules can be stimulated by infrared light pulses to form tiny magnetic fields. If this is also successful in experiments, the principle could be used in quantum computer circuits. When molecules are irradiated with infrared light, they...
Shaping nanoparticles with enzymes
Jun 11, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers at Hokkaido University have developed a new and more adaptable method for creating nanoparticles of finely controlled size. Their ‘bio-catalytic nanoparticle shaping’ (BNS) procedure, published in the journal Nanoscale Horizons ("Bio-catalytic nanoparticle shaping for preparing mesoscopic assemblies of semiconductor quantum dots and organic molecules"),...
Novel 3D light field enables nanometric sensing and rapid microstructure fabrication
Jun 10, 2024 (Nanowerk Spotlight) The ability to precisely measure and manipulate matter at the nanoscale has emerged as a frontier of paramount importance. From unraveling the fundamental physics of quantum systems to engineering the next generation of ultrahigh density microchips, the capacity to interact with the world at its...
Scientists break limits of optical measurement using quantum entanglement
Jun 10, 2024 (Nanowerk News) The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) has developed a novel quantum sensor technology that allows the measurement of perturbations in the infrared region with visible light by leveraging the phenomenon of quantum entanglement. This will enable low-cost, high-performance IR optical measurement, which...