Jun 10, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Lasers have revolutionized the world since the 60’s and are now indispensable in modern applications, from cutting-edge surgery and precise manufacturing to data transmission across optical fibers. But as the need for laser-based applications grows, so do challenges. For example, there is a growing market...
Portable infrared microspectrometers for real-time air quality monitoring
Jun 07, 2024 (Nanowerk News) In an increasingly health-conscious society, data is a hot commodity. Tracking step counts with an old-school pedometer has turned into monitoring heart rates, sleep cycles and blood oxygen levels with wearable fitness trackers, a market that has exploded in recent years. But one critical aspect...
Nanotechnology targets fibrosis with precision
Jun 07, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso are developing a new therapeutic approach that uses nanoparticles for the treatment of skin and lung fibrosis, conditions that can result in severe damage to the body’s tissues. Md Nurunnabi, Ph.D., is an associate professor in...
Researchers demonstrate the first chip-based 3D printer
Jun 07, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Imagine a portable 3D printer you could hold in the palm of your hand. The tiny device could enable a user to rapidly create customized, low-cost objects on the go, like a fastener to repair a wobbly bicycle wheel or a component for a critical...
Exotic black holes could be a byproduct of dark matter
Jun 07, 2024 (Nanowerk News) For every kilogram of matter that we can see — from the computer on your desk to distant stars and galaxies — there are 5 kilograms of invisible matter that suffuse our surroundings. This “dark matter” is a mysterious entity that evades all forms of...
Engineering a novel approach for controlling thermal emission
Jun 07, 2024 (Nanowerk News) The University of Manchester’s National Graphene Institute has spearheaded an international team to engineer a novel approach for controlling thermal emission, detailed in a paper published in Science ("Localized thermal emission from topological interfaces"). This breakthrough offers new design strategies beyond conventional materials, with promising...
New light-activated electron pathway found in nanotubes
Jun 07, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Research groups led by the University of Tsukuba and the University of Rennes have unveiled a unique phenomenon where, upon exposure to light, a nested structure of carbon nanotubes enveloped in boron nitride nanotubes allows for a peculiar electron escape route. This discovery opens up...
With programmable pixels, novel sensor improves imaging of neural activity
Jun 07, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Neurons communicate electrically so to understand how they produce brain functions such as memory, neuroscientists must track how their voltage changes—sometimes subtly—on the timescale of milliseconds. In a new paper in Nature Communications ("Pixel-wise programmability enables dynamic high-SNR cameras for high-speed microscopy"), MIT researchers describe...
Machine learning revolutionizes simulation of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)
Jun 06, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Hydrogen storage, heat conduction, gas storage, CO2 and water sequestration – metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have extraordinary properties due to their unique structure in the form of microporous crystals, which have a very large surface area despite their small size. This makes them extremely interesting for...
Researcher developed liquid metal-based electronic logic device that mimics intelligent prey-capture mechanism of Venus flytrap
Jun 06, 2024 (Nanowerk News) A research team led by the School of Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed a liquid metal-based electronic logic device that mimics the intelligent prey-capture mechanism of Venus flytraps. Exhibiting memory and counting properties, the device can intelligently...