Aug 13, 2024 (Nanowerk News) University of Missouri scientists are battling against an emerging enemy of human health: nanoplastics. Much smaller in size than the diameter of an average human hair, nanoplastics are invisible to the naked eye. Linked to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in people, nanoplastics continue to build...
Protein reduces toxicity of drug-delivery material made of graphene oxide
Aug 13, 2024 (Nanowerk News) A new publication has discovered ways to reduce the toxicity of graphene oxide (GO), an ultra-thin sheet of nanomaterial derived from graphite, laying the groundwork to use it as a drug delivery system. Professor Khuloud Al-Jamal, who led the study, said: “Researchers have been incredibly...
AI enhances chemical analysis at the nanoscale
Aug 13, 2024 (Nanowerk News) “Nanomaterials” is a broad term used to describe chemical substances or materials in which a single unit is sized between 1 and 100 nanometers (a nanometer is a billionth of a meter). They include exotic materials such as carbon nanotubes, silver nanoparticles (used as antimicrobials),...
Ultra-thin, seaweed-based electronic skin rivals clinical devices in vital sign accuracy
Aug 13, 2024 (Nanowerk Spotlight) The accurate measurement of vital signs is fundamental to medical diagnosis and treatment. Blood pressure and body temperature, in particular, serve as critical indicators for a range of conditions including cardiovascular diseases, infections, and metabolic disorders. Traditionally, these parameters have been measured intermittently in clinical...
Engineers make tunable, shape-changing metamaterial inspired by vintage toys
Aug 13, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Common push puppet toys in the shapes of animals and popular figures can move or collapse with the push of a button at the bottom of the toys’ base. Now, a team of UCLA engineers has created a new class of tunable dynamic material that...
Wobbly molecules get a closer look
Aug 13, 2024 (Nanowerk News) While new technologies, including those powered by artificial intelligence, provide innovative solutions to a steadily growing range of problems, these tools are only as good as the data they’re trained on. In the world of molecular biology, getting high-quality data from tiny biological systems while...
Tick-borne red meat allergy prevented in mice through new nanoparticle treatment
Aug 12, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Nanoparticles delivered intravenously in mice can block the allergic reactions to red meat caused by the bite of the lone star tick, new research led by the University of Michigan shows. The condition, called alpha-gal syndrome, is on the rise in humans as climate change...
New genetically engineered wood can store carbon and reduce emissions
Aug 12, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers at the University of Maryland genetically modified poplar trees to produce high-performance, structural wood without the use of chemicals or energy intensive processing. Made from traditional wood, Engineered wood is often seen as a renewable replacement for traditional building materials like steel, cement, glass...
Carbon nanotubes serve as biosensors with new insights into fluorescence mechanism
Aug 12, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers from Bochum and Texas have discovered why carbon nanotubes fluoresce when they bind to certain molecules. Carbon nanotubes are considered promising biosensors that could be useful for blood sugar monitoring or Covid-19 tests, for example. When they bind to an analyte, they fluoresce –...
Align or die
Aug 12, 2024 (Nanowerk News) A previously unknown mechanism of active matter self-organization essential for bacterial cell division follows the motto ‘dying to align’: Misaligned filaments ‘die’ spontaneously to form a ring structure at the center of the dividing cell. The study, led by the Šarić group at the Institute...