Dec 12, 2024 (Nanowerk News) NGC 1068 is a well-known, relatively nearby, bright galaxy with a supermassive black hole at its center. Despite its status as a popular target for astronomers, however, its accretion disk is obscured by thick clouds of dust and gas. A few light-years in diameter, the...
Nanofluidic devices redefining matter manipulation at an unprecedented level
Dec 12, 2024 (Nanowerk News) One of the great ambitions in the scientific world is to use tiny objects – such as molecules, viruses, and nanoparticles – as building blocks to construct essential macromolecules and materials, much like constructing intricate designs with LEGO bricks. However, achieving this requires overcoming significant...
A black hole jet stumbles into something in the dark (w/video)
Dec 12, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Even matter ejected by black holes can run into objects in the dark. Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have found an unusual mark from a giant black hole’s powerful jet striking an unidentified object in its path. A paper describing these results appears in...
Fast, rewritable computing with DNA origami registers
Dec 12, 2024 (Nanowerk News) DNA stores the instructions for life and, along with enzymes and other molecules, computes everything from hair color to risk of developing diseases. Harnessing that prowess and immense storage capacity could lead to DNA-based computers that are faster and smaller than today’s silicon-based versions. As...
Could we engineer stability in the microbiome? New research opens the door
Dec 12, 2024 (Nanowerk News) A team of researchers led by Carnegie Science’s Will Ludington, Karina Gutiérrez-García, and Kevin Aumiller identified genes that enable a beneficial bacterial species to colonize specific regions of the gastrointestinal tract. Their work, published in Science ("A conserved bacterial genetic basis for commensal-host specificity"), could...
Precise control of liquid metal flow enables new flexible electronics manufacturing method
Dec 11, 2024 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Creating electronic circuits that can bend and flex while maintaining reliable electrical connections presents significant engineering challenges. Traditional electronics rely on solid metals like copper and gold, which provide excellent conductivity but can fail when subjected to repeated bending or stretching. This limitation affects applications...
Discovery of new growth-directed graphene stacking domains may precede new era for quantum applications
Dec 10, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice, is known for its exceptional properties: incredible strength (about 200 times stronger than steel), light weight, flexibility, and excellent conduction of electricity and heat. These properties have made graphene increasingly important in...
Silver nanocubes enable light generation in nanolaser
Dec 10, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Lithuania researchers and scientists from Japan have developed a unique nanolaser. Although the dimensions of this laser are so small that its structure can only be seen through a powerful microscope, its potential is vast. With applications in early medical...
A new discovery about the source of the vast energy in cosmic rays
Dec 11, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Ultra-high energy cosmic rays, which emerge in extreme astrophysical environments—like the roiling environments near black holes and neutron stars—have far more energy than the energetic particles that emerge from our sun. In fact, the particles that make up these streams of energy have around 10...
Nanopore direct RNA sequencing identifies cancer ‘fingerprint’
Dec 10, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Different types of cancer have unique molecular ‘fingerprints’ which are detectable in early stages of the disease and can be picked up with near-perfect accuracy by small, portable scanners in just a few hours, according to a study published today in the journal Molecular Cell...