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Categories: Engineering: Nanotechnology, Paleontology: Climate
Published Chameleon-inspired coating could cool and warm buildings through the seasons


As summer turns to fall, many people will be turning off the air conditioning and firing up heaters instead. But traditional heating and cooling systems are energy intensive, and because they typically run on fossil fuels, they aren't sustainable. Now, by mimicking a desert-dwelling chameleon, a team has developed an energy-efficient, cost-effective coating. The material could keep buildings cool in the summers -- or warm in the winters -- without additional energy.
Published Precisely arranging nanoparticles


In the incredibly small world of molecules, the elementary building blocks -- the atoms -- join together in a very regular pattern. In contrast, in the macroscopic world with its larger particles, there is much greater disorder when particles connect. A research team has now succeeded in achieving the same precise arrangement of atoms shown in molecules, but using nanometer-sized particles, known as 'plasmonic molecules' -- combinations of nanoscale metallic structures that have unique properties.
Published Research identifies new potential hurdle for nano-based therapies


Researchers have discovered that certain nano-based cancer therapies may be less effective in younger patients, highlighting the need for further investigation into the impact of aging on the body's ability to respond to treatment. The researchers found age-related differences are due to how effectively the liver filters the bloodstream. Younger livers are more efficient at this process, which helps limit toxins in the blood but also filters out beneficial treatments, potentially rendering them ineffective.
Published Tiny nanocarriers could prove the magic bullet for acne sufferers


It's a skin disorder that makes life miserable for around 800 million teenagers and adults worldwide, but cientists may have found an effective treatment for acne, delivered via tiny nanoparticles.
Published New research reveals why and when the Sahara Desert was green



A pioneering study has shed new light on North African humid periods that have occurred over the past 800,000 years and explains why the Sahara Desert was periodically green.
Published Pixel-by-pixel analysis yields insights into lithium-ion batteries


By mining X-ray images, researchers have made significant new discoveries about the reactivity of lithium iron phosphate, a material used in batteries for electric cars and in other rechargeable batteries.
Published Ultrathin nanotech promises to help tackle antibiotic resistance


Researchers have invented a nano-thin superbug-slaying material that could one day be integrated into wound dressings and implants to prevent or heal bacterial infections. The innovation -- which has undergone advanced pre-clinical trials -- is effective against a broad range of drug-resistant bacterial cells, including 'golden staph', which are commonly referred to as superbugs.
Published Bursting air bubbles may play a key role in how glacier ice melts



New research has uncovered a possible clue as to why glaciers that terminate at the sea are retreating at unprecedented rates: the bursting of tiny, pressurized bubbles in underwater ice.
Published Stability inspection for West Antarctica shows: marine ice sheet is not destabilized yet, but possibly on a path to tipping



Antarctica's vast ice masses seem far away, yet they store enough water to raise global sea levels by several meters. A team of experts has now provided the first systematic stability inspection of the ice sheet's current state. Their diagnosis: While they found no indication of irreversible, self-reinforcing retreat of the ice sheet in West Antarctica yet, global warming to date could already be enough to trigger the slow but certain loss of ice over the next hundreds to thousands of years.
Published Atomic-scale spin-optical laser: New horizon of optoelectronic devices


Researchers have pushed the limits of the possible in the field of atomic-scale spin-optics, creating a spin-optical laser from monolayer-integrated spin-valley microcavities without requiring magnetic fields or cryogenic temperatures.
Published Atomically-precise quantum antidots via vacancy self-assembly


Scientists demonstrated a conceptual breakthrough by fabricating atomically precise quantum antidots using self-assembled single vacancies in a two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide.
Published Peering into nanofluidic mysteries one photon at a time



Researchers have revealed an innovative approach to track individual molecule dynamics within nanofluidic structures, illuminating their response to molecules in ways never before possible.
Published Researchers develop ultra-sensitive photoacoustic microscopy for wide biomedical application potential


Optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy is an up-and-coming biomedical imaging technique for studying a broad range of diseases, such as cancer, diabetes and stroke. But its insufficient sensitivity has been a longstanding obstacle for its wider application. Recently, a research team developed a multi-spectral, super-low-dose photoacoustic microscopy system with a significant improvement in the system sensitivity limit, enabling new biomedical applications and clinical translation in the future.
Published New quantum device generates single photons and encodes information


A new approach to quantum light emitters generates a stream of circularly polarized single photons, or particles of light, that may be useful for a range of quantum information and communication applications. A team stacked two different, atomically thin materials to realize this chiral quantum light source.
Published Scientists invent micrometers-thin battery charged by saline solution that could power smart contact lenses


Scientists have developed a flexible battery as thin as a human cornea, which stores electricity when it is immersed in saline solution, and which could one day power smart contact lenses.
Published DNA chips as storage media of the future: What challenges need to be overcome


In the form of DNA, nature shows how data can be stored in a space-saving and long-term manner. Bioinformatics specialists are developing DNA chips for computer technology. Researchers show how a combination of molecular biology, nanotechnology, novel polymers, electronics and automation, coupled with systematic development, could make DNA data storage useful for everyday use possible in a few years.
Published Listening to nanoscale earthquakes


A recent study presents an exciting new way to listen to 'the crackling' noise of atoms shifting at nanoscale when materials are deformed, providing potential improved methods for discontinuities in novel, new materials, such as those proposed for future domain-wall electronics. 'Crackling noise microscopy' presents a new opportunity for generating advanced knowledge about nanoscale features across a wide range of applications and material systems.
Published The trio -- nickel, palladium, and platinum -- for enhanced hydrogen evolution


A research team enhanced hydrogen evolution catalyst through stepwise deposition.
Published Scientists zero in on timing, causes of ice age mammal extinctions in southern California



Radiocarbon dating on bones in the La Brea Tar Pits lead archaeologists to warn that history may be repeating itself.
Published Stabilizing precipitate growth at grain boundaries in alloys


Materials are often considered to be one phase, but many engineering materials contain two or more phases, improving their properties and performance. These two-phase materials have inclusions, called precipitates, embedded in the microstructure. Alloys, a combination of two or more types of metals, are used in many applications, like turbines for jet engines and light-weight alloys for automotive applications, because they have very good mechanical properties due to those embedded precipitates. The average precipitate size, however, tends to increase over time-in a process called coarsening-which results in a degradation of performance for microstructures with nanoscale precipitates.