For quantum computers to surpass their classical counterparts in speed and capacity, their qubits—which are superconducting circuits that can exist in an infinite combination of binary states—need to be on the same wavelength. Achieving this, however, has come at the cost of size. Whereas the transistors used in classical computers have been shrunk down to nanometer scales, superconducting qubits these days are still measured in millimeters—one millimeter is one million nanometers.
Nanoengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new and potentially more effective way to deliver messenger RNA (mRNA) into cells. Their approach involves packing mRNA inside nanoparticles that mimic the flu virus—a naturally efficient vehicle for delivering genetic material such as RNA inside cells.
Devices that can automatically detect and recognize moving objects have numerous valuable applications, for instance, enhancing remote environmental monitoring. Most existing motion detection and recognition (MDR) technologies are based on image sensors made of complementary metal oxide semiconductors (CMOS). Compared to the human retina, these systems are often bulky and ineffective, as they require several hardware components for capturing, storing, and processing images.
Using a new microspectroscopic technique, collaborating scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Nanjing University in China have found that steam disinfection of silicone-rubber baby bottle nipples exposes babies and the environment to micro- and nanoplastic particles.
University of Central Florida researchers have developed a device that detects viruses like SARS-COV-2 in the body as fast as and more accurately than current, commonly used rapid detection tests.
A silicon device that can change skin tissue into blood vessels and nerve cells has advanced from prototype to standardized fabrication, meaning it can now be made in a consistent, reproducible way. As reported in Nature Protocols, this work, developed by researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine, takes the device one step closer to potential use as a treatment for people with a variety of health concerns.
The scale of investment in quantum computation, simulation and sensing is growing at a tantalizing pace. Harnessing the nanoscale to engineer useful quantum effects is a transformative capability of huge relevance to industries and governments. By summarizing the current state and the future directions of quantum nanoscience, a review defining quantum nanoscience published in Nature Nanotechnology this week will help investors and funding agencies make informed decisions on how and why to participate in the quantum technology revolution.
Creating molecular microrobots that mimic the abilities of living organisms is a dream of nanotechnology, as illustrated by the renowned physicist Richard Feynman. There are a number of challenges in achieving this goal. One of the most significant of these is the creation of directed self-propulsion in water.
The involvement between electron transfer (ET) and catalytic reaction at electrocatalyst surface makes electrochemical process challenging to understand and control. How to experimentally determine ET process occurring at nanoscale is important to understand the overall electrochemical reaction process at active sites.
Advances in nanotechnology require the development of nanofabrication methods for a variety of available materials, elements, and parameters. Existing methods do not possess specific characteristics and general methods of versatile nanofabrication remain elusive. In a new report now published in Science Advances, Naijia Liu and a team of scientists in mechanical engineering and materials science at the Yale University and the University of Connecticut in the U.S. described the underlying mechanisms of thermomechanical nanomolding to reveal a highly versatile nanofabrication approach. Based on the results, they could regulate, combine and predict the ability to develop general materials with material combinations and length scales. The mechanistic origins of thermomechanical nanomolding and their temperature-dependent transition provided a process to combine many materials in nanostructures and provide any material in moldable shapes at the nanoscale.
Researchers at the University of Bonn have developed a molecular structure that can cover graphite surfaces with a sea of tiny flagged "flagpoles." The properties of this coating are highly variable. It may provide a basis for the development of new catalysts. The compounds could also be suitable for measuring the nanomechanical properties of proteins. The results were published online in advance in the journal Angewandte Chemie. Now the print edition has been published, which shows a part of the sea of flags as the cover image.
A team of researchers from China, Germany and the U.S. has developed a way to create a less fragile diamond. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the group describes their approach to creating a paracrystalline diamond and possible uses for it.
A team of researchers from Harvard University and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, has developed a type of living ink that can be used to print living materials. In their paper published in the journal Nature Communications, the group describes how they made their ink and possible uses for it.
Thanks to work by scientists from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and collaborators, scientists are closer to creating devices that can use microscopic movements in a coordinated way to create coherent motion on a macroscopic scale. This replicates the way living organisms move in a different way from manmade mechanical devices.
A team of researchers from TU Delft managed to design one of the world's most precise microchip sensors. The device can function at room temperature—a 'holy grail' for quantum technologies and sensing. Combining nanotechnology and machine learning inspired by nature's spiderwebs, they were able to make a nanomechanical sensor vibrate in extreme isolation from everyday noise. This breakthrough, published in the Advanced Materials Rising Stars Issue, has implications for the study of gravity and dark matter as well as the fields of quantum internet, navigation and sensing.
Scientists have developed new materials for next-generation electronics so tiny that they are not only indistinguishable when closely packed, but they also don't reflect enough light to show fine details, such as colors, with even the most powerful optical microscopes. Under an optical microscope, carbon nanotubes, for example, look grayish. The inability to distinguish fine details and differences between individual pieces of nanomaterials makes it hard for scientists to study their unique properties and discover ways to perfect them for industrial use.
If spilled coffee is not immediately wiped off, it leaves behind a stain where the edges are darker than the rest. This phenomenon is called the coffee ring effect. Using this principle, a POSTECH research team has recently developed a new method for arranging quantum dots (QDs) which are nanosized semiconducting crystals. This new simple method facilitates the development of display panels with up to 20 times higher resolution than the conventional ones.
Researchers in Japan have designed the first bottom-up designed peptides, comprising chains of amino acids, that can form artificial nanopores to identify and enable single molecule-sorting of genetic material in a lipid membrane.
When physicist Tyler Cocker joined Michigan State University in 2018, he had a clear goal: build a powerful microscope that would be the first of its kind in the United States.
Manufacturers rely on rare earth elements, like neodymium, to create strong magnets used in motors for electronics including hybrid cars, aircraft generators, loudspeakers, hard drives and in-ear headphones. But mineral deposits containing neodymium are hard to reach and are found in just a few places on Earth.
When a person experiences a trauma that leads to significant bleeding, the first few minutes are critical. It's important that they receive intravenous medication quickly to control the bleeding, but delivering the medication at the right rate can prove challenging. Slower infusions can cause fewer negative reactions, but the medication might not work fast enough, particularly in the case of a serious trauma.
A triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is an energy-harvesting device that converts mechanical energy into electricity through contact separation or relative sliding movements of two opposite tribo-polar materials. Researchers from Inha University previously reported the first example of sulfur backbone polymer-based TENG. The surface of the sulfur copolymer film was directly fluorinated using toxic fluorine gas to enhance TENG performance.
Rice University engineers have achieved a new benchmark in the design of atomically thin solar cells made of semiconducting perovskites, boosting their efficiency while retaining their ability to stand up to the environment.
Quantum dots, discovered in the 1990s, have a wide range of applications and are perhaps best known for producing vivid colors in some high-end televisions. But for some potential uses, such as tracking biochemical pathways of a drug as it interacts with living cells, progress has been hampered by one seemingly uncontrollable characteristic: a tendency to blink off at random intervals. That doesn't matter when the dots are used in the aggregate, as in TV screens, but for precision applications it can be a significant drawback.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge have used a suite of correlative, multimodal microscopy methods to visualize, for the first time, why perovskite materials are seemingly so tolerant of defects in their structure. Their findings were published today in Nature Nanotechnology.
Cells can produce unique electrical signals. These signals can be linked to various cancers, such as the breast, lung, liver, brain, pancreas and prostate cancers, meaning that they can be used as indicators for early cancer diagnosis. Thus, using electrical signals as indicators and targets for cancer treatments could potentially improve the outcome for cancer patients. A team of researchers from SUTD and A*STAR Bioinformatics Institute were developing a sensor for the detection of breast cancer cells as strong electrical signals can be found in these cells.
When a magician suddenly pulls a tablecloth off a table laden with plates and glasses, there is a moment of suspense as the audience wonders if the stage will soon be littered with broken glass. Until now, an analogous dilemma had faced scientists working with special electrical bubbles to create the next generation of flexible microelectronic and energy storage devices.
The limited reservoir of fossils fuels and the ever-increasing threats of climate change have encouraged researchers to develop alternative technologies to produce eco-friendly fuels. Green hydrogen generated from the electrolysis of water using renewable electricity is considered a next-generation renewable energy source for the future. But in reality, the overwhelming majority of hydrogen fuel is obtained from the refining of fossils fuels due to the high cost of electrolysis.
Strain-mediated magnetic coupling in ferroelectric and ferromagnetic heterostructures can offer a unique opportunity for scientific research in low-power multifunctional devices. Ferroelectrics are materials that can maintain spontaneous and reversible electric polarization. Relaxor-ferroelectrics that exhibit high electrostriction are ideal candidates for ferroelectric layer constructs due to their large piezoelectricity. Although the properties of relaxor ferroelectrics are known, their mechanistic origins remain a mystery, giving rise to an enigmatic form of materials. In addition to that, thin films are ineffective from substrate clamping and can substantially reduce piezoelectric in-plane strains. In a new report now published in Science Advances, Shane Lindemann and a research team in materials science, and physics in the U.S. and Korea, displayed low-voltage magnetoelectric coupling in an all-thin-film heterostructure using anisotropic strains induced by the orientation of the material. The team used an ideal ferroelectric layer of Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3 abbreviated PMN-PT during this work and coupled it with ferromagnetic nickel overlayers to create membrane heterostructures with magnetization. Using scanning transmission electron microscopy and phase-field simulations, they clarified the membrane response to understand the microstructural behavior of PMN-PT thin films, to then employ them in piezo-driven magnetoelectric heterostructures.
