Science & Technology - Sep 14, 2010 11:58 - 1 Comment

Flexible sensor can feel butterfly’s touch

STANFORD (US)—By sandwiching a precisely molded, highly elastic rubber layer between two parallel electrodes, researchers have created an electronic sensor that can detect the slightest touch. (more…)

Science & Technology - Sep 3, 2010 10:06 - 4 Comments

‘Nano-cotton’ filters Third World water

STANFORD (US)—Plain cotton cloth available at discount stores can be transformed into a high-speed, low-cost filter to purify water in the developing world. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Aug 26, 2010 13:58 - 2 Comments

How to make solar energy super efficient

STANFORD (US)—A new conversion process could make solar power production twice as efficient as existing methods—and potentially cheap enough to compete with oil. (more…)

Science & Technology - Aug 25, 2010 13:05 - 2 Comments

Grafts yield patterned nano-brushes

DUKE (US)—Engineers have developed a novel approach to synthesize miniscule bristles known as nano-brushes, which are currently being used in biologic sensors and microscopic devices, such as microcantilevers. (more…)

Science & Technology - Aug 24, 2010 12:02 - 1 Comment

Oxide goes from dull to dreamy

CORNELL (US)—There’s nothing particularly exciting about the oxide compound europium titanate—until it’s sliced nanometers thin and physically stretched on a specially designed template. (more…)

Science & Technology - Aug 9, 2010 10:59 - 6 Comments

Is foam a hidden danger in helmets?

NYU (US)—In a counter-intuitive finding, scientists report that the foam used in helmets and other body armor indeed absorbs damage when compressed slowly, but can cause as much injury as a hard object when hit at high speeds. (more…)

Science & Technology - Aug 3, 2010 14:42 - 0 Comments

Beam pens write nanotech’s next chapter

NORTHWESTERN (US)—Researchers have drawn 15,000 identical skylines with tiny beams of light using an innovative nanofabrication technology called beam-pen lithography (BPL). (more…)

Science & Technology - Aug 3, 2010 0:34 - 4 Comments

Membrane gets permeable in purple light

U. ROCHESTER (US)—A newly developed membrane blocks gas from flowing through it when one color of light is shined on its surface, and permits gas to flow through when another color of light is used. (more…)

Science & Technology - Jul 27, 2010 12:07 - 0 Comments

Sequence DNA using graphene nanopores

U. PENN (US)—Researchers have developed a new, carbon-based nanoscale platform to electrically detect single DNA molecules. (more…)

Science & Technology - Jul 22, 2010 15:53 - 1 Comment

Superconductivity’s secret ‘broken symmetry’

CORNELL (US)—Scientists have found a “broken symmetry,” where electrons act like molecules in a liquid crystal: Electrons between copper and oxygen atoms arrange themselves differently “north-south” than “east-west.” (more…)

Science & Technology - Jul 20, 2010 11:58 - 0 Comments

Faster circuits with superhero electrons?

PRINCETON (US)—On a quest to discover new states of matter, a team of scientists has found that electrons on the surface of specific materials act like miniature superheroes. (more…)

Science & Technology - Jul 6, 2010 10:35 - 0 Comments

First 3-D image of sub-nano pores

CORNELL (US)—In the quest for faster and cheaper computers, scientists have imaged pore structures in insulation material at sub-nanometer scales for the first time. (more…)

Science & Technology - Jun 11, 2010 10:42 - 1 Comment

Graphene nanocircuits edging out silicon?

GEORGIA TECH (US)—Scientists have made a breakthrough toward creating nanocircuitry on graphene, widely regarded as the most promising candidate to replace silicon as the building block of transistors. (more…)

Science & Technology - Jun 3, 2010 14:05 - 0 Comments

Thick or thin: How crystal films melt

U. PENN (US)—Physicists have described the melting behaviors of thin crystalline films, uncovering a variety of interesting differences between thick films of greater than four layers and thinner or single-layer films. (more…)

Science & Technology - Jun 1, 2010 11:54 - 0 Comments

Efficient semiconductor chips for solar cells

U. ILLINOIS (US)—A novel manufacturing method that uses gallium arsenide (GaAs) instead of silicon to create semiconductor chips could greatly improve the efficiency and lower the cost of solar energy devices. (more…)

Science & Technology - May 28, 2010 13:10 - 0 Comments

Why would fish follow a robot?

NYU (US)—Forget artificial intelligence. How about artificial leadership? A mechanical engineer at New York University is combining smart materials and mathematics to build robots that lead schooling fish. (more…)

Science & Technology - May 25, 2010 12:46 - 0 Comments

Digging theoretical wells to mine quantum dots

RICE (US)—Graphane, which is modified graphene, is the material of choice for physicists on the cutting edge of materials science. Now researchers have discovered the strategic extraction of hydrogen atoms from a two-dimensional sheet of graphane naturally opens up spaces of pure graphene that look—and act—like quantum dots. (more…)

Science & Technology - May 7, 2010 14:49 - 0 Comments

Is night vision the next mobile must-have?

U. FLORIDA (US)—Engineers have developed a night vision imaging device that’s paper-thin, lightweight, and inexpensive to produce, making it a possible add-on to cell phone cameras—and even eyeglasses—once it is enlarged. (more…)

Posts Tagged ‘materials science’