Matter & Energy News

January 25, 2016

Frost-Free Surfaces Inspired by Beetles

Scientists Tune Polymer Material's Transparency

First Materials Woven at Atomic Levels

Ice-Like Phonons in Liquid Water

Latest Headlines

updated 5:10pm EST

Flexible and Transparent Pressure Sensor

Jan. 25, 2016 — Healthcare practitioners may one day be able to physically screen for breast cancer using pressure-sensitive rubber gloves to detect tumors, owing to a transparent, bendable ... read more

Highly Efficient Heavy Metal Ions Filter

Jan. 25, 2016 — Researchers have developed a new water filtration system that is superior to existing systems in many respects: it is extremely efficient at removing various toxic heavy ... read more

Novel 4-D Printing Method Blossoms from Botanical Inspiration

Jan. 25, 2016 — A team of scientists has evolved their microscale 3-D printing technology to the fourth dimension, time. Inspired by natural structures like plants, which respond and change their form over time ... read more

Graphene Composite May Keep Wings Ice-Free

Jan. 25, 2016 — A composite of graphene nanoribbons and epoxy proves effective at de-icing a helicopter blade, report researchers. The new material may be suitable for keeping aircraft, wind ... read more

Mysterious Behavior of Quantum Liquid Elucidated, a World First

Jan. 25, 2016 — Researchers, through their precise measurement of current fluctuations in quantum liquids in an artificial atom created by nanotechnology, succeeded in elucidating ... read more

Clarifying the Role of Magnetism in High-Temperature Superconductors

Jan. 25, 2016 — Scientists have clarified the role of magnetism in a new type of high-temperature superconductor. The research gives us a better understanding of the atomic-scale behavior of ... read more

Easy Prey for Hackers: Navigation Systems

Jan. 25, 2016 — When it comes to route planning, drivers have almost blind faith in GPS; the technology plays a crucial role in identifying location and time in the industry as well as in other areas. If hackers ... read more

Robotics Exoskeleton for Shoulder Rehabilitation

Jan. 20, 2016 — Scientists have developed a robotic exoskeleton that performs more efficiently rehabilitation therapies of patients with shoulder injuries. By using strength and motion ... read more

To Hear a Pitter Patter from Afar: Catching Heartbeats With Millimeter-Wave Radar

Jan. 20, 2016 — Heartbeats can now be measured without placing sensors on the body. Researchers have come up with a way to measure ... read more

Physicists Create Magnetic State in Atomic Layers of Transition Metal Oxide

Jan. 22, 2016 — Physicists have created a magnetic state in a few atomic layers of artificially synthesized materials known as transition metal ... read more

Chilean-Designed Battery Could Take Homes Off Grid

What California Would Give Up To Ban Encrypted Smartphones

At Davos, World Leaders Get Real About Killer Robots

What The Heck Is A Modular Phone? We'll Explain

Oil in Ancient Caves Poses New Challenges

Jan. 25, 2016 — Collapsed cave systems are a new type of reservoir in the Barents Sea that can accommodate significant petroleum resources. Characterizing the reservoir properties of such systems is quite a ... read more

Conductive Concrete Could Keep Roads Safer in Winter Weather

Jan. 22, 2016 — Civil engineers are working with the Federal Aviation Administration to perfect the de-icing properties of concrete that can conduct ... read more

Self-Stacking Nanogrids

Jan. 22, 2016 — Researchers have described the first technique for stacking layers of block-copolymer wires such that the wires in one layer naturally orient themselves perpendicularly to those in the layer ... read more

Microwaved Nanotubes Come Up Clean

Jan. 22, 2016 — Researchers use a household microwave oven to enhance the purification of carbon nanotubes. The work could help in the preparation of nanotubes for drug delivery or photovoltaic ... read more

How to Detect and Preserve Human Stem Cells in the Lab

Jan. 22, 2016 — Human stem cells that are capable of becoming any other kind of cell in the body have previously only been acquired and cultivated with difficulty. Scientists have now presented details of a method ... read more

Robotic Arm Developed for Duchenne Patients

Jan. 22, 2016 — Researchers have developed the A-Gear: a robotic arm that can support the daily activities of people suffering the muscular disease Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. They recently put the final touches to ... read more

Seeing the Big Picture in Photosynthetic Light Harvesting

Jan. 21, 2016 — Scientists have created the first computational model that simulates the light-harvesting activity of thousands of antenna proteins that would interact in the chloroplast of an actual leaf. The ... read more

The Science Behind Snow's Serenity

Jan. 21, 2016 — A thick blanket of snow covering streets, walkways and rooftops can cause some major stress, but it can also be calming. The world seems quieter and it's not just because people are hibernating ... read more

Mystery Surrounding Non-Platinum Catalysts for Fuel Cell Technologies Solved

Jan. 21, 2016 — A persistent mystery surrounding the structure of nitrogen-doped carbon catalysts has been solved, say researchers, with potential for a range of fuel cell technologies. Constructing and testing a ... read more

Molecular-Like Photochemistry from Semiconductor Nanocrystals

Jan. 21, 2016 — Researchers have demonstrated the transfer of triplet exciton energy from semiconductor nanocrystals to surface-bound molecular acceptors, extending the lifetime of the originally prepared excited ... read more

Simple Artificial Material Can Influence the Properties of Visible Light

Jan. 21, 2016 — Artificially engineered materials called metamaterials can be used to manipulate light for a range of applications, but often require complicated three-dimensional structures with features as small ... read more

Tiny Gaps Provide a Golden Opportunity

Jan. 21, 2016 — Frequency conversion of light on a tiny scale is now possible thanks to a gold nanostructure containing miniscule ... read more

Nanoscale Sieves Snare Would-Be Thieves

Jan. 21, 2016 — Bio-inspired algorithms enable a pattern of thousands of nanoscale holes into metal films for high-tech optical ... read more

Harnessing the Power of Light to Fight Cancer

Jan. 21, 2016 — Immunotherapy is one of the hottest emerging areas of cancer research. After all, using the body’s own cells to fight cancer can be more effective and less invasive than flooding the entire system ... read more

How the Economy Affects Traffic Fatalities

Jan. 21, 2016 — With the recent fall in gas prices, most drivers might be thinking that now they can afford to take that road trip, take a quick jaunt to the outlet mall, or just drive to work instead of taking ... read more

Digital Enhancement of cryoEM Photographs of Protein Nanocrystals

Jan. 21, 2016 — When cryoEM images are obtained from protein nanocrystals the images themselves can appear to be devoid of any contrast. A group of scientists has now demonstrated that lattice information can be ... read more

Neuroscientists Develop New Tools to Safely Trace Brain Circuits

Jan. 21, 2016 — Scientists have developed a new viral tool that dramatically expands scientists' ability to probe the activity and circuitry of brain cells, or neurons, in the mouse brain. These findings ... read more

Scientists Discover Method to Potentially Repair Nerve Damage

Jan. 21, 2016 — Nerve damage from neurodegenerative disease and spinal cord injury has largely been considered irreversible, but researchers now report progress in the effort to synthesize rare natural products that ... read more

Many Clean-Tech Subsidies Should Be Greater

Jan. 21, 2016 — Governments often offer subsidies to consumers for clean-technology products, from home solar panels to electric vehicles. But what are the right levels of subsidy, and how should they be calculated? ... read more

New Finding May Explain Heat Loss in Fusion Reactors

Jan. 21, 2016 — Solving a longstanding mystery, experiments reveal two forms of turbulence interacting. A long-standing discrepancy between predictions and observed results in test reactors has been called "the ... read more

Monday, January 25, 2016

Oil in ancient caves poses new challenges

Friday, January 22, 2016

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Monday, January 18, 2016

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Thermal cameras snoop beneath surfaces to reveal materials’ secrets

Friday, January 15, 2016

Thursday, January 14, 2016