http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (Phys.org) —The macroscopic effects of certain nanoparticles on human health have long been clear to the naked eye. What scientists have lacked is the ability to see the detailed movements of individual particles that give rise to those effects. http://phys.org/news286095232.html Nanotechnology Thu, 25 Apr 2013 08:10:01 EST news286095232 (Phys.org) —In extreme cold, carbon dioxide huddles near charged oxygen atom outcroppings on the surface of oft-studied titanium dioxide; the carbon dioxide lacks the energy to reach a more protected spot, according to scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. When heated, the carbon dioxide slides into a more substantial, reactive oxygen vacancy, holes left by missing oxygen atoms. The team tracked the carbon dioxide with a scanning tunneling microscope tip that provided atomic-resolution images. http://phys.org/news285320719.html Chemistry Tue, 16 Apr 2013 08:45:26 EST news285320719 Not all liquids are mixable. Researchers from the Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics of Kiel University (CAU) have investigated chemical processes with atomic resolution at the interface between two such liquids and have made an exciting discovery. During an experiment carried out at Germany's largest accelerator centre DESY (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron) in Hamburg, they observed the formation of an ordered crystal of exactly five atomic layers between the two liquids, which acts as a foundation for growing even bigger crystals. The experiment was performed in cooperation with scientists from Israel, the USA, and DESY. The results have just been published in the renowned scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. They may result in new semiconductor and nano-particle production processes. http://phys.org/news284885362.html Physics Thu, 11 Apr 2013 07:49:32 EST news284885362 A team of scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Northwestern University has produced 3-D images and videos of a tiny platinum nanoparticle at atomic resolution that reveal new details of defects in nanomaterials that have not been seen before. http://phys.org/news283607027.html Nanotechnology Wed, 27 Mar 2013 14:00:10 EST news283607027 A technique to create the shortest X-ray pulses ever made is proposed in Physical Review Letters. The capability would generate a deeper understanding of how medicines interact within the body and of catalytic processes in new materials for energy storage. http://phys.org/news282385124.html Physics Wed, 13 Mar 2013 09:18:53 EST news282385124 Researchers at the Ruhr Universität Bochum have developed a new method for attaching proteins to the surface of germanium crystals – for the first time also membrane proteins. This enables time-resolved tracking of the interactions between molecules using infrared spectroscopy in a way that is accurate down to atomic resolution. http://phys.org/news281951520.html Chemistry Fri, 08 Mar 2013 07:52:08 EST news281951520 When proteins get "out of shape", the consequences can be fatal. They lose their function and in some cases form insoluble, toxic clumps that damage other cells and can cause severe diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Göttingen - in collaboration with Polish colleagues - have now "filmed" how a protein gradually unfolds for the first time. http://phys.org/news279803740.html Chemistry Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:16:16 EST news279803740 Much in the same way as we use shredders to destroy documents that are no longer useful or that contain potentially damaging information, cells use molecular machines to degrade unwanted or defective macromolecules. Scientists of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried near Munich, Germany, have now decoded the structure and the operating mechanism of the Exosome, a macromolecular machine responsible for degradation of ribonucleic acids (RNAs) in eukaryotes. RNAs are ubiquitous and abundant molecules with multiple functions in the cell. One of their functions is, for example, to permit translation of the genomic information into proteins. http://phys.org/news279189426.html Biology Mon, 04 Feb 2013 08:37:36 EST news279189426 (Phys.org)—Starting as a few atoms long, thorns forming on the electrode's surface in a specialized lithium battery cause the battery to gradually fade, according to scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Argonne National Laboratory. Working with powerful imaging technologies in DOE's Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), the team determined that a kind of thorn with the crystallographic spinel structure grows out of the electrode material and eventually leads to the complete conversion of the whole electrode material into the spinel structure. Furthermore, growth of this spinel structure liberates lithium oxide molecules, causing cracking and pitting. The damaged electrode thereby fades, releasing less energy with each charge/discharge cycle. http://phys.org/news278319848.html Nanotechnology Fri, 25 Jan 2013 07:30:01 EST news278319848 Researchers at the RUB and from the MPI Dortmund have uncovered the mechanism that switches off the cell transport regulating proteins. They were able to resolve in detail how the central switch protein Rab is down-regulated with two "protein fingers" by its interaction partners. The structural and dynamic data is reported by the researchers led by Prof. Dr. Klaus Gerwert (Chair of Biophysics, RUB) and Prof. Dr. Roger S. Goody (Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology, Dortmund, Germany) in the Online Early Edition of the journal PNAS. http://phys.org/news275139115.html Biology Wed, 19 Dec 2012 11:32:02 EST news275139115 With their ultra short X-ray flashes, free-electron lasers offer the opportunity to film chemical reactions or atoms in motion. However, for this super slow motion the arrival time and the temporal profile of the pulses must be precisely known. An international team of scientists has now developed a measurement technique that provides complete temporal characterization of individual FEL (free-electron laser) pulses at DESY´s soft-X-ray free-electron laser FLASH. The team, led by Adrian Cavalieri from the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL) in Hamburg, was able to measure the temporal profile of each X-ray pulse with femtosecond precision (a femtosecond is a quadrillionth of a second). Their technique can be implemented at any of the world´s X-ray free-electron lasers, ultimately allowing for most effective utilization of these sources. The results are published in the current issue of the scientific journal Nature Photonics. http://phys.org/news272620020.html Physics Tue, 20 Nov 2012 07:47:08 EST news272620020 (Phys.org)—Biological systems are characterized by a form of molecular recycling – and proteins do not escape this fate. In particular, unneeded or damaged proteins biochemically marked for destruction undergo controlled degradation by having their peptide bonds broken by proteasomes. Recently, scientists at the Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Germany used cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) single particle analysis and molecular dynamics techniques to map the Saccharomyces cerevisiae 26S proteasome. (Cryo-EM is a form of transmission electron microscopy where the sample is studied at cryogenic temperatures, which unlike X-ray crystallography allows researchers to observe specimens in their native environment without the need for staining or fixing. S. cerevisiae is the yeast species commonly known as baker's or brewer's yeast.) The researchers then used this map to build a near-atomic resolution structural model of the proteasome. The Max Planck team showed that cryo-electron microscopy allowed them to successfully model the 26S core complex where X-ray crystallography studies conducted over the past 20 years have not. http://phys.org/news267682061.html Biology Mon, 24 Sep 2012 08:30:01 EST news267682061 University of Oregon scientists have found a way to correctly reproduce not only the structure but also important thermodynamic quantities such as pressure and compressibility of a large, multiscale system at variable levels of molecular coarse-graining. http://phys.org/news267291374.html Physics Thu, 20 Sep 2012 05:00:01 EST news267291374 University of Oregon scientists have discovered how the bacterium Helicobacter pylori navigates through the acidic stomach, opening up new possibilities to inactivate its disease-causing ability without using current strategies that often fail or are discontinued because of side effects. http://phys.org/news258897008.html Chemistry Thu, 14 Jun 2012 12:50:24 EST news258897008 A new semi-automated tool called pathwalking makes it possible to generate a "first draft" model of a protein fold taken from near-atomic resolution images of between three and six angstroms (Å), said researchers at the National Center for Macromolecular Imaging in the department of biochemistry at Baylor College of Medicine. http://phys.org/news250260850.html Chemistry Tue, 06 Mar 2012 12:55:15 EST news250260850 Over the decades X-ray crystallography has been fundamental in the development of many scientific fields. The method has revealed the structure and function of many biological molecules, including vitamins, drugs, proteins and nucleic acids such as DNA. However, in order to obtain good data, large single crystals are required. These are often nearly impossible to grow. There also is the problem that X-rays damage delicate biological samples. http://phys.org/news249041525.html Physics Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:14:50 EST news249041525 Studying microscopic interactions at single asperities is vital for the understanding of friction and lubrication at the macroscale. Surface probe instruments with carbon nanotube tips may enable such investigations, as now demonstrated in a theoretical study led by Ping Liu and Yong-Wei Zhang at the A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing. The researchers showed that short, single-walled, capped carbon nanotubes are able to capture the frictional characteristics of graphene with atomic resolution. http://phys.org/news241778495.html Nanotechnology Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:30:01 EST news241778495 Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a highly sensitive form of microscopy that makes it possible to map a surface with near-atomic resolution. Shaw Wei Kok and colleagues from A*STAR’s Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology have now developed an AFM measurement method that can improve the sensitivity of the technique even further. http://phys.org/news221999105.html Nanotechnology Thu, 14 Apr 2011 11:25:16 EST news221999105 For the first time, scientists from Empa and ETH Zurich have, in collaboration with a Dutch team, managed to measure the atomic structure of individual nanoparticles. The technique, recently published in Nature, could help better understand the properties of nanoparticles in future. http://phys.org/news217606484.html Nanotechnology Tue, 22 Feb 2011 14:15:04 EST news217606484 The first set of user experiments with the Linac Coherent Light Source's newest instrument is under way, and about 40 researchers are working very long hours this week to decipher the structures of proteins involved in photosynthesis, parasitic disease and other important life processes. http://phys.org/news217160731.html Physics Thu, 17 Feb 2011 10:25:53 EST news217160731 (PhysOrg.com) -- A quick look at new Cornell research hints at colorful patchwork quilts, but they are actually pictures of graphene -- one atom-thick sheets of carbon stitched together at tilted interfaces. Researchers have unveiled striking, atomic-resolution details of what graphene "quilts" look like at the boundaries between patches, and have uncovered key insights into graphene's electrical and mechanical properties. http://phys.org/news213456988.html Nanotechnology Wed, 05 Jan 2011 13:37:49 EST news213456988 Materials scientists from Case Western Reserve University and the Institute of Solid State Research in Julich, Germany have produced particularly clear changes in the atomic structure of sapphire following deformation at high temperatures. http://phys.org/news209917526.html Physics Thu, 25 Nov 2010 14:30:01 EST news209917526 After more than a decade of research, Scripps Research Institute scientists have pieced together the structure of a human adenovirus—the largest complex ever determined at atomic resolution. The new findings about the virus, which causes respiratory, eye, and gastrointestinal infections, may lead to more effective gene therapy and to new anti-viral drugs. http://phys.org/news202031495.html Chemistry Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:00:08 EST news202031495 In a pioneering research project, for the first time, scientists at IBM and the University of Aberdeen have collaborated to "see" the structure of a marine compound from the deepest place on the Earth using an atomic force microscope (AFM). The results of the project open up new possibilities in biological research which could lead to the faster development of new medicines in the future. http://phys.org/news199987361.html Chemistry Mon, 02 Aug 2010 17:40:02 EST news199987361 (PhysOrg.com) -- IBM scientists have demonstrated a promising and practical method that effectively eliminates the mechanical wear in the nanometer-sharp tips used in scanning probe-based techniques. This discovery can potentially be used in the development of next generation, more advanced computer chips that have higher performance and smaller feature sizes. Scanning probe-based tools could be one approach to extend the capabilities, quality and precision beyond the projected limits of current production and characterization tools. http://phys.org/news171563990.html Nanotechnology Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:40:35 EST news171563990 (PhysOrg.com) -- A University of Glasgow scientist was part of a team of researchers which has, for the first time, been able to determine the three-dimensional structure of protein in living cells. http://phys.org/news155489870.html Biology Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:38:25 EST news155489870