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. A new way of growing graphene without the defects that weaken it and prevent electrons from flowing freely within it could open the way to large-scale manufacturing of graphene-based devices with applications in fields such as electronics, energy, and healthcare. http://phys.org/news278941584.html Nanotechnology Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:46:35 EST news278941584 (Phys.org)—The atomic structure of a zinc-based material has a surprising amount in common with the tentacles of an octopus, Oxford University researchers have found. http://phys.org/news278235983.html Chemistry Thu, 24 Jan 2013 07:46:36 EST news278235983 Developing a so-called 'universal memory', or the perfect electronic memory, has long been the holy grail of electronic engineering. A universal memory should have a fast read and write speed, high reliability, low power consumption, and be compatible with other electronic components as well as non-volatile; that is, it should retain the data even when the device's power is switched off. http://phys.org/news276337307.html Physics Wed, 02 Jan 2013 08:22:00 EST news276337307 (Phys.org)—On the road towards creating smaller and smaller electronic devices, silicon blocks the way by limiting the smallness of the electronic components that can be constructed with it.  A promising way forward has been found by using carbon instead and its study has resulted in a rapidly growing field.  In a work published in ACS Nano, using tools including those found at the Synchrotron Radiation Center, scientists have developed a process for making a never-before-seen, atomically thin, composite material containing ordered layers of graphene and nanocrystals of graphene monoxide. http://phys.org/news273224089.html Nanotechnology Tue, 27 Nov 2012 08:10:01 EST news273224089 The quest to harness a broader spectrum of sunlight's energy to produce electricity has taken a radically new turn, with the proposal of a "solar energy funnel" that takes advantage of materials under elastic strain. http://phys.org/news273136642.html Physics Mon, 26 Nov 2012 07:17:42 EST news273136642 We can look through glass, but what glass itself looks like on the inside has so far remained a mystery - at least as far as the precise position of the atoms is concerned. Scientists at the Fritz-Haber-Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin are now the first to have imaged the network of silicon and oxygen atoms - the main components of glass - in a silica film. They used two methods that image individual atoms in surfaces to analyse the glass film, which is a mere two atomic layers thick. Being able to see the atomic structure enabled the researchers to confirm that glass is structured as the Norwegian-American physicist William H. Zachariasen predicted back in 1932. Moreover, in further studies, the researchers observed the transition from a crystalline to a disordered - scientists call it amorphous - two-dimensional structure. Their findings could assist the semiconductor industry, for example, to produce amorphous silica in a more controlled way, and should also facilitate the search for new, more powerful catalysts. http://phys.org/news272095679.html Physics Wed, 14 Nov 2012 06:13:51 EST news272095679 Nanoparticles can be potent catalysts. Bimetallic nano-alloys of platinum and palladium, for example, can help to generate hydrogen fuel by promoting the electrochemical breakdown of water. Identifying the most active nano-alloy for such a task, however, remains a challenge; catalytic performance relates directly to particle structure, and experiments to establish the atomic arrangement of such small particles are difficult to perform. Predicting stable nano-alloy structures is now possible using a computational approach developed by Teck Leong Tan at the A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing and his co-workers. Their technique can also identify ways in which the nanoparticle's atomic structure could be tuned to improve catalytic performance. http://phys.org/news271502054.html Nanotechnology Wed, 07 Nov 2012 09:15:27 EST news271502054 A tiny device invented at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory will make it much easier for scientists to determine the structures of important, delicate proteins by greatly reducing the amount of protein needed for study. http://phys.org/news270814214.html Physics Tue, 30 Oct 2012 11:10:30 EST news270814214 Because of its intriguing properties graphene could be the ideal material for building new kinds of electronic devices such as sensors, screens, or even quantum computers. http://phys.org/news270379375.html Nanotechnology Thu, 25 Oct 2012 10:40:02 EST news270379375 (Phys.org)—Researchers from North Carolina State University have created flower-like structures out of germanium sulfide (GeS) – a semiconductor material – that have extremely thin petals with an enormous surface area. The GeS flower holds promise for next-generation energy storage devices and solar cells. http://phys.org/news269177058.html Nanotechnology Thu, 11 Oct 2012 12:24:31 EST news269177058 (Phys.org)—Engineering faculty and students at the University of Colorado Boulder have produced the first experimental results showing that atomically thin graphene membranes with tiny pores can effectively and efficiently separate gas molecules through size-selective sieving. http://phys.org/news268991472.html Nanotechnology Tue, 09 Oct 2012 08:51:25 EST news268991472 In the field of nanotechnology, electrically-charged particles are frequently used as tools for surface modification. Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and the TU Vienna were at last able to reconcile important issues concerning the effects of highly charged ions on surfaces. http://phys.org/news268303471.html Physics Mon, 01 Oct 2012 09:44:39 EST news268303471 (Phys.org)—When twins are forced to share, it can put a significant strain on their relationship. While this observation is perhaps unsurprising in the behavior of children, it is less obvious when it comes to nanoparticles. http://phys.org/news265533315.html Nanotechnology Thu, 30 Aug 2012 08:15:23 EST news265533315 (Phys.org) -- Mimicking the way mother of pearl is created in nature, scientists have for the first time synthesised the strong, iridescent coating found on the inside of some molluscs. The research was published today in the journal Nature Communications. http://phys.org/news262345783.html Chemistry Tue, 24 Jul 2012 11:00:01 EST news262345783 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 In a study published in the journal Cell on May 24, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) scientists describe the three-dimensional atomic structure of a human protein bound to a piece of RNA that "guides" the protein's ability to silence genes. The protein, Argonaute-2, is a key player in RNA interference (RNAi), a powerful cellular phenomenon that has important roles in diverse biological processes, including an organism's development. http://phys.org/news257182123.html Biology Fri, 25 May 2012 16:33:05 EST news257182123 Drawing on powerful computational tools and a state-of-the-art scanning transmission electron microscope, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison and Iowa State University materials science and engineering researchers has discovered a new nanometer-scale atomic structure in solid metallic materials known as metallic glasses. http://phys.org/news255968100.html Physics Fri, 11 May 2012 15:15:07 EST news255968100 (Phys.org) -- Shape-memory alloys (SMAs) are an engineer's dream, able to shape-shift spontaneously to accommodate changing operating conditions. A research team from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the University of Central Florida is studying the internal mechanisms of these real-life "Transformers" at the Spallation Neutron Source at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, with an eye toward increasing their use in everyday scenarios. http://phys.org/news255754005.html Physics Wed, 09 May 2012 03:47:37 EST news255754005 Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have determined the three-dimensional atomic structure of a human protein that is centrally involved in regulating the activities of cells. Knowing the precise structure of this protein paves the way for scientists to understand a process known as RNA-silencing and to harness it to treat diseases. http://phys.org/news254670648.html Chemistry Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:50:57 EST news254670648 (PhysOrg.com) -- UCLA researchers are now able to peer deep within the world's tiniest structures to create three-dimensional images of individual atoms and their positions. Their research, published March 22 in the journal Nature, presents a new method for directly measuring the atomic structure of nanomaterials. http://phys.org/news251576551.html Nanotechnology Wed, 21 Mar 2012 19:22:41 EST news251576551 World fuel consumption is shifting more and more to diesel at the expense of gasoline. A recently published article in Nature Chemistry by a research team at Stockholm University and the Polytechnic University of Valencia in Spain presents a new porous material that evinces unique properties for converting gasoline directly into diesel. The material has a tremendously complex atomic structure that could only be determined with the aid of transmission electron microscopy. http://phys.org/news247322412.html Chemistry Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:40:19 EST news247322412 Researchers in Japan have succeeded in growing single crystals of yttrium manganite (YMnO3) using a high-pressure material-growth technique1. Developed by Shintaro Ishiwata and his colleagues from the RIKEN Advanced Science Institute and the University of Tokyo, the technique reveals how this material’s atomic structure gives it multiferroic properties, which hold promise as a route to low-power-consumption electronic memories. http://phys.org/news243761664.html Chemistry Thu, 22 Dec 2011 07:34:36 EST news243761664 (PhysOrg.com) -- The problem exists on both a large and a small scale, and it even bothered the ancient Egyptians. However, although physicists have long had a good understanding of friction in things like stone blocks being pulled by workers into the shape of a pyramid, they have only now been able to explain friction in microscopic dimensions in any degree of detail. Researchers from the University of Stuttgart and the Stuttgart-based Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems arranged an elaborate experiment in which they pulled a layer of regularly ordered plastic spheres over an artificial crystal made of light. This enabled them to observe in detail how the layer of spheres slid over the light crystal. Contrary to what one might imagine, the spheres do not all move in unison. In fact, it's only ever some of them that move, while the others stay where they are. This observation confirms theoretical predictions and also explains why friction between microscopic surfaces depends on their atomic structure. http://phys.org/news243590323.html Physics Tue, 20 Dec 2011 08:00:01 EST news243590323 Raman spectroscopy is a powerful technique for analyzing atomic structure based on the inelastic scatter of light from molecules, with diverse applications including medical imaging and chemical sensing. Researchers have found that nanostructures can enhance the effect of Raman scattering and so improve the sensitivity of the Raman technique. Acoustic vibrations can provide further augmentation of the Raman scattering effect by exciting collective electron oscillations, known as surface plasmons, that contribute to light scatter. In particular, it has been shown that scattering might be intensified by vibrating nanoparticles alongside purpose-built resonators, but until now there has been a limited understanding of the interactions that occur during such vibrations. http://phys.org/news239014201.html Nanotechnology Fri, 28 Oct 2011 09:50:10 EST news239014201 An advanced material that could help bring about next-generation "spintronic" computers has revealed one of its fundamental secrets to a team of scientists from Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. http://phys.org/news238259749.html Physics Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:50:01 EST news238259749 If solar cells could generate higher voltages when sunlight falls on them, they'd produce more electrical power more efficiently. For over half a century scientists have known that ferroelectrics, materials whose atomic structure allows them to have an overall electrical polarization, can develop very high photovoltages under illumination. Until now, no one has figured out exactly how this photovoltaic process occurs. http://phys.org/news235304439.html Physics Thu, 15 Sep 2011 11:21:23 EST news235304439 Thin gold wires often used in high-end electronic applications are wonderfully flexible as well as conductive. But those qualities don't necessarily apply to the same wires at the nanoscale. http://phys.org/news233837767.html Nanotechnology Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:56:19 EST news233837767 Graphene, considered the most exciting new material under study in the world of nanotechnology, just got even more interesting, according to a new study by a group of researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder. http://phys.org/news233327029.html Nanotechnology Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:04:24 EST news233327029 Glass, by definition, is amorphous; its atoms lack order and are arranged every which way. But when scientists squeezed tiny samples of a metallic glass under high pressure, they got a surprise: The atoms lined up in a regular pattern to form a single crystal. http://phys.org/news227449398.html Physics Thu, 16 Jun 2011 14:00:03 EST news227449398 Decades of optimization have made the electronic switch both tiny and efficient. Yet engineers continue to adapt it to meet the increasingly demanding requirements of new applications. One such emerging requirement is the need for a switch to dissipate no power when it is off -- a condition that many existing compact switch designs cannot satisfy. Eng Keong Chua and co-workers at the A*STAR Data Storage Institute, Carnegie Mellon University and the Singapore University of Technology and Design have now designed a switch that draws power only during the act of switching. http://phys.org/news223719580.html Physics Wed, 04 May 2011 09:20:24 EST news223719580