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) —Among its many talents, silver is an antibiotic. Titanium dioxide is known to glom on to certain heavy metals and pollutants. Yet other materials do the same for salt. In recent years, environmental engineers have sought to disinfect, depollute, and desalinate contaminated water using nanoscale particles of these active materials. Engineers call them nanoscavengers. The hitch from a technical standpoint is that it is nearly impossible to reclaim the nanoscavengers once in the water. http://phys.org/news287845112.html Nanotechnology Wed, 15 May 2013 14:07:06 EST news287845112 A team of researchers from the National Institute of Material Science and the Max Plank Institute for Polymer Research has developed the world's first supramolecular thiophene nanosheets, which is a 2-dimensional organic material with a thickness of 3.5nm. http://phys.org/news286094559.html Nanotechnology Thu, 25 Apr 2013 07:42:48 EST news286094559 (Phys.org) —A sophisticated nanostructure renders a wafer-thin paper made of electrically conductive vanadium pentoxide fibres both tough and pliable. http://phys.org/news283677604.html Nanotechnology Thu, 28 Mar 2013 08:20:18 EST news283677604 To ensure that the genetic material is equally and accurately distributed to the two daughter cells during cell division, the DNA fibers must have an ordered structure and be closely packed. At the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried near Munich scientists have now elucidated the structure of a ring-shaped protein complex (SMC-kleisin), which ensures order in this packaging process. Together with their cooperation partners at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, they studied these proteins in bacteria and found structural analogies to the human complex. The findings have now been published in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. http://phys.org/news278594323.html Biology Mon, 28 Jan 2013 11:19:14 EST news278594323 Rose madder – a natural plant dye once prized throughout the Old World to make fiery red textiles – has found a second life as the basis for a new "green" battery. http://phys.org/news274460149.html Chemistry Tue, 11 Dec 2012 14:56:01 EST news274460149 (Phys.org)—Americans love their electronics, and millions will undoubtedly receive everything from flat-screen TVs and e-readers to video games and coffee makers this holiday season. Over time, even the best of these devices inexplicably stop working. Often it's not worth the time and money to have them repaired, but the nagging question of "why" still lingers long after they're thrown in the trash. http://phys.org/news273919798.html Chemistry Wed, 05 Dec 2012 08:53:28 EST news273919798 (Phys.org)—A membrane consisting of polymer fibres and proteins makes a novel filter for tiny, nano-scaled particles in aqueous solutions. The result of such a research, which was done by Professor Mady Elbahri and his team from the Institute of Material Science at Kiel University (KU) and the Institute of Polymer Research at Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht (HZG), has recently been published as the cover article in the current issue of Advanced Functional Materials. http://phys.org/news273225962.html Nanotechnology Tue, 27 Nov 2012 08:06:14 EST news273225962 (Phys.org)—Scientists at Ames Laboratory have discovered the underlying order in metallic glasses, which may hold the key to the ability to create new high-tech alloys with specific properties. http://phys.org/news268402565.html Physics Tue, 02 Oct 2012 13:16:39 EST news268402565 Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have built a quantum simulator that can engineer interactions among hundreds of quantum bits (qubits) -- 10 times more than previous devices. As described in the April 26 issue of Nature, the simulator has passed a series of important benchmarking tests and scientists are poised to study problems in material science that are impossible to model on conventional computers. http://phys.org/news254576031.html Physics Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:00:01 EST news254576031 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology and Sandia National Laboratories have published a detailed review of recent experimental and theoretical work highlighting the unusual physics and material science of electrical contacts to nanostructures. http://phys.org/news248592345.html Nanotechnology Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:26:02 EST news248592345 The egg sac silk of the cocoon stalk of the cave spider Meta menardi is the most stretchable egg sac silk yet tested, according to a study published Feb. 8 in the open access journal PLoS ONE. http://phys.org/news247944754.html Biology Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:32:44 EST news247944754 The world's thinnest, strongest and most conductive material, discovered in 2004 at the University of Manchester by Professor Andre Geim and Professor Kostya Novoselov, has the potential to revolutionize material science. http://phys.org/news237383086.html Nanotechnology Sun, 09 Oct 2011 13:00:17 EST news237383086 (PhysOrg.com) -- Battery life and driving range are two sticky phrases in discussions about why EVs have yet to hit mainstream use. Drivers still feel skittish about the idea of setting out on longer trips on batteries lasting too few miles and then losing time seeking a recharge. New developments in battery research may brighten the picture somewhat. http://phys.org/news237360238.html Technology Sun, 09 Oct 2011 06:24:30 EST news237360238 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers developing key new technology electronics like quantum computing or advanced detectors, as well as those studying basic material science and metal surface properties, often find their experiments plagued by excess electrical noise arising from the surfaces of metals in their equipment, a kind of distracting surface glitter. http://phys.org/news236512036.html Physics Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:47:28 EST news236512036 University of Florida researchers may help resolve the public debate over America's future light source of choice: Edison's incandescent bulb or the more energy efficient compact fluorescent lamp. It could be neither. http://phys.org/news234018380.html Physics Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:07:07 EST news234018380 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Wesleyan University have used computer simulations to gain basic insights into a fundamental problem in material science related to glass-forming materials, offering a precise mathematical and physical description* of the way temperature affects the rate of flow in this broad class of materials -- a long-standing goal. http://phys.org/news223118935.html Physics Wed, 27 Apr 2011 11:30:04 EST news223118935 (PhysOrg.com) -- Recently a research paper titled "Expanding the Diversity of Mycobacteriophages: Insights into Genome Architecture and Evolution" was published in PLoS ONE, a peer-reviewed online journal published by the Public Library of Science. The authors included 12 Washington University undergraduates who had participated as freshman in the inaugural Phage Hunters course at Washington University in St. Louis. http://phys.org/news222966480.html Biology Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:08:27 EST news222966480 National Institute for Material Science, Japan Science and Technology Agency and University of Tsukuba announced on February 4, 2011 that they succeeded in detecting nondestructively dynamic behaviors of doped impurities in Si nanowires (Si NWs) coated by SiO2 to make surrounding gate field-effect transistors. Details were presented in NANO Letters of American Chemical Society. http://phys.org/news218104389.html Nanotechnology Mon, 28 Feb 2011 08:33:24 EST news218104389 Researchers at Oregon State University have solved a quest in fundamental material science that has eluded scientists since the 1960s, and could form the basis of a new approach to electronics. http://phys.org/news207582923.html Nanotechnology Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:55:52 EST news207582923 Helsinki University of Technology research group in collaboration with VTT and Royal Institute of Technology, Finland, show the first example of light-weight but mechanically strong nanocomposite material mimicking the nacreous shells that allow upscaling for industrial processes. The materials are expected to be feasible in applications where lightweight but strong materials allow particular benefits, e.g. in telecommunication, aerospace applications, and vehicles. http://phys.org/news188673132.html Nanotechnology Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:12:52 EST news188673132 Applying biological molecules from cell membranes to the surfaces of artificial materials is opening peepholes on the very basics of cell-to-cell interaction. http://phys.org/news167488713.html Nanotechnology Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:39:11 EST news167488713 Together with three colleagues Professor Peter Oppeneer of Uppsala University has explained the hitherto unsolved mystery in materials science known as 'the hidden order' - how a new phase arises and why. This discovery can be of great importance to our understanding of how new material properties occur, how they can be controlled and exploited in the future. The findings are now being published in the scientific journal Nature Materials and of great importance to future energy supply. http://phys.org/news154608671.html Physics Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:52:50 EST news154608671