(PhysOrg.com) -- Engineering researchers have crafted a flat surface that refuses to get wet. Water droplets skitter across it like ball bearings tossed on ice. The inspiration? Not wax. Not glass. Not even Teflon.
Feb 24, 2010
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Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new, ultra-simple method for making layers of gold that measure only billionths of a meter thick. The process, which requires no sophisticated ...
Jun 16, 2010
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Taking inspiration from the yellow fattail scorpion, which uses a bionic shield to protect itself against scratches from desert sandstorms, scientists have developed a new way to protect the moving parts of ...
Jan 25, 2012
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A natural substance obtained from seeds of the "miracle tree" could purify and clarify water inexpensively and sustainably in the developing world, where more than 1 billion people lack access to clean drinking ...
Jan 18, 2012
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Researchers report discovery of a completely new technology for more efficiently separating gold, silver, copper, and other valuable materials from rock and ore. Their report on the process, which uses nanoparticles ...
Sep 14, 2011
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Scientists are reporting development and successful testing of a fabric coating that would give new meaning to the phrase "stain-resistant" -- a coating that would take an active role in sloughing off grease, ...
Apr 25, 2012
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This is the tale of two biological substances—cells from mammals and bacteria. It's a story about the havoc these microscopic entities can wreak on all manner of surfaces, from mighty ships to teeth and medical devices, ...
Mar 19, 2009
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Scientists are reporting first use of a new method that may make it easier for manufacturers to recover, recycle, and reuse nanoparticles, some of which ounce for ounce can be more precious than gold. The ...
Apr 14, 2010
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Nanolithography, or surface patterning on a nanoscale, is critical for modern technology, but has been developed largely for patterning flat surfaces until recently. A team of University of ...
Dec 13, 2010
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The study of spider webs has led to a discovery that will generate new kinds of medical sutures embedded with medication. The University of Akron scientists have developed a novel synthetic ...
Feb 17, 2012
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Life on Earth may have originated not in warm tropical seas, but with weird tubes of ice—sometimes called "sea stalactites"—that grow downward into cold seawater near the Earth's poles, scientists are ...
Apr 24, 2013
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Scientists are reporting development of a new approach for dealing with offensive household and other odors -- one that doesn't simply mask odors like today's room fresheners, but eliminates them at the source. Their research ...
Oct 27, 2010
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Responding to an urgent need for better antibacterial coatings on surgical sutures, scientists are reporting the discovery of a new coating that is almost 1,000 times more effective than the most widely used commercial coating. ...
Aug 29, 2012
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Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore once wrote, "Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time like dew on the tip of a leaf." Now, a new study is finally offering an explanation for why small dew drops ...
Jan 11, 2012
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Researchers in California are reporting for the first time that metals are key ingredients that give the coatings of anchoring byssal threads of marine mussels their amazing durability. The study could lead to the design ...
Apr 08, 2009
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