News tagged with soft matter

Clay-armored bubbles may have formed first protocells

(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of applied physicists at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), Princeton, and Brandeis have demonstrated the formation of semipermeable vesicles from inorganic ...

Physics / Soft Matter

created Feb 07, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (33) | comments 167 | with audio podcast

Memristors with a twist: Quasi-liquid soft matter foreshadows biocompatible electronics and flexible robots

In some circles, memristors (from "memory resistor," as coined by Leon Chua in a 1971 paper outlining memristive theory) are all the rage – and for good reason: As circuit elements which "remember" the ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Jul 28, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (14) | comments 4 | with audio podcast feature

New microscope reveals ultrastructure of cells

German researchers at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin have developed a new X-ray nanotomography microscope. Using their new system, they can reveal the structures on the smallest components of mammalian cells in ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Nov 19, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (11) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

A Little Less Force: Making Atomic Force Microscopy Work for Cells

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists with Berkeley Lab?s Molecular Foundry have developed a nanowire-based imaging technique by which atomic force microscopy could be used to study biological cells and other soft ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Apr 20, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Self-replication process holds promise for production of new materials

New York University scientists have developed artificial structures that can self-replicate, a process that has the potential to yield new types of materials. The work, conducted by researchers in NYU's Departments of Chemistry ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Oct 12, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Japanese researchers turn a crab shell transparent

A group of researchers working out of Kyoto University in Japan have successfully transformed a normal crab into one that is transparent. As they describe in their paper published in the British Royal Society ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Dec 01, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 8 | with audio podcast report

Researchers create 'handshaking' particles

Physicists at New York University have created "handshaking" particles that link together based on their shape rather than randomly. Their work, reported in the latest issue of the journal Nature, marks the first time scient ...

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Mar 24, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Bird Feathers Produce Color Through Structure Similar to Beer Foam

(PhysOrg.com) -- Some of the brightest colors in nature are created by tiny nanostructures with a structure similar to beer foam or a sponge, according to Yale University researchers.

Physics / Soft Matter

created Apr 02, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (6) | comments 0

Reproducing nanoscale surfaces with adhesion properties similar to gecko footpad

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from Northeastern and Korean universities collaborate on developing a surface that mimics lizard?s footpad for extraordinary adhesive quality

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Jun 29, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Nanoscopic static electricity generates chiral patterns

In the tiny world of amino acids and proteins and in the helical shape of DNA, a biological phenomenon abounds.

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Feb 02, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

When worms stick together and swim on thin water, what happens and why does it matter?

Nematodes, microscopic worms, are making engineers look twice at their ability to exhibit the "Cheerios effect" when they move in a collective motion.

Physics / Soft Matter

created Feb 08, 2011 | popularity 3 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Using cotton candy to create bloodflow routes

(PhysOrg.com) -- Cotton candy has delighted children for a century. Now it may have found a new role: helping scientists grow replacement tissues for people. The flossy stuff may be just right for creating networks of blood ...

Chemistry /

created Feb 11, 2009 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (3) | comments 1

New approach to scratch resistance: Improving coatings with polymer-based nanocomposite materials

A new way to analyze how coatings of tiny particles alter the properties of transparent plastic could help researchers create lightweight windows with nearly the strength of glass. The same method could also lead to high-strength, ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Aug 17, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Physicists develop potent packing process

New York University physicists have developed a method for packing microscopic spheres that could lead to improvements in commercial products ranging from pharmaceutical lotions to ice cream. Their work, which relies on an ...

Physics / Soft Matter

created Feb 28, 2011 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast