Nanostructures, as a physical system, are materials or assemblies characterized by at least one spatial dimension in the nanometer range (typically 1–100 nm), where quantum confinement, high surface-to-volume ratio, and size-dependent effects dominate their physical behavior. They include zero-, one-, two-, and three-dimensional architectures such as quantum dots, nanowires, nanotubes, and nanoporous frameworks. In this size regime, electronic, optical, mechanical, and thermal properties deviate markedly from bulk counterparts, enabling tunable band gaps, altered phonon and electron transport, and enhanced catalytic activity. Nanostructures are central platforms in nanophotonics, nanoelectronics, energy conversion, and sensing, where controlled synthesis, morphology, and interface engineering critically determine system performance.
Two parallel experiments in protein self-assembly produced strikingly different results, demonstrating that protein designers should consider incorporating physical forces now missing from even Nobel-prize-winning protein ...
Bio & Medicine
Mar 16, 2026
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Timing is critical in diagnosing diseases such as cancer. Researchers within The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign used a historically underappreciated tiny powerhouse to detect ...
Bio & Medicine
Mar 16, 2026
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57
A team of US researchers has gained new insights into how large protein molecules consistently fold themselves into useful shapes. Using a new approach to fluorescence microscopy, Hoi Sung Chung and colleagues at the National ...
In a paper published today in Nature Synthesis, a team from the lab of University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) and Chemistry Department Prof. Paul Alivisatos explores the role of cation ...
Nanophysics
Mar 11, 2026
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16
Photonic chips use light to process data instead of electricity, enabling faster communication speeds and greater bandwidth. Most of that light typically stays on the chip, trapped in optical wires, and is difficult to transmit ...
Optics & Photonics
Mar 11, 2026
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Engineering silicon carbide (SiC) with tailored morphologies for electronics and structural reinforcement materials has always been a costly and time-consuming affair, but scientists can now do it in a flash. A new study ...
Drug delivery researchers have vastly improved the potential of genetic therapies by overcoming the challenge of consistently getting genes and gene-editing tools where they need to be within cells. Findings of the study ...
Bio & Medicine
Mar 11, 2026
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75
Researchers at Utrecht University have quantitatively mapped the three-dimensional structure of photonic supraparticles for the first time. Supraparticles are microscopic spheres composed of thousands of smaller colloidal ...
Nanophysics
Mar 10, 2026
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14
AI has designed candidate drugs for antibiotic-resistant infections and genetic diseases. But efforts to incorporate AI into the design of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), the revolutionary delivery vehicles behind mRNA therapies ...
Bio & Medicine
Mar 9, 2026
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50
Most space missions rely on chemical rockets for propulsion. Rockets must carry fuel, which increases spacecraft mass and limits their speed and travel distance. For decades, researchers have explored light sails as an alternative. ...
Nanophysics
Mar 5, 2026
4
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