Polymers, as physical systems, are condensed matter assemblies composed of long, repeating-chain macromolecules whose collective behavior is governed by chain connectivity, conformational entropy, and intermolecular interactions. Their physical properties—such as viscoelasticity, glass transition, crystallinity, and diffusion—emerge from the statistics of polymer chains (e.g., Gaussian coils, entanglements) and their organization in bulk, solutions, or networks. In polymer physics, these systems are modeled using concepts like scaling laws, Flory–Huggins theory, and reptation dynamics to describe phase behavior, mechanical response, and transport phenomena across length scales ranging from molecular to macroscopic.
Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists say they have developed a simplified version of biodegradable nanoparticles that can "educate" the immune system to find and destroy disease-causing cells throughout the body. The study, ...
Bio & Medicine
Mar 11, 2026
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14
Controlling light with light is a long-sought goal for computing and communication technologies. Achieving this capability would allow optical signals to be processed without converting them into electrical signals, potentially ...
Optics & Photonics
Mar 9, 2026
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47
Every morning, people fasten their watch, slip on a bracelet and head out the door without thinking much about what they might encounter along the way. The air they breathe, the dust on their hands and the surfaces they touch ...
Environment
Mar 9, 2026
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15
When most people hear "polymer," they think of plastics. In our group, polymerization is a way to line up identical molecules like beads on a string and let quantum mechanics take over. Put magnetic building blocks in a one-dimensional ...
Researchers at the University of Vienna have uncovered a surprising phenomenon: polymer chains with segments that simply fluctuate at different intensities can spontaneously develop directional, persistent motion when densely ...
General Physics
Mar 5, 2026
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39
A plastic drinks bottle is one of the most "recyclable" objects in the modern waste stream. It is lightweight and collected in huge volumes. Yet even for this item, the reality of recycling is messy: labels, inks, caps, food ...
Environment
Mar 4, 2026
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20
Crystalline nanomaterials are valuable because their highly ordered structures give them useful properties for technologies such as data storage and optical devices. But forming nanoparticles from those orderly crystals is ...
Nanophysics
Mar 3, 2026
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14
Researchers have found a way to fabricate film-thin membranes imbued with super strength that could extend the durability of decarbonization technologies. Chemical engineers at The University of Queensland are harnessing ...
Nanomaterials
Feb 26, 2026
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15
Solutions to the plastic waste crisis are often pitched using words that can skew value judgments, new research argues. The paper, authored by the Sustainable Materials Innovation Hub at The University of Manchester, explores ...
Environment
Feb 25, 2026
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366
Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have created a new molecule which carries DNA into biological cells, to treat or vaccinate against illnesses. Many existing options rely on molecules with a strong positive charge, ...
Bio & Medicine
Feb 23, 2026
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