https://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. The power of artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing has made it possible to design genetic sequences encoding for diverse biological applications, such as proteins that form the building blocks of materials stronger than steel, or personalized cancer treatments. But the act of constructing DNA sequences to realize those designs has been a significant bottleneck. Due to technological limitations, chemical DNA synthesis has been limited only to creating short pieces of DNA. However, DNA molecules on the scale of genes or genomes can be tens to thousands of times longer than current capabilities allow. Without DNA construction, AI-powered biological designs cannot be verified or improved—meaning that the blueprints for futuristic new technologies cannot be realized. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-dna-page-method-enables-accurate.html Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:56:06 EST news688658136 Additive manufacturing, more commonly known as 3D printing, will be an absolutely critical technology for any long-term settlement on another world. Its ability to take a generic input, such as plastic strips or metal powder, and turn it into any shape of tool an astronaut will need is an absolute game changer. But the chemistry behind these technologies is complicated, and their applications are extremely varied, ranging from creating bricks for settlements to plastics for everything from cups to toothbrush holders. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-astronauts-gear-thin-air.html Space Exploration Mon, 19 Jan 2026 10:20:08 EST news688039947 Wearable health care devices—such as glucose monitors, ultrasound patches and blood-pressure monitors—can be invaluable for keeping patients safe. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-health-electronics-booming-sustainable.html Environment Sat, 17 Jan 2026 11:00:05 EST news687437890 Researchers have shown that consumer-grade 3D printers and low-cost materials can be used to produce multi-element optical components that enable super-resolution imaging, with each lens costing less than $1 to produce. The new fabrication approach is poised to broaden access to fully customizable optical parts and could enable completely new types of imaging tools. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-scientists-high-quality-lenses-super.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 13 Jan 2026 16:13:37 EST news687543181 In future high-tech industries, such as high-speed optical computing for massive AI, quantum cryptographic communication, and ultra-high-resolution augmented reality (AR) displays, nanolasers—which process information using light—are gaining significant attention as core components for next-generation semiconductors. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-3d-nanolasers-boost-optical-quantum.html Nanophysics Tue, 06 Jan 2026 10:24:42 EST news686917441 Over the past decade, colloidal quantum dots (QDs) have emerged as promising materials for next-generation displays due to their tunable emission, high brightness, and compatibility with low-cost solution processing. However, a major challenge is achieving ultrahigh-resolution patterning without damaging their fragile surface chemistry. Existing methods such as inkjet printing and photolithography-based processes either fall short in resolution or compromise QD performance. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-scalable-method-enables-ultrahigh-resolution.html Nanophysics Tue, 23 Dec 2025 11:30:01 EST news685711508 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) engineers and scientists, in collaboration with Stanford University, have demonstrated a breakthrough 3D nanofabrication approach that transforms two-photon lithography (TPL) from a slow, lab-scale technique into a wafer-scale manufacturing tool without sacrificing submicron precision. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-team-shatters-3d-nanofabrication-limits.html Nanophysics Thu, 18 Dec 2025 09:01:33 EST news685270861 Some phenomena in our daily lives are so commonplace that we don't realize there could be some very interesting physics behind them. Take a dripping faucet: why does the continuous stream of water from a faucet eventually break up into individual droplets? A team of physicists studied this question and reached surprising conclusions. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-faucet-jet-breakup-angstrom-scale.html Soft Matter Mon, 01 Dec 2025 16:12:20 EST news683827921 Ebooks have been popular for decades and audiobooks are increasingly so. But physical books are still the decided favorite: a survey of Australian publishers after last Christmas reported print books made up a comfortable majority of sales (ebooks were 4–18% and audiobooks 5–15%). This is despite regular warnings about the death of the book. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-digital-age-precious.html Social Sciences Wed, 26 Nov 2025 08:49:04 EST news683369342 A study on the legal history of printing press regulation in early modern England yields insights relevant to contemporary debates on the regulation of emerging technologies like AI and virtual reality, a McGill researcher says. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-history-ai.html Political science Wed, 19 Nov 2025 11:35:03 EST news682774501 Infrared sensors, which act as the "seeing" component in devices such as LiDAR for autonomous vehicles, 3D face recognition systems in smartphones, and wearable health care devices, are regarded as key components in next-generation electronics. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-room-temperature-3d-enables-miniaturized.html Nanophysics Mon, 03 Nov 2025 12:00:03 EST news681393259 Polymer-based conductive nanocomposites, particularly those incorporating carbon nanotubes, are highly promising for the development of flexible electronics, soft robotics and wearable devices. However, CNTs are difficult to work with as they tend to agglomerate, making it hard to obtain a uniform dispersion. Moreover, conventional methods limit control over CNT distribution and shape. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-3d-carbon-nanotube-sensors-potential.html Bio & Medicine Fri, 26 Sep 2025 11:43:03 EDT news678105781 Researchers have developed a chip-based quantum random number generator that provides high-speed, high-quality operation on a miniaturized platform. This advance could help move quantum random number generators closer to being built directly into everyday devices, where they could strengthen security without sacrificing speed. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-quantum-random-generator-combines-small.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 25 Sep 2025 11:14:04 EDT news678017641 A research team has developed a direct optical lithography (DOL) technology that patterns quantum dots (QDs) at ultra-high resolution using only light, without photoresist. Through this, they also provided guidelines for selecting cross-linkers essential for fabricating high-performance QLEDs. This achievement is regarded as a core fundamental technology that can be applied to a wide range of optoelectronic devices, including micro-QLEDs, ultra-high-resolution displays, transparent electronic devices, and next-generation image sensors. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-core-technology-ultra-high-resolution.html Nanophysics Mon, 08 Sep 2025 15:19:03 EDT news676563542 A research team has successfully developed the technology to fabricate high-sensitive biosensors by simply spraying, like an inkjet printer. The technology enables the fabrication of sensitive and precise sensors without expensive and complex equipment, and is expected to contribute to improving the fabrication scale and speed of biosensors in the future. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-inkjet-style-technique-high-sensitivity.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 08 Sep 2025 15:15:04 EDT news676563302 Organ donors can save lives, for example, those of patients with kidney failure. Unfortunately, there are too few donors, and the waiting lists are long. 3D bioprinting of (parts of) organs may offer a solution to this shortage in the future. But printing living tissues, bioprinting, is extremely complex and challenging. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-ai-printer-partner-tissue.html Biotechnology Fri, 05 Sep 2025 12:17:05 EDT news676293421 Nearly a decade after they first demonstrated that soft materials could guide the formation of superconductors, Cornell researchers have achieved a one-step, 3D printing method that produces superconductors with record properties. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-3d-superconductor-soft-approach.html Superconductivity Tue, 26 Aug 2025 13:44:57 EDT news675434692 They are barely thicker than a human hair—yet they could significantly improve the effectiveness of inhaled medications: carrier particles in dry powder inhalers transport the active ingredient and ensure it can be efficiently inhaled into the lungs. How well this works depends strongly on their shape. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-carrier-microparticles-inhaled-medicines-high.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 20 Aug 2025 16:32:03 EDT news674926321 New inventions—like the printing press, magnetic compasses, steam engines, calculators and the internet—can create radical shifts in our everyday lives. Many of these new technologies were met with some degree of skepticism by those who lived through the transition. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-status-quo-shifts-algorithms-mess.html Social Sciences Mon, 11 Aug 2025 10:14:51 EDT news674126088 Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and their collaborators have created a new class of programmable soft materials that can absorb impacts like never before, while also changing shape when heated. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-programmable-soft-material-absorbs-energy.html Polymers Thu, 07 Aug 2025 12:30:22 EDT news673788615 In a breakthrough for regenerative medicine, a new study from IMDEA Materials Institute researchers has demonstrated the potential of 3D-printed carbon microlattices as structurally tunable scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-3d-carbon-scaffolds-potential-bone.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 22 Jul 2025 11:00:09 EDT news672399718 Existing three-dimensional (3D) neuronal culture technology has limitations in brain research due to the difficulty of precisely replicating the brain's complex multilayered structure and the lack of a platform that can simultaneously analyze both structure and function. A KAIST research team has successfully developed an integrated platform that can implement brain-like layered neuronal structures using 3D printing technology and precisely measure neuronal activity within them. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-platform-brain-layered-neuronal-3d.html Biotechnology Wed, 16 Jul 2025 09:39:50 EDT news671877586 Coordination nanosheets are a unique class of two-dimensional (2D) materials that are formed by coordination bonds between planar organic ligands and metal ions. These 2D nanomaterials are increasingly utilized in energy storage, electronic devices, and as electrode-based catalysts due to their excellent electronic, optical, redox properties, and catalytic activity. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-heterometallic-nanosheets-multiple-metal-ions.html Nanomaterials Fri, 11 Jul 2025 09:40:13 EDT news671444466 Food scientists are paving the way for 3D-printed food and pharmaceuticals based on drought-tolerant grain sorghum protein that won't turn into a blob. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-sorghum-proteins-resilient-3d-printable.html Biotechnology Wed, 02 Jul 2025 16:23:26 EDT news670692201 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have developed a novel 3D printing technique that uses light to build complex structures, then cleanly dissolves the support material, expanding possibilities in multi-material additive manufacturing (AM). https://phys.org/news/2025-06-team-tackles-bottlenecks-dual-wavelength.html Materials Science Sat, 28 Jun 2025 11:40:01 EDT news669983605 A team of biomedical researchers led by Michael Mak, Ph.D., in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, has developed a new method of bioprinting physiological materials. Called TRACE (Tunable Rapid Assembly of Collagenous Elements), the method solves previous problems of bioprinting natural materials of the body. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-collagen-based-method-previous-problems.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 09 Jun 2025 12:04:04 EDT news668689442 Lately, there's been plenty of progress in 3D printing objects from the lunar regolith. We've reported on several projects that have attempted to do so, with varying degrees of success. However, most of them require some additive, such as a polymer or salt water, as a binding agent. Recently, a paper from Julien Garnier and their co-authors at the University of Toulouse, published in Acta Astronautica, attempted to make compression-hardened 3D-printed objects using nothing but the regolith itself. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-quality-3d-lunar-regolith-varies.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 28 Apr 2025 17:06:03 EDT news665078761 A new study has revealed that Australia's public libraries are struggling to adequately support people with print disabilities, leaving a significant portion of the population without access to essential reading and learning materials. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-australian-libraries-readers-disabilities.html Education Wed, 02 Apr 2025 08:20:03 EDT news662800801 Researchers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed a cutting-edge AI-assisted 3D food printing solution that combines printing with infrared cooking, paving the way for safer, more efficient, and visually appealing food production. The study, "Advanced 3D Food Printing with Simultaneous Cooking and Generative AI Design," was recently published in the journal Advanced Materials. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-ai-3d-cooks-food-infrared.html Biotechnology Mon, 31 Mar 2025 15:39:04 EDT news662654342 Researchers at the UAB have developed a new chemical reaction to form solid polymeric networks using light (photocuring) which will allow the preparation of solid materials with controlled shapes measuring under a thousandth of a millimeter. The research is key for the development of new, performance-enhanced lithographic and 3D printing techniques. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-based-polymerization-reaction-refines-3d.html Polymers Wed, 26 Mar 2025 14:47:03 EDT news662219221