Nanotechnology researchers at UC Davis have shown that they can use a red blood cell to calibrate a sensitive instrument, an atomic force microscope.

(University of California - Davis) Nanotechnology researchers at UC Davis have shown that they can use a red blood cell to calibrate a sensitive instrument, an atomic force microscope.

(University of California - San Diego) University of California, San Diego electrical engineers are working toward thin-film "single junction" solar cells with the potential for nearly 45 percent sunlight-to-electricity conversion efficiencies. This is well above theoretical limit of 31 percent efficiency for conventional single junction cells. Nanostructures such as quantum wells and nanoparticles are the keys to the new work that recently receiv... More

Researchers are more optimistic than ever about the potential of the aging brain, because recent evidence has challenged long-held beliefs by demonstrating that the brain can grow new nerve cells.Regular physical activity may improve brain function, both by increasing blood flow to the brain and stimulating the production of hormones and nerve growth factors involved in neurogenesis. Animal studies have found that physically active animals have be... More

A study investigating aging in mice has found that hormonal changes that occur when mice eat significantly less may help explain an already established phenomenon: a low calorie diet can extend the lifespan of rodents, a benefit that even regular exercise does not achieve. (Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514064921.htm)

Physicists at Penn State and the Raman Research Institute in India have discovered such a mechanism by which information can be recovered from black holes.They suggest that singularities do not exist in the real world. "Information only appears to be lost because we have been looking at a restricted part of the true quantum-mechanical space-time," said Madhavan Varadarajan, a professor at the Raman Research Institute. "Once you consider quantum gr... More

A new NASA-led study says human-caused climate change has made an impact on a wide range of Earth's natural systems, including permafrost thawing, plants blooming earlier across Europe, and lakes declining in productivity in Africa. (Source: http://physorg.com/news129994572.html)

University of California, San Diego electrical engineers have created experimental solar cells spiked with nanowires that could lead to highly efficient thin-film solar cells of the future. (Source: http://physorg.com/news129983739.html)

New research at the Leibniz Institute of Catalysis (Germany) shows that formic acid could be used as a safe, easy-to-transport source of hydrogen for fuel cells--initially to power portable electronic devices, such as cell phones and laptops. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/20778/?a=f)

University of Toronto researchers have found that individuals with a specific genetic variation in the GLUT2 gene--a gene that controls sugar entry into the cells--consistently consume more sugary foods. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news129966327.html)

Oregon Health and Science University researchers have identified a key mechanism by which smoking triggers genetic changes that cause lung cancer.Cigarette smoke slows production of the FANCD2 protein in lung cells. FANCD2 plays a key role in repairing damage to DNA and causes faulty cells to commit suicide before they go on to become cancerous. (Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7396814.stm)

University of Queensland researchers have identified resident stem cells in the hippocampus and discovered how they can be activated to produce new neurons.Researchers had previously been unable to isolate these stem cells.Understanding the activation process should enable the development of medicines that can stimulate the production of new neurons and reverse or prevent the cognitive decline that occurs in people with stroke or dementia.Research... More

Medical College of Georgia researchers and their colleagues have identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease. They studied two large families with high rates of the disease, and found 90 percent had a distinct pattern of SNPs in the TRPC4AP gene. These SNPs were also found in the DNA of 36 percent of 200 other late-onset patients stored in the Alzheimers' DNA Bank. This gene is part of a large f... More

(Eindhoven University of Technology) Physicist Bram Hoex and colleagues at Eindhoven University of Technology, together with the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, have improved the efficiency of an important type of solar cell from 21.9 to 23.2 percent (a relative improvement of 6 per cent). This new world record is being presented on Wednesday May 14 at a major solar energy conference in San Diego.

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have reported a new technique to sort batches of carbon nanotubes by length using high-speed centrifuges. Many potential applications for carbon nanotubes depend on the lengths of these microscopic cylinders, and one of the most important features of the new technique, say the scientists, is that it should be easily scalable to produce industrial quantities of high-quality na... More

Nanosoccer returns to the field later this month, when the National Institute of Standards and Technology hosts for the second time the world`s most Lilliputian sport. Three student teams will participate in a public exhibition at the 2008 U.S. “RoboCup Open” in Pittsburgh, Pa., May 25 to 27, where miniature “soccer players”—computer-driven robots six times smaller than an amoeba operating on a field the size of a grain of rice—will show off their... More

(National Physical Laboratory) Fibers present massive challenges and opportunities for micro and nano technologies. These challenges are not in the manufacturing of the fibers but in the control and understanding of their behavior. This one-day workshop will focus on the many challenges of fiber analysis at the micro and nano-scale using state-of-the art surface chemical analysis, including SIMS, XPS and SPM techniques.

Paul Morrow has come a long way from his days as an elementary school student, pulling apart his mother`s cassette player. The talented young physicist has developed two innovations that could vastly improve magnetic data storage and sense extremely low level magnetic fields in everything from ink on counterfeit currency to tissue in the human brain and heart.

University of California, San Diego electrical engineers have created experimental solar cells spiked with nanowires that could lead to highly efficient thin-film solar cells of the future.

(Wiley-Blackwell) Researchers led by Shu-Yan Yu have recently made a "golden crown" with a diameter of only a few nanometers, a large ring-shaped molecule containing 36 gold atoms.

(Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) Paul Morrow, who will graduate from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on May 17, has come a long way from his days as an elementary school student, pulling apart his mother's cassette player. The talented young physicist has developed two innovations that could vastly improve magnetic data storage and sense extremely low level magnetic fields in everything from ink on counterfeit currency to tissue in the human b... More

(University of California - San Diego) University of California-San Diego electrical engineers have created experimental solar cells spiked with nanowires that could lead to highly efficient thin-film solar cells of the future.

Chinese researchers have recently made a "golden crown" with a diameter of only a few nanometers. It is a large ring-shaped molecule containing 36 gold atoms. The lords of the ring, a team of researchers from the Universities of Beijing, Hong Kong, and Nanjing report their unusual compound in the journal Angewandte Chemie: the molecular ring structure is held together exclusively by gold -gold bonds and is thus the largest ring system made of gold... More

Argonne National Laboratory researchers have found a method to take atomic resolution pictures of molecules without first crystallizing them.The new method uses strong laser fields to align the molecules so that when bombarded with x-rays (for synchrotron x-ray diffraction), they all diffract in the same way.Around one million human proteins cannot be crystallized.Argonne National Laboratory News Release (Source: )

Researchers at Harvard's Whitesides Research Group have built a microfluidic "lab-on-a-chip" made out of paper.Prototype paper diagnostic test (Andres W. Martinez)They are developing it for disposable diagnostic tests that could be used anywhere in the world. The researchers plan to combine the paper tests with a system of cell phones for off-site diagnosis.A hydrophobic polymer added to the paper guides liquids along prescribed channels and seals... More