Scientists and engineers seek to meet three goals in the production of biofuels from non-edible sources such as microalgae: efficiency, economical production and ecological sustainability. Syracuse University researchers have uncovered a process that is a promising step toward accomplishing these three goals. They have discovered a method to make algae, which can be used in [...]

Scientists can detect the movements of single molecules by using fluorescent tags or by pulling them in delicate force measurements, but only for a few minutes. A new technique by Rice University researchers will allow them to track single molecules without modifying them – and it works over longer timescales.
Chemists and engineers at Harvard University [...]

Researchers demonstrate that non-viral gene therapy can delay the onset of some forms of eye disease and preserve vision. The team developed nanoparticles to deliver therapeutic genes to the retina and found that treated mice temporarily retained more eyesight than controls.
Nanocorrosion causes implants to fail. Extra-hard coatings made from diamond-like carbon (DLC) extend the [...]

Spotting a single cancerous cell that has broken free from a tumor and is traveling through the bloodstream to colonize a new organ might seem like finding a needle in a haystack. But a new imaging technique from the University of Washington is a first step toward making this possible. Researchers have developed a multifunctional [...]

One Chicago skyline is dazzling enough. Now imagine 15,000 of them.
A Northwestern University research team has done just that — drawing 15,000 identical skylines with tiny beams of light using an innovative nanofabrication technology called beam-pen lithography (BPL). The technology offers a means to rapidly and inexpensively make and prototype circuits, optoelectronics and medical diagnostics [...]

Clusters of heated, magnetic nanoparticles targeted to cell membranes can remotely control ion channels, neurons and even animal behavior. The UB researchers demonstrated that their method could open calcium ion channels, activate neurons in cell culture and even manipulate the movements of the tiny nematode, C. elegans.

While those wonderful light sabers in the Star Wars [...]

Nanotechnology wound dressing automatically detects and treats infection. Researchers in the UK have conducted experiments that explored the elementary question of what it is that makes some bacteria pathogenic, and some not? Based on their findings, they have demonstrated that a simple vesicle (nanocapsule) system can be used as a ‘nano-Trojan horse’ for controlling bacterial [...]

Nanotechnologists at University of Twente’s MESA+ research institute have developed a sensor that can detect anthrax spores. The invention is more sensitive and efficient than existing detection methods. The sensor that can detect a biomarker of the spores and thus determine their presence in a concentration one thousand times lower than the known toxic level. [...]

Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) in Singapore have now successfully demonstrated, for the first time, a lithography-free, direct-write technique for fabricating discrete field-effect transistors, as well as digital logic gates on a single nanowire. In this novel direct-write fabrication process, a focused electron beam or ion-beam is scanned over the sample [...]

Batteries might gain a boost in power capacity as a result of a new finding from researchers at MIT. They found that using carbon nanotubes for one of the battery’s electrodes produced a significant increase — up to tenfold — in the amount of power it could deliver from a given weight of material, compared [...]