From Nanowerk News: In a microscopic feat that resembled a high-wire circus act, Johns Hopkins researchers have coaxed DNA nanotubes to assemble themselves into bridge-like structures arched between two molecular landmarks on the surface of a lab dish. The team captured examples of this unusual nanoscale performance on video. This self-assembling bridge process, which may [...]
From Fiona Macdonald at Science Alert: A 25-year-old student has just come up with a way to fight drug-resistant superbugs without antibiotics. The new approach has so far only been tested in the lab and on mice, but it could offer a potential solution to antibiotic resistance, which is now getting so bad that the [...]
We are taught that the world is a top-down place. Generals win battles; politicians run countries; scientists discover truths; inventors make breakthroughs; and Goldman Sachs rules the world. But is this really the case? Matt Ridley, in his provocative new book ‘The Evolution of Everything’ argues that it is bottom-up trends that shape the world. [...]
From Nanowerk News: Physicists from the Lomonosov Moscow State University have obtained diamond crystals in the form of a regular pyramid of micrometer size. Moreover, in cooperation with co-workers from other Russian and foreign research centers they have also studied the luminescence and electron emission properties of obtained diamond crystals. The research results have been [...]
From an article by Nick Whigham at news.com.au: As time marches forward and the world’s ever-growing population faces new challenges, we look to science to come up with the answers. There have been countless breakthroughs and important discoveries made this year broadening our understanding of the natural world and our place in it. Here are some of the [...]
From eurekalert.org: Nanotechnology offers many chances to benefit the environment and health. It can be applied to save raw materials and energy, develop enhanced solar cells and more efficient rechargeable batteries and replace harmful substances with eco-compatible solutions. "Nanotechnology is a seminal technology. The UMWELTnanoTECH project association has delivered excellent results. Even the smallest achievements [...]
From an article at Techcrunch by Lora Kolodny (@lorakolodny): Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Vinod Khosla, Jack Ma, John Doerr and 15 other high-profile investors have formed a new venture firm, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, that will pour at least $1 billion into cleantech companies over the next 20 years. The firm’s goal, according to its own [...]
From an article by Justin Brown at The Power of Ideas: A new theory in neuroscience suggests consciousness is an intrinsic property of everything, just like gravity. The theory, called Integrated Information Theory, states that consciousness appears in physical systems that contain many different and highly interconnected pieces of information. Based on that hypothesis, consciousness can be [...]
From an article by Nanoneophyte at genesisnanotech: Leaving your phone plugged in for hours could become a thing of the past, thanks to a new type of battery technology that charges in seconds and lasts for over a week. Scientists from the University of Central Florida (UCF) have created a supercapacitor battery prototype that can store [...]
From nanowerk news: Nanoparticles -- those with diameters less than one-thousandth the width of a human hair -- are increasingly prevalent in high technology, medicine, and consumer goods. Their characteristics, both desirable and undesirable, depend critically on their size. For example, a nanoparticle (NP) in the bloodstream that is 50 nanometers (nm, billionths of a [...]
