Tag: physical sciences
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Lasers Employed to Created Precise Molecular Designs
Researchers in materials science and chemistry at Vienna University of Technology in Austria devised a method to place living molecules to grow tissue in precise locations on three-dimensional surfaces. The teams led by Vienna materials scientist Jürgen Stampfl and macromolecular chemist Robert Liska published their findings last week in the journal Advanced Functional Materials (paid…
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Electronic Nanotech Sensors Added to Bioengineered Tissue
Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and Boston Children’s Hospital developed a way to embed nanoscale electronic sensors in engineered tissues. The team of medical researchers and engineers published their findings yesterday online in the journal Nature Materials (paid subscription required). The study addressed the need to better monitor bioengineered tissues as well…
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Non-Invasive Diagnostics for Epilepsy Developed
Biomedical engineers at University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and medical researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota created a new type of brain scan done immediately after an epileptic seizure that can tell more about the causes of those seizures. The team led by Minnesota engineering professor Bin He (pictured right) appears online today…
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Process Developed for Stronger Alloys at High Temperatures
Materials scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology devised a process for growing and merging nanoscale metallic crystals to create alloys that can withstand the stress of high temperatures. MIT graduate students Tongjai Chookajorn and Heather Murdoch (pictured left), with faculty advisor Christopher Schuh, discuss their methods in this week’s issue of the journal Science; paid…
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Nanotech Sensor Detects Glucose for Diabetes Testing
Researchers at Purdue University in Indiana created a non-invasive biosensor that detects minute concentrations of glucose in saliva, tears, and urine. The team at Purdue’s Birck Nanotechnology Center published its findings this week in the journal Advanced Functional Materials (paid subscription required). The sensor has three main parts: layers of nanosheets resembling tiny rose petals…
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University to Research 3-D Self-Assembly Processes
Engineers at North Carolina State University in Raleigh received a grant to develop materials that fold themselves into three-dimensional objects when exposed to light. National Science Foundation awarded the four-year, $1.76 million grant to Jan Genzer (pictured right), a chemical engineering professor at NC State. Genzer says he is assembling a team of “designers, engineers,…
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Energy Dept to Fund Minnesota Chemistry Computation Centers
University of Minnesota’s chemistry department received two grants from the U.S. Department of Energy for research on software and computational methods on materials from nanotechnology and systems for transporting solar energy. The two five-year grants total $13.1 million, and will be shared by other universities and national labs. The Nanoporous Materials Genome Center, headed by…
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Carbon Nanotubes Found Toxic to Aquatic Animals
Engineers at University of Missouri and U.S. Geological Survey in Columbia found carbon nanotubes — sub-microscopic structures increasingly used for their strength and conductivity to create innovative new materials — to be toxic to several species of aquatic animals. The research led by Baolin Deng, professor and chair of chemical engineering at Missouri, appears in…
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Power Cell Converts and Stores Energy in Single Unit
Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta developed a single device that converts mechanical energy directly into chemical energy, and stores the power until released as an electrical current. The Georgia Tech team led by materials scientist and engineer Zhong Lin Wang (pictured right) published its findings earlier this month in the journal Nano…
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Video Camera Captures Athletic Images and Performance Data
A new type of video camera developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits in Erlangen, Germany captures images of athletes as well as real-time data on their performance. Fraunhofer plans to demonstrate the INCA intelligent camera at the International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam, 7-11 September. The small INCA camera (pictured left), measuring 2x2x8 centimeters,…