Sci-Fi Tips

An anchor, an ibex and an Egyptian cat: all images that a research team from Brown University, led by Jacob Rosenstein, encoded and decoded from mixtures of small molecules called metabolites. They demonstrate the potential of this small-molecule information storage system in a new paper published July 3 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. Microchips

An interdisciplinary research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has built platinum nanoparticles for catalysis in fuel cells: The new size-optimized catalysts are twice as good as the best process commercially available today. Fuel cells may well replace batteries as the power source for electric cars. They consume hydrogen, a gas which could

Machine enhanced humans – or cyborgs as they are known in science fiction – could be one step closer to becoming a reality, thanks to new research from the University of Surrey and Harvard University. Researchers have conquered the monumental task of manufacturing scalable nanoprobe arrays small enough to record the inner workings of human

A tsunami holds its wave shape over very long distances across the ocean, retaining its power and ‘information’ far from its source. In communications science, retaining information in an optic fibre that spans continents is vital. Ideally, this requires the manipulation of light in silicon chips at the source and reception end of the fibre

By energizing precursor molecules using a tiny, high-energy supersonic jet of inert gas, researchers have dramatically accelerated the fabrication of nanometer scale structures. The rapid additive manufacturing technique also allows them to produce structures with high aspect ratios. Now, a theory developed to describe the technique could lead to new applications for additive nanomanufacturing and

Plant leaves have a natural superpower — they’re designed with water repelling characteristics. Called a superhydrophobic surface, this trait allows leaves to cleanse themselves from dust particles. Inspired by such natural designs, a team of researchers at Texas A&M University has developed an innovative way to control the hydrophobicity of a surface to benefit to

IMAGE: New deep learning models predict the interactions between atoms in organic molecules. These models will help computational biologists and drug development researchers understand and treat disease. view more  Credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory LOS ALAMOS, N.M., July 2, 2019–New work from Los Alamos National Laboratory, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the

IMAGE: Researchers could synchronize two crystal optomechanical oscillators mechanically coupled. view more  Credit: D. Navarro In 1665, Lord Christiaan Huygens found that two pendulum clocks, hung in the same wooden structure, oscillated spontaneously and perfectly in line but in opposite directions: the clocks oscillated in anti-phase. Since then, synchronization of coupled oscillators in nature has been

IMAGE: This is a graphene-based transistor with a metal grating. view more  Credit: Evgenii Sheshin et al./Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology Russian researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) and Valiev Institute of Physics and Technology have demonstrated resonant absorption of terahertz radiation in commercially available graphene. This is an important step

AURORA, Colo. (July 2, 2019) – A team of researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus has received a grant to commercialize a miniature microscope that fits on the head of a mouse and can peer deeply inside the living brain. The microscope, known as the 2P-FCM, uses an electrowetting lens mounted on

IMAGE: Preventing the formation of mesoscopic clusters in blood cells may be one way to prevent sickle cell disease, reports University of Houston associate professor of chemistry Vassiliy Lubchenko. view more  Credit: University of Houston University of Houston associate professor of chemistry, Vassiliy Lubchenko, is reporting a new finding in Nature Communications on how sickle cells

IMAGE: The sample consists of a cantilever made of Y3Fe5O12(YIG) connected to an edge of a YIG film and a heater placed on the YIG film around the root of the… view more  Credit: Kazuya Harii Micro mechanical elements are indispensable components of modern electrical devices but the actuation of them requires electrical current. It becomes

IMAGE: A diamond on a parabolic light collecting lens is the main component of the new angular rate sensor. view more  Credit: photo/©: Arne Wickenbrock Quantum technology is about to make the leap from scientific research to concrete applications. Contributing to this is the new MiLiQuant research project in which businesses and universities are cooperating to

IMAGE: U-shaped nanowires can record electrical chatter inside a brain or heart cell without causing any damage. The devices are 100 times smaller than their biggest competitors, which kill a cell… view more  Credit: Lieber Group, Harvard University Machines are getting cozy with our cells. Embeddable sensors record how and when neurons fire; electrodes spark heart

Improvements to a class of battery electrolyte first introduced in 2017 – liquefied gas electrolytes – could pave the way to a high-impact and long-sought advance for rechargeable batteries: replacing the graphite anode with a lithium-metal anode. The research, published July 1, 2019 by the journal Joule, builds on innovations first reported in Science in

A Rutgers-led study sheds light on one of the most enduring mysteries of science: How did metabolism – the process by which life powers itself by converting energy from food into movement and growth – begin? To answer that question, the researchers reverse-engineered a primordial protein and inserted it into a living bacterium, where it