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Computer simulations suggest a route to making a capacitor that can store electron spin, as well as charge, by applying an electric field to a conventional capacitor.
Graphene has potentially useful electronic properties but it is difficult to produce and process on large scales. Working with chemically modified forms of graphene — such as graphene oxide — may provide an alternative.
Theoretical approaches have an important role to play in driving forward new ideas in nanoscience and technology, as illustrated by two papers in this issue.
Debates about nanotechnology and religion have become dominated by the concepts of transhumanism and cyberimmortality, but, argues Chris Toumey, there are more interesting topics to discuss.
Nanoparticles have many potential medical applications but their behaviour in the body is poorly understood. New studies in mice show that particles that don't have targeting molecules attached can selectively enter certain organs solely on the basis of their charge and size.
A cell-targeting peptide can be assembled into well-defined nanoparticles with different shapes and sizes depending on the number of branches present in the hydrocarbon chain it is attached to.
