News & Comment

We take a closer look at recent developments in research on various strategies to use carbon nanostructures for water desalination.

With the publication of a method for fast oil spill clean-up we reflect on the importance of addressing scalability from an early stage when reporting techniques aimed at improving the environment.

Emerging 2D-material-based inks could find applications in next-generation printed electronics.

In 1664, Robert Boyle wrote: “So much admirable workmanship, as God hath displayed in the Universe, was never meant for eyes that willfully close themselves.” It is scientists' duty to make a convincing effort to ensure that this admirable workmanship is there for all to see.

We reflect on some aspects of the newly updated plan of the US National Nanotechnology Initiative.

With the publication of the first Nature Nanotechnology Insight, we also introduce the concept of Analysis as an article type to our journal.

In 1944, Erwin Schrödinger posed the question “How can the events in space and time which take place within the spatial boundary of a living organism be accounted for by physics and chemistry?” Studying out-of-equilibrium chemical systems may take us closer to an answer.

On the tenth anniversary of the launch of Nature Nanotechnology we look back at what we have achieved so far and consider future directions.

Nanomaterials research must overcome the issue of scalability if it is to make a tangible impact in the real world.

The uncertainty created by the result of the Brexit referendum will be damaging for science in the UK.

Advances in nanotechnology and materials science suggest that a paradigm shift in computation may be closer than we think.

A comprehensive nanotechnology-specific database has been launched as part of the Nature Research portfolio.

The Nature/Entrepreneur First Innovation Forum in Quantum Technologies was an experiment in entrepreneurial thinking for young scientists.

Harry Kroto, buckminsterfullerene and an enduring legacy.

The National Nanotechnology Initiative and the challenges of modern society.

March and April of this year mark the anniversary of a number of key discoveries in the history of nanotechnology.

Although undetectable by macroscopic magnetic probes, antiferromagnetic order could be used in future spintronic devices.

Reliable and consistent technological achievements are required for the development of quantum technologies.

Sophisticated nanopores, which utilize electron tunnelling measurements, two-dimensional materials, or concepts from molecular self-assembly, could have applications in DNA and protein sequencing; the technical problems that must be solved to realize such technologies are considerable though.