News & Comment

The antimicrobial effect of silver nanoparticles can be switched on and off by simple optical irradiation

New force-detection techniques allow magnetic resonance imaging to resolve objects just a few nanometres in size

Researchers have produced large, centimetre-scale areas of high-quality graphene on arbitrary substrates

Contrary to classical theoretical predictions, electric fields increase the solid–liquid interfacial tension of ionic solutions moving in zeolite nanochannels

Surface plasmons can be controlled by designing the edges of metal films to produce interference patterns

Researchers have observed carbon nanotubes behaving as Mott insulators

Quantitative models can describe and predict how cells take-up and expel nanoparticles

Three-dimensional architectures of gold nanoparticles can be built using DNA-based self-assembly

Repulsive forces at the nanoscale could make ultra-low friction nanomechanical devices possible

By combining information from low-resolution images and diffraction patterns, sub-atomic-resolution diffractive imaging of quantum dots can be achieved

A company founded by two ex-Microsoft employees is buying up patents in nanotechnology and other areas on a grand scale, as Adarsh Sandhu reports.

The commercial success of low-tech nano-enabled products, such as sports equipment and lubricants, could pave the way for more advanced nanodevices and applications.

The commercial success of products based on giant magnetoresistance is often cited as a reason for supporting basic physics research. The reality is more complex, given the range of bodies, including IBM and the US military, involved in developing new technologies based on this Nobel-prize-winning discovery.

The differences between the sciences and the humanities have been debated in academic circles for decades. Chris Toumey explores how nanotechnology fits into this picture and how the nature of science itself is a legitimate subject for researchers in the humanities and social sciences.