Research Highlights |
Featured
-
-
Research Highlights |
Nanoscience: Shifted shells
-
Correspondence |
Controls needed to reduce problem of plastic contamination
- Andrei P. Sommer
- & Noah Lotan
-
Research Highlights |
Nanotechnology: Bacterial power
-
Careers Q&A |
Chang-Hwan Choi
Chang-Hwan Choi, a nanoengineer at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, received a 2010 Young Investigator Program award from the US Office of Naval Research (ONR) for his design of anti-corrosion surfaces that will make Navy vessels more durable.
- Virginia Gewin
-
News |
Oil cruise finds deep-sea plume
Nature reports from the research ship Pelican as scientists map the hidden extent of the Deepwater disaster.
- Mark Schrope
-
News |
Glass electrode powers smallest pump
Nanodevice could be used to sample or treat single cells.
- Janet Fang
-
Letter |
A proximity-based programmable DNA nanoscale assembly line
Many new functional materials and devices could be made if it were possible to rationally combine nanometre-scale particles into larger structures. An assembly line operating on the nanometre scale has now been demonstrated. It uses a DNA origami tile as a framework and track for the assembly process, three distinct DNA machines attached to the tile as programmable cargo-donating devices, and a DNA walker to generate the target product by moving along the track and collecting cargo from those devices that are switched on.
- Hongzhou Gu
- , Jie Chao
- & Nadrian C. Seeman
-
Research Highlights |
Nanoelectronics: Protein transistor
-
News & Views |
Molecular robots on the move
Robots have to store lots of information in order to coordinate their actions, but how can this be done for nanometre-scale robots? One answer is to program data into the robots' environment instead.
- Lloyd M. Smith
-
News |
The science of dispersants
Massive use of surfactant chemicals turns Gulf of Mexico into a giant experiment.
- Daniel Cressey
-
Editorial |
Up in the air
Ways to obtain more accurate data can and should be put in place to police greenhouse-gas emissions.
-
Letter |
Substrate-enhanced supercooling in AuSi eutectic droplets
Supercooling is a phenomenon by which a liquid remains in its fluid phase well below its melting point. Supercooling can be inhibited by the presence of a solid surface, whereby crystalline surfaces cause adjacent atoms in the liquid to become ordered, inducing crystal nucleation of the melt. Here it is shown that a particular surface ordering of gold atoms on top of a silicon substrate can stabilize the liquid phase of a gold-silicon eutectic droplet, and thus enhance supercooling.
- T. U. Schülli
- , R. Daudin
- & A. Pasturel
-
News Feature |
Toxicology: The big test for bisphenol A
After years of wrangling over the chemical's toxicity, researchers are charting a new way forwards. Brendan Borrell investigates how the debate has reshaped environmental-health studies.
- Brendan Borrell
-
Research Highlights |
Nanotechnology: Down the tube
-
Research Highlights |
Physics: Monopoles on demand
-
Research Highlights |
Chemical sensing: Bomb detector sewn up
-
Research Highlights |
Organic chemistry: An open and shut case
-
Research Highlights |
Nanotechnology: Small salt superconducts
-
Letter |
Atom-by-atom structural and chemical analysis by annular dark-field electron microscopy
An imaging technique that could identify all the individual atoms, including defects, in a material would be a useful tool. Here an electron-microscopy approach to the problem, based on annular dark-field imaging, is described. A monolayer of boron nitride was studied, and three types of atomic substitution were identified. Careful analysis of the data enabled the construction of a detailed map of the atomic structure.
- Ondrej L. Krivanek
- , Matthew F. Chisholm
- & Stephen J. Pennycook
-
Research Highlights |
Atmospheric science: Paparazzi pollution
-
News |
Nanoparticle kit could diagnose disease early
Colour change shows the presence of minuscule amounts of key enzymes.
- Katharine Sanderson
-
Letter |
Shell-isolated nanoparticle-enhanced Raman spectroscopy
Surface-enhanced Raman scattering is a powerful spectroscopy technique that can be used to study substances down to the level of single molecules. But the practical applications have been limited by the need for metal substrates with roughened surfaces or in the form of nanoparticles. Here a new approach — shell-insulated nanoparticle-enhanced Raman spectroscopy — is described, and its versatility demonstrated with numerous test substances.
- Jian Feng Li
- , Yi Fan Huang
- & Zhong Qun Tian
-
-
Research Highlights |
Conservation: Heavy metal history
-
Research Highlights |
Materials science: Ultrathin fibres heat up
-
News & Views |
Expanding versatility
Gold nanoparticles coated with a thin layer of an oxide allow molecules adsorbed on surfaces as diverse as those of platinum, yeast cells or citrus fruits to be characterized routinely in the laboratory.
- Martin Moskovits
-
News |
Nano-antennas could help keep quantum secrets
Nanorod arrays can guide light along the path toward quantum communication.
- Zeeya Merali
-
Research Highlights |
Nanotechnology: Harvesting heat
-
Research Highlights |
Biomaterials: Squishy particles
-
News & Views |
Wider role for airborne chlorine
Unexpected chlorine chemistry in the lowest part of the atmosphere can affect the cycling of nitrogen oxides and the production of ozone, and reduce the lifetime of the greenhouse gas methane.
- Roland von Glasow
-
News Feature |
Bioengineering: What to make with DNA origami
Chemists looking to create complex self-assembling nanostructures are turning to DNA. Katharine Sanderson looks at the science beneath the fold.
- Katharine Sanderson
-
Research Highlights |
Nanotechnology: Light DNA machine
-
Books & Arts |
How lateral thinking saved lives
Martin Kemp is struck by the surreal quality of a home-made iron lung.
- Martin Kemp
-
News |
Bacteria buzzing in the seabed
Nanowires growing from bacteria might link up distant chemical reactions in sediments.
- Katharine Sanderson
-
News |
Did design flaws doom the LHC?
Catastrophic failure that caused accelerator shutdown was not a freak accident, says project physicist.
- Geoff Brumfiel
-
-
News |
Acid soil threatens Chinese farms
Overuse of fertilizers is imperilling food supply.
- Natasha Gilbert
-
Research Highlights |
Material science: Speedy silk imprinting
-
Research Highlights |
Biogeochemistry: DDT in the ocean
-
News |
Pulsar watchers race for gravity waves
Radio telescopes vie with laser detectors to hunt for signs of massive cosmic collisions.
- Eric Hand
-
Nanomanufacturing: Petite pottery
Pores off the peg
China takes stock of environment
Trace that metal