News by Subject Technology & Engineering

International team of researchers with participation of the University of Konstanz achieves breakthrough in the area of heat transport at molecular scales

Simulations from researchers in Japan provide new insights into the reactions occurring in solid-oxide fuel cells by using realistic atomic-scale models of the electrode active site based on microscope observations instead of the simplified and idealized atomic structures employed in previous studies. This better understanding of how the structures in the cells affect the reactions could give clues on ways to improve performance and durability in future devices.

Researchers develop ways to measure and explain heat transport through a single molecule.

Most magnets are rigid but have made great contributions to society and to modern industry, says Thomas Russell of UMass Amherst. But this award-winning innovator dreamed of more -- what if magnets could be soft and flowable as liquid to conform to a limited space? In Science this week, he and Xubo Liu from Beijing University of Chemical Technology, others at Berkeley National Lab and UC Berkeley, report on a simple way to transform paramagnetic ferrofluids -- plain metal particles in suspension -- into a magnetic state.

Researchers have created a new type of tiny 3D-printed robot that moves by harnessing vibration from piezoelectric actuators, ultrasound sources or even tiny speakers. Swarms of these 'micro-bristle-bots' might work together to sense environmental changes, move materials -- or perhaps one day repair injuries inside the human body.

Researchers at the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a graphene device that's thinner than a human hair but has a depth of special traits. It easily switches from a superconducting material that conducts electricity without losing any energy, to an insulator that resists the flow of electric current, and back again to a superconductor -- all with a simple flip of a switch.

For decades, researchers have chased ways to study biological machines. Every mechanical movement -- from contracting a muscle to replicating DNA -- relies on molecular motors that take near-undetectable steps. Trying to see them move is like trying to watch a soccer game taking place on the moon. Now, with DNA origami helicopters, researchers have captured the first recorded rotational steps of a molecular motor as it moved from one DNA base pair to another.

Reactive molecular oxygen singlets have a multitude of uses in chemistry and medicine, but they are less abundant than non-reactive oxygen triplets. A multinational research team led by Osaka University has developed a novel method of producing reactive molecular oxygen through controlled, reversible bond formation between two oxygen atoms using atomic force microscopy. In addition, the researchers could alter the charge of individual oxygen atoms, presumably changing oxygen spin in the process.

A new University at Buffalo-led study describes how researchers wirelessly controlled FGFR1 -- a gene that plays a key role in how humans grow from embryos to adults -- in lab-grown brain tissue. The ability to manipulate the gene, the study's authors say, could lead to new cancer treatments, and ways to prevent and treat mental disorders such as schizophrenia.

Engineers have mimicked the human brain with an electronic chip that uses light to create and modify memories.