/ en-us Â鶹ÒùÔº internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Â鶹ÒùÔºics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Â鶹ÒùÔºicists at Purdue are throwing the world's smallest disco party. The disco ball itself is a fluorescent nanodiamond, which they have levitated and spun at incredibly high speeds. The fluorescent diamond emits and scatters multicolor lights in different directions as it rotates. The party continues as they study the effects of fast rotation on the spin qubits within their system and are able to observe the Berry phase. /news/2024-08-physicists-world-smallest-disco-party.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 14 Aug 2024 13:14:04 EDT news642860041 Space coiling acoustic metamaterials are static and require manual reconfiguration for sound-field modulation. In a new report published in Communications Materials, Christabel Choi, and a team of scientists in computer science and engineering in the U.K., and Italy, developed an approach for active reconfiguration with standalone dynamics to space-coil unit cells known as dynamic meta-bricks. /news/2024-01-magnetically-actuated-acoustic-metamaterial.html Materials Science Wed, 10 Jan 2024 10:00:01 EST news624103021 Stirring can allow the dispersion of substances evenly in liquid. Einstein's tea leaf paradox is a concept that shows how tea leaves can concentrate in a doughnut shape through a secondary flow effect during stirring. In a new study published in Science Advances, Zehui Zhang and colleagues in physics and engineering in China, demonstrated the Einstein's tea leaf paradox (abbreviated as ETLP) induced concentration in nanofluids. /news/2023-09-einstein-tea-leaf-paradox-nanofluids.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 28 Sep 2023 09:55:55 EDT news615113749 Metamaterials and metaoptics offer a broad dimension to explore exotic functionalities in physics and optics. In a new report now published in Science Advances, Jie Peng and a team of scientists in physics and interdisciplinary studies at the City University of Hong Kong, China, discovered how the topology of structures can dictate the properties of optical fields to offer a new dimension of exploration in optic functionalities. /news/2022-10-topological-fields.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Mon, 31 Oct 2022 09:10:01 EDT news586423611 Droplet microfluidics provide a robust platform to synthesize and functionalize micro- and nanoparticles in a range of applications, including drug delivery, screening, lab-on-a-chip and organ-on-a-chip applications, across chemical and biomedical engineering. Chitosan is a biomaterial suited for diverse biomedical applications, including antibacterial bioactivities with immune-enhancing and anticancer properties. In a new report now published in Scientific Reports, Omid Sartipzadeh and an interdisciplinary research team in medical nanotechnology, biomaterials and tissue engineering, in Tehran, Iran, described the role of chitosan droplets in a microfluidic chip. The outcomes indicated how different sizes and geometries of the chitosan droplets could be established by varying the parameters for several purposes including drug delivery, tissue engineering and cell encapsulation. The team conducted an experimental study that agreed with the simulation outcomes to confirm the results. /news/2022-05-microfluidics-assisted-synthesis-stimuli-responsive-chitosan-microgels.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Tue, 31 May 2022 09:40:01 EDT news573118843 Particle sorting is fundamental to biological and medical research, although existing methods are unable to sort large-sized particles via high-throughput sorting. In a new report, Y. Kasai and a research team in Japan, Germany and Poland presented a new on-chip sorting method based on traveling vortices generated by on-demand microjet flows. The method allowed high-throughput sorting using an activation system for fluorescent detection to sort 160 micrometer beads and purified fossil pollen from lake sediments. The method enhanced the achievement of chronologies of fossil pollen for paleoenvironmental records of sedimentary archives. The method has cross-disciplinary applications in genomics, metabolomics and regenerative medicine. It will open up new opportunities for pollen use in geochronology, paleoecology and paleoclimatology. The work is now published on Science Advances. /news/2021-04-breakthrough-purification-fossil-pollen-large-particle.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 28 Apr 2021 09:30:01 EDT news538816552 Multicolor single-mode polarized microlasers containing an output range from visible light to the near-infrared have significant applications in photonic integration and multimodal chemical sensing or imaging applications. However, such devices are very difficult to realize in practice. In a new report, Huajun He and a research team in physics, materials science and chemistry in Singapore, China and the U.S., developed a single crystal with multiple segments to generate controlled, single-mode, near-infrared (NIR) lasing. Multiple segments of the single crystal were based on a metal organic framework (MOF) hybridized with dye molecules suited for green, red and near-infrared lasing as computationally simulated. The segmented assembly of different dye molecules in the microcrystal caused it to act as a shortened resonator to achieve dynamic, multicolor single-mode lasing with a low three-color-lasing threshold (red, green and NIR). The findings will open a new route to explore single-mode, micro/nanolasers constructed with MOF engineering for biophotonic applications. The work is now published on Nature Light: Science & Applications. /news/2020-08-metal-framework-mof-microcrystals-multicolor.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Fri, 21 Aug 2020 10:10:02 EDT news517222301 A plane has to be going pretty fast for a mere raindrop to crack its windshield, but it can happen. Now, new models of the physics behind the improbable feat may just help doctors crack kidney stones to pieces. /news/2019-11-physics-windshield-cracking-raindrops-demolish-kidney.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Tue, 05 Nov 2019 12:20:50 EST news492178840 Helical plasmonic nanostructures have attracted considerable attention in materials science and chemistry due to their inherent optical chirality. In a new report, Yang Chen and a research team in the department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in the U.S. developed unique 3-D Janus (nanoparticles with two or more surface properties) plasmonic helical nanoapertures (helical holes), with direction-controlled polarization sensitivity. They engineered the helical structures using one-step grayscale focused ion beam milling (FIB). Chen et al. then encoded the Janus metasurface with two nanoaperture enantiomers (left and right handed mirror image molecules of each other) with specific rotational angles to demonstrate direction-controlled polarization data encryption for the first time. /news/2019-06-polarization-encryption-based-storage-d-janus.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 06 Jun 2019 09:30:02 EDT news479024177 Therapeutic proteins are protein-based drug candidates bioengineered in the lab for pharmaceutical and clinical applications. Based on their pharmacokinetics, the candidates can be divided into groups that (1) replace a defective or abnormal protein, (2) augment an existing path in vivo, (3) provide a new function or activity in vivo, (4) interfere with activities of a molecule or organism and (5) deliver encapsulated proteins or compounds including, cytotoxic drugs, radionuclide or effector proteins. /news/2019-04-therapeutics-on-a-chip-toc-synthetic-proteins-point-of-care.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 11 Apr 2019 09:40:02 EDT news474192520 Nacre, also known as mother of pearl is a composite, organic-inorganic material produced in nature in the inner shell layer of molluscs and the outer coating of pearls. The material is resilient and iridescent with high strength and toughness, resulting from its brick-and-mortar-like architecture. Lightweight and strong materials are of interest in materials science due to their potential in multidisciplinary applications in sports, aerospace, transportation and biomedicine. In a recent study, now published in Science Advances, Yang Yang and co-workers at the interdisciplinary departments of Systems Engineering, Chemical, Biomedical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Southern California, developed a route to build nacre-inspired hierarchical structures with complex 3-D shapes via electrically assisted 3-D printing. /news/2019-04-d-electrically-nacre-inspired-self-sensing-capabilities.html Polymers Materials Science Wed, 10 Apr 2019 07:12:21 EDT news474099130 Scientists have recently developed a light controlled nano-switch to lay groundwork for atomic device development in nanotechnology. They engineered the switches at the nanoscale in a first step toward fully integrated electronic device miniaturization. The multidisciplinary research was conducted by Weiqiang Zhang and co-workers, and an international team of collaborators. Results of the study are now published in Light: Science & Applications. /news/2019-04-atomic-plasmonic-metallic-contact.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Optics & Photonics Wed, 03 Apr 2019 09:30:01 EDT news473497629 The ability to hide an arbitrary object with a cloak at a distance from the object is a unique task in photonics research, although the phenomenon is yet to be realized in practice. In a recent study now published in Light: Science & Applications, Tianhang Chen and co-workers at the Key laboratory of Micro-Nano Electronics and Smart Systems, and the State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation in China proposed the first experimental realization of a remote cloaking device. The device can make any object located at a specific distance invisible using a direct current (DC) frequency. /news/2019-03-current-dc-remote-cloak-arbitrary.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 27 Mar 2019 09:30:03 EDT news472894146 Metasurfaces are two-dimensional (2-D) metamaterials that can control scattering waves of a light beam. Their applications include thin-sheet polarizers, beam splitters, beam steerers and lenses. These structures can control and transform impinging waves based on the generalized reflection and refraction law (GSL; generalized Snell's law and generalized reflection law), which states that small phase-shifting elements can control the directions of the reflected and transmitted waves. /news/2019-02-power-flow-conformal-metamirrors.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 22 Feb 2019 09:30:02 EST news470041558 Mitochondria are dynamic, bioenergetic intracellular organelles, responsible for energy production via ATP production during respiration. They are involved in key cellular metabolic tasks that regulate vital physiological responses of cells, including cell signaling, cell differentiation and cell death. Defective mitochondria are linked to several critical human genetic diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders, cancer and cardiovascular disease. /news/2019-01-functional-mitochondria-microfluidics-devices.html Bio & Medicine Nanophysics Wed, 16 Jan 2019 09:30:04 EST news466757341 Optical properties of materials are based on their chemistry and the inherent subwavelength architecture, although the latter remains to be characterized in depth. Photonic crystals and metamaterials have proven this by providing access through surface alterations to a new level of light manipulation beyond the known natural optical properties of materials. Yet, in the past three decades of research, technical methods have been unable to reliably nanostructure hard optical crystals beyond the material surface for in-depth optical characterization and related applications. /news/2019-01-three-dimensional-femtosecond-laser-nanolithography-crystals.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 15 Jan 2019 09:30:01 EST news466670577 (Â鶹ÒùÔº) —Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a new theoretical model that explains macroscale fluid convection induced by plasmonic (metal) nanostructures. Their model demonstrates the experimentally observed convection velocities of the order of micrometers per second for an array of gold bowtie nanoantennas (BNAs) coupled to an optically absorptive indium-tin-oxide (ITO) substrate. /news/2014-01-macroscale-plasmonic-convection-fluid-particle.html Nanophysics Wed, 22 Jan 2014 13:40:02 EST news309619149