/ 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. Magnetic materials are in high demand. They're essential to the energy storage innovations on which electrification depends and to the robotics systems powering automation. They're also inside more familiar products, from consumer electronics to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines. /news/2025-07-parameter-machine-magnetic-properties-materials.html Condensed Matter Tue, 08 Jul 2025 16:08:03 EDT news671209681 Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have created a new way to build and control tiny particles that can move and work like microscopic robots, offering a powerful tool with applications in biomedical and environmental research. /news/2025-07-microrobots-metal-patches-aid-drug.html Nanomaterials Tue, 08 Jul 2025 15:40:04 EDT news671207794 Meet Bille, the name given to the world's first monostable tetrahedron—a four-faced object that will always land on the same side, no matter its starting position. This feat of geometry and engineering solves a nearly 60-year-old mathematical mystery and could help in designing self-righting spacecraft for future lunar or planetary missions. /news/2025-07-geometry-discovery-lunar-landers-falling.html Mathematics Tue, 01 Jul 2025 13:42:24 EDT news670596133 Scientists have created tiny disk-shaped particles that can swim on their own when hit with light, akin to microscopic robots that move through a special liquid without any external motors or propellers. /news/2025-06-powered-microscopic-swimmers-onoff-pathways.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 27 Jun 2025 14:25:35 EDT news670253120 Nanoparticles (NPs) are materials whose dimensions range from 1 to 1,000 nanometers (nm). Due to their nano-scale dimensions and tunable material properties, NPs have gained interest in the global scientific community in recent years. Applications of NPs in the field of human health include NP-based drug delivery systems and radioactive probe-linked NPs for medical diagnosis. While significant advancements have been achieved in the design and synthesis of NPs, studies investigating the interactions of NPs with important biological macromolecules like proteins remain limited. /news/2025-06-proteins-silica-nanoparticle-interactions-biophysics.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Thu, 26 Jun 2025 10:00:03 EDT news670148642 On June 3, NASA's Perseverance Mars rover ground down a portion of a rock surface, blew away the resulting debris, and then went to work studying its pristine interior with a suite of instruments designed to determine its mineralogic makeup and geologic origin. "Kenmore," as nicknamed by the rover science team, is the 30th Martian rock that Perseverance has subjected to such in-depth scrutiny, beginning with drilling a two-inch-wide (5-centimeter-wide) abrasion patch. /news/2025-06-nasa-perseverance-rover-scours-martian.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 25 Jun 2025 16:08:38 EDT news670086512 Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are characterized by high porosity and structural versatility. They have enormous potential, for example, for applications in electronics. However, their low electrical conductivity has so far greatly restricted their adoption. /news/2025-06-metal-frameworks-metallic-pave-paths.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 24 Jun 2025 15:49:04 EDT news669998942 Before they take the long journey to another planet, humans will have to find the right place to land. New findings from a University of Mississippi researcher may point to just such a place on Mars. /news/2025-06-small-life-mars.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Thu, 19 Jun 2025 10:56:04 EDT news669549361 A research team including members from the University of Michigan have unveiled a new observational technique that's sensitive to the dynamics of the intrinsic quantum jiggles of materials, or phonons. /news/2025-06-electron-microscopy-technique-captures-nanoparticle.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Wed, 18 Jun 2025 17:19:04 EDT news669485941 Taking a cue from ocean-dwelling species, University of Nebraska–Lincoln researchers are developing synthetic skins that will support the emergence of next-generation "soft" machines, robots and other devices. /news/2025-06-cephalopod-synthetic-skins-enable-soft.html Polymers Materials Science Tue, 17 Jun 2025 11:24:54 EDT news669378286 Earthworms often form a cluster, from which they can barely free themselves. A similarly active, writhing structure forms when the tentacles of lion's mane jellyfish become entangled. Robotic grippers utilize this principle by using multiple synthetic flexible arms to grip and move objects. And such interlinked self-propelled filaments can also be found at the smaller micrometer scale, for example in a biological cell. /news/2025-06-movement-entangled-cluster-worms-polymer.html Soft Matter Mon, 16 Jun 2025 12:51:04 EDT news669297062 Tools that offer early and accurate insight into plant health—and allow individual plant interventions—are key to increasing crop yields as environmental pressures increasingly impact horticulture and agriculture. /news/2025-06-gentle-robot-gripper-shot-sensors.html Biotechnology Agriculture Wed, 11 Jun 2025 15:56:51 EDT news668876205 Chemistry often conjures images of mixing fluids together in beakers, flasks, or test tubes. But often, chemistry happens on a much smaller scale. In many medical and industrial contexts, mixing fluids involves fractions of a milliliter, and for these applications, sometimes the best tool is a microscopic robot. /news/2025-06-magnetic-microrobot-mechanically-microscopic-materials.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 10 Jun 2025 11:00:01 EDT news668679065 Whether it's electric vehicles, drones, or spacecraft, a common technical challenge for future transportation is lightweighting. /news/2025-06-carbon-nanotubes-metal-ultra-lightweight.html Nanomaterials Tue, 10 Jun 2025 10:42:03 EDT news668770921 A private lunar lander from Japan crashed while attempting a touchdown Friday, the latest casualty in the commercial rush to the moon. /news/2025-06-private-lunar-lander-japan-falls.html Space Exploration Thu, 05 Jun 2025 16:49:19 EDT news668360952 Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) can "catch" yawns from an android imitating human facial expressions, according to new research from City St George's, University of London. /news/2025-06-chimpanzees-androids.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 05 Jun 2025 12:45:06 EDT news668346304 A private lunar lander from Japan is closing in on the moon, aiming for a touchdown in the unexplored far north with a mini rover. /news/2025-06-private-japanese-lunar-lander-touchdown.html Space Exploration Thu, 05 Jun 2025 04:42:56 EDT news668317366 A team of engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has outlined the decade-long development and testing of what was originally known as the Europa Lander prototype—a partially autonomous robot designed to find out if Jupiter's moon Europa harbors life beneath its icy surface. /news/2025-06-shelved-europa-lander-mission-concept.html Space Exploration Astrobiology Mon, 02 Jun 2025 10:19:21 EDT news668078352 A study published in Nature Communications presents a way to create deployable structures that transform from compact folded states into expansive configurations with perfectly smooth surfaces. /news/2025-05-origami-unfold-seamless-surfaces-deployable.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Fri, 30 May 2025 06:50:01 EDT news667732062 Kirigami is a traditional Japanese art form that entails cutting and folding paper to produce complex three-dimensional (3D) structures or objects. Over the past decades, this creative practice has also been applied in the context of physics, engineering, and materials science research to create new materials, devices and even robotic systems. /news/2025-05-intuitive-geometric-method-inverse-kirigami.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Sun, 25 May 2025 09:00:01 EDT news667223147 Throughout its nearly 100-year manufacturing history, the crack resistance of natural rubber—one of the world's most widely used biomaterials—hasn't improved much. Until now. Materials researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have devised a way to produce natural rubber that retains its key properties of stretchiness and durability while greatly improving its ability to resist cracking, even after repeated cycles of use. /news/2025-05-rubber-material-ten-stronger-resistant.html Polymers Thu, 22 May 2025 13:11:41 EDT news667138295 How do insects perceive mechanical stress? This is a question of interest in many different fields, including comparative morphology, neurobiology and robotics. /news/2025-05-sensation-legs-flies-dont.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 21 May 2025 15:32:29 EDT news667060345 Astrobee is a free-flying robotic system developed by NASA that is made up of three distinct cube-shaped robots. This system was originally designed to help astronauts who are working at the International Space Station (ISS) by automating some of their routine manual tasks. /news/2025-05-astrobee-soft-cargo-source-simulator.html Space Exploration Mon, 19 May 2025 08:00:01 EDT news666624973 A research team has synthesized a novel red sea star-inspired polyurethane, which can achieve rapid underwater self-healing. The study was published in Macromolecules. /news/2025-05-red-sea-star-polyurethane-enables.html Polymers Materials Science Fri, 16 May 2025 09:48:02 EDT news666607681 Researchers at the University of Tokyo and their collaborators have developed a digital laboratory system that fully automates the material synthesis and the structural and physical property evaluation of thin-film samples. /news/2025-05-team-digital-lab-robot-driven.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 14 May 2025 05:00:01 EDT news666272101 An international study featuring scientists from Curtin University's School of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Space Science and Technology Center offers new insights into the moon's history and provides a better understanding of what lies beneath its cratered surface. /news/2025-05-glass-beads-window-moon-hidden.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 12 May 2025 09:17:02 EDT news666260221 Researchers at McGill University, in collaboration with Polytechnique Montréal, pioneered a new way to create hydrogels using ultrasound, eliminating the need for toxic chemical initiators. This breakthrough offers a faster, cleaner and more sustainable approach to hydrogel fabrication, and produces hydrogels that are stronger, more flexible and highly resistant to freezing and dehydration. /news/2025-05-ultrasound-safer-greener-hydrogels.html Polymers Materials Science Thu, 08 May 2025 13:20:07 EDT news665928650 A new study uncovers how fine-tuning the interactions between two distinct network-forming species within a soft gel enables programmable control over its structure and mechanical properties. The findings reveal a powerful framework for engineering next-generation soft materials with customizable behaviors, inspired by the complexity of biological tissues. /news/2025-05-programmable-network-gels-interspecies-interactions.html Soft Matter Tue, 06 May 2025 16:56:02 EDT news665769361 The first case of an electric circuit created using a simple marker and a laser beam shows that simple and sustainable materials can generate innovative applications on any surface, such as a coffee cup. /news/2025-04-marker-ink-graphene-based-electric.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Wed, 30 Apr 2025 03:30:02 EDT news665197504 On a wave-battered rock in the northern Pacific Ocean, a fish called the sculpin grips the surface firmly to maintain stability in its harsh environment. Unlike sea urchins, which use their glue-secreting tube feet to adhere to their surroundings, sculpins manage to grip without a specialized adhesive organ like tube feet or the suction cups of octopuses. /news/2025-04-microscopic-fin-features-sculpins-turbulent.html Plants & Animals Cell & Microbiology Wed, 23 Apr 2025 15:41:04 EDT news664641661