/ 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. For months, Sabrina Staples stared at a silicone chip no bigger than a postage stamp, trying to coax cells into doing something remarkable. But every time she loaded her delicate microfluidic device with cells, a single rogue bubble would sneak in, destroying the cells and the experiment. /news/2025-08-microfluidic-device-captures-blood-vessel.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Tue, 12 Aug 2025 10:29:04 EDT news674213342 In a discovery that could broaden access to next-generation biologic medicines and vaccines, researchers at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) have engineered polymer-based nanoparticles that form with a simple temperature shift—no harsh chemicals, no specialized equipment, and no processing needed. /news/2025-08-nanoparticles-room-temperature-vaccine-delivery.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 07 Aug 2025 08:25:04 EDT news673773901 Newly developed DNA nanostructures can form flexible, fluid, and stimuli-responsive condensates without relying on chemical cross-linking, report researchers from the Institute of Science Tokyo and Chuo University, in the journal JACS Au. /news/2025-08-dna-nanostructures-mimic-molecular-chemical.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Wed, 06 Aug 2025 09:10:06 EDT news673690201 Microrobots formed in droplets could enable precision-targeted drug delivery, improving on I.V. drug delivery that sends only 0.7% of the drug to the target tissue, according to a recent study in Science Advances, conducted through simulations at the University of Michigan and experiments at the University of Oxford. /news/2025-07-microrobots-drugs-drug-delivery.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Thu, 31 Jul 2025 15:57:13 EDT news673196227 What if a complex material could reshape itself in response to a simple chemical signal? A team of physicists from the University of Vienna and the University of Edinburgh has shown that even small changes in pH value and thus in electric charge can shift the spatial arrangement of closed ring-shaped polymers (molecular chains)—by altering the balance between twist and writhe, two distinct modes of spatial deformation. /news/2025-07-polymer-generation-materials.html Soft Matter Thu, 31 Jul 2025 09:45:36 EDT news673173931 Researchers at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) have created the world's simplest artificial cell capable of chemical navigation, migrating toward specific substances like living cells do. /news/2025-07-scientists-artificial-cell-capable-environment.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Fri, 25 Jul 2025 14:00:01 EDT news672556854 Researchers have demonstrated that microscopic drug delivery containers can be magnetically steered to their targets, advancing the development of precision medicine for treating diseases such as cancer. /news/2025-07-precision-drug-delivery-magnetic-triggered.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Thu, 24 Jul 2025 15:20:01 EDT news672589067 Researchers at NYU Tandon School of Engineering have developed a new method for creating microscopic drug delivery capsules that addresses a fundamental challenge in pharmaceutical manufacturing. /news/2025-07-scalable-method-precise-drug-delivery.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Tue, 22 Jul 2025 13:20:02 EDT news672409109 Nanoparticles—the tiniest building blocks of our world—are constantly in motion, bouncing, shifting, and drifting in unpredictable paths shaped by invisible forces and random environmental fluctuations. /news/2025-07-ai-tool-deciphers-mysteries-nanoparticle.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 15 Jul 2025 08:23:31 EDT news671786606 A new microchip invented by Scripps Research scientists can reveal how a person's antibodies interact with viruses—using just a drop of blood. The technology offers researchers faster, clearer insights that could help accelerate vaccine development and antibody discovery. /news/2025-07-antibody-chip-vaccine-revealing-hidden.html Biotechnology Fri, 11 Jul 2025 16:10:21 EDT news671469016 A new gene therapy delivery device could let hospital pharmacies make personalized nanomedicines to order. This democratized approach to precision medicine, as published in Frontiers in Science, could revolutionize how hospitals treat rare diseases, even in low-resource settings. /news/2025-06-gene-therapy-delivery-device-personalized.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 26 Jun 2025 05:00:04 EDT news670068476 Remote-controlled microflow using light-controlled state transitions within DNA condensates has been reported by scientists from the Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan. By switching between ultraviolet light (UV) and visible light irradiation, the researchers demonstrated that the novel DNA motifs containing azobenzene can dissociate or reassemble. Furthermore, localized photo-switching within a DNA liquid condensate generated two distinct directional motions. This study can fuel the development of innovative fluid-based diagnostic chips and molecular computers. /news/2025-06-photo-switchable-dna-condensates-enable.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Mon, 23 Jun 2025 14:40:03 EDT news669908401 Â鶹ÒùÔºicists at the University of Liège have succeeded in sculpting the surface of water by exploiting surface tension. Using 3D printing of closely spaced spines, they have combined menisci to create programmed liquid reliefs, capable of guiding particles under the action of gravity alone. This is a promising advance for microscopic transport and sorting, as well as marine pollution control. The research is published in the journal Nature Communications. /news/2025-06-physicists-3d-spines-sculpt-surface.html Soft Matter Tue, 17 Jun 2025 14:20:03 EDT news669388801 Chinese researchers have developed an advanced, high-throughput single-cell sorting platform that enables direct isolation of living cells with targeted metabolic profiles from large mutant libraries. /news/2025-06-cell-platform-discovery-high-microbes.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Tue, 03 Jun 2025 10:34:04 EDT news668165641 Human activities, such as agriculture, have dramatically increased nitrogen inputs into coastal seas. Microorganisms remove much of this human-derived nitrogen in coastal sands through a process called denitrification. Denitrification generally only occurs in the absence of oxygen. However, observations indicate that it also happens in oxygenated sands, via a thus far unknown mechanism. /news/2025-06-nitrogen-loss-sandy-shores-big.html Ecology Cell & Microbiology Mon, 02 Jun 2025 11:06:02 EDT news668081161 Water reshapes Earth through slow, powerful erosion, carving intricate landscapes like caves and pinnacles in soluble rocks such as limestone. An international team from the Faculty of Â鶹ÒùÔºics at the University of Warsaw, the University of Florida, and the Institute of Earth Sciences in Orléans has discovered that vertical channels, known as karstic solution pipes, preserve a record of Earth's climatic history. /news/2025-05-underground-channels-ancient-climate.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 28 May 2025 12:56:03 EDT news667655761 Researchers have created a pipeline for discovering unique combinations of molecules that increase the effectiveness of antibiotics against drug-resistant bacteria. The team, led by scientists at the Broad Institute and the Tufts University School of Medicine, used a microfluidic approach to screen more than 1 million combinations of antibiotics, small molecules, and bacteria. They identified a small molecule that boosts the power of the antibiotic rifampin in certain bacteria by weakening their defenses. The team also developed another molecule that was even more potent. /news/2025-05-combinatorial-screening-uncovers-molecules-antibiotics.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 28 May 2025 12:51:04 EDT news667655461 Organic particles that settle on the seabed ensure CO2 stays locked. However, natural gel-like substances slow down this process. Such microscale mechanisms play a crucial role in enhancing climate predictions. /news/2025-05-slower-microorganisms-bad-news-climate.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 28 May 2025 10:16:04 EDT news667646161 Blood vessels are like big-city highways; full of curves, branches, merges, and congestion. Yet for years, lab models replicated vessels like straight, simple roads. /news/2025-05-customizable-chips-mimic-real-life.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Tue, 27 May 2025 16:20:03 EDT news667581601 Chronic stress can lead to increased blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, decreased immune function, depression, and anxiety. Unfortunately, the tools we use to monitor stress are often imprecise or expensive, relying on self-reporting questionnaires and psychiatric evaluations. /news/2025-05-dental-floss-stress.html Biochemistry Polymers Mon, 26 May 2025 08:49:50 EDT news667468185 Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan have developed an interface that creates "virtual sorting nanomachines" without the need to manufacture actual devices. /news/2025-05-scientists-virtual-nanomachines-electron-graphene.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 22 May 2025 11:55:03 EDT news667133701 Soft-bodied robots are unlocking a new era of adaptive machines that can safely interact with the human body, squeeze through tight spaces, and propel themselves autonomously. /news/2025-05-pneumatic-soft-robot-mimics-rotating.html Biotechnology Thu, 22 May 2025 09:51:05 EDT news667126258 Researchers have developed a 3D micro-printed sensor for highly sensitive on-chip biosensing. The sensor, which is based on a polymer whispering-gallery-mode microlaser, opens new opportunities for developing high-performance, cost-effective lab-on-a-chip devices for early disease diagnosis. /news/2025-05-3d-microlaser-sensors-supercharged-biosensing.html Bio & Medicine Nanophysics Mon, 19 May 2025 13:38:04 EDT news666880681 Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), a DNA amplification technique valued for its speed, specificity, sensitivity, and simplicity, is increasingly employed in disease diagnostics and genetically modified organism detection. At the heart of this method lies the Bst DNA polymerase, whose enzymatic properties—such as strand displacement activity, thermostability, and catalytic efficiency—are critical to the success of isothermal amplification, typically conducted at 60–65°C. /news/2025-05-ultrahigh-throughput-screening-yields-dna.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Fri, 16 May 2025 10:30:03 EDT news666610201 When two organisms live together so closely that they merge into a functional unit, this is known as symbiosis. In the "1+1=1" project, an international, interdisciplinary research team is investigating how synthetic symbiosis between microorganisms can be created in a targeted manner—and what this reveals about the formation of complex cell structures. /news/2025-05-paramecium-cyanobacterium.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Mon, 12 May 2025 10:45:09 EDT news666265504 Polymer-coated nanoparticles loaded with therapeutic drugs show significant promise for cancer treatment, including ovarian cancer. These particles can be targeted directly to tumors, where they release their payload while avoiding many of the side effects of traditional chemotherapy. /news/2025-04-mass-nanoparticles-cancer-drugs-tumors.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 03 Apr 2025 12:41:04 EDT news662902861 Researchers from Hanyang University have developed an innovative micropillar array capable of collective and rapid magnetic oscillations, demonstrating strong potential for advanced applications in robotics, fluid transport, and dynamic surface control. /news/2025-04-synchronized-magnetic-oscillations-enable-micropillar.html Nanomaterials Wed, 02 Apr 2025 12:07:04 EDT news662814421 While the threat that microplastics pose to human and ecological health has been richly documented and is well known, nanoplastics, which are smaller than one micrometer (1/50th the thickness of an average human hair), are far more reactive, far more mobile and vastly more capable of crossing biological membranes. Yet, because they are so tiny and so mobile, researchers don't yet have an accurate understanding of just how toxic these particles are. /news/2025-03-scientists-ultraprecise-efficient-flexible-technique.html Environment Tue, 01 Apr 2025 05:00:08 EDT news662632882 Catalytic function and its efficiency play a significant role in industrial reactions, and consistent reforms are made in the methodology to enhance the large-scale synthesis of drugs, polymers, and other desired products. Available catalysts can be homogeneous, which means that they possess the same phase as the reactants and products, making them difficult to separate from the reaction mixture. On the other hand, heterogeneous catalysts are a preferred choice for such reactions because of their ease of separation and reusability. /news/2025-03-advancing-catalysis-porous-thin-approach.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Mon, 10 Mar 2025 12:31:03 EDT news660828661 The ability to better steer particles suspended in liquids could lead to better water purification processes, new drug delivery systems, and other applications. The key ingredient, say Yale researchers, is a pinch of salt. /news/2025-03-salt-colloids-purification-drug-delivery.html Soft Matter Thu, 06 Mar 2025 15:50:21 EST news660498614