/ 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. Haozhe "Harry" Wang, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering (ECE) at Duke University and an expert in developing new methods for manufacturing materials, continues to push the boundaries in MXene research. /news/2025-07-mxenes-gain-flexibility-precise-plasma.html Nanomaterials Wed, 09 Jul 2025 04:29:14 EDT news671254146 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 To make advances in using microbes to sustainably produce materials, it is necessary to find new molecular tools, or enzymes—but this is labor intensive. A Kobe University team has developed a technique that can classify thousands of candidates and a workflow that can evaluate representatives overnight, in what may become a fundamental technology for biomanufacturing. /news/2025-06-technique-rapidly-high-enzymes-sustainable.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Thu, 26 Jun 2025 23:00:01 EDT news670137794 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 NASA's RASSOR (Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot) undergoes testing to extract simulated regolith, or the loose, fragmental material on the moon's surface, inside of the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations Lab at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 27. Ben Burdess, mechanical engineer at NASA Kennedy, observes RASSOR's counterrotating drums digging up the lunar dust and creating a three-foot berm. /news/2025-06-nasa-kennedy-latest-robot.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 04 Jun 2025 10:56:02 EDT news668253361 A technique developed by Politecnico di Milano researchers is enabling scientists to control specific bacterial functions using light-sensitive materials. The Engineering of Bacteria to See Light (EOS) project has pioneered a system that allows bacteria to sense light and convert light energy into electrical signals across their membranes without the need for any genetic modification. This method is being explored as a promising solution to the growing global challenge of antibiotic resistance. /news/2025-06-bacterial-robot-tackles-antibiotic-resistance.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Tue, 03 Jun 2025 14:03:56 EDT news668178230 Picture a place at the center of a global seaweed revolution. I'll bet the small English seaside town of Paignton in south Devon is not what comes to mind. A decade ago, I moved from the edge of Dartmoor to the coast. It was about a simple change in work-life balance, but what followed was more surprising. /news/2025-06-seaweed-powerful-climate-solution.html Ecology Agriculture Mon, 02 Jun 2025 14:15:00 EDT news668092496 Northwestern University researchers have developed a new water- and oil-resistant material that could become a safe, viable replacement for harmful plastics and toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging. /news/2025-06-pfas-safe-graphene-oxide-solution.html Materials Science Mon, 02 Jun 2025 12:10:08 EDT news668085003 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 Lunar exploration is entering a new era. Long after the Apollo missions, a renewed international interest comes with ambitious plans for a long-term presence on the moon. NASA's Artemis program is leading efforts to return humans to the lunar surface, with Artemis III aiming to land astronauts near the moon's South Pole as early as 2026. /news/2025-05-space-power-satellites-moon-lunar.html Space Exploration Thu, 29 May 2025 10:16:59 EDT news667732616 Around the world, knives are a popular weapon of choice among criminals. In Australia, for example, they are the most common weapon used in homicides. And in countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada, knife crime has recently been on the rise. /news/2025-05-knife-crime-common-difficult-robots.html Political science Thu, 29 May 2025 10:08:05 EDT news667732082 China on Thursday launched a space probe on the country's first mission to retrieve samples from an asteroid and bring them home for research, the Xinhua state news agency reported. /news/2025-05-china-space-probe-asteroid-samples.html Space Exploration Wed, 28 May 2025 16:27:52 EDT news667668466 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 Andy Weir's bestselling story "The Martian" predicts that by 2035 NASA will have landed humans on Mars three times, perfected return-to-Earth flight systems and collaborated with the China National Space Administration. We are now 10 years past the Hollywood adaptation's 2015 release and 10 years shy of its fictional timeline. At this midpoint, Mars exploration looks a bit different than how it was portrayed in "The Martian," with both more discoveries and more controversy. /news/2025-05-decade-martian-planetary-scientist-real.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 22 May 2025 15:20:02 EDT news667138356