/ 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. Even the best products won't meet expectations if they are packed poorly—packaging matters. The same goes for drug delivery. Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have uncovered the critical role played by solvents in how effectively drugs can be loaded into metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), a promising class of drug carriers. /news/2025-06-optimal-solvents-boost-mof-carrier.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Fri, 13 Jun 2025 10:16:03 EDT news669028561 To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change, the world urgently needs clean and renewable energy sources. Hydrogen is one such clean energy source that has zero carbon content and stores much more energy by weight than gasoline. /news/2025-06-tunable-nanosheet-catalyst-cheaper-green.html Nanomaterials Thu, 12 Jun 2025 15:02:18 EDT news668959331 Breathalyzers are a frequently used tool to measure the amount of ethanol in someone's breath, which relates to their blood alcohol content. However, alcoholic beverages contaminated by methanol (sometimes called wood alcohol) are hard to identify and toxic if ingested. /news/2025-06-methanol-poisoning-easily-breathalyzer-sensor.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 11 Jun 2025 08:00:04 EDT news668748040 As the population grows and urbanization and agro-industrial activity increase, the demand for freshwater is expected to rise by 55% by 2050. Experts project that this increase in demand will strongly impact a scenario already characterized by scarce and unequally distributed water resources, the privatization of an essential public asset, and deteriorating water quality, especially in developing countries. /news/2025-06-emerging-pollutants-aggravating-crisis-countries.html Environment Mon, 09 Jun 2025 16:02:04 EDT news668703721 Quantum materials exhibit remarkable emergent properties when they are excited by external sources. Functional applications of these properties rely heavily on their tunability in real time. However, these excited states decay rapidly once the excitation is removed, limiting their practical applications. /news/2025-06-quantum-state-lifetimes-laser-triggered.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 05 Jun 2025 13:08:01 EDT news668347675 One of Earth's most common nanomaterials is facilitating breakthroughs in tackling climate change: clay. In a new study, researchers at Purdue University, in collaboration with experts from Sandia National Laboratories, have potentially uncovered a game-changing method for using clay to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the air to help mitigate climate change. /news/2025-06-clay-based-nanomaterials-solution-capture.html Nanomaterials Wed, 04 Jun 2025 14:06:04 EDT news668264761 A research team has developed a unified theoretical framework to better predict the performance of single-atom catalysts (SACs) for electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction (COâ‚‚RR). Their model incorporates both pH and interfacial electric field effects—two critical factors that have often been overlooked or oversimplified in conventional catalyst studies. /news/2025-05-driven-approach-conversion-catalysts.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 21 May 2025 16:53:03 EDT news667065181 The clean energy transition requires new means to transport energy that are less reliant on burning fossil fuels. This requires new materials to catalyze reactions to store and extract energy from chemical energy carriers without combustion. /news/2025-05-tool-stable-metal-frameworks-energy.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 21 May 2025 14:54:04 EDT news667058042 As core components for generating coherent tunable radiation sources in all-solid-state lasers, second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) crystals have demonstrated significant technical advantages in many fields. Metal chalcogenides with tetrahedral cluster (Tn) as the structural unit are regarded as candidate systems for NLO materials of the mid- and far-infrared bands due to their potential strong second-harmonic-generation (SHG) response and wide infrared transmission range. /news/2025-05-inorganic-polycations-widening-infrared-transparency.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 21 May 2025 14:37:03 EDT news667057022 Propane dehydrogenation is a key industrial route to producing propylene without relying on oil. However, its current production processes rely heavily on precious-metal catalysts such as Pt-based materials. Developing efficient alternatives using Earth-abundant metals has remained a challenge. /news/2025-05-cobalt-catalyst-rivals-platinum-key.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Tue, 20 May 2025 15:29:03 EDT news666973742 Determining how strong your drink is doesn't need to be either guesswork or lab work. New research has made it as simple as checking your messages—and more colorful, too. The study is published in the journal Small Science. /news/2025-05-sensor-alcohol-smartphone-snap.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Tue, 20 May 2025 10:53:04 EDT news666957182 Artificial light, once a luxury, has become central to modern life, with its evolution spanning from fire to LEDs. Now, researchers have developed a new class of efficient light-emitting materials as promising candidates to be applied to lighten the darkness. They demonstrated easily accessible aluminum-based organometallic complexes that have the potential to be applied in optoelectronic devices. /news/2025-05-subtle-ligand-modifications-aluminum-complexes.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Fri, 16 May 2025 13:55:04 EDT news666622501 Capturing carbon dioxide (COâ‚‚) from industrial processes is a necessary step to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and minimize the severe impacts of climate change. A new report from the University of Nottingham explains that sponge-like pellets may hold the key to preventing COâ‚‚ from entering the atmosphere, supporting future net zero ambitions. /news/2025-05-sponge-pellets-carbon-dioxide-atmosphere.html Materials Science Tue, 13 May 2025 11:53:04 EDT news666355982 As industries seek innovative solutions for carbon capture, scientists have turned to advanced materials that efficiently trap and store carbon dioxide (COâ‚‚) from industrial emissions. /news/2025-05-carbon-physical-probing-material.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Tue, 13 May 2025 11:20:04 EDT news666353430 Metals and hormone-disrupting substances such as estrogens present a genuine risk to the sustainability of agriculture and water management in Europe. This is the conclusion of doctoral research conducted by Chinese environmental scientist Yuwei Jia at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Her research provides new insights into the distribution, availability, and risks associated with these pollutants, while also highlighting shortcomings in current regulations. /news/2025-05-metals-hormone-disrupting-substances-threaten.html Ecology Agriculture Fri, 09 May 2025 12:30:01 EDT news666012180 The international legal order is floundering. The geopolitical and resource policy priorities of the United States are shifting. /news/2025-05-current-legal-frameworks-oceans-deep.html Environment Thu, 01 May 2025 12:44:23 EDT news665322261 A collaborative research effort between UNIST and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) has led to the successful synthesis of three novel porous materials by leveraging a data-driven structure prediction algorithm. These newly developed materials, modeled after zeolites, represent metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with exceptional selectivity in gas separation, particularly for carbon dioxide (COâ‚‚). /news/2025-04-driven-algorithm-yields-unique-zifs.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Tue, 29 Apr 2025 10:26:02 EDT news665141161 A research team has developed a highly stable and efficient water oxidation catalyst, marking a major advancement in the field of green hydrogen production via water splitting technology. /news/2025-04-scientists-strategy-oxidation-catalysis.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 25 Apr 2025 12:25:03 EDT news664802701 The Isle of Man government has said it is "fully committed to environmental protection and transparency" regarding its Unesco biosphere status—despite admitting that legacy landfill sites are discharging hazardous chemical contaminants into the sea. /news/2025-04-toxic-chemical-pollution-isle-defends.html Environment Tue, 22 Apr 2025 12:13:06 EDT news664542782 In a new Nature Â鶹ÒùÔºics study, researchers have provided evidence of universal conformal invariance in living biological cells. They show that a universal feature in the collective behavior emerges in groups of living cells. /news/2025-04-scientists-evidence-universal-conformal-invariance.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Fri, 11 Apr 2025 06:30:03 EDT news663499272 Scientists at IMDEA Nanociencia are working on the development of materials whose properties can change as easily as we flip a switch. They focus on joining molecular switching (spin transition), electrical transport properties and porosity in the same material. Such materials have an enormous potential to host gas molecules, such as carbon dioxide or hydrogen, and feature responsive properties in the presence of these gases. /news/2025-04-nanostructuring-mof-crystals-potential-retaining.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 03 Apr 2025 04:24:24 EDT news662873060 Picture an ocean world so deep and dark it feels like another planet—where creatures glow and life survives under crushing pressure. /news/2025-03-deep-sea-threatens-life-dumping.html Ecology Tue, 25 Mar 2025 12:19:04 EDT news662123941 Complex materials such as organic semiconductors or the microporous metal-organic frameworks known as MOFs are already being used for numerous applications such as OLED displays, solar cells, gas storage and water extraction. Nevertheless, they still harbor a few secrets. One of these has so far been a detailed understanding of how they transport thermal energy. /news/2025-03-machine-uncovers-hidden-mechanisms-semiconductors.html Condensed Matter Thu, 20 Mar 2025 13:06:03 EDT news661694761 A new study provides important insights into the spread of antibiotic resistance (ABR) in different river systems. The study, conducted by researchers from the Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences (KL Krems) and partner organizations, uses a comprehensive, harmonized methodology that has been applied for the first time to compare different rivers. The work is published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials. /news/2025-03-patterns-antibiotic-resistance-vary-widely.html Ecology Cell & Microbiology Wed, 19 Mar 2025 12:45:04 EDT news661607101 A novel porous material capable of separating deuterium (D2) from hydrogen (H2) at a temperature of 120 K (-153°C) has been introduced. Notably, this temperature exceeds the liquefaction point of natural gas, which is 111 K (-162°C), by more than 10°C, thus facilitating large-scale industrial applications. This advancement presents an attractive pathway for the economical production of D2 by leveraging the existing infrastructure of liquefied natural gas (LNG) production pipelines. /news/2025-03-porous-material-deuterium-elevated-temperatures.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 19 Mar 2025 11:49:31 EDT news661603767 Researchers from Kyoto University have achieved a significant advancement in materials science by developing the world's first three-dimensional van der Waals open frameworks (WaaFs). This innovation challenges the conventional belief that van der Waals interactions are too weak for open framework materials, demonstrating their potential for stable and highly porous materials. /news/2025-03-3d-van-der-waals-frameworks.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Tue, 18 Mar 2025 06:00:06 EDT news661420253 Several countries united with campaign groups on Monday to call for caution in regulating the divisive practice of deep-sea mining at a meeting on the issue in Jamaica. /news/2025-03-divisive-deep-sea-resume-jamaica.html Environment Tue, 18 Mar 2025 05:50:01 EDT news661494516 Nerve agents are highly toxic chemical warfare agents that inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in the nervous system, causing severe symptoms such as seizures and respiratory failure. Timely detection of these agents is crucial to protect human health. /news/2025-03-defect-metal-frameworks-rapid-nerve.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Mon, 17 Mar 2025 16:39:39 EDT news661448371 Researchers have developed metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that efficiently produce hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) using small temperature differences, offering a sustainable approach to chemical production. /news/2025-03-harnessing-metal-frameworks-enable-efficient.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Thu, 06 Mar 2025 10:27:04 EST news660479222 A small team of materials scientists and chemical engineers at Qingdao University, in China, has developed a self-powered, three-component biosensor that can kill bacteria in water samples. The study is published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials. /news/2025-03-powered-biosensor-bacteria-samples.html Biochemistry Materials Science Tue, 04 Mar 2025 10:40:01 EST news660306637