EurekAlert! InContext Modules

Public Release: 19-Jun-2013

Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems
New microfluidic chip can help identify unwanted particles in water and food
Virginia Tech researchers developed a new microfabrication technique to develop three-dimensional microfluidic devices in polymers. The devices can be used in the analysis of cells and could prove useful in counterterrorism measures and in water and food safety concerns.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 19-Jun-2013

Science Translational Medicine
A shot in the arm for old antibiotics
Slipping bacteria some silver could give old antibiotics new life, scientists at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University reported June 19 in Science Translational Medicine. This could pave the way for new therapies for drug-resistant and recurrent infections.

National Institutes of Health, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering

Public Release: 19-Jun-2013

ACS Nano
Sound waves precisely position nanowires
The smaller components become, the more difficult it is to create patterns in an economical and reproducible way, according to an interdisciplinary team of Penn State researchers who, using sound waves, can place nanowires in repeatable patterns for potential use in a variety of sensors, optoelectronics and nanoscale circuits.

National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation

Public Release: 19-Jun-2013

PLOS ONE
Carbon nanotube harpoon catches individual brain-cell signals
Neuroscientists may soon be modern-day harpooners, snaring individual brain-cell signals instead of whales with tiny spears made of carbon nanotubes.

Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 18-Jun-2013

Advanced Materials
Printing tiny batteries
Three-dimensional printing can now be used to print lithium-ion microbatteries the size of a grain of sand. The printed microbatteries could supply electricity to tiny devices in fields from medicine to communications, including many that have lingered on lab benches for lack of a battery small enough to fit the device, yet provide enough stored energy to power them.

National Science Foundation, US Department of Energy

Public Release: 18-Jun-2013
US and Canadian researchers drive towards cheaper fuel cells for electric cars
A million electric cars could be on roads across North America before the end of the decade with the help of research by the United States Department of Energy, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of Waterloo.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 17-Jun-2013

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
New way to improve antibiotic production
New research findings could reduce production times and therefore costs for antibiotic producers.

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Public Release: 17-Jun-2013

Nature Materials
Efficient and inexpensive: Researchers develop catalyst material for fuel cells
Efficient, robust and economic catalyst materials hold the key to achieving a breakthrough in fuel cell technology. Scientists from Jülich and Berlin have developed a material for converting hydrogen and oxygen to water using a tenth of the typical amount of platinum that was previously required. With the aid of state-of-the-art electron microscopy, the researchers discovered that the function of the nanometre-scale catalyst particles is decisively determined by their geometric shape and atomic structure.

Public Release: 17-Jun-2013

Journal of the American Chemical Society
An innovative material for the green Earth
Researchers from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, S. Korea, developed a novel, simple method to synthesize hierarchically nanoporous frameworks of nanocrystalline metal oxides such as magnesia and ceria by the thermal conversion of well-designed metal-organic frameworks.

National Research Foundation of Korea, South Korea

Public Release: 17-Jun-2013

International Journal of Robotics Research
A robot that runs like a cat
Thanks to its legs, whose design faithfully reproduces feline morphology, EPFL's four-legged "cheetah-cub robot" has the same advantages as its model: it is small, light and fast. Still in its experimental stage, the robot will serve as a platform for research in locomotion and biomechanics.

Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

Public Release: 16-Jun-2013

Nature Chemistry
IU chemists produce star-shaped macromolecule that grabs large anions
Chemists at Indiana University Bloomington have created a symmetrical, five-sided macrocycle that is easy to synthesize and has characteristics that may help expand the molecular tool box available to researchers in biology, chemistry and materials sciences. The molecule, which the researchers call cyanostar, was developed in the lab of Amar Flood, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 14-Jun-2013

IEEE Transactions on Haptics
New array measures vibrations across skin may help engineers design tactile displays
A new array measures vibrations across skin may help engineers design tactile displays.

Public Release: 13-Jun-2013

ACS Nano
Unzipped nanotubes unlock potential for batteries
Graphene nanoribbons and tin oxide make an effective anode for lithium ion batteries, as discovered in early tests at Rice University.

Air Force Office of Naval Research, Office of Naval Research, Sandia National Lab

Public Release: 13-Jun-2013

SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing 2013
Autonomous energy-scavenging micro devices will test water quality, monitor bridges, more
Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario are using photonics in their quest to "bring the lab to the sample," developing sophisticated micro instruments that scavenge power from sunlight, body heat, or other sources, for uses such as monitoring water quality or assessing bridge safety.

Contact: Amy Nelson
amy@sie.org
306-685-5478
SPIE--International Society for Optics and Photonics

Public Release: 13-Jun-2013

Journal of Chromotography B
Monell-led research identifies scent of melanoma
Monell researchers identified odorants from human skin cells that can be used to identify melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. In addition, a nanotechnology-based sensor could utilize the odor profiles to reliably differentiate melanoma cells from normal skin cells. Non-invasive odor analysis may be a valuable technique in the detection and early diagnosis of human melanoma.

NIH/National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

Public Release: 13-Jun-2013
New 'electronic nose' nano-sensor being developed for food safety, health
The "electronic nose" sensor developed by a University of California, Riverside engineering professor, and being commercialized by Innovation Economy Crowd, will be further refined to detect deadly pathogens including toxic pesticides in the global food supply chain, according to a recently signed product development and distribution agreement.

Public Release: 13-Jun-2013

Journal of the Americal Chemical Society
Nanoparticle opens the door to clean-energy alternatives
Cheaper clean-energy technologies could be made possible thanks to a new discovery. An important chemical reaction that generates hydrogen from water is effectively triggered -- or catalyzed -- by a nanoparticle composed of nickel and phosphorus, two inexpensive elements that are abundant on Earth. The research team is led by Raymond Schaak, a professor of chemistry at Penn State University.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 13-Jun-2013

ACS Nano
Light-carved 'nano-volcanoes' hold promise for drug delivery
Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a method for creating "nano-volcanoes" by shining various colors of light through a nanoscale "crystal ball" made of a synthetic polymer. These nano-volcanoes can store precise amounts of other materials and hold promise for new drug-delivery technologies.

NASA, National Science Foundation