Imagine tiny LEGO pieces that automatically snap together to form a strong, flat sheet. Then, scientists add special chemical "hooks" to these sheets to attach glowing molecules called fluorophores. University of Missouri researchers have created these tiny, clay-based materials — called fluorescent polyionic nanoclays. They can be customized for many uses, including advancing energy and sensor technology, improving medical treatments and protecting the environment.

The University of Missouri’s transformative initiative to build a new, state-of-the-art research reactor — NextGen MURR — is officially underway with the signing of the first agreement, announced today. Mizzou will partner with a consortium that includes Hyundai Engineering America, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), the Hyundai Engineering Company and MPR Associates for the design and licensing of the new reactor.

Beneath the steaming geysers and bubbling mud pots of Yellowstone National Park lies one of the world’s most closely watched volcanic systems. Now a team of geoscientists has uncovered new evidence that sheds light on how this mighty system may behave in the future — and what might keep it from erupting. The findings were recently published in Nature.

Switching from diesel to electric trains dramatically improved the air quality aboard the San Francisco Bay Area’s Caltrain commuter rail line, reducing riders’ exposure to the carcinogen black carbon by an average of 89%, finds a new study published today in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters. The electrification of the system also significantly reduced the ambient black carbon concentrations within and around the San Francisco station.

As part of a long-term research collaboration, battery researchers from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) and visiting researchers at the University of California San Diego found negative-thermal expansion in metastable oxygen-redox active materials. These materials shrink when heated, expand when contracted and otherwise defy thermodynamics as it is currently understood.