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Researchers at the University of Kansas have used ultrafast lasers to map the ballistic movement of electrons in graphene, a two-dimensional nanomaterial. In ballistic transport, electrons move unimpeded with reduced collisions. Electronic devices using ballistic transport could potentially be faster, more powerful, and more energy-efficient.
Scientists from Rice University, the University of Utah, J.A. Woollam Co., Inc. (Lincoln, NE), and Tokyo Metropolitan University in Japan have developed two ways of making wafer-scale synthetic chiral carbon nanotube assemblies starting from achiral mixtures. The resulting "tornado" and "twisted-and-stacked" thin films can control ellipticity ⎯ a property of polarized light ⎯ to a level and in a range of the spectrum that was previously largely beyond reach.
Researchers from the Blood Research Institute in Milwaukee, WI; the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research in San Antonio, TX; the University of British Columbia, Canada; and Hokkaido University in Japan have described an approach based on platelet-optimized lipid nanoparticles containing mRNA for the treatment of bleeding disorders. The mRNA lipid nanoparticles were introduced inside donor platelets, so they can accumulate locally in wounds, providing hope that such donor platelets could one day treat acute bleeding disorders.
In a recent study, the Government Accountability Office has found that seven of the 11 Federal agencies participating in the SBIR and STTR programs used open topics. “Open topic” submissions are proposals that both define research needs and propose solutions to address them.
The NNI, with support from the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office, has organized a series of roundtable discussions on promising areas that could have near-term impacts (four years or less) on climate change. This summary focuses on batteries and energy storage.
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, and National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan have developed a new technique to integrate 2D materials into devices in a single step while keeping the surfaces of the materials and the resulting interfaces pristine and free from defects. Their method relies on engineering surface forces available at the nanoscale to allow the 2D material to be physically stacked onto other prebuilt device layers. The researchers used this approach to build arrays of 2D transistors that achieved new functionalities compared to devices produced using conventional fabrication techniques.
This workshop, which was held on Nov. 16–17, 2023, focused on research efforts to better understand environmental and health implications of engineered nanomaterials and ways to leverage the nanosafety infrastructure that has been developed over the past 20 years.
This profile article explores Rachel Miller's academic journey, her early interest in STEM, her personal and academic struggles, and how she became interested in nanoscience and, later, in scientific research.
Researchers from Boston Medical Center, Boston University, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania, and Acuitas Therapeutics (Vancouver, BC) have found evidence that a novel stem cell treatment, using mRNA technology encapsulated into nanoparticles – which was successfully used to produce COVID-19 vaccine – may boost the natural repair mechanism of the liver to regress the diseased tissue caused by either an acute or chronic liver injury. "This potential treatment has important clinical implications for people suffering from chronic liver disease, allowing the liver to heal itself, and potentially avoiding the need for many liver transplants," said Valerie Gouon-Evans, the corresponding author of the study. "It's our hope that these findings, with further study, will be translated to clinical patient care to alleviate chronic liver disease and the need for transplants as a result of acute or chronic injury."
Self-propelled nanoparticles could potentially advance drug delivery and lab-on-a-chip systems -- but they are prone to random, directionless movements. Now, researchers from Penn State, the University of Toronto in Canada, and Heilongjiang University of Science and Technology in China have
redesigned the nanoparticles into a propeller shape to better control their movements and increase their functionality. The nanoparticles were redesigned with a machine that can 3D-print at the nanoscale in Penn State's Materials Research Institute.
