News tagged with nature materials

Next generation lens promises more control

Physics / Condensed Matter

Dec 20, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (22) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Duke University engineers have created a new generation of lens that could greatly improve the capabilities of telecommunications or radar systems to provide a wide field of view and greater ...

First metallic nanoparticles resistant to extreme heat

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Nov 30, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (5) | 0

A University of Pittsburgh team overcame a major hurdle plaguing the development of nanomaterials such as those that could lead to more efficient catalysts used to produce hydrogen and render car exhaust less toxic. The researchers ...

Microscopy reveals structure of calcite shells

Chemistry / Materials Science

Nov 30, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Lara Estroff and colleagues have taken a deep, detailed look at the way lab-created calcite crystals, similar to those found in nature, grow in tandem with proteins and other large molecules.

Highlight: Biofunctionalized magnetic-vortex microdiscs

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Dec 09, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (4) | 0

Users from Argonne's Materials Science Division and University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine, working collaboratively on a user science project with CNM's Nanobio Interfaces Group, have discovered ...

Metamaterials could reduce friction in nanomachines

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Dec 07, 2009 | 5 / 5 (4) | 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Nanoscale machines expected to have wide application in industry, energy, medicine and other fields may someday operate far more efficiently thanks to important theoretical discoveries concerning the manipulation ...

Nature's fine designs: Scientists find modern lessons in ancient creations

Biology / Other

Dec 04, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (4) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Nature and its bottom-up processes for creating robust and responsive materials are inspiring new generations of synthetic materials and creative design.

Entropy alone creates complex crystals from simple shapes, study shows

Chemistry / Materials Science

Dec 09, 2009 | 4.9 / 5 (21) | 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a study that elevates the role of entropy in creating order, research led by the University of Michigan shows that certain pyramid shapes can spontaneously organize into complex quasicrystals.

Sparkly Spiders and Photonic Fish

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Dec 09, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (2) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists in Israel and the UK have uncovered the details of how certain fish and spiders create their iridescent scales and silvery skins.

Highlight: Exploiting strain fields

Physics / Condensed Matter

Dec 10, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Electronic devices of the future may benefit from a fundamental discovery that allows researchers to customize the electronic properties of complex materials such as single-crystal thin-film structures.

Innovation puts next-generation solar cells on the horizon

Chemistry / Materials Science

Dec 01, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (30) | 12

In a world first, a Monash University-led international research team has developed an innovative way to boost the output of the next generation of solar cells.

Switchable Nanostructures Made with DNA

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

Dec 21, 2009 | 4.6 / 5 (10) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have found a new way to use a synthetic form of DNA to control the assembly of nanoparticles — this time resulting ...

Secret behind the composition of the varnish on Stradivari violins revealed

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

Dec 04, 2009 | 4.7 / 5 (23) | 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- Antonio Stradivari is the most famous instrument maker of all time. He was especially famous for his violins, which he produced in Cremona from about 1665 until his death in 1737. In particular, ...

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