Self-assembly

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Self-assembly is a term used to describe processes in which a disordered system of pre-existing components forms an organized structure or pattern as a consequence of specific, local interactions among the components themselves, without external direction.

Self-assembly can be classified as either static or dynamic. In static self-assembly, the ordered state forms as a system approaches equilibrium, reducing its free energy. However in dynamic self-assembly, patterns of pre-existing components organized by specific local interactions are not commonly described as "self-assembled" by scientists in the associated disciplines. These structures are better described as "self-organized".

For more information about Self-assembly, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with self assembly


Switchable Nanostructures Made with DNA

Switchable Nanostructures Made with DNA

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (7) | comments 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 ...





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NASA Flight Tests Unique Jumbo Jet with Opening in Side

NASA Tests Unique Jumbo Jet with Opening in Side; Plane's Airborne Telescope Will Be Used to Study Cosmos

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created 22 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- A NASA jumbo jet that will help scientists unlock the origins of the universe with infrared observations reached a milestone Friday when doors covering the plane's telescope were fully opened ...


RNA on the move

RNA on the move

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 26, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

In the fruit fly Drosophila, oskar mRNA, which is involved in defining the animal’s body axes, is produced in the nuclei of nurse cells neighbouring the oocyte, and must be transported to the oocyte and along ...


Water droplets direct self-assembly process in thin-film materials

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 2

You can think of it as origami - very high-tech origami. Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a technique for fabricating three-dimensional, single-crystalline silicon structures from thin films by coupling ...


Tendons shape bones during embryonic development

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

In all vertebrates, including humans, bones, muscles and tendons work together to give the skeleton its characteristic balance of stability and movement. Now, new research uncovers a previously unrecognized interaction between ...


EU assembly adopts Internet, phone user rights

Technology / Telecom

created Nov 25, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 1

(AP) -- The European Parliament has endorsed new telecom rules that would give phone and Internet users more rights and allow them to appeal to national courts if they are cut off for illegal file-sharing.


System developed to detect plastic anti-personnel mines

System developed to detect plastic anti-personnel mines

Technology / Engineering

created 29 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A team of European researchers has devised a method for locating plastic anti-personnel mines, which are manufactured to avoid detection by metal detectors. The technique involves analysing the temperature ...


Computational microscope peers into the working ribosome

Computational microscope peers into the working ribosome (w/ Video)

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (9) | comments 2

Two new studies reveal in unprecedented detail how the ribosome interacts with other molecules to assemble new proteins and guide them toward their destination in biological cells. The studies used molecular ...


Children unaffected by smoking ban consequences

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 24, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

The smoking ban in Wales has not displaced secondhand smoke from public places into the home. A study of 3500 children from 75 primary schools in Wales, published in the open access journal BMC Public Health, found that t ...


Tool use in an invertebrate: The coconut-carrying octopus

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Scientists once thought of tool use as a defining feature of humans. That's until examples of tool use came in from other primates, along with birds and an array of other mammals. Now, a report in the December 14th issue ...


Organic flash memory developed

Organic flash memory developed

Technology / Semiconductors

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (20) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a non-volatile memory that has the same basic structure as a flash memory but is made from cheap, flexible, organic materials.



List of search results for self assembly