Scientists combine techniques to create a new way to characterize the nanoscale spaces in porous materials. The technique should be of value to materials and biological sciences.

The tiniest of scanners could be a huge step forward in the fight against cancer. “Nanopore” scanners could save lives by detecting individual DNA molecules, making it possible to diagnose colorectal and lung cancers at their earliest stages.

A team of physicists has taken pictures of a theorized but previously undetected magnetic wave, the discovery of which offers the potential to be an energy-efficient means to transfer data in consumer electronics.

A cut or tear in a material is typically a sign of weakness. Now researchers have created complex 3-D micro- and nanostructures out of silicon and other materials using an assembly method that uses cuts to advantage. The technique can create closed-form 3-D shapes from 2-D material in an instant, like a pop-up children’s book. The work borrows ideas from Kirigami, the ancient Japanese technique for forming paper structures by folding and cutting.

Many semiconductor devices in modern technology are based on nanostructures. Producing arrays of regular nanostructures usually requires substantial effort. If they were self-organized, the production of such devices would be considerably faster and the costs would therefore sink. Researchers have now demonstrated a method for self-organization of nanostructured arrays via broad ion beam irradiation.

hysicists have experimentally demonstrated the feasibility of designing an optical analog of a transistor based on a single silicon nanoparticle. Because transistors are some of the most fundamental components of computing circuits, the results of the study have crucial importance for the development of optical computers, where transistors must be very small and ultrafast at the same time.

Scientists have developed a new way to study nanoparticles one at a time, and have discovered that individual particles that may seem identical in fact can have very different properties. The results may prove to be important when developing new materials or applications such as hydrogen sensors for fuel cell cars.

An international team of scientists has developed a one-step process for making seamless carbon-based nanomaterials that possess superior thermal, electrical and mechanical properties in three dimensions.

Using computational and experimental methods, researchers have developed a technique for creating so-called protein-DNA nanowires — a hybrid biomaterial that could have important applications.

Researchers have developed innovative flat, optical lenses that are capable of manipulating light in ways that are difficult or impossible to achieve with conventional optical devices. The new lenses are not made of glass. Instead, silicon nanopillars are precisely arranged into a honeycomb pattern to create a “metasurface” that can control the paths and properties of passing light waves.