A new approach for better integrating medical devices with biological systems has been developed by scientists with the first skeleton-like silicon spicules ever prepared via chemical processes.

A nano-catalyst for air cleaning in a smoking room has been developed that can remove 100 percent of acetaldehyde which accounts for the largest portion of the gaseous substances present in cigarette smoke.

The development of metal oxide-based molecular wires is important for fundamental research and potential practical applications. However, examples of these materials are rare. Researchers have now successfully created ultrathin all-inorganic molecular nanowires, composed of a repeating hexagonal molecular unit made of Mo and Te; the diameters of these wires were only 1.2 nm.

New research has shown how a smart sensor chip, able to pick up on subtle differences in glycoprotein molecules, can improve the accuracy and efficiency of prostate cancer diagnosis.

Using a single molecule as a sensor, scientists have successfully imaged electric potential fields with unrivaled precision. The ultrahigh-resolution images provide information on the distribution of charges in the electron shells of single molecules and even atoms. The 3-D technique is also contact-free. The first results achieved using ‘scanning quantum dot microscopy’ have now been published.

Hyperthermia (increase in body temperature) has been used for centuries to combat tumors and reduce their effects. New research aims to use a different system (magnetic nanoparticles) to increase body temperature. These nanoparticles absorb energy from magnetic fields and convert it into heat which is used to raise the temperature in tumors and combat them.

Scientists propose a novel nanotechnology-based strategy to improve water filtration. The project was an experiment in crowdsourced computing — carried out by over 150,000 volunteers who contributed their own computing power to the research.

For the first time, Harvard researchers have created wakes of light-like waves moving on a metallic surface, called surface plasmons, and demonstrated that they can be controlled and steered. The creation and control of surface plasmon wakes could lead to new types of plasmonic couplers and lenses that could create two-dimensional holograms or focus light at the nanoscale.

A new type of sensor, that is much faster than competing technologies used to detect and identify hidden objects, has been developed by scientists.

Scientists have for the first time described the behavior of electrons in a previously unstudied analogue of graphene, two-dimensional niobium telluride, and, in the process, uncovered the nature of two-dimensionality effects on conducting properties.