Someday, treating patients with nanorobots could become standard practice to deliver medicine specifically to parts of the body affected by disease. But merely injecting drug-loaded nanoparticles might not always be enough to get them where they need to go. Now scientists are reporting the development of new nanoswimmers that can move easily through body fluids to their targets.

Scientists have used a new scanning electron microscopy technique to resolve the unique atomic structure at the surface of a material. This new technique holds promise for the study of catalysis, corrosion and other critical chemical reactions.

Researchers have found an easy way to produce carbon nanoparticles that are small enough to evade the body’s immune system, reflect light in the near-infrared range for easy detection, and carry payloads of pharmaceutical drugs to targeted tissues. The new approach generates the particles in a few hours and uses only a handful of ingredients, including store-bought molasses.

Chemists have developed a major improvement to capture and retain energy from sunlight, where the stored energy can last dramatically longer than current solar technology allows — up to several weeks, instead of the microseconds found in today’s rooftop solar panels.

It’s possible to vary (even dramatically) the sliding properties of atoms on a surface by changing the size and “compression” of their aggregates, according to new research.

Medical science is placing high hopes on nanoparticles that could be used as a vehicle for targeted drug delivery. Scientists have for the first time succeeded in assaying the stability of these particles and their distribution within the body. Their results show that a lot of research is still needed in this field.

Scientists built nanoscale mirrors to trap light around atoms inside of diamond crystals. The mirrored cavities allow light to bounce back and forth up to 10,000 times, enhancing the normally weak interaction between light and the electronic spin states in the atoms. As a result, a 200-microsecond spin-coherence time was produced. The enhanced interactions and extended spin-coherence times are essential steps toward realizing quantum computing systems to solve some problems faster than conventional systems.

Physicists have developed a new way to control the transport of electrical currents through high-temperature superconductors — materials discovered nearly 30 years ago that lose all resistance to electricity at commercially attainable low temperatures.

Researchers are focusing on printed electronics: using inkjet technology to print electronic nanomaterials onto flexible substrates. When compared to traditional methods used in microelectronics fabrication, the new technology conserves material and is more environmentally friendly.

Scientists have developed a new technique to rapidly create multi-layered, self-assembled grids could transform the manufacture of high-tech coatings for anti-reflective surfaces, improved solar cells, and touchscreen electronics