In what may be a major leap forward in the quest for new treatments of the most common form of cardiovascular disease, scientists report they have found a way to halt and reverse the progression of atherosclerosis in rodents by loading microscopic nanoparticles with a chemical that restores the animals’ ability to properly handle cholesterol.

Researchers have successfully combined multiple functions into a single smart life-like material for the first time. These ‘designer’ materials could be used in the robotics, automotive, aerospace and security industries.

Scientists can image the optical properties of individual nanoparticles with a novel microscope.

Researchers have developed a 3D gap-plasmon antenna which can focus light into a few nanometers wide space.

Scientists have made exotic new materials by creating laser-induced micro-explosions in silicon, the common computer chip material.

A new study of hydrogen storage material magnesium hydride reveals path to better performance, possibly paving way toward better future fuel tanks.

If you suffer from chronic muscle pain a doctor will likely recommend for you to apply heat to the injury. But how do you effectively wrap that heat around a joint? Now scientists have come up with an ingenious way of creating therapeutic heat in a light, flexible design.

Using computational modeling, researchers have come up with a design for a sturdier liposome. Their findings, while theoretical, could provide the basis for efficiently constructing new vehicles for nanodrug delivery.

The efficiency of solar cells depends on precise engineering of polymers that assemble into films 1,000 times thinner than a human hair. Today, formation of that polymer assembly requires solvents that can harm the environment, but scientists have found a ‘greener’ way to control the assembly of photovoltaic polymers in water using a surfactant — a detergent-like molecule — as a template.

Researchers have developed a method for measuring soft, structured surfaces using optical forces. Surfaces separate outside from inside, control chemical reactions, and regulate the exchange of light, heat, and moisture. They thus play a special role in nature and technology. Researchers have presented an ultra-soft surface scanning method based on an optical trap and optical forces. Microscopy methods like these make it possible to measure particularly sensitive and minuscule structures without destroying them.