Working with a device that slightly resembles a microscopically tiny tuning fork, researchers have recently developed coupled microcantilevers that can make mass measurements on the order of nanograms with only a 1 percent margin of error — potentially enabling the weighing of individual molecules in liquid environments.

Researchers have uncovered physical mechanisms allowing the manipulation of magnetic information with heat. These new phenomena rely on the transport of thermal energy, in contrast to the conventional application of magnetic fields, providing a new, and highly desirable way to manipulate magnetization at the nanoscale.

Photoinduced chemical reactions are responsible for many fundamental processes and technologies, from energy conversion in nature to micro fabrication by photo-lithography. Scientists have now monitored the chemical processes during a photographic exposure at the level of individual nanoscale grains in real-time.

A key achievement in shrinking photonic devices below the diffraction limit — a necessary step on the road to making photonic circuits competitive with today’s technology — has been revealed by scientists.

Scientists devised a new way of assembling ordered crystals made of nanoparticles. In this process, nanoparticles in the shape of cubes, octahedrons, and spheres coordinate with each other to build structures. The shapes are bound together by complementary DNA molecules on each type of particle.

There are no magic bullets for global energy needs. But fuel cells in which electrical energy is harnessed directly from live, self-sustaining chemical reactions promise cheaper alternatives to fossil fuels.

Imagine being able to test your food in your very own kitchen to quickly determine if it carried any deadly microbes. New research may make that possible.

As the demand grows for ever smaller, smarter electronics, so does the demand for understanding materials’ behavior at ever smaller scales. Physicists are building a unique optical magnetometer to probe magnetism at the nano- and mesoscale.

From targeted drug delivery to the self-assembly of nano robots, new research is using super-sized atoms to reveal the behavior of liquids in microscopic channels.