Science

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UTA researcher to build internal nanotechnology device to simplify blood sugar testing: Medical technologies

What if a diabetic never had to prick a finger to monitor his or her blood-glucose levels, and instead could rely on an internal, nanoscale device to analyze blood continuously and transmit readings to a hand-held scanner?

That's the life-transforming medical technology that Kyungsuk Yum, an assistant professor in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at The University of Texas at Arlington, is developing with support from a $100,000 Texas Medical Research Collaborative grant.

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Researchers from Deakin and Drexel develop super-absorbent material to soak up oil spills

In hopes of limiting the disastrous environmental effects of massive oil spills, materials scientists from Drexel University and Deakin University, in Australia, have teamed up to manufacture and test a new material, called a boron nitride nanosheet, that can absorb up to 33 times its weight in oils and organic solvents--a trait that could make it an important technology for quickly mitigating these costly accidents.

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This is a boron nitride nanosheet next to spike of a plant.

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New study reveals what's behind a tarantula's blue hue: Researchers uncover nanostructures in exoskeleton of blue-haired tarantulas

Scientists recently discovered that tiny, multilayer nanostructures inside a tarantula's hair are responsible for its vibrant color. The science behind how these hair-raising spiders developed their blue hue may lead to new ways to improve computer or TV screens using biomimicry.

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This is a critically endangered gooty sapphire ornamental tarantula and its reflection.

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MIT mathematicians identify limits to heat flow at the nanoscale: New formula identifies limits to nanoscale heat transfer, may help optimize devices that convert heat to electricity

How much heat can two bodies exchange without touching? For over a century, scientists have been able to answer this question for virtually any pair of objects in the macroscopic world, from the rate at which a campfire can warm you up, to how much heat the Earth absorbs from the sun. But predicting such radiative heat transfer between extremely close objects has proven elusive for the past 50 years.

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MIT mathematicians have identified the limits to heat flow at the nanoscale.

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Scientists 'see' detailed make-up of deadly toxin for the first time: Exciting advance provides hope for developing novel potential method of treating pneumococcal diseases such as bacterial pneumonia, meningitis and septicaemia

Scientists from the University of Leicester have for the first time created a detailed image of a toxin - called pneumolysin - associated with deadly infections such as bacterial pneumonia, meningitis and septicaemia.

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Figure shows the way that copies of the toxin pack together to form pores in cells.

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NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover Heads Toward Active Dunes

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This Sept. 25, 2015, view from the Mast Camera on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a dark sand dune in the middle distance.

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ORNL microscopy captures real-time view of evolving fuel cell catalysts

Atomic-level imaging of catalysts by scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory could help manufacturers lower the cost and improve the performance of emission-free fuel cell technologies.

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Models of platinum-cobalt nanoparticle catalysts illustrate how specific atomic configurations originate and evolve as the particles are heated.

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Nanocarriers may carry new hope for brain cancer therapy: Berkeley Lab researchers develop nanoparticles that can carry therapeutics across the brain blood barrier

Glioblastoma multiforme, a cancer of the brain also known as "octopus tumors" because of the manner in which the cancer cells extend their tendrils into surrounding tissue, is virtually inoperable, resistant to therapies, and always fatal, usually within 15 months of onset. Each year, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) kills approximately 15,000 people in the United States. One of the major obstacles to treatment is the blood brain barrier, the network of blood vessels that allows essential nutrients to enter the brain but blocks the passage of other substances. What is desperately needed is a means of effectively transporting therapeutic drugs through this barrier. A nanoscience expert at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) may have the solution.

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At only 20 nanometers in size and featuring a unique hierarchical structure, 3HM nanocarriers meet all the size and stability requirements for effectively delivering therapeutic drugs to brain cancer tumors.

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UMD & Army researchers discover salty solution to better, safer batteries: Greatest potential uses seen in safety-critical, automotive and grid-storage applications

A team of researchers from the University of Maryland (UMD) and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) have devised a groundbreaking "Water-in-Salt" aqueous Lithium ion battery technology that could provide power, efficiency and longevity comparable to today's Lithium-ion batteries, but without the fire risk, poisonous chemicals and environmental hazards of current Lithium batteries.

The team of researchers, led by Chunsheng Wang, an associate professor in UMD's Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, and Kang Xu, senior research chemist at the Sensor and Electron Devices Directorate of ARL, said their work, published this week in the journal Science, demonstrates a major advance in the long history of water-based (aqueous) batteries by doubling the voltage, or power, of an aqueous battery.

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NASA Orders SpaceX Crew Mission to International Space Station

NASA took a significant step Friday toward expanding research opportunities aboard the International Space Station with its first mission order from Hawthorne, California based-company SpaceX to launch astronauts from U.S. soil.

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