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Controlled Release of Anticorrosive Materials in Spot by Nanocarriers

Iranian researchers designed polymeric nanocarriers with the capability to carry anticorrosive materials to metallic surfaces and prevent the corrosion of surfaces by releasing their contents in a controlled manner.

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DNA Double Helix Does Double Duty in Assembling Arrays of Nanoparticles: Synthetic pieces of biological molecule form framework and glue for making nanoparticle clusters and arrays

In a new twist on the use of DNA in nanoscale construction, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and collaborators put synthetic strands of the biological material to work in two ways: They used ropelike configurations of the DNA double helix to form a rigid geometrical framework, and added dangling pieces of single-stranded DNA to glue nanoparticles in place.

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Scientists built octahedrons using ropelike structures made of bundles of DNA double-helix molecules to form the frames (a). Single strands of DNA attached at the vertices (numbered in red) can be used to attach nanoparticles coated with complementary strands. This approach can yield a variety of structures, including ones with the same type of particle at each vertex (b), arrangements with particles placed only on certain vertices (c), and structures with different particles placed strategically on different vertices (d).

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Engineering Phase Changes in Nanoparticle Arrays: Scientists alter attractive and repulsive forces between DNA-linked particles to make dynamic, phase-shifting forms of nanomaterials

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have just taken a big step toward the goal of engineering dynamic nanomaterials whose structure and associated properties can be switched on demand. In a paper, they describe a way to selectively rearrange the nanoparticles in three-dimensional arrays to produce different configurations, or phases, from the same nano-components.

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Introducing "reprogramming" DNA strands into an already assembled nanoparticle array triggers a transition from a "mother phase," where particles occupy the corners and center of a cube (left), to a more compact "daughter phase" (right). The change represented in the schematic diagrams is revealed by the associated small-angle x-ray scattering patterns. Such phase-changes could potentially be used to switch a material's properties on demand.

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Basel physicists develop efficient method of signal transmission from nanocomponents

Physicists have developed an innovative method that could enable the efficient use of nanocomponents in electronic circuits. To achieve this, they have developed a layout in which a nanocomponent is connected to two electrical conductors, which uncouple the electrical signal in a highly efficient manner. The scientists at the Department of Physics and the Swiss Nanoscience Institute at the University of Basel have published their results in the scientific journal Nature Communications together with their colleagues from ETH Zurich.

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The clever arrangement of two electrical conductors around the carbon nanotube leads to an efficient signal transmission between the carbon nanotube and a much larger conductor for electromagnetic waves.

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Iranian Scientists Use Magnetic Field to Transfer Anticancer Drug to Tumor Tissue

Iranian researchers from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences produced a new type of anticancer drug nanocarriers by using magnetic nanoparticles to treat lung cancer.

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Nanostructures Increase Corrosion Resistance in Metallic Body Implants

Iranian researchers studied the corrosion and immunity behavior of a new type of nanostructures and used them in the production of metallic body implants.

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This Slinky lookalike 'hyperlens' helps us see tiny objects: The photonics advancement could improve early cancer detection, nanoelectronics manufacturing and scientists' ability to observe single molecules

It looks like a Slinky suspended in motion. Yet this photonics advancement -- called a metamaterial hyperlens -- doesn't climb down stairs. Instead, it improves our ability to see tiny objects.

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The image shows a metamaterial hyperlens. The light-colored slivers are gold and the darker ones are PMMA (a transparent thermoplastic). Light passes through the hyperlens improving the resolution of very small objects.

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'Deep Web Search' May Help Scientists

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What you see when you do a basic Web search is only the tip of the iceberg. Most of the information is buried in the "Deep Web." JPL is collaborating on a DARPA initiative called Memex, which explores the connections between bits of information hidden in this vast ocean of content.

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Critical NASA Research Returns to Earth Aboard U.S. SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft

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The SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft was released from the International Space Station's robotic arm at 7:04 a.m. EDT Thursday. The capsule then performed a series of departure burns and maneuvers to move beyond the 656-foot (200-meter) "keep out sphere" around the station and begin its return trip to Earth.

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Visualizing How Radiation Bombardment Boosts Superconductivity: Atomic-level flyovers show how impact sites of high-energy ions pin potentially disruptive vortices to keep high-current superconductivity flowing

Sometimes a little damage can do a lot of good-at least in the case of iron-based high-temperature superconductors. Bombarding these materials with high-energy heavy ions introduces nanometer-scale damage tracks that can enhance the materials' ability to carry high current with no energy loss-and without lowering the critical operating temperature. Such high-current, high-temperature superconductors could one day find application in zero-energy-loss power transmission lines or energy-generating turbines. But before that can happen, scientists would like to understand quantitatively and in detail how the damage helps-and use that knowledge to strategically engineer superconductors with the best characteristics for a given application.

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High-energy gold ions impact the crystal surface from above at the sites indicated schematically by dashed circles. Measurement of the strength of superconductivity in this same field of view, as shown on the lower panel, reveals how the impact sites are the regions where the superconductivity is also annihilated. In additional studies, the scientists discovered that it is in these same regions that the strongest pinning of quantized vortices occurs, followed at higher magnetic fields by pinning at the single atom crystal damage sites. Pinning the vortices allows high current superconductivity to flow unimpeded through the rest of the sample.