Advancing new technologies to halt bleeding

The research arm of the U. S. Army has awarded Case Western Reserve University blood surrogate pioneer Anirban Sen Gupta a four-year, $2.5 million grant to advance and optimize his latest nanotechnology to stop bleeding from battlefield injuries.

The new technology devised by Sen Gupta and his team is called “SanguiStop.” It allows a clot-promoting enzyme called thrombin to be intravenously delivered in a targeted manner to a bleeding area—especially to the site of internal injuries.

‘iTEARS’ could help diagnose diseases by isolating biomarkers in tears

In ACS Nano, researchers report a nanomembrane system that harvests and purifies tiny blobs called exosomes from tears, allowing researchers to quickly analyze them for disease biomarkers. Dubbed iTEARS, the platform could enable more efficient and less invasive diagnoses for many diseases.

UCI researchers invent a health monitoring wearable that operates without a battery

Irvine, Calif., July 12, 2022 – A new self-powered, wristwatch-style health monitor invented by researchers at the University of California, Irvine can keep track of a wearer’s pulse and wirelessly communicate with a nearby smartphone or tablet – without needing an external power source or a battery. In a paper published recently in the journal Nano Energy, team members in UCI’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering describe their invention, built via 3D printing of nanomaterials on flexible substrates for real-time and wireless monitoring of vital signs.

These energy-packed batteries work well in extreme cold and heat

Researchers developed lithium-ion batteries that perform well at freezing cold and scorching hot temperatures, while packing a lot of energy. This could help electric cars travel farther on a single charge in the cold and reduce the need for cooling systems for the cars’ batteries in hot climates.

‘Nanojars’ capture dissolved carbon dioxide, toxic ions from water

Carbon dioxide dissolves in oceans, lakes and ponds, forming bicarbonate ions that can reenter the atmosphere as carbon dioxide later. Now, researchers have developed tiny “nanojars” that split bicarbonate into carbonate and capture it. They will present their results at ACS Fall 2021.

Detecting an unprecedented range of potentially harmful airborne compounds (video)

Many products release molecules that drift through the air. Some can potentially cause health problems. Researchers now report a personal air-sampling system that can detect an unprecedented range of these compounds from a special badge or pen. They will present their results at ACS Fall 2021.

Story tips: Sensing oil leaks, 3D prints in space, more fuel from ethanol, Arctic modeling boost, making isotopes faster and nano-enabled microscopy

Story tips: Sensing oil leaks, 3D prints in space, more fuel from ethanol, Arctic modeling boost, making isotopes faster and nano-enabled microscopy

Shih-Ting (Christine) Wang: Designing Materials for Biomedicine

Using DNA-based assembly, the Center for Functional Nanomaterials postdoc has assembled functional proteins into ordered lattices and coated nanostructures for drug delivery.

New grant, National Fellowship for UA Little Rock Nanotechnology Researcher

Dr. K. Bao Vang-Dings, a nanotechnology researcher at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, has been named one of nine 2021-22 Public Policy Fellows by the American Association of Immunologists. Additionally, the Arkansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) has awarded her a 2021 Summer Research Grant to support Vang-Dings’ cancer vaccine research.

Main Attraction: Scientists Create World’s Thinnest Magnet

Scientists at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley have created an ultrathin magnet that operates at room temperature. The ultrathin magnet could lead to new applications in computing and electronics – such as spintronic memory devices – and new tools for the study of quantum physics.

What if We Could Give Viruses a One-Two Punch?

Researchers at Stanford and Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry have developed virus-killing molecules called peptoids. The technology could make possible an emerging category of antiviral drugs that could treat everything from herpes and COVID-19 to the common cold.

Calling all couch potatoes: this finger wrap can let you power electronics while you sleep

A new wearable device turns the touch of a finger into a source of power for small electronics and sensors. Engineers at the University of California San Diego developed a thin, flexible strip that can be worn on a fingertip and generate small amounts of electricity when a person’s finger sweats or presses on it. What’s special about this sweat-fueled device is that it generates power even while the wearer is asleep or sitting still.

Innovation in Cancer Prevention – Bio-robots Transporting Cordyceps Extract

Chula researchers celebrate the success of Active Targeting, a revolutionary innovation in the medical industry using bio–robots to deliver targeted cordyceps extract to halt cancer with reduced side effects.

New Dual-Beam Microscope Installed at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials

This latest-generation tool, which combines a scanning electron microscope and focused-ion beam, has advanced capabilities for preparing and analyzing nanomaterial samples.

ORNL’s Sergei Kalinin elected Fellow of the Microscopy Society of America

Sergei Kalinin, a scientist and inventor at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elected a Fellow of the Microscopy Society of America professional society.

Science Snapshots From Berkeley Lab

Science Snapshots From Berkeley Lab – Water purification, infant-warming device, cuff-based heart disease monitor, ancient magnetic fields

This hydrogen fuel machine could be the ultimate guide to self improvement

Scientists at Berkeley have uncovered an extraordinary self-improving property that transforms an ordinary semiconductor into a highly efficient and stable artificial photosynthesis device

Revealing Nano Big Bang – Scientists Observe the First Milliseconds of Crystal Formation

At Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry, scientists recruited a world-leading microscope to capture atomic-resolution, high-speed images of gold atoms self-organizing, falling apart, and then reorganizing many times before settling into a stable, ordered crystal.

Nanotech scientists create world’s smallest origami bird

Cornell University researchers have created micron-sized shape memory actuators that enable atomically thin two-dimensional materials to fold themselves into 3D configurations. All they require is a quick jolt of voltage. And once the material is bent, it holds its shape – even after the voltage is removed.

UCI-led team creates new ultralightweight, crush-resistant tensegrity metamaterials

Irvine, Calif., March 11, 2021 – Catastrophic collapse of materials and structures is the inevitable consequence of a chain reaction of locally confined damage – from solid ceramics that snap after the development of a small crack to metal space trusses that give way after the warping of a single strut. In a study published this week in Advanced Materials, engineers at the University of California, Irvine and the Georgia Institute of Technology describe the creation of a new class of mechanical metamaterials that delocalize deformations to prevent failure.

Twistoptics—A New Way to Control Optical Nonlinearity

Columbia Engineering researchers report that they developed a new, efficient way to modulate and enhance an important type of nonlinear optical process: optical second harmonic generation—where two input photons are combined in the material to produce one photon with twice the energy—from hexagonal boron nitride through micromechanical rotation and multilayer stacking. Their work is the first to exploit the dynamically tunable symmetry of 2D materials for nonlinear optical applications.

Researchers watch anti-cancer drug release from DNA nanostructures in real time

A team of researchers from Finland and Germany have found a way to study the endonuclease-driven digestion of drug-loaded DNA nanostructures in real time. As the team investigated the binding of anti-cancer drug doxorubicin (Dox) to the DNA structures in great detail, they discovered that the majority of previous studies have vastly overestimated the Dox loading capacity of DNA origami.

Biomaterials Could Mean Better Vaccines, Virus-Fighting Surfaces

Advances in the fields of biomaterials and nanotechnology could lead to big breakthroughs in the fight against dangerous viruses like the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. In APL Bioengineering, researchers from the Indian Institute of Science describe possibilities being explored by scientists, combining biomaterials and nanotechnology, to make vaccines more effective and build surfaces that could fight and kill viruses on their own.

Tiny Tunable Terahertz Lasers Ready to Fly in Space

Researchers have achieved a tiny laser that operates in the terahertz frequencies for potential applications in imaging and scanning applications. Previous terahertz lasers required bulky laboratory equipment to stay cool enough to function. The new devices are the first to simultaneously reach three key performance goals—high power, tight beam, and broad frequency tuning—in a design that can work outside a laboratory and even in space.