Imaging techniques set new standard for super-resolution in live cells (w/video)

New imaging methods dramatically improve the spatial resolution provided by structured illumination microscopy, one of the best imaging techniques for seeing inside living cells.

A new nanoparticle technique to make drugs more soluble

Researchers have developed a new system that can produce stable, amorphous nanoparticles in large quantities that dissolve quickly. But that's not all. The system is so effective that it can produce amorphous nanoparticles from a wide range of materials, including for the first time, inorganic materials with a high propensity towards crystallization, such as table salt.

Getting a picture of the molecules in a cell in just minutes

Scientists can now take a peek into a single plant cell and - within minutes - get a view of the small molecules, including metabolites, hormones, nutrients, and lipids, inside it.

Chemistry professor discovers colour sensor compound for anions

Discovery of a compound that undergoes a colorimetric response to a whole host of different ions. However, the most remarkable facet of the chemistry is that the detecting species is not made directly by the scientist, but because the response spontaneously self-assembles to give a sensor for each specific anion.

Successful boron-doping of graphene nanoribbon

Physicists succeeded in synthesizing boron-doped graphene nanoribbons and characterizing their structural, electronic and chemical properties. The modified material could potentially be used as a sensor for the ecologically damaging nitrogen oxides.

With silicon pushed to its limits, what will power the next electronics revolution?

Silicon electronics faces a challenge: the latest circuits measure just 7nm wide - between a red blood cell (7,500nm) and a single strand of DNA (2.5nm). The size of individual silicon atoms (around 0.2nm) would be a hard physical limit (with circuits one atom wide), but its behaviour becomes unstable and difficult to control before then.

New theory leads to radiationless revolution

Physicists have found a radical new way confine electromagnetic energy without it leaking away, akin to throwing a pebble into a pond with no splash.