Inexpensive plastic lenses increase efficiency of solar desalination

A solar-powered approach for purifying salt water with sunlight and nanoparticles is even more efficient than its creators first believed.

A new force for optical tweezers awakens

Researchers have discovered a new type of force that will greatly reduce the amount of light used by optical tweezers - and improve the study of all kinds of cells and particles.

Engineers demonstrate superstrong, reversible adhesive that works like snail slime

Snails can anchor themselves in place using a structure known as an epiphragm. The snail's slimy secretion works its way into the pores found on even seemingly smooth surfaces, then hardens, providing strong adhesion that can be reversed when the slime softens. Engineers have developed a new material that works in a similar way.

Gold adds the shine of reversible assembly to protein cages

An international team reports the gold led reversible self-assembly of 3D cages from engineered proteins.

Gold nanoparticle clusters for simultaneous photo-thermal imaging and therapy

Chemists have found that gold nanoparticle clusters can be used in photo-thermal therapy for imaging and treatment of human prostate cancer.