Don't call them stiff: Metal organic frameworks show unexpected flexibility

Despite their rigid-sounding name, researchers are reporting that MOF structures are also dynamic - much more so than previously thought.

Cooking up altered states

Churning raw milk sufficiently creates butter. Squirting lemon juice coagulates it into curd. These two phenomena are not as straightforward as they sound on the molecular level.

Black phosphorus could replace silicon computer chips

Researchers have created a high performance transistor using black phosphorus which has revealed some fascinating results.

Sol-gel capacitor dielectric offers record-high energy storage

Using a hybrid silica sol-gel material and self-assembled monolayers of a common fatty acid, researchers have developed a new capacitor dielectric material that provides an electrical energy storage capacity rivaling certain batteries, with both a high energy density and high power density.

A cost-effective solution to tuned graphene production

Researchers report that they have developed a simple electrochemical approach which allows defects to intentionally be created in the graphene, altering its electrical and mechanical properties.

Intracellular microlasers could allow precise labeling of a trillion individual cells

Scientists have induced structures incorporated within individual cells to produce laser light. The wavelengths of light emitted by these intracellular microlasers differ based on factors such as the size, shape and composition of each microlaser, allowing precise labeling of individual cells.

Like paper, graphene twists, folds into nanoscale machines

The art of kirigami involves cutting paper into intricate designs, like snowflakes. Physicists are kirigami artists, too, but their paper is only an atom thick, and could become some of the smallest machines the world has ever known.