Researchers have taken a step toward overcoming a key obstacle in commercializing "hyperbolic metamaterials," structures that could bring optical advances including ultrapowerful microscopes, computers and solar cells.

A strong laser beam can remove an electron from an atom – a process which takes place almost instantly. This phenomenon could now be studied with a time resolution of less than ten attoseconds (ten billionths of a billionth of a second). Scientists succeeded in watching an atom being ionized and a free electron being “born”.  These measurements yield valuable information about the electrons in the atom, which up until now  hasn't been experimentally accessible, such as the time evolution of the electron’s quantum phase – the beat to which the quantum waves oscillate.

Graphene and carbon nanotubes could improve the electronics used in computers and mobile phones, reveals new research.

There's nothing worse than a shonky pool table with an unseen groove or bump that sends your shot off course: a new study has found that the same goes at the nano-scale, where the "billiard balls" are tiny electrons moving across a "table" made of the semiconductor gallium arsenide. Physicists have shown that in this game of "semiconductor billiards," small bumps have an unexpectedly large effect on the paths that electrons follow.

Scientists have developed a way to generate power using harmless viruses that convert mechanical energy into electricity. The scientists tested their approach by creating a generator that produces enough current to operate a small liquid-crystal display. Their generator is the first to produce electricity by harnessing the piezoelectric properties of a biological material.

Drawing on powerful computational tools and a state-of-the-art scanning transmission electron microscope, materials science and engineering researchers have discovered a new nanometer-scale atomic structure in solid metallic materials known as metallic glasses.

Scientists have developed a new electrocatalyst that overcomes the high cost of platinum, generating hydrogen gas from water with abundant and affordable metals. The unexpected and high-performing nanosheet structure of the catalytic nickel-molybdenum-nitride compound offers a promising new model for effective hydrogen catalysis.

The development of a new combination of polymers associating sugars with oil-based macromolecules makes it possible to design ultra-thin films capable of self-organization with a 5-nanometer resolution. This opens up new horizons for increasing the capacity of hard discs and the speed of microprocessors.

A carbon nanotube sponge that can soak up oil in water with unparalleled efficiency has just been developed, with help from computational simulations.

A hidden facet of a math problem that goes back to Sanskrit scrolls has just been exposed by nanotechnology researchers.

Hybrid 'Janus' nanoparticles made from gold and titania have high catalytic activity and extraordinary durability.

Researchers have developed a miniaturized biochip for investigating the effect of drugs on cancer stem cells. This new technology could boost the development of more effective cancer drugs.

A textured surface mimics a lotus leaf to move drops of liquid in particular directions. The low-cost system could be used in portable medical or environmental tests.

Engineers have developed a technique to keep cool a semiconductor material used in everything from traffic lights to electric cars.

Nanotechnology scientists and memory researchers have redesigned a mental learning process using electronic circuits.

Engineers have succeeded in realizing a new material class through the manufacturing of a stable crystalline metafluid, a pentamode metamaterial. Using new nanostructuring methods, these materials can now be realized for the first time with any conceivable mechanical properties.

Simulations of defects inside copper point the way to making stronger metals. Results show that there are many different deformation mechanisms occurring in nano-structured materials like nanotwinned copper. Understanding each of them will allow scientists to tune material properties.

Using nanotechnology, researchers are paving the way for brand-new asphalt blends to fight off cracks, rutting and potholes.

Using a refined technique for trapping and manipulating nanoparticles, researchers have extended the trapped particles' useful life more than tenfold. This new approach, which one researcher likens to "attracting moths," promises to give experimenters the trapping time they need to build nanoscale structures and may open the way to working with nanoparticles inside biological cells without damaging the cells with intense laser light.

Scientists have shown how a form of nanocrystallography can be carried out using a transmission electron microscope -- an instrument found in many chemistry and materials science laboratories.