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Self-propelled nanoparticles could potentially advance drug delivery and lab-on-a-chip systems — but they are prone to go rogue with random, directionless movements. Now, an international team of researchers has developed an approach to rein in the synthetic particles.

Led by Igor Aronson, the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry and Mathematics at Penn State, the team redesigned the nanoparticles into a propeller shape to better control their movements and increase their functionality. They published their results in the journal Small (“Multifunctional Chiral Chemically-Powered Micropropellers for Cargo Transport and Manipulation”).

A propeller-shaped nanoparticle spins counterclockwise, triggered by a chemical reaction with hydrogen peroxide, followed by an upward movement, triggered by a magnetic field. The optimized shape of these particles allows researchers to better control the nanoparticles’ movements and to pick up and move cargo particles. (Video: Active Biomaterials Lab)

The reverse engineering of an entire nervous system.

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Tesla is making progress with Cybertruck production, expanding orders and discussing engineering details and battery options, while also facing production challenges and changes in market demand.

Questions to inspire discussion.

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Sandy talks Cybertruck with 5 Tesla Execs! Lars Moravy: Head of Vehicle Engineering Franz von Holzhausen: Head of Design Drew Baglino: Head of Powertrain (battery + motors) and Energy Pete Bannon: Head of Low Voltage David Lau: Head of Software Munro Live is a YouTube channel that features Sandy Munro and other engineers from Munro & Associates.

When water vapor meets metal, the resulting corrosion can lead to mechanical problems that harm a machine’s performance. Through a process called passivation, it also can form a thin inert layer that acts as a barrier against further deterioration.

Either way, the exact chemical reaction is not well understood on an atomic level, but that is changing thanks to a technique called environmental transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which allows researchers to directly view molecules interacting on the tiniest possible scale.

Professor Guangwen Zhou—a faculty member at Binghamton University’s Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science—has been probing the secrets of atomic reactions since joining the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 2007. Along with collaborators from the University of Pittsburgh and the Brookhaven National Laboratory, he has studied the structural and functional properties of metals and the process of making “green” steel.

There’s an unfortunate irony in cell therapy that holds it back from its full potential: Regenerating tissues often must be damaged to know if the treatment is working, such as surgically removing tissue to see if rejuvenation is occurring beneath.

The alternative isn’t much better: Patients can choose to wait and see if their health improves, but after weeks of uncertainty, they might find that no healing has taken place without a clear explanation as to why.

Jinhwan Kim, a new assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the University of California, Davis, who holds a joint appointment with the Department of Surgery at UC Davis Health, wants to change all of that. In his research program, he combines nanotechnology and novel bioimaging techniques to provide non-invasive, real-time monitoring of cellular function and health.

Polymer solar cells, known for their light weight and flexibility, are ideal for wearable devices. Yet, their broader use is hindered by the toxic halogenated solvents required in their production. These solvents pose environmental and health risks, limiting the appeal of these solar cells. Alternative solvents, which are less toxic, unfortunately, lack the same solubility, necessitating higher temperatures and prolonged processing times.

This inefficiency further impedes the adoption of polymer solar cells. Developing a method to eliminate the need for halogenated solvents could significantly enhance the efficiency of organic solar cells, making them more suitable for wearable technology.

In a recently published paper, researchers outline how improving molecular interactions between the polymer donors and the small molecule acceptors using side-chain engineering can reduce the need for halogenated processing solvents.

The team at EPFL’s Photonic Systems Laboratory (PHOSL) has developed a chip-scale laser source that enhances the performance of semiconductor lasers while enabling the generation of shorter wavelengths.

This pioneering work, led by Professor Camille Brès and postdoctoral researcher Marco Clementi from EPFL’s School of Engineering represents a significant advance in the field of photonics, with implications for telecommunications, metrology, and other high-precision applications.

The study, published in the journal Light: Science & Applications, reveals how the PHOSL researchers, in collaboration with the Laboratory of Photonics and Quantum Measurements, have successfully integrated semiconductor lasers with silicon nitride photonic circuits containing microresonators. This integration results in a hybrid device that emits highly uniform and precise light in both near-infrared and visible ranges, filling a technological gap that has long challenged the industry.

Physicists at RIKEN have developed an electronic device that hosts unusual states of matter, which could one day be useful for quantum computation.

When a material exists as an ultrathin layer—a mere one or a few atoms thick—it has totally different properties from thicker samples of the same material. That’s because confining electrons to a 2D plane gives rise to exotic states. Because of their flat dimensions and their broad compatibility with existing semiconductor technologies, such 2D materials are promising for harnessing new phenomenon in electronic devices.

These states include quantum spin Hall insulators, which conduct electricity along their edges but are electrically insulating in their interiors. Such systems when coupled with superconductivity have been proposed as a route toward engineering topological superconducting states that have potential application in future topological quantum computers.