Materials Science

  1. Health & Medicine

    Tight spaces cause spreading cancer cells to divide improperly

    Researchers are using rolled-up transparent nanomembranes to mimic tiny blood vessels and study how cancer cells divide in these tight spaces.

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  2. Materials Science

    Butterfly-inspired nanostructures can sort light

    Scientists re-created a nanostructure found on butterflies that can separate out circularly polarized light, a characteristic that may be useful for telecommunications.

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  3. Physics

    Turning water to steam, no boiling required

    A new material can convert water into steam with sunlight alone, and could be useful for making fresh water from salty.

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  4. Oceans

    Readers question ocean health

    Ocean plastics, ant behavior, pollution solutions and more in reader feedback.

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  5. Physics

    New type of catalyst could aid hydrogen fuel

    A substance that can switch states might make an efficient catalyst for extracting hydrogen from water.

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  6. Materials Science

    Playing with building blocks for metamaterial design

    Legos show promise as a low-cost method to assist scientists in developing novel metamaterials.

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  7. Materials Science

    New process encourages ice to slip, slide away

    Researchers discover new process for making durable ice-phobic materials.

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  8. Materials Science

    New carbon cluster has high storage capacity

    A new carbon structure could store gases or liquids in honeycomb-shaped cells.

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  9. Chemistry

    Frozen oil droplets morph and shine

    Scientists can turn oil droplets into an array of crystalline shapes by manipulating the chemistry and temperature of the droplets’ surroundings.

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  10. Chemistry

    ‘Q-carbon’ may offer quick route to diamonds

    Q-carbon might be the third form of solid carbon, but some scientists have doubts.

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  11. Tech

    Electronic skin feels the heat, hears the sound

    Electronic skin inspired by human fingertips detects texture, pressure, heat and sound.

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  12. Materials Science

    Invisibility cloaks slim down

    A new invisibility cloak offers more stealth in a thinner package.

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