As the world struggles to meet the increasing demand for energy, coupled with the rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere from deforestation and the use of fossil fuels, photosynthesis in nature simply cannot keep up with the carbon cycle. But what if we could help the natural carbon cycle by learning from photosynthesis to…
Nanotweezers Detect Conformational Changes
Biomolecules, such as DNA and proteins, are not static structures. They undergo complex conformational changes that are essential to their functioning and the signaling pathways they belong to. Understanding these changes is pivotal to a deeper comprehension of how the body works and could eventually shed light on certain diseases that afflict us. Recent advancements…
Researchers Capture Snapshots of Respiratory Helpers
Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) is the last enzyme in the respiratory electron transport chain of cells located in the mitochondrial membrane. It receives an electron from each of four cytochrome c molecules, and transfers them to one oxygen molecule (two atoms), converting the molecular oxygen to two molecules of water. Researchers at CASD, including ASU’s…
A New Light on Significantly Faster Computer Memory Devices
Nanotechnology Used to Repair Kidneys
Each year, there are some 13.3 million new cases of acute kidney injury (AKI), a serious affliction. Formerly known as acute renal failure, the ailment produces a rapid buildup of nitrogenous wastes and decreases urine output, usually within hours or days of disease onset. Severe complications often ensue. AKI is responsible for 1.7 million deaths…
Astrophysicist Helps Discover That Ultrahot Planets Have Starlike Atmospheres
Recent observations by NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes of ultrahot Jupiter-like planets have perplexed theorists. The spectra of these planets have suggested they have exotic — and improbable — compositions. However, a new study just published by a research team that includes Arizona State University astrophysicist Michael Line, an assistant professor in ASU’s School…
ASU Researchers Lead DARPA Effort to Design the Computational Architecture of the Future
An Arizona State University research team seeks to create a new framework for designing and building advanced computing platforms that will circumvent the power constraints that exist in a growing range of technologies. Under the new Electronics Resurgence Initiative (ERI) research program, improved processing capabilities will enable sophisticated applications to operate more effectively in technologies…
New Nanotechnology Inspired by Single-Celled Architects
Diatoms are tiny, unicellular creatures, inhabiting oceans, lakes, rivers, and soils. Through their respiration, they produce close to a quarter of the oxygen on Earth, nearly as much as the world’s tropical forests. In addition to their ecological success across the planet, they have a number of remarkable properties. Diatoms live in glasslike homes of…
DNA Nanomachines Take a Rapid Step Forward
When it comes to matching simplicity with staggering creative potential, DNA may hold the prize. Built from an alphabet of just four nucleic acids, DNA provides the floorplan from which all earthly life is constructed. But DNA’s remarkable versatility doesn’t end there. Researchers have managed to coax segments of DNA into performing a host of…
TRAPPIST-1 Planets Provide Clues to the Nature of Habitable Worlds
TRAPPIST-1 is an ultra-cool red dwarf star that is slightly larger, but much more massive, than the planet Jupiter, located about 40 light-years from the Sun in the constellation Aquarius. Among planetary systems, TRAPPIST-1 is of particular interest because seven planets have been detected orbiting this star, a larger number of planets than have been…
Lithium-Related Discovery Could Extend Battery Life and Improve Safety
Lithium-metal batteries are among the most promising candidates for high-density energy storage technology in an expanding range of digital “smart” devices and electrical vehicles, but uncontrolled lithium dendrite growth, which results in poor recharging capability and safety hazards, currently tempers their potential. Dendrites are needle-like growths that appear on the surface of lithium metal, which…
Nanorobots Seek Out, Obliterate Tumors
In a major advancement in nanomedicine, Arizona State University scientists, in collaboration with researchers from the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, have successfully programmed nanorobots to shrink tumors by cutting off their blood supply. “We have developed the first fully autonomous, DNA robotic system for a very…
DNA Origami Heralds the Future of Nanotechnology
For the past few decades, some scientists have known the shape of things to come in nanotechnology is tied to the molecule of life, DNA. This burgeoning field is called “DNA origami.” The moniker is borrowed from the art of conjuring up birds, flowers and other shapes by imaginatively folding a single sheet of paper.…
Single Molecular Layer and Thin Silicon Beam Enable Nanolaser Operation at Room Temperature
For the first time, researchers have built a nanolaser that uses only a single molecular layer, placed on a thin silicon beam, which operates at room temperature. The new device, developed by a team of researchers from Arizona State University and Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, could potentially be used to send information between different points…
Living Computers: RNA Circuits Transform Cells Into Nanodevices
The interdisciplinary nexus of biology and engineering, known as synthetic biology, is growing at a rapid pace, opening new vistas that could scarcely be imagined a short time ago. In new research, Alex Green, an assistant professor at ASU’s Biodesign Institute, demonstrates how living cells can be induced to carry out computations in the manner of tiny…
Using Powerful Dark Energy Camera, Scientists Reach the Cosmic Dawn
Arizona State University astronomers Sangeeta Malhotra and James Rhoads, working with international teams in Chile and China, have discovered 23 young galaxies, seen as they were 800 million years after the Big Bang. The results from this sample have been recently published in the Astrophysical Journal. Long ago, about 300,000 years after the beginning of the…
RNA Circuits Transform Cells into Nanodevices
The interdisciplinary nexus of biology and engineering, known as synthetic biology, is growing at a rapid pace, opening new vistas that could scarcely be imagined a short time ago. In new research, Alex Green, a professor at ASU’s Biodesign Institute, demonstrates how living cells can be induced to carry out computations in the manner of…
A New Test to Rapidly Identify Worldwide TB Infections
Tuberculosis (TB), once better known as consumption for the way its victims wasted away, has a long and deadly history, with estimates indicating it may have killed more people than any other bacterial pathogen. Studies have discovered evidence of its human impact going back to as early as 8,000 BCE, and estimates suggest that it…
New Test Rapidly Identifies Tuberculosis Infections
Tuberculosis (TB), once better known as consumption for the way its victims wasted away, has a long and deadly history, with estimates indicating it may have killed more people than any other bacterial pathogen. Studies have discovered evidence of its human impact going back to as early as 8,000 BCE, and estimates suggest that it…
Asteroids Tell the Story of the Universe
NASA has approved a mission to explore asteroids that scientists — including Arizona State University researchers behind a key component — hope will reveal details about the earliest history of the solar system. The Lucy mission will carry an ASU-designed and -developed thermal emission spectrometer, which will measure surface temperatures on each asteroid the spacecraft…
Small Impacts Rework Moon’s Soil Faster Than Scientists Thought
The Moon’s surface is being “gardened” — churned by small impacts — more than 100 times faster than scientists previously thought. This means that surface features believed to be young are perhaps even younger than assumed. It also means that any structures placed on the Moon as part of human expeditions will need better protection.…
Critical Protein Shows Promise for Alzheimer’s Treatment
The tidal wave approaches. In the coming decades, Alzheimer’s disease is projected to exact a devastating economic and emotional toll on society, with patient numbers in the US alone expected to reach 13.5 million by mid-century at a projected cost of over a trillion dollars. Salvatore Oddo, a researcher at the Biodesign Neurodegenerative Disease Research…
Tunable DNA Works Wonders for Electronics Applications
DNA may be the blueprint of life, but it’s also a molecule made from just a few simple chemical building blocks. Among its properties is the ability to conduct an electrical charge, fueling an engineering race to develop novel, low-cost nanoelectronic devices. Now, a team led by ASU Biodesign Institute researcher Nongjian “N.J.” Tao and…
Controlling Salmonella Contamination
Once inside the human body, infectious microbes like Salmonella face a fluid situation. They live in a watery world, surrounded by liquid continually flowing over and abrading their cell surfaces — a property known as fluid shear. In new research appearing in the Nature Publishing Group journal npj Microgravity, Cheryl Nickerson and her colleagues explore…