Gold nanoparticles brighten the fluorescent dyes researchers use to highlight and study proteins, bacteria and other cells, but the nanoparticles also introduce an artifact that makes the dye appear removed from the target it’s illuminating. Now, a University of Michigan team has determined how to account for the discrepancy between where the fluorescent dye appears to be…
Heat-Conducting Plastics Could Lead to Lighter Electronics & Cars
Advanced plastics could usher in lighter, cheaper, more energy-efficient product components, including those used in vehicles, LEDs and computers—if only they were better at dissipating heat. A new technique that can change plastic’s molecular structure to help it cast off heat is a promising step in that direction. Developed by a team of University of…
Heat-conducting Plastic Could Lead to Lighter Electronics, Cars
Advanced plastics could usher in lighter, cheaper, more energy-efficient product components, including those used in vehicles, LEDs and computers—if only they were better at dissipating heat. A new technique that can change plastic’s molecular structure to help it cast off heat is a promising step in that direction. Developed by a team of University of…
Nanoparticles Could Spur Better LEDs, Invisibility Cloaks
In an advance that could boost the efficiency of LED lighting by 50 percent and even pave the way for invisibility cloaking devices, a team of University of Michigan researchers has developed a new technique that peppers metallic nanoparticles into semiconductors. It’s the first technique that can inexpensively grow metal nanoparticles both on and below…
Harnessing Light to Drive Chemical Reactions
An exotic interaction between light and metal can be harnessed to make chemical reactions more sustainable, but the physics behind it has been widely debated in the field. Now, a study from the University of Michigan has shown how a light-harvesting metal transfers energy to a catalytic metal, opening the way for better catalyst designs.…
‘Magic’ Alloy Could Spur Next Generation of Solar Cells
Genetic Analysis of New World Birds Confirms Untested Evolutionary Assumption
Researchers Focus on Cell Membranes to Develop Alzheimer’s Treatments
Thin parts of the cell membranes of neurons turn out to be particularly vulnerable to a protein that collects in the brain of people with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a University of Michigan researcher. The discovery could open an avenue for developing treatments for Alzheimer’s disease that work within the cell’s membrane. The protein amyloid-beta…
Ultrashort Light Pulses for Fast ‘Lightwave’ Computers
Game Theory Could Improve Cyberwarfare Strategy
Nanodiscs Deliver Personalized Cancer Therapy to Immune System
Researchers at the University of Michigan have had initial success in mice using nanodiscs to deliver a customized therapeutic vaccine for the treatment of colon and melanoma cancer tumors. “We are basically educating the immune system with these nanodiscs so that immune cells can attack cancer cells in a personalized manner,” said James Moon, the John Gideon…
A Window into Battery Life for Next-Gen Lithium Cells
Advanced Nano-Cutter Boosts Emerging Materials Research
The University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Engineering is the new home of a unique machine capable of milling in three dimensions with nanometer precision. The machine, called the ROBONANO α-0iB, is the first of its kind in North America, and offers the sort of advanced technological capabilities that represent the future of advanced manufacturing. The ROBONANO is on…