Solar cells, quantum computing and photodynamic cancer therapy. These all involve molecules switching between magnetic and nonmagnetic forms. Previously this process, called a “spin flip,” was thought to occur slowly in most cases. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have discovered spin flips happen in one half of one trillionth of a second, or…
Honeycomb-like Material Gives Electronic Devices Hundredfold Increase in Battery Life
Among the chief complaints for smartphone, laptop and other battery-operated electronics users is that the battery life is too short and — in some cases — that the devices generate heat. Now, a group of physicists led by Deepak K. Singh, associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Missouri, has developed a…
Combination Breast Cancer Therapy Targets Both Tumor Cells and the Blood Vessels That Supply Them
Each day, normal human cell tissues express a protein known as p53 that wages war against potential malignancies. However, between 30 and 40 percent of human breast cancers express a defective (mutant) form of p53 that helps cancer cells proliferate and grow. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that combining a cancer therapy, which…
Nanocoating Helps Develop Better Cardiovascular Stents
University of Missouri It is common for blockages to develop in arteries that carry blood to the heart, which can lead to heart attack and other serious heart diseases. Stents are small, expandable metal mesh tubes that are inserted in blocked heart arteries during a heart catheterization procedure to improve blood flow to the heart…