In a breakthrough that could free nanomachines from the bulk of batteries, researchers have developed a novel nanogenerator–an array of tiny filaments that converts the smallest motions into electrical current.


The nanowires are crafted from zinc oxide, a safe material that would allow the generator to be used in biomedical applications, and may eventually power nanomotors, tiny sensors, and if in large enough arrays, macroscale devices.


Georgia Institute of Technology engine More …

When it comes to research at the nanoscale, vision is not necessarily an advantage. The subjects are so small, no one can see them. To encourage people with visual impairments to pursue fields in nanotechnology, educators have developed a way to craft accurate, detailed and touch-friendly models of nanoscale objects like carbon nanofibers, allowing the students to "see" those objects for the first time.


While students have learned from abstract models of chemical structures More …

Ever since 1887, when Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie discovered the mathematical group called E8, researchers have been trying to understand the extraordinarily complex object described by a numerical matrix of more than 400,000 rows and columns.


Now, an international team of experts using powerful computers and programming techniques has mapped E8–a feat numerically akin to the mapping of the human genome–allowing for breakthroughs in a wide range of problems in geometry, numbe More …

Central-American villagers created sacred burial customs despite volcanic eruptions More …

Researchers have created an anti-reflective coating that allows light to travel through it, but lets almost none bounce off its surface. At least 10 times more effective than the coating on sunglasses or computer monitors, the material, which is made of silica nanorods, may be used to channel light into solar cells or allow more photons to surge through the surface of a light-emitting diode (LED).


Publishing in the March 1, 2007, Nature Photonics, lead author Jong Kyu Kim and More …

From enormous mining trucks to human knee implants, sensor technology is teaching us when enough is enough More …

Using corncob waste as a starting material, researchers have created carbon briquettes with complex nanopores capable of storing natural gas at an unprecedented density of 180 times their own volume and at one seventh the pressure of conventional natural gas tanks.


The breakthrough, announced today in Kansas City, Mo., is a significant step forward in the nationwide effort to fit more automobiles to run on methane, an abundant fuel that is domestically produced and cleaner burning tha More …

In a breakthrough that could make fuel cells practical for such small machines as lawnmowers and chainsaws, researchers have developed a new mechanism to efficiently control hydrogen fuel cell power.


Many standard fuel cell designs use electronics to control power output, but such designs require complex systems to manage humidity and fuel recovery and recycling systems to achieve acceptable efficiency.


The new process controls the hydrogen feed to match the required power out More …

Engineers have developed a system that uses a simple water purification technique that can eliminate 100 percent of the microbes in New Orleans water samples left from Hurricane Katrina. The technique makes use of specialized resins, copper and hydrogen peroxide to purify tainted water.


The system–safer, cheaper and simpler to use than many other methods–breaks down a range of toxic chemicals. While the method cleans the water, it doesn’t yet make the water drinkable. However, the m More …

A look back at some of the NSF-supported activities highlighted last year More …

The deepest reaches of space are permeated by a cloak of infrared radiation, an uneven energy swath generated by long-dead objects from the early universe.


Now, researchers have teased apart overlapping signals from that cosmic infrared background, building upon an earlier study to show that uneven patches of energy may actually be clusters of the first objects to emerge from the Big Bang.


The astronomers believe the objects are either extremely bright stars more than 1,000 ti More …

Social science research offers insights into American lifestyles and opinions More …

Leaded crystal and common glass may look similar, but the crystal is made of a rigid scaffolding of atoms, while the glass is a disordered, atomic slurry.


Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a method for crafting some of the most stable glasses ever formed–materials that are strong and durable like crystal and yet free of the confining properties of an ordered atomic skeleton. They hope the new method will enable drug manufacturers to take advantage of c More …

Language shapes how infants learn spatial concepts More …

It’s not hard to recall the pungent scent of a handful of pocket change. Similar smells emanate from a sweat-covered dumbbell or the water emerging from an old metal pipe. Yet no one has been able to identify the exact chemical cause of these familiar odors.


Now, researchers supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) MUSES More …