Researchers have now designed a micro-sized artificial cilial system using platinum-based components that can control the movement of fluids at such a scale. The technology could someday enable low-cost, portable diagnostic devices for testing blood samples, manipulating cells or assisting in microfabrication processes.
Nickel, a cheap metal found in abundance in the earth's crust, has significant potential for use in new nanomaterials and as a low-cost catalyst, but a lack of basic knowledge of how its crystals form has held back such developments - until now.
A phenomenon called optical cavities, and the way the light trapped in them interacts with atoms, molecules and other particles could prove valuable for the development of energy-efficient chemical processes or drug synthesis.
Researchers have developed an imaging technique to capture information about the structure and function of brain tissue at subcellular level - a few billionth of a metre, while also capturing information about the surrounding environment.
Scientists boosted the sensitivity of their atomic radio receiver a hundredfold by enclosing the small glass cylinder of cesium atoms inside what looks like custom copper 'headphones'.
