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Category: Materials Science

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sntransistor
11 June 2001 | ScienceNOW

The Tiniest Transistor

by Robert F. Service
Latest invention may keep the race for ever more powerful chips going
snlaptop
4 May 2001 | ScienceNOW

Rubbing Out the Rub

by Robert F. Service
New finding could make production of LCD screens simpler and cheaper
xxx
18 April 2001 | ScienceNOW

Some Like It Medium Hot

by R. John Davenport
A new fuel cell closes in on the ideal temperature
snswing
3 April 2001 | ScienceNOW

Breaking the Stiffness Barrier

by Mark Schrope
Surprising finding could lead to stronger, lighter materials
snpeapod
27 March 2001 | ScienceNOW

All Eyes on Nanotubes

by Robert F. Service
Study suggests tubes filled with buckyballs may be good superconductors
snnanotubes
9 March 2001 | ScienceNOW

Roll Your Own Nanotubes

by Mark Sincell
Surprisingly simple technique to make miniature cylinders
xxx
16 February 2001 | ScienceNOW

Superconductor Sets Record for Metal Compounds

by Robert F. Service
A simple compound superconducts at nearly twice the temperature of its closest rival
Def
14 February 2001 | ScienceNOW

Plastic, Heal Thyself

by Robert F. Service
New recipe gives plastic the ingredients it needs to rebuild
Def
27 December 2000 | ScienceNOW

Lollipop Molecules Make Better Switches

by Robert F. Service
Improved design transmits 100 times more current
Def
22 December 2000 | ScienceNOW

Switching Magnetism On and Off

by John S. MacNeil
New finding could lead to tougher memory devices
Def
28 November 2000 | ScienceNOW

An Enzyme Turned Engine

by Robert F. Service
Nanotech chopper uses a protein as its motor
17 November 2000 | ScienceNOW

Rumpelstiltskins of the Nanoworld

by Mark Sincell
Scientists spin nanotubes into ultrastrong, lightweight thread
31 October 2000 | ScienceNOW

Hot New Lasers Illuminate the Infrared

by Charles Seife
Method slims down waves' guides
10 October 2000 | ScienceNOW

Nanotubes by the Kilo

by Robert F. Service
New chemical process could bring down coveted carbon molecules' cost
heavy
22 September 2000 | ScienceNOW

Titanium Could Become Less Precious

by Robert F. Service
New process makes it cheaper to convert titanium ore to useful metal
xxx
8 September 2000 | ScienceNOW

Soundproofing Drowns Out Deep Noise

by Alexander Hellemans
New technique makes vibrations take a U-turn, blocking transmission of even low frequencies
tweezers
11 August 2000 | ScienceNOW

DNA Tweezers, Please

by John S. MacNeil
Researchers find that genetic material can do actual work
tunnel
3 August 2000 | ScienceNOW

Fake Diamonds for Wastes That Last Forever

by Dana Mackenzie
Ceramic material may provide safe way to store radioactive waste
nanobearing
31 July 2000 | ScienceNOW

The World's Tiniest Bearings

by Alexander Hellemans
Nested nanotubes slide almost without friction
Def
16 June 2000 | ScienceNOW

New Fuel Cell Is Coolest of All

by Robert F. Service
Fuel cells are an environmentalist's dream: They generate electricity from fossil fuels without burning them and spewing pollutants. The devices haven't become a commercial success, however, in part because fuel...
Def
14 June 2000 | ScienceNOW

Water That Won't Splash

by Mark Sincell
Water will stick even to a duck's back---if you mix in trace amounts of tiny coiled molecules called polymers, researchers report in the 13 June issue of Nature. The new...
Def
20 March 2000 | ScienceNOW

Tiny Grains May Boost Room for Data Storage

by Robert F. Service
IBM researchers have created a magnetic film containing tiny magnetic particles--each just 4 nanometers across--that could be the basis of a new generation of hard disk drives. The films may...
nose
6 March 2000 | ScienceNOW

Tissue Engineers Nose Ahead

by Adrian Cho
When a team of chemists fashioned a foam nose and filled it with cow cartilage, they weren't clowning around. The researchers made the porous proboscis to show that a new...
Def
3 March 2000 | ScienceNOW

Supersmall Structures Created by Holography

by Alexander Hellemans
If you want to catch light, you need a mighty small cage. One option is carefully constructed material with segments almost as small as a wavelength of light. Even though...
Def
15 February 2000 | ScienceNOW

New Material Chills Via Electric Current

by Adrian Cho
A moth frying on a bug lamp proves, suicidally, that an electrical current generates heat. But a current can also cool, if it runs through the right stuff. Electrons carry...
Def
3 February 2000 | ScienceNOW

Stretching the Horizon for Electrical Devices

by Adrian Cho
Hunting for materials that change shape when zapped electrically, researchers have found a new champion literally hanging out in the kitchen. A rubbery acrylic used as an adhesive on kitchen...
Def
28 January 2000 | ScienceNOW

Debut of the Nano-Sniffers

by Dana Mackenzie
Physicists have taken a step toward the ultimate miniature chemical sensors. A single carbon nanotube about two billionths of a meter wide can compete with the best materials of today...
Def
7 January 2000 | ScienceNOW

Physicists Play (Superconducting) Ball

by Charles Seife
Scientists have observed yet another strange phenomenon caused by superconductivity, a state in which materials have lost all electrical resistance. When they applied an electrical field to a superconducting powder,...
Def
10 December 1999 | ScienceNOW

Nanotweezers for a Very Small Toolbox

by Mary Beckman
Researchers have developed the smallest pair of tweezers ever: a device that can manipulate particles as small as 10 nanometers across--less than the width of a virus--they report in today's...
Def
2 December 1999 | ScienceNOW

Nanowire Made to Order

by Robert F. Service
BOSTON--Electrical switches the size of molecules could help shrink computer chips. But until now, researchers had no way to wire up components so small. At a meeting of the Materials...
Def
21 July 1999 | ScienceNOW

X-Ray Crystallography Without Crystals

by Robert F. Service
X-ray crystallography, a technique that can produce images of molecules with exquisite detail, has one drawback: It works best on crystals, in which many copies of a molecule are lined...
Def
5 February 1999 | ScienceNOW

Laptops Without Glass

by Alexander Hellemans
Drop a laptop computer--oops!--and the glass and brittle semiconductors of its screen may shatter. For the clumsy techie, an all-plastic display would be more durable as well as cheaper, but...
Def
19 January 1999 | ScienceNOW

Pressure Doesn't Get Nanotubes Down

by David Kestenbaum
Scientists knew that nanotubes combine the strength of a weightlifter with the flexibility of a contortionist. But these tiny carbon hoses may also be near-perfect springs. In a recent issue...
Def
13 November 1998 | ScienceNOW

Twelve Candles for 60 Carbons

by Science News Staff
The buckyball, a 60-carbon molecule shaped like a soccer ball, made its debut 13 years ago today in the pages of Nature. The discovery came while British chemist Harold Kroto...
Def
29 October 1998 | ScienceNOW

New Carbon Shines Bright

by Alexander Hellemans
Scientists have created a sparkling form of carbon that can scatter light like opal. The relatively simple technique for making the carbon, described in tomorrow's Science, may provide an easier...
Def
14 October 1998 | ScienceNOW

New Material Sends Data Storage Into Overdrive

by Dennis Normile
Japanese researchers have identified an oxide material that may soon greatly improve the storage capacity of hard disks and magnetic tapes. The discovery, reported in tomorrow's issue of Nature, relies...
Def
26 August 1998 | ScienceNOW

Nanotubes Take the Pressure

by David Kestenbaum
Nanotubes--tiny carbon straws just billionths of a meter in diameter--are thought to be some of the toughest stuff ever made. But their small size makes these mighty tubes hard to...
Def
13 August 1998 | ScienceNOW

Nanotubes With a Semiconducting Filling

by Meher Antia
Researchers have made miniature electrical cables with three concentric layers--a semiconductor covered with sheaths of an insulator and a metal. These nanowires, described in tomorrow's Science, could potentially be used...
Def
3 August 1998 | ScienceNOW

IBM Pushing Faster Chips

by Science News Staff
IBM announced today that it will soon begin producing microprocessor chips that it says could boost operating speeds by 25% and overall chip performance by more than a third. In...
Def
29 July 1998 | ScienceNOW

Drug-Laden Jelly Beads

by Science News Staff
Swarms of microscopic "pills" may someday deliver large doses of anticancer drugs to tumors. As described in tomorrow's issue of Nature, the capsules are actually tiny polymer beads coated with...
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