New 3-D printed polymer can convert methane to methanol
Livermore CA (SPX) Jun 17, 2016 -
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists have combined biology and 3-D printing to create the first reactor that can continuously produce methanol from methane at room temperature and pressure. The team removed enzymes from methanotrophs, bacteria that eat methane, and mixed them with polymers that they printed or molded into innovative reactors.
The research, which could lead to ...
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Weird, water-oozing material could help quench thirst
Richland WA (SPX) Jun 16, 2016 -
After their nanorods were accidentally created when an experiment didn't go as planned, the researchers gave the microscopic, unplanned spawns of science a closer look. Chemist Satish Nune was inspecting the solid, carbon-rich nanorods with a vapor analysis instrument when he noticed the nanorods mysteriously lost weight as humidity increased. Thinking the instrument had malfunctioned, Nune and ...
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Oregon chemists build a new, stable open-shell molecule
Eugene OR (SPX) Jun 14, 2016 -
University of Oregon chemists have synthesized a stable and long-lasting carbon-based molecule that, they say, potentially could be applicable in solar cells and electronic devices.
The molecule changes its bonding patterns to a magnetic biradical state when heated; it then returns to a fully bonded non-magnetic closed state at room temperature. That transition, they report, can be done re ...
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Discovery of gold nanocluster 'double' hints at other shape changing particles
New York NY (SPX) Jun 17, 2016 -
Chemically the same, graphite and diamonds are as physically distinct as two minerals can be, one opaque and soft, the other translucent and hard. What makes them unique is their differing arrangement of carbon atoms.
Polymorphs, or materials with the same composition but different structures, are common in bulk materials, and now a new study in Nature Communications confirms they exist in ...
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New 'ukidama' nanoparticle structure revealed
Onna, Okinawa, Japan (SPX) Jun 17, 2016 -
Sometimes it is the tiny things in the world that can make an incredible difference. One of these things is the nanoparticle. Nanoparticles may be small, but they have a variety of important applications in areas such as, medicine, manufacturing, and energy. A team of researchers from Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) recently discovered a unique copper-silve ...
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Drum beats from a one atom thick graphite membrane
Mumbai, India (SPX) Jun 17, 2016 -
Researchers from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, have demonstrated the ability to manipulate the vibrations of a drum of nanometre scale thickness - realizing the world's smallest and most versatile drum.
This work has implications in improving the sensitivity of small detectors of mass - very important in detecting the mass of small molecules like viruses. This also op ...
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NATO boosts eastern presence ahead of key summit
Brussels (AFP) June 14, 2016 -
NATO defence ministers on Tuesday approved sending battalions to the three Baltic states and Poland just weeks before a landmark summit in Warsaw endorses a major build-up to counter a more assertive Russia.
Russia's 2014 intervention in Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea stung NATO out of its post-Cold War complacency and into a major revamp to boost its readiness and resources to meet a ...
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