Category Physics

Protein-based Nano-‘computer’ evolves in ability to Influence Cell Behavior

Jiaxing Chen uses fluorescence microscopy to visualize fixed cells on nanopatterns.
Jiaxing Chen uses fluorescence microscopy to visualize fixed cells on nanopatterns.  Credit: Penn State Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences / Penn State

The first protein-based nano-computing agent that functions as a circuit has been created by Penn State researchers. The milestone puts them one step closer to developing next-generation cell-based therapies to treat diseases like diabetes and cancer.

Traditional synthetic biology approaches for cell-based therapies, such as ones that destroy cancer cells or encourage tissue regeneration after injury, rely on the expression or suppression of proteins that produce a desired action within a cell. This approach can take time (for proteins to be expressed and degrade) and cost cellular energy in the process...

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Engineers Harvest Abundant Clean Energy from Thin Air, 24/7

The secret to making electricity from thin air? Nanopores. Credit: Derek Lovley/Ella Maru Studio

A team of engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has recently shown that nearly any material can be turned into a device that continuously harvests electricity from humidity in the air. The secret lies in being able to pepper the material with nanopores less than 100 nanometers in diameter. The research appeared in the journal Advanced Materials.

“This is very exciting,” says Xiaomeng Liu, a graduate student in electrical and computer engineering in UMass Amherst’s College of Engineering and the paper’s lead author. “We are opening up a wide door for harvesting clean electricity from thin air.”

“The air contains an enormous amount of electricity,” says Jun Yao, assistant...

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Breakthrough in Computer Chip Energy Efficiency could Cut Data Center Electricity use

PhD student Jessica Peterson and Professor John Conley discussing the operation of one of his group’s atomic layer deposition (ALD) systems.

Researchers at Oregon State University and Baylor University have made a breakthrough toward reducing the energy consumption of the photonic chips used in data centers and supercomputers.

The findings are important because a data center can consume up to 50 times more energy per square foot of floor space than a typical office building, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

A data center houses an organization’s information technology operations and equipment; it stores, processes and disseminates data and applications. Data centers account for roughly 2% of all electricity use in the United States, the DOE says.

According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, the number of data centers has risen rapidly as data demand has soared...

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Stretching Metals at the Atomic level allows researchers to create important materials for Quantum, Electronic, and Spintronic Applications

CSE professor Bharat Jalan and Ph.D. student Sreejith Nair
University of Minnesota chemical engineering and materials science researchers have developed a breakthrough method for creating high-quality metal oxide films that are important for next generation applications like quantum computing and microelectronics. Photo by Olivia Hultgren

New technique paves the way for easy oxidation of historically ‘stubborn’ metals. A University of Minnesota Twin Cities-led team has developed a first-of-its-kind, breakthrough method that makes it easier to create high-quality metal oxide thin films out of “stubborn” metals that have historically been difficult to synthesize in an atomically precise manner...

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