A 3-D printed gel structure lifts and lowers a US dime when alternately exposed to water and DMSO solvent. Credit: © Chenfeng Ke

Using advanced 3D printing, Dartmouth College researchers have unlocked the key to transforming microscopic nanorings into smart materials that perform work at human-scale. Nanomachines can already deliver medication and serve as computer memories at nanometer scale. By integrating a 3D printing technique pioneered at Dartmouth’s Ke Functional Materials Group, researchers may unlock even greater potential for these mini-machines.

“Up until now, harnessing the mechanical work of nanomachines has been extremely difficult. We are slowly getting closer to the point that the tiny machines can operate on a scale that we can see, touch and feel...

Galaxy UGC 7321 is surrounded by hydrogen gas, and as this gas is irradiated with UV radiation, it emits a diffuse red glow through a process known as fluorescence. This image shows the light emitted by stars inside the galaxy, surrounded by a red ring that represents the fluorescent emission induced by the UV radiation. Credit: M. Fumagalli/T. Theuns/S. Berry

Astronomers have developed a way to detect the UV background of the Universe, which could help explain why there are so few small galaxies in the cosmos. UV radiation is invisible but shows up as visible red light when it interacts with gas. An international team led by Durham University, UK, has now found a way to measure it using instruments on Earth...

Portals can allow the exploration of the dark sector with the Standard Model particles Portals mix or connect the dark sector particles with the Standard Model particles. Through the portals it is possible to explore the dark sector particles using the Standard Model particles. The portals play a basic and critical role in the study of the dark sector particles both theoretically and experimentally. Credit: Image courtesy of Institute for Basic Science

Once upon a time, the Universe was just a hot soup of particles. In those days, together with visible particles, other particles to us hidden or dark might have formed. Billions of years later scientists catalogued 17 types of visible particles, with the most recent one being the Higgs boson, creating the ‘Standard Model’...

Release of platelets in the lung vasculature. Credit: Image courtesy of University of California – San Francisco

Cells in mouse lungs produce most blood platelets and can replenish blood-making cells in bone marrow, study shows. Using video microscopy in the living mouse lung, UC San Francisco scientists have revealed that the lungs play a previously unrecognized role in blood production. The researchers found that the lungs produced greater than half of the platelets in mouse circulation. In another surprise finding, the scientists also identified a previously unknown pool of blood stem cells capable of restoring blood production when the stem cells of the bone marrow, previously thought to be the principal site of blood production, are depleted.

“This finding definitely suggests a more s...