Japanese team show off their new flexible skin display technology
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Displays will one day be more than just slabs of glass stuck to our devices, and this is another step in that journey. Palm reading could take on a whole new meaning, thanks to a new invention from Japan in the form of a...
Scientists steered nanomachines through living cells and wrote letters in cytoplasm
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF In the future we will increasingly rely on tiny machines to help monitor our health, and diagnose and cure disease, and being able to control and direct them will be crucial. It’s probably high time for you to forget your outdated belief that tomorrow’s nanomachines...
Revolutionary Nano-antenna is hundreds times smaller than today’s state of the art
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF It’s not just our devices that are getting smaller and more powerful, the components that make our devices are also going through their own revolutions. Recently I discussed how a new Metalense breakthrough from Harvard University will help us realise atomic sized camera lenses,...
These nanomachines can drill into diseased cells and kill them
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Tomorrow’s medical treatments won’t necessarily just include new fancy drugs, nanomachines and nanobots will play an increasingly important role in helping us all stay fit, healthy, and alive… Researchers in the UK and the US recently demonstrated single-molecule nanomachines that can independently target diseased...
Nanoparticles help researchers accurately locate metastasising cancers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Until now it has been hard, almost impossible, to identify how Cancer spreads around the body, and that’s made metastasising cancers harder to treat. Following on from a recent announcement from another team that they’ve managed to use a simple blood test to detect...
New polymer tears up anti-biotic resistant bacteria from the inside out
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the number of superbugs and anti-biotic resistant bugs increase, we need to find new novel ways of fighting them. A research team composed of scientists from the A*Star Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, and IBM, have produced a new macromolecule that can target...
New eye drops use nanotech to fix faulty vision and eliminate eye glasses
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Millions of people around the world have eye problems, whether they’re severe, or slight, but now a new nanoparticle solution looks like it could help users bin eye glasses for good. Today there are a number of ways, from using bionic eyes, gene editing...
Molecular programming breakthrough could create better molecular assemblers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As we learn how to create and build new, smaller molecular sized machines and robots being able to manipulate matter at the molecular scale will become increasingly important. Over the past couple of months there have been world firsts in the creation of DNA...
Chinese scientists unveil a new material that heals itself like human skin
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Up until now most self-healing materials have either been hard, or soft, and that narrows their number of applications, this new material is the first to have the best of both worlds. Imagine a smartphone, or window, that can heal from cuts and scratches...
Harvard’s Metalense breakthrough could pave the way for real invisibility cloaks
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Our ability to manipulate light is improving with every passing month, now a new Metalense breakthrough could help scientists create the first generation of genuine cloaking devices. For as long as human beings have been writing science fiction the dream of being able to...
World’s first DNA robots successfully move and deliver molecule sized cargo
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Robots are getting smaller, and our mastery over biology is increasing, so it’s inevitable that we will continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible and create a new breed of smaller, intelligent micro-machines. In the classic 1966 American science fiction film Fantastic Voyage, a...
The world’s first molecular robots go to work on the production line
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Our ability to assemble increasingly tiny things using increasingly tiny machinery is advancing all the time, and soon the breakthrough’s we are seeing will make even nanoscale products seem giant by comparison. Not only is the creation of the world’s first molecular robot by...
Harvard revolutionises camera technology, invents Metalense
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Centuries after they were first invented most lenses are still made of plastic or glass and Harvard’s new metalense will revolutionise the industry and let us make cameras and lenses that, eventually, will be just atoms thick. Metalenses, flat surfaces that use nanostructures to...
Nanogenerator breakthrough can generate electricity from the blood in your veins
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As researchers continue to develop micro-machines and implanted medical devices that live within our bodies we might need to find new ways to power them. Humanity has been generating electricity from flowing water for millennia using everything from watermills to huge hydro-electric dams, but...
MIT breakthrough creates glowing plants that could replace street lights
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Around a fifth of all the world’s energy production is consumed by lighting, but in the future glowing plants could help provide us all with an infinite, renewable source of light. Plants at the moment are getting the royal treatment. They’re being turned into...
Researchers use Biohybrid Robots made from algae to treat Cancer
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to identify the earliest stages of disease and treat it with ultimate precision will help doctors treat patients better and help patients recover faster. Over the past year scientists have developed 3D printed enzyme powered nanobots that can surf through the body’s bloodstream...
New Smart Bandage heals wounds faster and talks to your doctor
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Smart bandages that can heal wounds faster, identify disease and talk with doctors will help doctors track how well wounds are healing and help people heal faster When you think of medical 3D printing applications, and there are plenty of them to choose from,...
Caltech’s newest Smart Pill will one day track the nanobots in your body
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF In the next two decades or so we will be increasingly exposed to nanobots that can perform extraordinary feats as they move around inside our bodies, but up until now there’s not been any way to track them. The other day I made a...
World’s first holographic smartphone makes its debut
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Advances in nanotechnology and nanophotonics are helping companies make great strides in creating, and bringing to market, new holographic display systems and they’re only just getting started. A few months ago cinema camera maker RED came out with the surprise announcement that they were...
Researchers use just 14 atoms to build the world’s first 0.5nm transistor
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As silicon based transistors, the bed rock of today’s modern computing platforms, near their theoretical limits we will see the birth of several new types of computing platforms that will dominate the decades to come. We are always being told that Moore’s Law is...
