From tennis rackets to sunscreen, from stained glass windows to computer memory, the applications of nanoscale materials research are all around us. New television displays, cell phones and other digital devices incorporate nanostructured polymer films known as light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs. Continue reading “The Nature of Nano”
Biology is soft, curvilinear and transient; modern silicon technology is rigid, planar and everlasting. Electronic systems that eliminate this profound mismatch in properties will lead to new types of devices, capable of integrating non-invasively with the body, providing function over some useful period of time, and then dissolving into surrounding biofluids.
Continue reading “Body & Machine – Epidermal Electronics”
Molecular modeling on computers can provide great benefits to society in a wide range of fields, such as medicine and the production and storage of renewable energy. It is a powerful tool that provides a window into the chemical world that is unparalleled in its ability to visualize the nano- and sub-nano environment. Continue reading “Science With A Pint: Our Curious Chemical World”
Energy is a basic foundation of human society, like food, shelter, communication and mobility. A new international energy landscape is emerging as developing countries create their energy infrastructures and as energy technologies move away from fossil toward more sustainable sources and uses. Continue reading “The Price of Doing Nothing: The World’s Energy Future”
Since 1974, there has been mounting evidence of declining human sperm counts in several industrialized populations. But there are marked differences in occurrence and timing between regions, suggesting an environmental effect. Sperm counts have not yet declined to levels where fertility is severely threatened, but how serious is the problem and what might the future hold for our species?
Continue reading “Out for the Sperm Count: mysteries of a declining resource”