ITMO University

Fresh produce suppliers may say there's no pesticide residue on their fruits and veggies, but … are they telling the truth? Store workers could soon be able to check, using an inexpensive stick-on film.

Most of today's anti-counterfeiting labels have one thing in common: they're visible, meaning that counterfeiters can attempt to replicate their appearance. An experimental new sticker, however, contains "invisible" imagery.

​Although it's already possible to create colored images on metal surfaces using lasers, different TYPES of lasers have to be used for different effects. Now, however, Russian scientists have developed a method of producing multiple effects using one commercially-available laser.

​Major internal bleeding is a very serious condition that requires immediate attention, and it's difficult to treat non-surgically. Scientists from Russia's ITMO University are working on an effective means of doing so, however, in the form of injectable magnetic nanoparticles.

While most of us may not give much thought to the dyes used in color inks, they are in fact often quite toxic. That's why scientists have developed a more eco-friendly alternative – a non-toxic ink that produces different colors by altering the nanostructure of the material to which it's applied.

Security holograms can currently take days to create, using expensive equipment. That could be about to change, however, as scientists have developed a hologram production method that utilizes a regular inkjet printer.​