New Atlas

Physics

Image captures light as both wave and particle for very first time

Colin Jeffrey March 2, 2015

Though a long accepted tenet in physics, no experiment has ever directly observed the wave/particle duality of light. Now researchers at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland claim to have captured a photograph of light as both waves and particles in the same image.

Light simultaneously showing both wave pattern and particle energy attributes (Photo: Fabrizio Carbone/EPFL)

Science

Steerable optical nanoantennas light the way for practical lab-on-a-chip devices

Colin Jeffrey February 25, 2015

Researchers at Monash University in Australia claim to have produced nanoscale directional antennas that accurately focus light at the nanoscale and may provide the ultra-narrow beams needed for upcoming nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) and the eventual production of lab-on-a-chip devices.

Using nanoantennas to direct light, researchers have created a method to accurately focus light at the ...

3D Printing

Artist creates nanosculptures smaller than a human hair

Colin Jeffrey November 18, 2014

A statue so tiny that it cannot be seen by the naked eye has been produced using a new 3D printing technique. Measuring a picayune 20 x 80 x 100 microns, it's claimed the smallest sculpture of the human form ever created.

Artist Jonty Hurwitz has created sculptures so tiny that they can only be seen using an ...

Electronics

World's smallest nanomotor could power cell-sized nanobots for drug delivery

Dario Borghino May 20, 2014

Scientists at the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas have built and tested what appears to be the world's smallest, fastest, and longest-running nanomotor yet – so small that it could fit inside a single living cell.

Scientists at the University of Texas have built and tested what appears to be the world's ...

Science

DNA clamps could stop cancer in its tracks

Lakshmi Sandhana January 17, 2014

Scientists have developed a special DNA clamp to act as a diagnostic nano machine. It's capable of detecting genetic mutations responsible for causing cancers, hemophilia, sickle cell anemia and other diseases, more efficiently than existing techniques.

A rendering of the nanometer-scale DNA clamp, that recognizes genetic mutations more strongly and specifically (Image: ...

Science

“Mini Lisa” demonstrates potential of nanomanufacturing technique

Brian Dodson August 6, 2013

Arguably the world’s most famous painting, da Vinci's Mona Lisa has now been copied onto the world’s smallest canvas at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Professor Jennifer Curtis "painting" the 30-micron Mini Lisa

Robotics

Soft squishy robots could replace pill cameras and invasive endoscopes

Jason Falconer November 7, 2012

A magnetic capsule robot may replace endoscopy thanks to work being done at Carnegie Mellon University's Nanorobotics lab.

A magnetic capsule robot made primarily out of soft elastomer developed at CMU's Nanorobotics lab

Health & Wellbeing

MinION - $900 usb-powered DNA sequencer on sale this year

Brian Dodson February 19, 2012

UK company develops a $900 fast, portable, and disposable DNA sequencer to support genome research and personalized medicine.

The MinION is the size of a USB memory stick, and obtains both power and computer ...

Mobile Technology

You may soon be able to put your iPod nano on The Pill

Ben Coxworth December 30, 2011

The Pill is a new speaker dock, designed specifically for the sixth-generation iPod nano.

Mobile Technology

Researchers develop pinhead-sized gyroscope for smartphones and medical devices

Darren Quick October 5, 2010

A newly developed optical gyroscope, small enough to fit on the head of a pin, could allow the integration of more accurate motion sensing technology in a not only smartphones, but also in medical devices inside the human body.