Nanowires

We've already heard about so-called "fog harps" that use thin wires to collect airborne water droplets, providing drinking water. Well, an experimental new device also uses wires to capture water vapor, although it proceeds to generate electricity.

Scientists are coming up with some creative new methods to fight cancer. Now, a new study has found that iron nanowires could deliver a three-pronged attack against cancer cells, using heat, vibrations and drugs together.

Metamaterials that cloak people and objects from radar, visible light or infrared are usually thick and heavy, but now engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed an ultrathin, lightweight sheet that absorbs heat signatures and can even present false ones.

​It's never a good thing when donated human blood – or even the blood in our bodies – is infected with bacteria. Scientists at the University of California San Diego, however, are developing a means of removing such blood-borne microbes using tiny ultrasound-powered robots.

Researchers have broken the efficiency record for nuclear fusion on the micro-scale. Using an ultra-fast, high-powered laser, the results were about 500 times more efficient than previous experiments. The researchers blasted arrays of nanowires to create incredibly hot, dense plasmas.

​Smartphone screens seem to crack at the slightest breeze, but researchers at the University of Sussex might have a hardier alternative. A new material made of graphene and silver could lead to touchscreens that are tougher, easy to manufacture, more responsive, less power-hungry, and even bend.​

Researchers at Cambridge and the University of Warwick have jumped ahead to the logical endpoint of Moore's Law and shrunk wires down to a string of single atoms. Effectively one dimensional, these “extreme nanowires” are made of tellurium, compressed inside carbon nanotubes to keep them stable.

Engineers have tested a nano-system that could restore sight through a retinal implant that responds to light by directly stimulating the neurons that send visual signals to the brain. Unlike other systems, the new device requires no external sensors, and can provide a much higher resolution.

A nano-spacecraft made from a silicon chip could make the journey to Alpha Centauri in just 20 years. The problem is, such a "space-chip" wouldn’t survive the intense radiation and temperature of space, so a NASA and KAIST team is developing a method for helping the chip heal itself on the fly.

Researchers at the University of Central Florida have created a supercapcitor that can not only be fully-charged in mere seconds, but can go on to be recharged more than 30,000 times without affecting performance or capacity.

Over the years, the ONR has produced some impressive innovations, from unmanned sub-chasing ships to self-healing paint for armored vehicles. Now, it’s turned its attention towards producing new electrical materials, looking to nature for inspiration.

By designing nanowires with a special protective coating, researchers have created an electrode that withstands hundreds of thousands of cycles, serving as a proof of concept for longer-lasting batteries to power everything from smartphones to spacecraft.