New Atlas

Materials Audio available

Laser-activated nanotube skin shows where the strain is

Ben Coxworth November 16, 2018

Whether they're in airplane wings, bridges or other critical structures, cracks can cause catastrophic failure before they're large enough to be noticed by the human eye. A strain-sensing "skin" applied to such objects could help, though, by lighting up when exposed to laser light.

The active layer of the skin is composed of carbon nanotubes (illustrated here) dispersed in a ...

Medical Audio available

How moth viruses, magnetic particles and gene editing could cure disease

Michael Irving November 12, 2018

Researchers at Rice University have developed a new way to activate treatments only in the right places, using an inert virus, magnetic nanoparticles and the gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9.

Rice researchers have developed a new method for targeted gene editing

Energy

Nanotube film drowns out battery-killing lithium tentacles

Nick Lavars November 4, 2018

New research out of Rice University describes yet another promising possible solution to the problem of dendrite formation in lithium-based batteries, working a thin film of carbon nanotubes into the design as as way of drowning them out.

Rice University chemist James Tour, left, graduate student Gladys López-Silva and postdoctoral researcher Rodrigo Salvatierra have ...

Drones

Gas-sensing drones that map clouds of harmful pollution from the air

Nick Lavars September 4, 2018

Knowing where harmful airborne pollutants are and in what concentrations would be an invaluable capability, and one that a team of Rice University scientists is making great headway on with their autonomous gas-sensing drones.

Riccardo Petrolo, a postdoctoral researcher at Rice University, has helped develop drones that can detect volatile ...

Biology

Parasitic "love vine" mummifies wasps in their nurseries

Anthony Wood August 21, 2018

Scientists from Rice University, Texas, have identified a parasitic plant that preys on both trees and the wasps that use them as a nursery for their young. The team hope that their discovery could one day aid scientists in controlling agricultural pests, and maybe even help target cancer cells.

The discovery mummified wasps in ball-like gall nurseries could one day lead to better ways of ...

Materials

Coal plant waste helps build environmentally-friendly, cementless concrete

Michael Irving June 18, 2018

To make concrete more environmentally friendly, the industry has been adding by-products from coal-fired power plants, but doing so had its own problems. Now, Rice researchers have developed a new composite binder that requires no cement, and reduce waste from power plants at the same time.

A scanning electron microscope image of fly ash particles, which have been used to make an ...

Music

Massive Attack's landmark album to be coded in DNA

Paul Ridden April 23, 2018

British electronic music icon Massive Attack is marking the 20th anniversary of the release of its most successful album – Mezzanine – by having it stored in DNA molecules. Digital audio will be translated into genetic code and stored in DNA strands housed in tiny glass beads.

Massive Attach's third studio album will celebrate its 20th birthday by being miniaturized and stored in ...

Materials

Soak and destroy: Titanium nanoparticles trap and kill contaminants in water

Michael Irving March 22, 2018

Researchers have developed a new “mat” that can adsorb and destroy pollutants from water. It's made up of titanium dioxide nanoparticles embedded into polymer fibers, which destroys contaminants through UV light. The team says the design is faster, safer and more energy efficient than other systems.

The fiber mats are able to adsorb pollutants out of water, before the embedded titanium dioxide ...

Materials

Meet gallenene: Gallium joins graphene in the second dimension

Michael Irving March 12, 2018

Graphene hogs all the headlines about two-dimensional materials, but it might just be the beginning. Researchers have now isolated a 2D form of the soft metal gallium, dubbed "gallenene," which could make for efficient, thin metal contacts in electronic devices.

"Gallenene" is a new, two-dimensional version of gallium

Medical

Cancer-killing hydrogel stays in place until the job is done

Michael Irving March 8, 2018

The cure for cancer might have been inside us all along – our immune system. The trick of immunotherapy is to boost it to find and destroy those rogue cells. A new hydrogel has been developed that can be injected directly to the site of a tumor, slowly releasing immunotherapy drugs for longer.

A scanning electron microscope image of the injectable cancer-fighting hydrogel, dubbed STINGel