News & Views in 2010

A bacteriophage can be used as a template for assembling catalytic nanostructures for the light-driven oxidation of water molecules.

An extended one-dimensional defect that has the potential to act as a conducting wire has been embedded in another perfect graphene sheet.

Reducing the particle size of some iron compounds can improve their bioavailability in rats, without increasing their tendency to cause colour and odour changes when added to foods.

Electron tunnelling can be used to selectively identify the basic constituents of DNA, indicating that the approach could be used to efficiently read a DNA sequence.

Salt water can be separated into desalted and saltier streams by a nanochannel-based device that requires only low-voltage electricity.

Complex nanoscale patterns can be generated by combining the self-assembly of block-copolymer thin films with minimal top-down templating.

Computer simulations have shown that hydrophobic nanoparticles encapsulated in a deformable shell can repair surfaces in a manner that is similar to the way white blood cells work in the body.

In an experimental tour de force involving ultrahigh vacuum and low-temperature scanning probe techniques, researchers have created organic nanostructures that show evidence of unconventional superconductivity.

Single-walled carbon nanotubes can be used to detect single DNA molecules as they pass through the nanotubes under the influence of an applied electric field.

A silicon-based membrane for fuel cells offers significant advantages over Nafion-based membranes.

Three-dimensional integration may allow for continued improvements in the speed, density and cost of non-volatile memory.

Very accurate measurements of the quantum Hall effect with massless particles in single sheets of carbon atoms could help metrologists in their efforts to improve the standard for electrical resistance, and possibly even redefine the kilogram.

A CMOS-capable silicon nanowire transistor has been fabricated without any junctions, simplifying its manufacture and improving its performance relative to traditional devices.

Self-assembly of proteins commonly associated with neurodegenerative diseases can be exploited to make well-ordered and strong functional macroscopic materials.

Placing colloidal spheres in the immediate proximity of fluorescent molecules makes it possible to achieve single-molecule imaging at high temperatures with a low-cost system.

An atomic force microscope can reveal a range of subsurface information about a sample through mechanical excitation of both the sample and the tip.

The presence of just one dopant atom can dramatically alter the performance of a short-channel transistor, depending on where it is located.

Could carbon nanotubes of a single chirality be grown from the bottom up using a common organic reaction?