News & Views in 2016

Black phosphorous, a van der Waals layered semiconductor, is reported to reveal a plasmonic response that can be initiated by photoexcitation with femtosecond pulses.

The programmable disorder often seen in biological networks has now been demonstrated with DNA origami tiles using a stochastic algorithm.

A microfluidic chip with progressively stronger magnetic field gradients along its length can sort and classify circulating tumour cells based on the expression of cell surface markers.

Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy can be used to characterize the relationship between the topography and the chemical activity of individual surface sites.

The creation and destruction of magnetic whirls by the application of an electric field may be the basis for novel memory technologies.

Nanostructured photocatalytic microrods can swim either towards or away from a light source depending on their surface functionalization.

A general method for particle assembly allows access to a diverse range of modular microscale supraparticles from nanoparticles, nanowires and even cells.

Small dipeptide fragments enzymatically combine and split to form sequences that self-assemble into nanomaterials.

Two reports show FDA-approved nanoparticles can kill cancer cells through iron- and reactive oxygen species-dependent mechanisms, offering new strategies for cancer treatment.

Under shear stress, silicon nanocrystals become amorphous through an intermediate hexagonal crystalline phase.

Optical microscopy goes subnanometre with DNA-PAINT.

Isoelectric points of small samples of proteins can now be measured using atomic force microscopy and substrates with a known charge.

Photogenerated charge carriers from hundreds of self-assembled nanowires are harnessed to make a functional photovoltaic device.

The controlled positioning of more than 8,000 chlorine vacancies on a surface at 77 K is a step towards the implementation of ultradense rewritable atomic memories.

Real-time three-dimensional mapping and control of in vitro cardiomyocytes opens new paths for post-surgery heart monitoring and stimulation.

Measuring changes in the isotopic composition of silver offers clues on how silver nanoparticles are transformed in the environment.

An autonomous chemically driven artificial molecular machine uses information acquired by allosteric interactions combined with an exergonic reaction to know which way to go.

Induced progressive crystallization in chalcogenide-based materials can be used to closely mimic neuronal functions, opening new paths to neuromorphic computing.

The ambiguous barrier mechanism of nuclear pore complexes has now been resolved through structural analysis with high-speed atomic force microscopy.