Volume 6 Issue 1, January 2011

A new approach to public knowledge of science focuses on what the public want to know rather than what scientists think they should know. Chris Toumey reports.

Contacts between a single molecule and a metal electrode can be good or bad depending on the number of metal atoms that are in direct contact with the molecule.

Graphene nanoribbons with low defect densities and large energy gaps can be fabricated by chemically unzipping carbon nanotubes and annealing the result.

Quantum-control pulse sequences can suppress errors and significantly extend the lifetimes of spin-based quantum bits in solid-state devices.

Understanding the impact of nanomaterials on human health will require more detailed knowledge about the protein corona that surrounds nanoparticles in biological environments.

The extracellular matrix is a nanocomposite material that supports the attachment of cells and provides information for tissue development. This Review outlines the architecture of this matrix, how nanotechnological approaches can be used to recreate its structure for developing better tissue and organ substitutes, and the challenges and future prospects of applying nanotechnology in tissue engineering.

The conductance of a single C₆₀ molecule depends on the number of atoms in the electrodes that are in direct contact with the molecule.

Ultrathin sheets of palladium exhibit a tunable surface plasmon resonance in the near infrared and useful catalytic properties.

Surface-enhanced Raman emission can measure the effective temperatures both of the vibrational modes and the flowing electrons in a nanoscale junction.

Polymer-coated nanoparticles of a certain size can unfold fibrinogen and induce the binding of an integrin receptor that triggers the release of inflammatory signals.

Graphene nanoribbons manufactured by annealing unzipped carbon nanotubes have been measured to have a large energy bandgap of ∼50 meV, even for widths of ∼100 nm.

Experiments have shown that carbon nanotubes are ideal optical wires, with properties affected by excitonic and other intrinsic properties, as well as by shape.

An endoscope formed by attaching carbon nanotubes to the tips of glass micropipettes can be used to probe intracellular processes, and transport fluids and nanoparticles to and from precise locations.

Cadmium concentrations in ciliates increase when bacteria that contain CdSe quantum dots are consumed by ciliate predators, suggesting that quantum dots could potentially be available to other levels of the food web.