Materials & Innovations

What can brain science teach us about Christmas wish lists?

By Eileen De Guire / December 14, 2012

Credit: von Dobschütz; Wikimedia. About this time every year, I pluck from my family’s central posting system—the refrigerator door—those precious expressions of their hearts’ desires: their Christmas lists. Even though I…

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New ‘New Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future’ solicitation from NSF

By / December 4, 2012

We have written numerous time in the past about the Materials Genome Initiative, which was launched in June 2011. Just to review, the MGI sets the goal of cutting in…

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From icy water to steam via SiO2/Au nanoshells and carbon nanoparticles

By / November 25, 2012

Researchers create solar steam using nanoparticles at Rice University. Credit: Rice Univ. From Futurity.org: New technology that uses nanoparticles to convert solar energy directly into steam is so effective it…

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Other materials stories that may be of interest

By Eileen De Guire / November 20, 2012

In the spirit of the Thankgiving Day feast, we offer a wide sampling of interesting and perhaps unexpected stories to fill your intellectual palate. Mo-Sci breaks ground for new industrial…

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Making a better invisibility cloak

By Eileen De Guire / November 16, 2012

Graduate student, Nathan Landry, seen holding his invisibility cloak made of fiberglass and copper strips. Credit: Duke University. Editor’s note—The generation that grew up reading the Harry Potter septology, grew…

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Other materials stories that may be of interest

By Eileen De Guire / November 13, 2012

Some surprising materials being used in interesting ways. Nanocrystals and nickel catalyst substantially improve light-based hydrogen production Hydrogen is an attractive fuel source because it can easily be converted into…

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Ultrathin rust films trap sunlight for splitting water

By Eileen De Guire / November 13, 2012

A photograph of ultrathin film α-Fe2O3 photoanodes in action. Credit: Rothschild; Technion If you think about it, water molecules are a great place to store hydrogen. Now that the “hydrogen…

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Nature’s nanomaterials—To be or not to be bioinspired?

By Eileen De Guire / November 2, 2012

Figure 1. Synthetic sea shells. Credit: MaterialsViews; Wiley. Editor’s note: The other day I told you about a conference on bioinspired materials that I attended as a guest. In this…

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A castle vacation, poster session included

By Eileen De Guire / October 30, 2012

Germany’s Max Planck Society hosts small scientific conferences year-round at Schloss Ringberg in southern Bavaria. Credit: Schloss Ringberg; MPS. You may find it surprising that the highlight of my recent…

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Science, art or both? Winners of Cambridge University engineering department photography competition

By Eileen De Guire / October 23, 2012

Zinc oxide grown on a nanoporous substrate. The exterior morphology gives the bump a tortoise shell look, but a gap on the left side shows that these are pillars growing…

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