Materials Science

Materials Science

Gems of War

While international bodies grapple with regulatory schemes to stem the diamond trade that funds ongoing civil conflicts in African countries, scientists are attempting to develop methods for identifying gems from conflict zones.

Materials Science

Healing Wounds: Interactive dressing speeds the process

A new, easily prepared hydrogel material promotes more rapid wound healing in laboratory animals than do conventional dressings.

Materials Science

Molecular template makes nanoscale helix

Using ribbons made of organic molecules as minuscule templates, researchers have coaxed a semiconductor material into tiny helical coils.

Materials Science

X Rays to Go: Carbon nanotubes could shrink machines

A new type of X-ray machine operates at room temperature by producing X-ray-generating electrons with carbon nanotubes instead of traditional heated metal filaments.

Materials Science

Spring in your step? The forces in cartilage

Researchers are uncovering the role of molecular forces in cartilage's ability to resist compression.

Materials Science

Wiregate: Metallic picket fence flips magnetic bits

Rather than relegate magnetic fields to the usual backup role of data storage for computers, a new microcircuit exploits those fields for computation, possibly leading to cheaper, lower-power chips than traditional electronic ones.

Materials Science

Beyond Jell-O: New ideas gel in the lab

Researchers have created a new class of hydrogels that might prove useful in tissue engineering, drug delivery, and other biomedical applications.

Materials Science

Self-Sutures: New material knots up on its own

Researchers have used a new biodegradable material to make surgical sutures that knot and tighten themselves as they warm to body temperature.

Materials Science

Membrane Mastery: Nanosize silica speeds up sieve

A novel modification to polymer membranes gives researchers a means to tune certain filters so they separate molecules more quickly and more selectively.

Materials Science

Steely Glaze: Layered electrolytes control corrosion

Experiments with ultrathin organic coatings applied to steel suggest a new technique for slowing corrosion.

Materials Science

A Field of Diminutive Daisies

Researchers have created tiny daisies as a demonstration of a new technique that creates three-dimensional structures from carbon nanotubes.

Materials Science

Osmium is Forever: Rare metal’s strength humbles mighty diamond’s

A new route to materials harder than diamond may have opened with the surprising finding that the rare metal osmium resists compression better than diamond does.