University Research

New Synthetic ‘Nanoparticle Taxicab’ Materials Can Identify, Collect and Transport Debris on Surfaces

Polymer scientists led by Todd Emrick at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have developed new polymer-stabilized droplet carriers that can identify and encapsulate nanoparticles for transport in a cell, a kind of “pick up and drop off” service that represents the first successful translation of this biological process in a materials context.

Penn and Michigan Researchers Discover New Rules for Quasicrystals

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan have engineered a quasicrystal that is formed by self-assembling nanoparticles, which are an order of magnitude larger than the atoms that comprise traditional quasicrystals.

Cosmic Connection

Greg Huber, deputy director of UC Santa Barbara's Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, worked with nuclear physicists to confirm a structural similarity found in both human cells and neutron stars.

Major Advance in Solar Cells Made from Cheap and Easy-to-use Perovskite

Solar cells made from an inexpensive and increasingly popular material called perovskite can more efficiently turn sunlight into electricity using a new technique to sandwich two types of perovskite into a single photovoltaic cell.

'Perfect' Soap Molecule

A team of researchers, led by the University of Minnesota, has invented a new soap molecule made from renewable sources that could dramatically reduce the number of chemicals in cleaning products and their impact on the environment.

Why Fungi Rule the World

Boston University assistant professor Jennifer Talbot studies the surprising role that molds, mushrooms, and other dirt-dwellers play in climate change.

Read more about Why Fungi Rule the World

Researchers Receive INCITE Award to Study Stellar Explosions

A team led by Stony Brook University Professors in the Department of Physics and Astronomy have been awarded 45 million hours on one of the world’s fastest supercomputers, the Titan Cray XK7 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, to further their research on explosive astrophysical phenomena and model these complex occurrences by way of supercomputer-generated simulations.

Sensing the Future of Molecule Detection and Bioproduction

A team of researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School (HMS) led by George Church, Ph.D., has developed a new method for engineering a broad range of biosensors to detect and signal virtually any desired molecule using living eukaryotic cells.

Closing the Carbon Loop: Pitt Chemical Engineering Team Identifies New Catalyst that Advances Capture and Conversion of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

Research at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering focused on developing a new catalyst that would lead to large-scale implementation of capture and conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2).