Game-changing nanostrings vibrate longer than any solid-state material

"Imagine a swing that, once pushed, keeps swinging for almost 100 years because it loses almost no energy through the ropes." So says a Delft University of Technology researcher who has helped his team accomplish a parallel feat at the nanoscale.

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Spiky stainless steel and copper delivers one-two punch to bacteria

To help combat the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, researchers have been experimenting for years with drug-free methods to blast disease-causing bugs. A new type of stainless steel does exactly that, in a convenient and affordable way.

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Strong shape-memory adhesive could put Spider-Man to shame

Forget radioactive spiders – a new breakthrough could make it easier to get Spider-Man’s wall-crawling powers. Scientists in Singapore have created a strong and reusable adhesive out of a shape-memory polymer, triggered by temperature changes.

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Process that reversibly bonds meat to metal may have many uses

Imagine if a hard metal implant could be bonded to soft biological tissue without using any adhesive, then easily removed when no longer needed. That and other nifty things could soon be possible, thanks to a new understanding of electroadhesion.

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Diamond nanomembranes make electronics 10x cooler, 5x faster to charge

Fraunhofer scientists have used ultra-thin diamond membranes to drastically cool electronic components and boost electric vehicle charging speeds, taking advantages of diamond's outstanding thermal conductivity.

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Molecular chaos powers potent ice-busting coating

Scraping ice off your car window might get a lot easier in the future thanks to a new spray coating developed by scientists in Austria. That's because of the way the molecules line up – or don't – during its high-tech creation process.

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Researchers create green steel from toxic red mud in 10 minutes

Researchers have devised an economical way of reducing the environmental impact of both the steel and aluminum industries by using hydrogen to melt down the toxic red mud left over from aluminum production to produce green steel in around 10 minutes.

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Graphene replaces sand to make lighter, stronger concrete

Thanks to our high demand for concrete, the world may eventually run out of accessible sand. Scientists at Rice University have now shown that substituting graphene can not only save sand, but makes concrete lighter, stronger and tougher.

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Artificial spider gland spins scalable spider silk just like nature

Scientists believe lightweight, ultra-strong and flexible spider silk is now one step closer to commercial use thanks to a deceptively complex 'box' that can spin nature's wonder fiber in a "spontaneous, extremely rapid, and highly reproducible" way.

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