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Sperm cell release can be triggered by tightening the grip around the delivery organ, according to a team of nano and microsystems engineers and plant biologists at the University of Montreal and Concordia University. Concordia’s nanobiotech team devised a microchip that enabled the University of Montreal biologists to observe what happened when pollen tubes – the sperm delivery tools used by plants – tried to negotiate a microscopic obstacle course. The pollen tubes were exposed to a series of narrow, elastic openings resulting in a variety of cellular responses. When the opening was too narrow or tight, pollen tube growth stalled. However, the elongating tubes successfully penetrated slightly larger openings. Curiously, the pollen tubes burst and released the sperm cells when passing openings of a particular size relative to the pollen tube width. (more…)

Researchers Create ‘Nanoflowers’ for Energy Storage, Solar Cells

By Guest PostOctober 18, 2012Scienceacs nano, atomic structure, batteries, carnation, chun li, device, energy storage, flow, flower like, flower structure, gayatri pongur snigdha, germanium sulfide, ges, ges nanoflower, ges powder, ges vapor, graphite, liang huang, linyou cao, lithium ion, marigold, material, micrometer, nanometer, next generation, non-toxic, north Carolina, petal, semiconductor, solar cell, state university, structure, surface area, toxic, useable power, vaporize, yifei yu

Researchers from North Carolina State University have created flower-like structures out of germanium sulfide (GeS) – a semiconductor material – that have extremely thin petals with an enormous surface area. The GeS flower holds promise for next-generation energy storage devices and solar cells.

“Creating these GeS nanoflowers is exciting because it gives us a huge surface area in a small amount of space,” says Dr. Linyou Cao, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper on the research. “This could significantly increase the capacity of lithium-ion batteries, for instance, since the thinner structure with larger surface area can hold more lithium ions. By the same token, this GeS flower structure could lead to increased capacity for supercapacitors, which are also used for energy storage.” (more…)

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Easy come, easy grow

Researchers Create ‘Nanoflowers’ for Energy Storage, Solar Cells