ANN ARBOR — HIV-infected people carry many different HIV viruses and all have distinct personalities—some much more vengeful and infectious than others.
Yet, despite the breadth of infectivity, roughly 76 percent of HIV infections arise from a single virus. Now, scientists believe they can identify the culprit with very specific measurements of the quantities of a key protein in the HIV virus. (more…)
Physiker beobachten ungewöhnliche Wärme-Übertragung von kalten zu warmen Nanoteilchen
Objekte mit Größen von wenigen Nanometern, z.B. molekulare Bausteine lebender Zellen oder nanotechnologische Elemente, sind laufend zufälligen Zusammenstößen mit den sie umgebenden Molekülen ausgesetzt. In diesem mikroskopisch kleinen, chaotischen Umfeld werden die fundamentalen Gesetze der Thermodynamik, die unsere makroskopische Alltagswelt bestimmen, neu geschrieben. Ein internationales Team von Forschern aus Barcelona, Zürich und Wien entdeckte nun, wie ein mit Laserlicht gefangenes Nanoteilchen den berühmten zweiten Hauptsatz der Thermodynamik zeitweise verletzt – ein Umstand, der auf einer menschlichen Zeit- und Längenskala unmöglich ist. Die Wissenschafter berichten dazu in der jüngsten Ausgabe des namhaften Journals “Nature Nanotechnology”. (more…)
Engineering faculty and students at the University of Colorado Boulder have produced the first experimental results showing that atomically thin graphene membranes with tiny pores can effectively and efficiently separate gas molecules through size-selective sieving.
The findings are a significant step toward the realization of more energy-efficient membranes for natural gas production and for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from power plant exhaust pipes.
Mechanical engineering professors Scott Bunch and John Pellegrino co-authored a paper in Nature Nanotechnology with graduate students Steven Koenig and Luda Wang detailing the experiments. The paper was published Oct. 7 in the journal’s online edition. (more…)
*UMD Researchers Discover Nanoscale Phenomena with Potential for Computer Speed Advances*
College Park, Md.– A team of University of Maryland scientists have discovered that when electric current is run through carbon nanotubes, objects nearby heat up while the nanotubes themselves stay cool, like a toaster that burns bread without getting hot. Understanding this completely unexpected new phenomenon could lead to new ways of building computer processors that can run at higher speeds without overheating.
“This is a new phenomenon we’re observing, exclusively at the nanoscale, and it is completely contrary to our intuition and knowledge of Joule heating at larger scales-for example, in things like your toaster,” says first author Kamal Baloch, who conducted the research while a graduate student at the University of Maryland. “The nanotube’s electrons are bouncing off of something, but not its atoms. Somehow, the atoms of the neighboring materials-the silicon nitride substrate-are vibrating and getting hot instead.” (more…)
