When Yuri Gorby discovered that a microbe which transforms toxic metals can sprout electrically conductive nanowires from its cell membrane, he reasoned this anatomical oddity and its metal-changing physiology must be related.

A vital step towards the ultimate goal of being able to take “photographs” of individual molecules in action has been achieved by an international team led by UCL (University College London) researchers at the London Centre for Nanotechnology.

Using a fast, low-cost fabrication technique that allows inexpensive testing of a wide variety of materials, Cornell researchers have come up with nanoscale resonators—tiny vibrating strings—with the highest quality factor so far obtainable at room temperature for devices so small.

Scientists at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) NanoTech Institute, together with an Australian collaborator, learned this week that they have won two awards—one in Australia and the other in the United States—for their breakthroughs in fabricating carbon nanotube yarns and transparent nanotube sheets, which promise important industrial applications.