Items Tagged With Materials Science

A microscope used to scan nanostructures can be dramatically enhanced by using a “superlens” reports an international team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Biochemistry and The University of Texas at Austin in this week’s issue of Science. This is the first time a superlens, a lens capable of creating images of objects smaller than the wavelength of light, has been integrated into a microscope and used to visualise two-dimensional objects.

A Princeton-led research team has created an easy-to-roduce material from the stuff of computer chips that has the rare ability to bend light in the opposite direction from all naturally occurring materials. This startling property may contribute to significant advances in many areas, including high-speed communications, medical diagnostics and detection of terrorist threats.

The National Science Foundation has extended funding for Rice University’s Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology with a five-year renewal worth $12 million. The renewal ensures CBEN programs will continue through 2011. CBEN was the first academic research centre in the world dedicated to studying the interaction between nanomaterials and living organisms and ecosystems. It was founded with a five-year grant in 2001 and was eligible for a one-time five-year extension.