ScienceDaily: Top Technology News |
- Colloidal quantum dots: Performance boost next-generation solar cell technology
- Gamers succeed where scientists fail: Molecular structure of retrovirus enzyme solved, doors open to new AIDS drug design
- First fluorescence-guided ovarian cancer surgery
- Sequencing 'dark matter' of life: Elusive genomes of thousands of bacteria species can now be decoded
- Why carbon nanotubes spell trouble for cells
- Crystal structure shows how motor protein works
- New light on detection of bacterial infection: Polymers fluoresce in the presence of bacteria
| Colloidal quantum dots: Performance boost next-generation solar cell technology Posted: 18 Sep 2011 11:49 AM PDT Researchers have created the most efficient solar cell ever made based on colloidal quantum dots (CQD). Quantum dots are nanoscale semiconductors that capture light and convert it into an energy source. Because of their small scale, the dots can be sprayed on to flexible surfaces, including plastics. This enables the production of solar cells that are less expensive to produce and more durable than the more widely known silicon-based version. In a new study, the researchers demonstrate how the wrappers that encapsulate the quantum dots can be shrunk to a mere layer of atoms.  |
| Posted: 18 Sep 2011 11:49 AM PDT Online gamers have solved the structure of a retrovirus enzyme whose configuration had stumped scientists for over a decade. This is the first instance that researchers are aware of in which gamers solved a longstanding scientific problem. The discovery was achieved through Foldit, which allows players to collaborate and compete in predicting protein molecule structures. Foldit is an example of engaging the public in scientific discovery by using games to solve hard problems that can't be solved by either people or computers alone.  |
| First fluorescence-guided ovarian cancer surgery Posted: 18 Sep 2011 11:49 AM PDT The first fluorescence-guided surgery on an ovarian cancer patient was performed using an imaging agent attached to a modified form of the vitamin folic acid, which acts as a "homing device" to seek out and attach to ovarian cancer cells. Surgeons were able to see clusters of cancer cells as small as one-tenth of a millimeter -- 30 times smaller than the smallest they could detect using standard techniques.  |
| Posted: 18 Sep 2011 11:49 AM PDT Researchers have developed a new method to sequence and analyze the 'dark matter' of life -- the genomes of thousands of bacteria species previously beyond scientists' reach, from microorganisms that produce antibiotics and biofuels to microbes living in the human body.  |
| Why carbon nanotubes spell trouble for cells Posted: 18 Sep 2011 11:49 AM PDT Carbon nanotubes and other long nanomaterials can spell trouble for cells. The reason: Cells mistake them for spheres and try to engulf them. Once they start, cells cannot reverse course, and complete ingestion never occurs. Researchers detail for the first time how cells interact with carbon nanotubes, gold nanowires and asbestos fibers.  |
| Crystal structure shows how motor protein works Posted: 18 Sep 2011 11:49 AM PDT The crystal structure of the dynamin protein -- one of the molecular machines that makes cells work -- has been revealed, bringing insights into a class of molecules with a wide influence on health and disease.  |
| New light on detection of bacterial infection: Polymers fluoresce in the presence of bacteria Posted: 15 Sep 2011 08:37 AM PDT Researchers have developed polymers that fluoresce in the presence of bacteria, paving the way for the rapid detection and assessment of wound infection using ultra-violet light.  |
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