A team including theoretical physicists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has taken a step toward building objects out of photons, and the findings hint that weightless particles of light can be joined into a sort of “molecule” with its own peculiar force. In a paper forthcoming in Physical Review Letters, the […]
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Stars can create DNA precursors, suggests new experiment
Scientists at Berkeley Lab and the University of Hawaii have shown how DNA’s molecular precursors – carbon ring structures with embedded nitrogen atoms – could be created in the region surrounding a star. The new work adds to previous intriguing observations of what appear to be organic molecules in distant stellar environments. In the new […]
Unusual carbon-based molecule detected 27,000 light years away
Astronomers have discovered an unusual carbon-based molecule – isopropyl cyanide – in the gaseous star-forming region Sagittarius B2. The discovery, made using the ALMA radio telescope array, suggests that the complex molecules needed for life may have their origins in interstellar space. The astronomers, from Cornell University, the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, and […]
Artificial leaf clears developmental barrier
Putting together the chemical reactions that make photosynthesis happen has proven harder than scientists initially thought, but in a new paper in Nature Chemistry, Arizona State University (ASU) researchers describe the breakthroughs they have made toward perfecting a functional artificial leaf. The researchers hope their work will one day allow the inexpensive production of hydrogen […]
“Walking” Molecule Does Some Work
Nano-buffs may recall the work done by University of California Riverside’s Ludwig Bartels, in designing a molecule that can move in a straight line on a flat surface. Now, Bartels’ team, reporting in Science Express, say they have found a way to attach cargo: in this instance, two carbon dioxide (CO2) molecules, making the nano-walker […]