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Recently, a research team from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) has employed metasurfaces to fabricate angle-dependent holograms with multiple functions. This technology allows holograms to display multiple images based on the observer’s viewing angle. The findings were published in Nano Letters.

Objects can appear distinct depending on the viewer’s position, a concept that can be harnessed in holographic technology to generate cinematic and realistic 3D holograms presenting different images based on the viewing angle. However, the current challenge lies in controlling light dispersion according to the angle, making the application of nano-optics in this context a complex endeavor.

The team addressed this challenge by leveraging metasurfaces, artificial nanostructures capable of precisely manipulating the characteristics of light. These metasurfaces are incredibly thin and lightweight, approximately one-hundredth the thickness of a human hair, making them promising for applications in miniaturized displays such as virtual and augmented reality devices.

Imagine an army of self-propelling, radioisotope-covered particles 2,500 to 10,000 times smaller than a speck of dust that, upon injection into the body, search for and attach themselves to cancerous tumours, destroying them. Sounds like science fiction? Not so for mice with bladder cancer.

Researchers in Spain report that nanoparticles containing radioactive iodine and which propel themselves upon reaction with urea have the ability to distinguish cancerous bladder tumours from healthy tissue. These “nanobots” penetrate the tumour’s extracellular matrix and accumulate within it, enabling the radionuclide therapy to reach its precise target. In a study conducted at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) in Barcelona, mice receiving a single dose of this treatment had a 90% reduction in the size of bladder tumours compared with untreated animals.

This novel approach may one day revolutionize the treatment of bladder cancer. Bladder cancer is the tenth most common cancer in the world, with over 600,000 new cases diagnosed in 2022 and more than 220,000 deaths globally, according to the World Health Organization’s Global Cancer Observatory.

Researchers at Osaka University have developed a groundbreaking flexible optical sensor that works even when crumpled. Using carbon nanotube photodetectors and wireless Bluetooth technology, this sensor enables non-invasive analysis and holds promise for advancements in imaging, wearable technology, and soft robotics. Credit: SciTechDaily.com.

Researchers at Osaka University have created a soft, pliable, and wireless optical sensor using carbon nanotubes and organic transistors on an ultra-thin polymer film. This innovation is poised to open new possibilities in imaging technologies and non-destructive analysis techniques.

Recent years have brought remarkable progress in imaging technology, ranging from high-speed optical sensors capable of capturing more than two million frames per second to compact, lensless cameras that can capture images with just a single pixel.

Canadian researchers led by Montreal radiologist Gilles Soulez have developed a novel approach to treat liver tumors using magnet-guided microrobots in an MRI device.

The idea of injecting microscopic robots into the bloodstream to heal the human body is not new. It’s also not science fiction. Guided by an external magnetic field, miniature biocompatible robots, made of magnetizable iron oxide nanoparticles, can theoretically provide medical treatment in a very targeted manner.

Until now, there has been a technical obstacle: the force of gravity of these microrobots exceeds that of the magnetic force, which limits their guidance when the tumor is located higher than the injection site. While the magnetic field of the MRI is high, the magnetic gradients used for navigation and to generate MRI images are weaker.

The development of innovative magnetic nanodevices is one step closer to reality thanks to the observation by RIKEN physicists of a type of rotation that can be realized in materials consisting of light elements.

The ability to use electric currents to turn revolving mechanical parts led to the development of electric motors and caused an explosion in electrical devices. Now, physicists are trying to do the same thing but on a nanoscale. However, the development of innovative magnetic nanodevices requires the efficient electrical generation of rotation, or torque.

Usually, torque is generated in magnetic systems by converting electric charge to spin by using the strong spin–orbit interaction of a heavy-metal layer. The resulting spin current is then injected into adjacent ferromagnetic layers. But heavy-element materials are often incompatible with scalable production processes, and their high resistance makes them unsuitable for some applications.

Scientists are investigating whether an oral drug sprinkled with gold nanoparticles could one day treat neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis.

The experimental medicine, called CNM-Au8, has now shown success in boosting the brain’s metabolism in phase II clinical trials.

Research on the safety and efficacy of the daily drug is still ongoing, but the initial results have researchers hopeful. The medicine contains suspended nanoparticles of gold that can apparently pass the blood-brain barrier and improve energy supply to neurons, preventing their decline.

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), in collaboration with Kansas State University, has discovered slab waveguides based on the two-dimensional material hexagonal boron nitride. This milestone has been reported in the journal Advanced Materials.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials are a class of materials that can be reduced to the monolayer limit by mechanically peeling the layers apart. The weak interlayer attractions (van der Waals attraction) allow the layers to be separated via the so-called “Scotch tape” method.

The most well-known 2D material, graphene, is a semimetallic material consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms. Recently, other 2D materials including semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and insulating hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) have also garnered attention. When reduced near the monolayer limit, 2D materials have unique nanoscale properties that are appealing for creating atomically thin electronic and optical devices.

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Nanotechnology is intimately intertwined with efforts to bring bottom-up synthetic cell research to the forefront, and only strengthening these bonds will expand the scope of what this might achieve.