Invention: "Nanocage" tool untangles (molecular) spaghetti

“Nanocage” - a tool that can catch and straighten out molecule-sized tangles of polymers

14-Jul-2020 - A team of scientists at the University of Vermont have invented a new tool--they call it a "nanocage"--that can catch and straighten out molecule-sized tangles of polymers. Once a knotty polymer strand--whether made of protein or plastic--is pulled open "then we can activate just the polymers we ...

A new form of light

Scientists have discovered a method to create fluorescent light that may have promising applications

06-Oct-2016 - Glow-in-the-dark stickers, weird deep-sea fish, LED lightbulbs -- all have forms of luminescence. In other words, instead of just reflecting light, they make their own. Now a team of scientists from the University of Vermont and Dartmouth College have discovered a new way that some molecules can ...

New use for X-rays: A radar gun for unruly atoms

04-Apr-2016 - X-rays have long been used to make pictures of tiny objects, even single atoms. Now a team of scientists has discovered a new use for X-rays at the atomic scale: using them like a radar gun to measure the motion and velocity of complex and messy groups of atoms. "It's a bit like a police speed ...

Scientists build wrench 1.7 nanometers wide

28-Sep-2015 - University of Vermont chemist Severin Schneebeli has invented a new way to use chirality to make a wrench. A nanoscale wrench. His team's discovery allows them to precisely control nanoscale shapes and holds promise as a highly accurate and fast method of creating customized molecules. This use ...

Building the electron superhighway

Scientists have invented what they are calling 'an electron superhighway' in an organic semiconductor.

16-Sep-2015 - TV screens that roll up. Roofing tiles that double as solar panels. Sun-powered cell phone chargers woven into the fabric of backpacks. A new generation of organic semiconductors may allow these kinds of flexible electronics to be manufactured at low cost, says University of Vermont physicist and ...

Quantum physics on tap

Nano-sized faucet offers experimental support for longstanding quantum theory

20-May-2015 - We all know intuitively that normal liquids flow more quickly as the channel containing them tightens. Think of a river flowing through narrow rapids. But what if a pipe were so amazingly tiny that only a few atoms of superfluid helium could squeeze through its opening at once? According to a ...