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Electrons can extend our view of microscopic objects well beyond what's possible with visible light-all the way to the atomic scale. A popular method in electron microscopy for looking at tough, resilient materials in atomic detail is called STEM, or scanning transmission electron microscopy, but the highly focused beam of electrons used in STEM can also easily destroy delicate samples.

PA 41/16 An international team of researchers has discovered a gene in snails that determines whether their shells twist clockwise or anti-clockwise - and could offer clues to how the same gene affects body asymmetry in other animals including humans.

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have shown for the first time that an enzyme can be tweaked to reduce lignin in plants. Their technique could help lower the cost of converting biomass into carbon-neutral fuels to power your car and other sustainably developed bio-products.

Approximately 790,000 years ago there were multiple cosmic impacts on earth with global consequences. Geoscientists from Heidelberg University reached this conclusion after dating so-called tektites from various parts of the world. The research group under the direction of Mario Trieloff studied several of such rock glasses, which originated during impacts of asteroids or comets.

The first animal to appear on Earth was very likely the simple sea sponge. New genetic analyses led by MIT researchers confirm that sea sponges are the source of a curious molecule found in rocks that are 640 million years old. These rocks significantly predate the Cambrian explosion - the period in which most animal groups took over the planet, 540 million years ago - suggesting that sea sponges may have been the first animals to inhabit the Earth.

Researchers at the Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology of Heidelberg University are exploring new approaches to the treatment of diseases of the central nervous system such as Alzheimer's and brain tumours.

Method devised for making large quantities of georgeite with unprecedented ability as a catalyst to produce hydrogen from water An extremely rare mineral, found only in two locations around the world, including an old copper mine in Snowdonia , has been manufactured in large quantities for the very first time by researchers at Cardiff.

Scientists at ETH Zurich and an ETH spin-off have developed a novel polymer for coating materials, in order to prevent biofilms from forming on their surfaces.

In addition to precipitation, clouds influence the climate in various ways: they cover 70% of the Earth's surface and represent nearly 15% of the volume of the atmosphere. Scientists need to understand their underlying chemical and physical mechanisms in order to better integrate them into climate change models.

Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center assistant research specialist Quinn Dickinson picks a colony of a new yeast strain that could reduce the cost of biofuels produced with ionic liquids. Photo: Wisconsin Energy Institute An assistant research specialist at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) has designed a new strain of yeast that could improve the efficiency of making fuel from cellulosic biomass such as switchgrass.

This nanowire, composed of cesium, lead and bromide (CsPbBr3), emits bright laser light after hit by a pulse from another laser source. The nanowire laser proved to be very stable, emitting laser light for over an hour. It also was demonstrated to be broadly tunable across green and blue wavelengths.

Almost all of our genes may be influenced by the food we eat, according to new research published today Microbiology. The study, carried out in yeast - which can be used to model some of the body's fundamental processes - shows that while the activity of our genes influences our metabolism, the opposite is also true and the nutrients available to cells influence our genes.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have engineered a new synthetic biopathway that can more efficiently and cost-effectively turn agricultural waste, like corn stover and orange peels, into a variety of useful products ranging from spandex to chicken feed. The groundbreaking study was published today .

08. Human skin and banana peels have something in common: they produce the same enzyme when attacked. By studying fruit, researchers have come up with an accurate method for diagnosing the stages of this form of skin cancer. When bananas age they become covered in black spots caused by the enzyme tyrosinase.

Researchers from King's College London and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have for the first time demonstrated a direct link between the Wbp2 gene and progressive hearing loss. The scientists found that loss of Wbp2 expression led to progressive high-frequency hearing loss in mice as well as in two clinical cases of children with deafness with no other obvious features.

Elastin is a crucial building block in our bodies. Its flexibility allows skin to stretch and twist, blood vessels to expand and relax with every heartbeat, and lungs to swell and contract with each breath. But exactly how this protein-based tissue assembles itself to achieve this flexibility remained an unsolved question - until now.

Study is first 'red flag" about nanotechnology's impact on the environment The material at the heart of the lithium ion batteries that power electric vehicles, laptop computers and smartphones has been shown to impair a key soil bacterium, according to new research published online in the journal Chemistry of Materials .

Study is first 'red flag" about nanotechnology's impact on the environment The material at the heart of the lithium ion batteries that power electric vehicles, laptop computers and smartphones has been shown to impair a key soil bacterium, according to new research published online in the journal Chemistry of Materials .

Flashes of fluorescence seen under a microscope show where chemical reactions to (b) split water molecules or (c) electric currents take place on a nanorod of photovoltaic material. The outline of the rod laid over flash images is taken from the scanning electron microscope image at right. Photovoltaics promise to help meet our energy needs by turning sunlight into electricity.

Shewanella oneidensis thrives on metal ions, converting them to metals like iron that serve as nutrients for other microbes. The bacterium was shown to be harmed by the compound nickel manganese cobalt oxide, which is produced in nanoparticle form and is poised to become the dominant material in the lithium ion batteries that will power portable electronics and electric vehicles.