Researchers are developing tattoo inks that do more than make pretty colors. Some can sense chemicals, temperature and UV radiation, setting the stage for tattoos that diagnose health problems.
Bricks turn out to be useful for storing electricity thanks to their porousness and red pigment.
Duck decoys lure real ducks within range of hunters. Nanoparticles that look like cells serve as both decoys and hunters to ensnare virus particles.
Chuck Holland/Flickr
These tiny nanoparticles might provide a new way to see what's happening in the brain and even deliver treatments to specific cells – if researchers figure out how to use them safely and effectively.
Nanoparticles are extremely tiny particles, with external dimensions smaller than 100 nanometres (0.0001 of a millimetre). Here's what we know about nanotechnology in food.
Phosphorene nanoribbons.
Oliver Payton/University of Bristol
Nanotechnology and materials are the source of countless innovations, but we don't accurately know how they are affecting humans and the environment.
A man walks through a greenhouse in northeastern Uganda where sustainable agriculture techniques such as drought-resistant crops and tree planting are taught, Oct. 19, 2017.
AP Photo/Adelle Kalakouti
After declining for nearly a decade, the number of hungry people in the world is growing again. Climate change, which is disrupting weather patterns that farmers rely on, is a major cause.
Nanomedicine could scupper the need for TB patients to take multiple daily tablets with toxic side effects.
Daniel Irungu/EPA
Many socks, towels and other textiles are treated with silver nanoparticles to kill germs and odors. When the silver washes out, it can pollute waterways. Two chemists propose a way to collect it from wastewater.