Nature Materials contents: August 2011 Volume 10 Number 8 pp553-644

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Scientific American  has been reporting on unique insights about inspiring developments in science and technology for more than 165 years. With an expertise for pinpointing emerging trends, in every issue Scientific American provides a greater understanding of current events and issues worldwide. The Scientific American monthly table of contents e-alerts provides you with an overview of what is published in the latest issue. Sign up today to start receiving your e-alerts directly to your desktop.   Editorial Top Not so radiant anymore p553 doi:10.1038/nmat3092 Following the Fukushima disaster nuclear energy has an uncertain future at best. But whether we can really afford to abandon nuclear power remains an open question. Full Text | PDF Commentary Top The problem of regulating sophisticated materials pp554 - 557 Andrew Maynard, Diana Bowman and Graeme Hodge doi:10.1038/nmat3085 As complex new materials such as nanoparticles increasingly make their way into commercial products, regulatory frameworks need to overcome a number of key challenges to remain fit for purpose. Full Text | PDF Research Highlights Top Our choice from the recent literature p558 doi:10.1038/nmat3091 Full Text | PDF News and Views Top Stem cell differentiation: Multipotency retained pp559 - 560 Milan Mrksich doi:10.1038/nmat3086 Stem cells that are cultured in the laboratory differentiate in response to the mechanical properties of the substrate and its topography. It is now shown that mesenchymal stem cell multipotency is prolonged when the cells are cultured on a surface patterned with an ordered arrangement of nanoscale pits. Full Text | PDF See also: Article by McMurray et al. Plasmonics: Hydrogen caught red-faced pp560 - 561 Roy Sambles doi:10.1038/nmat3075 A single nanodevice that detects the presence of a single molecule would perhaps be the ultimate sensor. The demonstration of hydrogen sensing based on a single gold nanoaerial brings that possibility nearer. Full Text | PDF See also: Article by Liu et al. Cell-membrane mechanics: Vesicles in and tubes out pp561 - 562 Marileen Dogterom and Gijsje Koenderink doi:10.1038/nmat3081 Living cells regulate their area through active mechanisms, which often lead to the fusion and fission of lipid vesicles. It is now found that bilayers adhered to elastic substrates can also adjust their area passively, in response to applied lateral strains. Full Text | PDF Molecular nanoporous crystals: Predictable porosity pp563 - 564 Neil B. McKeown doi:10.1038/nmat3073 The design of structures of organic nanoporous crystals has been hampered by the difficulty of placing functional moieties in a predictive manner. A modular strategy based on prefabricated organic nanocages having directional chiral interactions that self-assemble into the predicted crystals circumvents this problem. Full Text | PDF Material witness: Slippery concepts p564 Philip Ball doi:10.1038/nmat3080 Full Text | PDF Metamaterials: Neither solid nor liquid pp565 - 566 John Page doi:10.1038/nmat3084 A new design for elastic metamaterials that can behave either as liquids or solids over a limited frequency range may enable new applications based on the control of acoustic, elastic and seismic waves. Full Text | PDF See also: Article by Lai et al. Graphene: The long and winding road pp566 - 567 Mark S. Lundstrom doi:10.1038/nmat3079 The main challenges to face before graphene can become part of realistic applications were discussed at a recent dedicated meeting. Full Text | PDF Materials JOBS of the week Postdoctoral / Research Scientist Zymo Research Corp. Irvine, CA Director of Surgical Pathology University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, Wisconsin Postdoc: Computational Cancer Biology The Netherlands Cancer Institute & Astra Zeneca Amsterdam, The Netherlands IARC-Australia Postdoctoral Fellowship for Training in Cancer Research 2012 - 2013 International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO) Lyon, France Group Leader, PCMP Brigham and Women's Hospital & Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Boston, MA More Science jobs from Materials EVENT Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research 22.-25.10.11 MA, US More science events from Review Top Thermal properties of graphene and nanostructured carbon materials pp569 - 581 Alexander A. Balandin doi:10.1038/nmat3064 The thermal properties of nanostructures have become a fundamental topic owing to the necessity of heat removal in increasingly smaller electronic devices. Carbon allotropes present a range of intriguing thermal features, with the thermal conductivity spanning five orders of magnitude at room temperature. The topic is reviewed here with particular emphasis on graphene, which exhibits the highest thermal conductivity observed. Abstract | Full Text | PDF Letters Top Dirac cones induced by accidental degeneracy in photonic crystals and zero-refractive-index materials pp582 - 586 Xueqin Huang, Yun Lai, Zhi Hong Hang, Huihuo Zheng and C. T. Chan doi:10.1038/nmat3030 Materials with zero refractive index show unusual waveguiding properties and, for example, can squeeze light through narrow passages. It is now suggested that such properties can also be realized in a non-metallic photonic crystal. Furthermore, such photonic crystals can also show a Dirac point in the band structure—offering further possibilities, such as guiding waves unperturbed around bends and obstacles. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF Kinetics of non-equilibrium lithium incorporation in LiFePO4  pp587 - 590 Rahul Malik, Fei Zhou and G. Ceder doi:10.1038/nmat3065 The energy and power density of lithium-ion batteries depends to a large extent on storing lithium by incorporation in the crystal structure of the cathode. The reason that LiFePo4 functions as a cathode at a reasonable rate is now explained theoretically by the availability of a single phase-transformation path at low overpotential. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF Short-term plasticity and long-term potentiation mimicked in single inorganic synapses pp591 - 595 Takeo Ohno, Tsuyoshi Hasegawa, Tohru Tsuruoka, Kazuya Terabe, James K. Gimzewski and Masakazu Aono doi:10.1038/nmat3054 The electronic properties of inorganic devices such as memristors can be used to simulate neurological behaviour. In particular, ionic and electronic effects in a silver sulphide device are now shown to mimic short- and long-term synaptic functions. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF Face-selective electrostatic control of hydrothermal zinc oxide nanowire synthesis pp596 - 601 Jaebum Joo, Brian Y. Chow, Manu Prakash, Edward S. Boyden and Joseph M. Jacobson doi:10.1038/nmat3069 The low-temperature solution growth of ZnO nanostructures could enable the bottom-up fabrication of integrated electronic devices, but controlling their morphology has been challenging. It is now shown that the geometry of hydrothermally synthesised ZnO nanowires can be tuned precisely if the growth of selected crystal faces is inhibited by the competitive adsorption of non-zinc ions. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF Maltodextrin-based imaging probes detect bacteria in vivo with high sensitivity and specificity pp602 - 607 Xinghai Ning, Seungjun Lee, Zhirui Wang, Dongin Kim, Bryan Stubblefield, Eric Gilbert and Niren Murthy doi:10.1038/nmat3074 The in vivo optical detection of bacterial infections requires highly specific imaging probes with small affinity to mammalian tissue. It is now shown that fluorescent dyes that are conjugated to maltohexaose can be internalized rapidly via the bacteria-specific maltodextrin transport pathway, enabling the in vivo imaging of Escherichia coli down to 105 colony-forming units. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF Articles Top In situ nanocompression testing of irradiated copper  pp608 - 613 D. Kiener, P. Hosemann, S. A. Maloy and A. M. Minor doi:10.1038/nmat3055 The advance of nuclear technologies is strongly linked to the development of enhanced radiation-tolerant materials. Indentation measurements of irradiated copper nanopillars now demonstrate that in situ testing can offer a convenient method to determine bulk-like yield strengths and simultaneously identify deformation mechanisms. Abstract | Full Text | PDF Giant anharmonic phonon scattering in PbTe  pp614 - 619 O. Delaire, J. Ma, K. Marty, A. F. May, M. A. McGuire, M-H. Du, D. J. Singh, A. Podlesnyak, G. Ehlers, M. D. Lumsden and B. C. Sales doi:10.1038/nmat3035 Neutron scattering and first-principles calculations show that the small thermal conductivity of PbTe is due to anharmonic coupling between the acoustic phonon modes and the optical ferroelectric ones. The results provide a microscopic picture of why many good thermoelectrics are found near a ferroelectric lattice instability. Abstract | Full Text | PDF Hybrid elastic solids pp620 - 624 Yun Lai, Ying Wu, Ping Sheng and Zhao-Qing Zhang doi:10.1038/nmat3043 The ability to withstand shear is one of the properties that distinguishes a solid from a liquid. The proposal of an elastic metamaterial that in one direction only supports compressional waves, and therefore is fluid-like, and in the other supports compressional as well as shear waves represents a hybrid between fluids and solids that may lead to new applications. Abstract | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Page A fast, high-endurance and scalable non-volatile memory device made from asymmetric Ta2O5−x/TaO2−x bilayer structures pp625 - 630 Myoung-Jae Lee, Chang Bum Lee, Dongsoo Lee, Seung Ryul Lee, Man Chang, Ji Hyun Hur, Young-Bae Kim, Chang-Jung Kim, David H. Seo, Sunae Seo, U-In Chung, In-Kyeong Yoo and Kinam Kim doi:10.1038/nmat3070 Resistive switching is a promising technology to replace current non-volatile memory technologies such as flash. The demonstration of a fast, stable and highly scalable resistive-switching memory device represents a significant advance towards the practical implementation of this technology. Abstract | Full Text | PDF Nanoantenna-enhanced gas sensing in a single tailored nanofocus pp631 - 636 Na Liu, Ming L. Tang, Mario Hentschel, Harald Giessen and A. Paul Alivisatos doi:10.1038/nmat3029 Plasmonic resonances are widely used for sensing applications. The plasmon resonance of a single nanoantenna structure is now used to detect changes in the dielectric properties of a nearby palladium nanoparticle exposed to hydrogen gas, enabling highly sensitive sensing in ultrasmall volumes. The approach can be easily extended to other sensing and catalysis schemes. Abstract | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Sambles Nanoscale surfaces for the long-term maintenance of mesenchymal stem cell phenotype and multipotency pp637 - 644 Rebecca J. McMurray, Nikolaj Gadegaard, P. Monica Tsimbouri, Karl V. Burgess, Laura E. McNamara, Rahul Tare, Kate Murawski, Emmajayne Kingham, Richard O. C. Oreffo and Matthew J. Dalby doi:10.1038/nmat3058 On standard tissue culture platforms, mesenchymal stem cells tend to spontaneously differentiate with the loss of multi-lineage potential. Now, a robust and reproducible nanotopographical platform has been shown to maintain stem cell phenotype and promote stem cell growth over several months whilst implicating mechanisms for the observed stem cell behaviour Abstract | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Mrksich Top Advertisement Now Live - a new multidisciplinary research journal from the publishers of Nature Online and open access, Scientific Reports provides rapid publication and high visibility of research - for all areas of science. All papers accepted for publication are technically sound, without any requirement for impact. Submit your next paper to Scientific Reports   Natureevents is a fully searchable, multi-disciplinary database designed to maximise exposure for events organisers. The contents of the Natureevents Directory are now live. The digital version is available here. Find the latest scientific conferences, courses, meetings and symposia on natureevents.com. 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