A Kyushu University‑led team has provided direct evidence for the electric field long suspected to drive fast chemistry at water surfaces. By trapping water and air inside a carbon nanotube and imaging the interface in 3D, they resolved its shape at the nanoscale. The researchers then deduced forces exceeding classical predictions, consistent with a powerful electric field. This methodology could guide rational design of nanoporous materials for clean energy.

Researchers have applied a water freeze-drying (WFD) method to bacteria, enabling high-resolution SEM observation with a general-purpose laboratory freeze-dryer. This solvent-free technique reduced cracking and shrinkage of specimens and revealed previously obscure variations in the cell poles of Escherichia coli, opening up new possibilities for studying near-native microbial morphology and the damage caused by antimicrobial agents.

>Solving the problem of mRNA-loaded lipid nanoparticles accumulating in the liver and causing unintended expression of pharmacologically active proteins

>By coating the walls of intrahepatic capillaries (liver sinusoidal walls), the accumulation of lipid nanoparticles in the liver is prevented (demonstrated in animal studies)

>Improved efficacy and safety in infectious prevention vaccines, cancer treatment vaccines, and cytokine therapies

>Substances with established clinical safety profiles are used as coating agents (enabling rapid clinical trials)

>Published online in ACS Nano: http://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.6c08403

A team led by researchers from the University of Osaka has used acoustic tweezers to analyze the mechanical properties of biopolymer droplets without needing to physically touch the material. Using this method, the team investigated the stiffness of condensates of a model biopolymer. This technique will further the knowledge of biopolymer droplets and their roles in cellular biology, and may lead to the discovery of novel methods of treating diseases caused by the dysfunction of these droplets.

Kyoto, Japan -- Massive storms like the 2005 Hurricane Katrina, that cause over $100 billion in damage, were once considered once-in-a-lifetime events. Increasingly, however, they are becoming the norm: a direct result of climate change, which has made large storms more frequent, intense, and slower-moving, deepening their impact.

Hurricanes can damage homes through flooding and strong winds, and insurance claims target both. After the 2022 Hurricane Ian, for example, 44 percent of insurance claims were for flooding and 56 percent were for wind damage. Yet most economic research focuses on flooding because elevation data and hydrological models can predict flood extent, whereas identifying the location and severity of wind damage across a wide area has posed a particular challenge.

Unlike flooding, there is nothing like a dam or levee that can shield an entire community from wind, so the responsibility falls almost entirely on individual homeowners. To mitigate wind damage, Florida enacted the 2001 Florida Building Code -- 2001 FBC -- which required new and re-roofed homes to use stronger roof-to-wall connections, thicker roof decking, and even impact-resistant windows and doors in some areas. Many homeowners had to spend thousands of dollars to reinforce a roof or install impact-resistant features, yet whether these preventative measures proved to be worth the average cost of about $4,930 had remained unclear.