News from the NNI Community - Research Advances Funded by Agencies Participating in the NNI

Working with mouse and human tissue, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers demonstrate that a protein pumped out of some populations of immune cells in the brain plays a role in directing the formation of connections among neurons needed for learning and forming new memories. Because such connective networks are lost or damaged by neurodegenerative diseases or certain types of intellectual disability, the researchers say their findings advance efforts to regrow and repair the networks and potentially restore normal brain function.

Scientists at Caltech and Northwestern University have shown that thin films of rust can generate electricity when saltwater flows over them. These films represent an entirely new way of generating electricity and could be used to develop new forms of sustainable power production.

Scientists at Caltech and Northwestern University have shown that thin films of rust can generate electricity when saltwater flows over them. These films represent an entirely new way of generating electricity and could be used to develop new forms of sustainable power production.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago, in collaboration with their colleagues at the University of Hamburg in Germany, have imaged an exotic quantum particle that can be used as a building block for future qubits and eventually the realization of quantum computers.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago, in collaboration with their colleagues at the University of Hamburg in Germany, have imaged an exotic quantum particle that can be used as a building block for future qubits and eventually the realization of quantum computers.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) $4.8 million over the next five years to establish a Center for Nanotechnology Research and Education (CNRE) as part of the NSF Center of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) Program.  The CNRE’s mission is to utilize UDC faculty’s core expertise in nanotechnology to establish a nationally recognized center of excellence to realize UDC’s goals of supporting student research and professional development.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) $4.8 million over the next five years to establish a Center for Nanotechnology Research and Education (CNRE) as part of the NSF Center of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) Program.  The CNRE’s mission is to utilize UDC faculty’s core expertise in nanotechnology to establish a nationally recognized center of excellence to realize UDC’s goals of supporting student research and professional development.

Rice University theoretical researchers have discovered that nanotubes with segregated sections of “zigzag” and “armchair” facets growing from a solid catalyst are far more energetically stable than a circular arrangement would be.

Rice University theoretical researchers have discovered that nanotubes with segregated sections of “zigzag” and “armchair” facets growing from a solid catalyst are far more energetically stable than a circular arrangement would be.

Stanford physicists have developed a "quantum microphone" so sensitive that it can measure individual particles of sound, called phonons. The device could eventually lead to smaller, more efficient quantum computers that operate by manipulating sound rather than light.