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The word “lens” takes its name from the Latin word for lentil. Both are both hemispheric shapes bound together on their flat surface. So a “flat lens” sounds like a contradiction of terms. Yet that is exactly what Andrei Faraon is working on at California Institute of Technology’s Nanoscale and Quantum Optics Lab.

In 1900, German physician Paul Ehrlich came up with the notion of a “magic bullet.” The basic idea is to inject a patient with smart particles capable of finding, recognizing, and treating a disease. Medicine has pursued the magic bullet ever since.

People rely on a highly tuned sense of touch to manipulate objects, but injuries to the skin and the simple act of wearing gloves can impair this ability.

A team led by Hongli (Julie) Zhu, an assistant professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at Northeastern, is using unique nanomaterials derived from cellulose to improve the large and expensive kind of batteries needed to store renewable energy harnessed from sources such as sunlight and the wind.

Scientists from the Skoltech Center for Energy Science and Technology (CEST) and the Institute for Problems of Chemical Physics of Russian Academy of Sciences have developed a novel approach for preparing thin semiconductor fullerene films. The method enables fabrication of organic electronics without using toxic organic solvents and costly vacuum technologies, thus reducing the environmental risks and making organic electronics more accessible.

One of the most promising alternative energy sources is hydrogen, which can be extracted from water and air. A catalyst is needed for a chemical process that releases hydrogen from an H2O molecule.

The EU-funded STRETCHLENS project has contributed to a more advanced solution with possibly major medical benefits. It developed an electrically powered contact lens that has the potential to diagnose and treat age-related reading difficulties while also helping with more serious disorders such as iris perforation and hypersensitivity to light.

Gene-infused nanoparticles used for combating disease work better when they include plant-based relatives of cholesterol because their shape and structure help the genes get where they need to be inside cells.

Researchers described a new strategy of designing metamolecules that incorporates two independently controllable subwavelength meta-atoms. This two-parametric control of the metamolecule secures the complete control of both amplitude and the phase of light.