Engineering

A team of researchers has completed a global assessment of newborns' umbilical cord blood to study the fetal health risks from smoking mothers. --by Joe Caspermeyer

Being flexible is key to making information displays truly mobile. --by Skip Derra

Nanotechnology researchers can be limited by the amount of raw materials available to build atomic scale structures. One ASU researcher is avoiding these pitfalls by using cells as factories to make DNA-based nanostructures.--by Joe Caspermeyer

Antimicrobial soap and biocides of many types were created to keep us safe. But are these substances more dangerous than the germs they were designed to protect us from? --by Adelheid Fischer

ASU undergraduate Bryan Rolfe conducts research on isotope effects on environmental systems using mass spectrometry. He credits his father for his science-oriented mind, and a high school teacher for winning him over to the world of chemistry. --by Debra Fossum

Greenhouse gases aren't the only factors that contribute to climate change. New research on brown carbons--nanoscale particles released by combustion engines--may help predict the effects of climate change more accurately. --by Joe Kullman

Butterfly wings, peacock feathers, opals and pearls are some of nature's jewels that use nanostructures to dazzle us with color. It's accomplished through the way light reaches our eyes after passing through the submicroscopic mazes within these materials. Now, a group of researchers has found a simple method for creating this effect. --by Joe Kullman

So you want to build a better baseball player. How do you proceed? Maybe you'd combine the hitting eye of Alex Rodriguez with the fielding range of Derek Jeter. ASU robotics expert Tom Sugar is building a better ballplayer with a four-wheel drive transmission and a camera with a zoom lens. --by Skip Derra

If you want to understand how likely doctors are to use information technology, look at how they get paid. --by Carrie Barnett

Daphnia eat algae, and fish eat daphnia. Big fish eat the little fish, and people eat the big fish. If there are pollutants in the water, they can build up with each successive meal. The process is called bioaccumulation. ASU researchers want to know if nanomaterials are subject to this buildup. --by Melissa Crytzer Fry