Breast cancer stem cells, the slow-growing, hard-to-kill malignant cells that are thought to be responsible for the growth and spread of breast cancer, have proven remarkably resistant to traditional chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Now, researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have shown that multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) injected into breast tumors and irradiated with a quick, 30-second laser beam, are effective at killing breast cancer stem cells.
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A sponge made of pure carbon nanotubes with a dash of boron shows remarkable ability to absorb oil spills from the surface of water, according to researchers at Rice University and Penn State University. The oil can be stored in the sponge for later retrieval or burned off so the sponge can be reused.
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Scientists and engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) have discovered an entirely new carbon-based material that is synthesized from the “wonder kid” of the carbon family, graphene. The discovery, which the researchers are calling “graphene monoxide (GMO),” pushes carbon materials closer to ushering in next-generation electronics.
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MIT engineers are using carbon nanotubes only billionths of a meter thick to stitch together aerospace materials in work that could make airplane skins and other products some 10 times stronger at a nominal increase in cost.
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New research by MIT scientists suggests that carbon nanotubes -- tube-shaped molecules of pure carbon -- could be formed into tiny springs capable of storing as much energy, pound for pound, as state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries, and potentially more durably and reliably.
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