Peer Reviewed

On 27th of April, the Bornean Frog Race was held at the Kubah National Park in Sarawak, Malaysia

The NIMS Global Research Center for Environment and Energy based on Nanomaterials Science (GREEN) and Tokyo Metropolitan University have measured the volumetric expansion of single particles of silicon accompanying the charging reaction. This finding demonstrated the importance of electrode design from the viewpoint of volumetric energy density.

Tsukuba, Japan 26 April - Nanoparticles are used in many commercial products catalysts to cosmetics. A review published today in the Science and Technology of Advanced Materials by researchers in Sweden and Spain describes recent work on the 3 main nanoparticles used in photocatalytic, UV-blocking and sunscreens.

Trapping free electrons with polycyclic aromatic molecules creates materials with enhanced optical, electronic and magnetic properties

Replacing a high-temperature processing technique with an infrared treatment allows the manufacture of tiny devices without damaging the polymer components

Professor Albert PC Chan of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU)'s Department of Building and Real Estates, who is also Associate Dean of the Faculty of Construction and Environment, has been recently appointed by the Swedish Research Council Formas as a member of the review panel in built environment.

The government of Timor-Leste has developed a National Aquaculture Development Strategy, designed to help reduce high levels of poverty and chronic malnutrition throughout the country.

S Cube Design Lab, designers from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) received the Silver A’Design Award at the A’DESIGN AWARD & COMPETITION with “Puncheart”, a squeeze punch. More than 4500 art works from about 140 countries entered this competition.

Studies on this disease recently completed by researchers from the Asia Partnership on Emerging Infectious Diseases Research (APEIR) developed a series of messages for policy makers that are highly relevant to the current outbreak.

Two years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, Prof. Kohara outlines some problems faced by the local authorities in the areas afflicted by the disaster especially in rebuilding local administration and communities.

University Teknology MARA researchers investigated the effects of rice, barley and mung beans in heated bags for treating soft tissue injuries. Rice displayed superior quality in maintaining heat and can act as a substitute to ice packs or heat gels in treating these injuries.

Tsukuba, Japan & Los Angeles, Ca. 12 April - A new study by researchers at UCLA suggests that the elasticity of the physical matrix used for growing heart muscle cells outside of the body may be critical to the success of cardiac tissue engineering. The results were published in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials this week.

Innovative policies and new technologies that reduce water waste are helping countries across the Middle East and North Africa deal with chronic water shortages.

A novel material shows its credentials to facilitate the integration of photonic and electronic components in practical devices

Color printing at the highest resolution possible is enabled by the use of arrays of metal-coated nanostructures

Simply changing the pattern by which data is recorded may lead to increased hard drive capacities

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has won the Best Green ICT (Adoption - Organisations) Silver Award in the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2013 for the project “A Greener Era – start from here (Greening University Administration – Out with the Old! )”

The UPM team designed and developed a software to be installed in Android- based mobile devices, which can be used as a scanner to scan the barcode of a product to verify of its halal status from a database.

Hanyang University in collaboration with Stanford University has succeeded in fabricating peel-and-stick thin film solar cells (TFSCs). The Si wafer is clean and reusable. Moreover, as the peeled-off TFSCs from the Si wafer are thin, light-weight, and flexible, it can be attached onto any form or shape of surface like a sticker.

Opinion article by Prof. Yukiko Fukagawa of Waseda University "The freshest aspect of this administration is not the president’s position as the first female president of South Korea, but the president’s goal of achieving happy society and for being the first administration in history to push social policy."

Singapore, 9 April 2013 – GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and A*STAR’s Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences (ICES) have signed a five-year strategic agreement to develop new evidence based formulations (EBFs) specifically for emerging markets. EBFs are medicines which are reformulated to provide additional patient benefit.

The World Health Organisation has reported seven people in China have contracted Influenza A H7N9, including two deaths. The UK and Australian Science Media Centre has asked some experts for their opinions. Journalists are welcome to use these expert quotes.

Singapore, 2 April – Mobile device users will soon be able to view brilliant 3D content with the naked eye with a nano-engineered screen protector that turns ordinary mobile screens into 3D displays. The unique plastic film can also potentially be used as next generation security tokens employed by banks and corporations.

(Tsukuba, 29 March 2013) The first observation of massive swelling and shrinkage of inorganic layered materials like a biological cell provides insights into the production of two-dimensional crystals.

Microscale medical sensors inserted under the skin can be powered wirelessly by an external handheld receiver

Defects in metal–organic frameworks induce low-temperature ferromagnetism and could yield novel materials for industry

Microstructures made of adjoining semiconductor disks could lead to powerful nanoscale sensors

A revolutionary atmospheric-pressure plasma boosts adhesion of polymer films for roll-to-roll solar-cell production

A computer model provides important clues for the production of tightly packed electronic components

Singapore, 27 March - A*STAR’s IME and United Test and Assembly Center (UTAC), announced a collaboration to develop a 2.5D Through-Silicon-Interposer (TSI) platform which will enable UTAC to join the scarce list of suppliers in offering fine-pitch 2.5D TSI packaging solutions.