The COVID-19 lockdown has given us time to reconsider some of the approaches we use for generating research ideas. We propose a set of three critical “E” processes—extract, expose, and evaluate—for an individual researcher to replicate team brainstorming.

Although treating COVID-19 is shown to be challenging, NANOtechnology is around the corner to overcome potential drawbacks. The use of NANOtechnologies will definitely shape the worldwide approaches and tools to treat COVID-19. Here we highlight the importance of going NANO on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Harvard scientists developed a multifunctional fiber sheet that provides protection in extreme environments. They use a dry-jet wet spinning method to create a porous network of thin, continuous fibers that overcomes the traditional trade-off between thermal insulation and mechanical strength.

For decades, researchers have attempted to discover transparent conductors that transport holes. A robust p-type material would usher in a new era of technologies. Many reports have failed to live up to their hype; however, the screening by Williamson et al. has predicted [Cu2S2][Ba3Sc2O5] to support a conductivity exceeding 2,000 S cm−1.

To mimic the sweating functionality of human skin, Liu and coworkers have developed a liquid crystal (LC) polymeric network-based artificial skin with programmable liquid secretion and excretion driven by radio frequency (RF) electrical fields.

Jiang, Tian, and colleagues observe long-range interactions between two complementary DNA strands, resulting in an ordered chain of helical water. This hidden conformation of water has been observed, but the helix is commonly associated with biomolecules. Perhaps water—necessary for biological processes—is the key driver of the predominance of helices.

This preview discusses a new method for the automated collection of kinetic data, product distributions, and activation barriers for gas-phase catalytic reactions. The “Catalysis-in-a-Box” approach involves the simple, low-cost modification of a commercial gas chromatograph, making automation more accessible to a wider range of researchers.

Because of the random nature of liquids, they tend not to offer directionality in conventional contexts. Here, Li and colleagues manipulate the alignment of a liquid metal component within a composite to imbue anisotropic conductive behavior while also displaying fascinating piezoconductivity.

In the July 22, 2020 issue of Cell Reports Physical Sciences, Vogel and coworkers have taken light-addressable electrochemistry to demonstrate the spatiotemporal control of a chemiluminescent reaction by photoinduced oxidative hot spots on a silicon surface. It is anticipated that this research attempt would provide a powerful toolkit for redox imaging at a solid electrode/liquid electrolyte 2D interface

Strain engineering is an emerging technique to physically manipulate and enhance semiconductor device performance. Chen et al. recently combined strain engineering with halide perovskites, demonstrating a novel approach toward improvement in optoelectronic properties.

Macrophages play a pivotal role at all stages of progression of atherosclerosis. However, the macrophage-targeted treatment of atherosclerosis remains elusive. Recently, macrophage-targeted gene therapy via lipid polymer nanoparticles (NPs) to improve the atherosclerotic plaque stability in mice was reported.

The Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation is an independent non-profit organization and uses an integrative approach to innovate personalized health. The Institute draws on its scientific, entrepreneurial, and engineering skill set to transform ideas into clinically applicable technologies.

Materials discovery often triggers new technological innovations and is therefore an exciting topic in materials research. In order to search a large chemistry space, however, lengthy trial-and-error testing is required. Recently, a Canadian research team devised a novel representation scheme for perovskite alloys. Combined with machine-learning methods, it enables efficient exploration of a large

Achieving stimulus-responsive room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials with high practicality in a facile manner remains challenging. In this issue of Matter, Yang, Tang, Li et al. harnessed the mighty distance-sensitive Förster resonance energy transfer strategy to generate a highly efficient stimuli-responsive RTP system. Moreover, synchronous thermal printing and information encryption was

Encapsulation of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with a shell of mesoporous silica can boost overall performance of MOFs, offering versatility for synthetic architecture of integrated nanocatalysts with reactor-like features. Recently, Yu et al. report a green approach to make yolk-shell nanoreactors.

Industry-scale manufacturing techniques hold the key to the ultimate commercialization of MXene products. In Matter, Taylor, Gogotsi, and colleagues demonstrate a drop-casting method to prepare scalable and micro-patternable MXene films on hydrophobic substrates, highlighting the excellent potential for the commercial application in electromagnetic interference shielding.

Sign language represents an essential means of communication for a significant fraction of the population but can only be used by trained individuals. Researchers report a wearable system that incorporates stretchable sensors and a wireless circuit for real-time sign-to-speech translation.

Materials define ages, and ages are named after the dominant material, say stone-age or bronze-age. Are we entering a cellulose-age soon?

Optical whispering-gallery mode (WGM) microresonators, confining resonant photons in a microscale volume for long periods of time, strongly enhance light-matter interactions, making them an ideal platform for photonic sensors. One of the features of WGM sensors is their capability to respond to environmental perturbations that influence the optical mode distribution. The exceptional sensitivity of

Carboxylation of terminal alkynes with CO2 via direct C–H bond activation is a highly appealing way to capture and convert CO2 but faces great challenges and difficulty. Here, we report an efficient catalyst that is prepared simply through introduction of p-tert-butylaniline into graphite oxide powders followed by localized growth of Ag nanoparticles (NPs). The bulky nature of p-tert-butylaniline facilitates

Solution-processed lateral epitaxial growth of two-dimensional (2D) halide perovskite heterostructures, multiheterostructures, and superlattices is a daunting task because of their soft fragile ionic bonding and high intrinsic ion mobility of halide ions. Recently, these structures have been successfully developed for Pb2+- and Sn2+-based 2D halide perovskites using various large organic molecules

Intelligence is the ability to learn from experience, comprehend complex situations, make choices, adapt, and act purposefully. Are the reported intelligent materials really intelligent?

Moiré superlattices have recently become excellent platforms for studying new properties of two-dimensional (2D) layered materials. With periodic moiré patterns, moiré superlattices can induce structural altering and band transformations, resulting in new phenomena including moiré phonons, moiré excitons, topological phase transition, unconventional superconductivity, or Mott insulation. With specific