This article is an installment of Future Explored, a weekly guide to world-changing technology. You can get stories like this one straight to your inbox every Thursday morning by subscribing here . If you didn't know semiconductor chips were important before the pandemic, you do now.

An integrated multiprotein nanopore has been fabricated using components from all three domains of life. This molecular machine opens the door to two approaches in single-molecule protein analysis, in which selected substrate proteins are unfolded, fed to into the proteasomal chamber and then processed either as fragmented peptides or intact polypeptides.

Delivering chemotherapy drugs directly to cancers could help reduce side effects, and soon that job could be done by tiny 3D-printed robotic animals. These microrobots are steered by magnets, and only release their drug payload when they encounter the acidic environment around a tumor.

After decades of inertial confinement fusion research, a record yield of more than 1.3 megajoules (MJ) from fusion reactions was achieved in the laboratory for the first time during an experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF) on Aug. 8, 2021.

Imagine a battery that could be recharged for decades. No more getting rid of cell phones because of waning battery life. No more landfills filled with lithium ion batteries. This is one step closer to reality, thanks to work by researchers from the University of California at Irvine.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University researchers have identified a mechanism involving the body's ability to resist fungal infection. The work could help advance research on cancer therapies that use the body's own immune system to fight disease. In a study published Nov.