That meant recruiting two clever instruments with long-winded names a differential scanning calorimeter, which measures the thermal properties of the mixture as it is sorted, and a nuclear-magnetic resonance spectrometer, which measures its chemical properties.

ECONOMIST: Flights of fancy

CNTs are cylindrical nanostructures of carbon with exceptional electrical, thermal and mechanical properties.

ENGADGET: Stanford engineers find work around for barriers to carbon nanotube computers

Most usefully, the ability to make stuff with atomic precision will allow scientists to produce materials with improved, or new, optical, magnetic, thermal or electrical properties.

ECONOMIST: Small wonders

People have come to Budapest since Roman times to benefit from the healing properties of the thermal water bubbling up from the 118 springs beneath the city.

BBC: Nine unusual places to stay

In this study, the team tried to change these proteins and reduce the allergic properties of the nuts by subjecting them to gamma radiation and thermal processing.

BBC: NEWS | Health | Nut test 'shows smallest traces'

The properties of such sheets can be adjusted to create a smart skin with conductivity, hardness or thermal resistance that varies across the thickness of the coating making them ideal for miniature sensors.

ECONOMIST: MONITOR