Nanoelectromechanical systems devices have the potential to revolutionize the world of sensors: motion, chemical, temperature, etc. But taking electromechanical devices from the micro scale down to the nano requires finding a means to dissipate heat output. In a paper in Nano Letters, Professor Markus Buehler and postdoctoral associate Zhiping Xu say the solution is to build these devices using a thermal material that dissipates heat from the device’s center through a hierarchical branched network of carbon nanotubes. The template for this thermal material’s design: a living cell. Read more.