[extropy-chat] The Nanogirl News~

Fri Feb 4 03:20:24 UTC 2005

The Nanogirl News
February 3, 2005

President's advisers to consider export controls on nanotech. A panel that advises President Bush on export issues will explore whether nanotechnology needs regulating. The committee, which will be assembled early this year, is expected to review other nations' nanotechnology capabilities, their competitiveness and nanotechnology's impact on national security. Lawyers who specialize in export law recommend nanotechnology companies follow developments to ensure they comply if regulations eventually are put in place. The scope could range from restrictions on international trade to rules on staffing foreign nationals. (Smalltimes 2/3/05)
http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=8727

St. Louis, MO, January 17, 2005 - Elsevier, the world-leading scientific and medical publisher, announces plans to launch the world's first peer-reviewed journal devoted to nanomedicine - the emerging science of using molecular machines to treat human disease. Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine, the official publication of the American Academy of Nanomedicine, will be published quarterly, with the first issue to appear in March 2005. (Elsevier)
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/703416/description

Friction at the nano-scale. Nanomachines will depend on our knowledge of friction, heat transfer and energy dissipation at the atomic level for their very survival. In the scramble to revolutionize the world with nanotechnology we must not ignore friction. Nano-scale devices based on moving molecular components have the potential to radically alter technologies such as energy storage, drug delivery, computing, communications and chemical manufacture. But getting these devices from the laboratory to the marketplace is far from guaranteed. (Physicsweb Feb. 05)
http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/18/2/9

Nano's road to the future. 5-year-old National Nanotechnology Initiative keeps U.S. efforts on course...for now. In January 2000, much of the public got its first taste of nanotechnology from President Clinton...By internal and external accounts, the initiative has been successful, albeit a work in progress. It is at or ahead of some goals. For instance, recent lab advances suggest that the ability to not only detect but also treat certain types of cancer in their first year of occurrence is well before the original 20-year timeframe. Globally, the NNI has inspired or at least encouraged 40 similar programs. Most importantly, it has fostered true collaboration among the 22 participating government agencies, something historically turf-conscious career civil servants say is a major achievement. But challenges loom. Washington has entered a time of budgetary belt-tightening, just as the government's nano leaders say more money is needed to move basic research into application development. Experts say those efforts require a stronger link between government and industry,...(Smalltimes Jan. 05)
http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=8710
More about the NNI at Smalltimes here: http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=8711

Nanotechnology and the FDA. The US Food and Drug Administration regulates a wide range of products, including foods, cosmetics, drugs, devices, and veterinary products, some of which may utilize nanotechnology or contain nanomaterials. The FDA defines "nanotechnology" as research and technology or development of products regulated by FDA that involve all of the following...
http://www.fda.gov/nanotechnology/

Scientists Find Evidence Of Electrical Charging Of Nanocatalysts. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Technical University Munch have discovered evidence of a phenomenon that may lead to drastically lowering the cost of manufacturing of materials from plastics to fertilizers. Studying nano-sized clusters of gold on a magnesium oxide surface, scientists found direct evidence for electrical charging of a nano-sized catalyst. This is an important factor in increasing the rate of chemical reactions. The research will appear in the 21 January, 2005, issue of the journal Science, published by the AAAS, the science society, the world's largest general scientific organization. (Sciencedaily 2/2/05)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050123221728.htm

Filling A Fullerene. Japanese group uses organic synthesis to make milligrams of H2-filled C60. Using organic synthesis as a scalpel and stitches, Japanese researchers have performed "molecular surgery" on a buckyball. A group at Kyoto University creates an opening in the molecule, inserts H2 into the cavity, and then, in just four steps, closes up the C60 framework to construct the endohedral fullerene H2 at C60 [Science, 307, 238 (2005)]. (C&E 1/17/05) http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/83/i03/8303notw6.html

"Lieber Appointed Coeditor Of Nano Letters," Chemical & Engineering News, 31 January 2005. (PDF) 
http://cmliris.harvard.edu/news/2005/HMag_JanFeb05_50-59.pdf

Materials potpourri. Meeting spotlights latest advances in sensors, biomaterials, nanostructures, and art conservation. Although most Bostonians returning to work after the Thanksgiving holiday weren't aware of it, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino proclaimed Monday, Nov. 29, 2004--the first day of the Materials Research Society's annual fall meeting--to be the first-ever Materials Science Day in Boston. As Menino noted in a proclamation marking the occasion, MRS "has met in Boston every fall for 27 years and draws more than 5,000 international attendees and exhibitors." This year's MRS conferees braved the cold weather to absorb more than 2,500 talks and nearly 1,700 poster presentations. With five full days of symposia to occupy them, many attendees saw little need to desert the warmth of the Hynes Convention Center and its adjoining hotel and shopping mall complex, unless it was to attend the "Strange Matter" exhibit (C&EN, Jan. 12, 2004, page 40) held in conjunction with the meeting at the Boston Museum of Science. (C&E news 2/3/05) http://pubs.acs.org/cen/nanofocus/top/83/8301materials.html

Carbon Nanotechnologies Inc. Announces Availability of Double-Wall Carbon Nanotubes. Carbon Nanotechnologies Inc. (CNI) announced today that it has expanded its pilot plant capability to provide double-wall carbon nanotubes to the market. Double-wall carbon nanotubes behave similarly to single-wall carbon nanotubes but have unique property characteristics for some applications. The technology to produce double-wall carbon nanotubes is part of the intellectual property developed by Dr. Richard Smalley and licensed exclusively to CNI by Rice University in 2001. "Even though single-wall carbon nanotubes have become somewhat of a gold standard product, the properties of double-wall carbon nanotubes can make them very interesting for certain applications," said Rick Smalley, chairman of CNI and University Professor at Rice University. 
(Business Wire 2/1/05)
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20050201005081&newsLang=en 

Edventure Museum exhibit explores nano-technology. A new exhibit at Edventure Children's Museum is letting kids explore a world too small to see. "It's a Nano World" teaches kids about a nanometer, which is one billionth of a meter, smaller than one strand of hair. With the exhibit, children are able to measure themselves in nanometers, see things up close and personal, sort cells and play inside a drop of blood. 
(WIStv 2/1/05) http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2888593&nav=0RaPVs1t

Paint Based on Quantum Dots has Potential to Assist Antiterrorism and Cancer Detection. Night vision technology could become extremely precise thanks to an inexpensive water-based material capable of boosting particles of light in the infrared spectrum, say University of Toronto researchers. The material has the potential to enhance infrared images tenfold by coating lenses with a film a 10th of a millimetre thick and powering the material with a laser. (Azonano 2/1/05) http://www.azonano.com/news.asp?newsID=491

Nanotech takes aim at transistors. US scientists have made nano-scale devices they claim could one day replace current transistor technology. The tiny devices, "crossbar latches", are made up of a combination of crossed-over platinum wires with steric acid molecules set at their junctions. The Hewlett Packard researchers said they could potentially do a better job than present transistors, dramatically improving the performance of computers. The HP team reports its findings in the Journal of Applied Physics. (BBC 2/1/05) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4226305.stm

Controlling guests in nanocapsules. "A detailed understanding of the interplay and relative orientations of the constituent guest molecules has, until now, been restricted to a few instances of limited complexity," note chemistry professor Jerry L. Atwood and coworkers at the University of Missouri, Columbia, in a recent paper [Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 43,5263 (2004)]. The paper describes two important advances relating to nanocapsules with interior volumes in the 1,200?1,500-?3 range, according to Atwood. "First, we show that it is possible to order the guests on the interior of our large free-standing capsules," he says. "Second, and most remarkably, we show that these large capsules communicate with each other, at least in the solid state and probably in solution, by the formation of intercapsule hydrogen bonds. This communication in turn leads to a completely different ordering of the guests within the capsules." (C&Enews 2/3/05)
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/nanofocus/top/83/8301capsules.html

Test could detect Alzheimer's earlier. A highly sensitive new test could lead to a different way to diagnose people with Alzheimer's disease, possibly helping find the illness in its early stages when there might be time for treatment...Test measures proteins in spinal fluid
Many companies have experimental therapies, he said, "But those therapeutics aren't very good if you can't definitively diagnose and follow a disease," explained Mirkin, a lead researcher - along with William L. Klein - on a team that developed the new test, which can detect small amounts of proteins in spinal fluid. The team's findings are reported in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. (MSNBC 2/1/05) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6890966

Nanotubes Crank Out Hydrogen. Pure hydrogen fuel is non-polluting. Current methods of extracting hydrogen, however, use energy derived from sources that pollute. Finding ways to use the sun's energy to split water to extract hydrogen would make for a truly clean energy source. Several research efforts are using materials engineered at the molecular scale to tap the sun as an energy source to extract hydrogen from water. Researchers from Pennsylvania State University have constructed a material made from titanium dioxide nanotubes that is 97 percent efficient at harvesting the ultraviolet portion of the sun's light and 6.8 percent efficient at extracting hydrogen from water. (Fuel Cell Today 1/27/05)
http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/FuelCellToday/IndustryInformation/IndustryInformationExternal/NewsDisplayArticle/0,1602,5504,00.html

Nanotechnology Detects Human DNA Mutations. Researchers at Nanosphere, Inc. have reported unprecedented benefits in the company's technology for the medical analysis of human DNA. Nanosphere's nanoparticle-based technology allows for rapid, highly-sensitive and specific Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) genotyping, which is the direct detection of a particular gene and the extent to which it is normal or mutated. (Azonano 1/26/05) http://www.azonano.com/news.asp?newsID=481

NanoClarity, The New Nanotechnology E-Newsletter, Enrolls Over 1,000 Subscribers in 6 Months. Alan Shalleck, President of NanoClarity LLC of Jersey City, NJ, today announced the initial success of his new Newsletter and Commentary, NanoClarity, with the general and investing public, reaching a first milestone of over 1,000 subscribers. Distributed over the Internet at www.nanoclarity.com, NanoClarity clarifies, in understandable language, nanotechnology's current state, meaning and worth. Mr. Shalleck said, " I was so horrified by the "emperor's new clothes" dot.com bubble of the late 90s, that I committed my wisdom and acumen to protecting potential nanotech investors from similar pitfalls in the even bigger boom coming in nanotechnology. My commitment is NanoClarity." (eMediaWire 2/3/05) http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2005/2/emw204169.htm

Anadis and Starpharma to Work Together on Respiratory Protection & Biodefense Applications. Anadis Ltd (ASX:ANX) and Starpharma Holdings Limited (ASX:SPL, USOTC:SPHRY) announced today that they have established a partnership to investigate applications of their combined technologies to respiratory protection and biodefense. This research involves the use of polyclonal antibodies, harvested from bovine colostrum and combined with Starpharma's nano-scale dendrimer molecules to provide immediate short term respiratory protection from airborne biological agents such as Anthrax and Plague. (PharmaLive 2/1/05) http://www.pharmalive.com/News/index.cfm?articleid=208834&categoryid=21

'04 Nano funding report: less money but record number of rounds. The amount of money invested by venture capitalists in U.S. companies commercializing nanotechnology fell a precipitous 35 percent last year. However, the number of companies receiving funding increased 32 percent, to the highest level Small Times has tracked in data going back to 1995. (Smalltimes 2/2/05)
http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=8744

Gina "Nanogirl" Miller
Nanotechnology Industries
http://www.nanoindustries.com
Personal: http://www.nanogirl.com/index2.html
Foresight Senior Associate http://www.foresight.org
Nanotechnology Advisor Extropy Institute  http://www.extropy.org
3D/Animation http://www.nanogirl.com/museumfuture/index.htm
My New Project: Microscope Jewelry
http://www.nanogirl.com/crafts/microjewelry.htm
Email: nanogirl at halcyon.com
"Nanotechnology: Solutions for the future."
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