[extropy-chat] The Nanogirl News~

Sun Nov 12 23:14:44 UTC 2006

The Nanogirl News

November 11, 2006

'Nanorust' Cleans Arsenic From Drinking Water. The discovery of unexpected magnetic interactions between ultrasmall specks of rust is leading scientists at Rice University's Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN) to develop a revolutionary, low-cost technology for cleaning arsenic from drinking water. The technology holds promise for millions of people in India, Bangladesh and other developing countries where thousands of cases of arsenic poisoning each year are linked to poisoned wells. The new technique is described in the Nov. 10 issue of Science magazine.(Playfuls 11.11.06) http://www.playfuls.com/news_002874_Nanorust_Cleans_Arsenic_From_Drinking_Water.html

Legos give kids a leg up on nanotechnology. The U.S. Patent Office might want to hear about this: John Hurd and a team of researchers have built a "nanoprobe" he says can clean clogged arteries. "The nanoprobe swims through the arteries and pushes out all the cholesterol and fat," explained the 9-year-old inventor. There is a caveat. The machine is only in the minds of the pint-sized designers who have spent eight weeks studying nanotechnology - the science of making super-small machines - while crafting robots out of Legos. The Crestwood Elementary School fourth-grader is among more than 200 students from Madison, Milwaukee and elsewhere in Wisconsin participating in this year's FIRST Lego League Badgerland Regional Competition, which starts today at Madison's Memorial High School.(Wisconsin State Journal 11.11.06) http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=107020&ntpid=3

Bridging neurons and electronics with carbon nanotubes. New implantable biomedical devices that can act as artificial nerve cells, control severe pain, or allow otherwise paralyzed muscles to be moved might one day be possible thanks to developments in materials science. Writing today in Advanced Materials, Nicholas Kotov of the University of Michigan and colleagues describe how they have used hollow, submicroscopic strands of carbon, carbon nanotubes, to connect an integrated circuit to nerve cells. The new technology offers the possibility of building an interface between biology and electronics. (PhysOrg Nov. 06) http://www.physorg.com/news82116028.html

New biomedical device uses nanotechnology to monitor hip implant healing, may reduce wait times. It is so small, you can barely see it, but a microsensor created by University of Alberta engineers may soon make a huge difference in the lives of people recovering from hip replacement surgery. The U of A research team has invented a self-powered wireless microsensor for monitoring the bone healing process after surgery -- it is so tiny it can fit onto the tip of a pen. (EurekAlert 10.17.06)
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-10/uoa-nbd101706.php

Now, a 'DNA machine' that can sound a virus alert. Researchers have made a 'DNA machine' from a single molecule that detects a virus by reading its genome, and then produces an alarm signal, in the form of a visible glow. Itamar Willner of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and his co-workers say that their DNA device can provide a readout within an hour and a half, whereas existing methods for identifying viruses or bacteria from their DNA generally require many complicated chemical steps. 
(Nature 11.10.06) http://www.nature.com/news/2006/061106/full/061106-19.html

A nanoplasmonic molecular ruler for measuring nuclease activity and DNA footprinting. Researchers have a new tool for studying interactions between proteins and nucleic acids: a nanoscale optical ruler than can detect small changes in the size of a given piece of DNA. This work is reported in the inaugural issue of the journal Nature Nanotechnology. (News-medical.net 10.16.06)
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=20495

Nanoparticle Shows Promise In Reducing Radiation Side Effects. With the help of tiny, transparent zebrafish embryos, researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Medical College are hoping to prove that a microscopic nanoparticle can be part of a "new class of radioprotective agents" that help protect normal tissue from radiation damage just as well as standard drugs. Reporting November 7, 2006 at the annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology in Philadelphia, they show that the nanoparticle, DF-1 - a soccer ball-shaped, hollow, carbon-based structure known as a fullerene - is as good as two other antioxidant drugs and the FDA-approved drug, Amifostine in fending off radiation damage from normal tissue. (Sciencedaily 11.10.06) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061108154306.htm

Nanoparticle Sheets Form Spontaneously - CdTe nanocrystals mimic proteins. Crystalline nanoparticles of cadmium telluride, a semiconducting material used to make thin films for solar cells, spontaneously assemble into two-dimensional free-floating sheets in water without a template to guide them. Nicholas A. Kotov, Sharon C. Glotzer, and their colleagues at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, report this unexpected finding and explain how it occurs through a combination of interactive forces between the nanoparticles-the same way that some protein structures form in living systems 'Science 2006, 314, 274'. 
(C&E 10.16.06) http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/84/i42/8442notw7.html

Damage Control. Combination of carbon nanofibers and stem cells can regenerate lost neurons in rats. A cocktail of carbon nanofibers and stem cells can heal neural tissue in rats damaged by a stroke, according to a recent study. Thomas J. Webster, an engineering professor at Brown University, presented the results on Sept. 11 at the American Chemical Society national meeting in San Francisco. (C&E 9.12.06) http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/84/i38/8438nanofibers.html

MIT materials scientists tame tricky carbon nanotubes. Based on a new theory, MIT scientists may be able to manipulate carbon nanotubes -- one of the strongest known materials and one of the trickiest to work with -- without destroying their extraordinary electrical properties. The work is reported in the Sept. 15 issue of Physical Review Letters, the journal of the American Physical Society. (MIT 9.15.06) http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/nanotubes.html

Ancient Hair-Dyeing - A Nanoscience? Scientists have discovered that an ancient method used to darken hair, dating back more than 4,000 years, is based on a chemical process that takes place at the nanoscale. This may be one of the earliest examples of nanoscience at work in a practical application. The research team is led by Dr. Philippe Walter, a chemist with the Centre Nationale de Recherche Scientifique (National Center for Scientific Research) in Paris, France. For the past 10 years, he and his group have collaborated with the research department at L'Oreal, studying the history of cosmetic science. (PhysOrg Nov 06)
http://www.physorg.com/news81427508.html

Nanotechnology: Check out the 2006 Nano Quest Challenge. The first organization - inspired by inventor Dean Kamen - and the Lego Group are sponsoring the 2006 Nano Quest Challenge, and sadly for the rest of us, it seems to be limited to kids 9-14 years old, plus 6 to 9-year-olds in the junior league in US and Canada. But wait - all the teams need adult guides, so some of us grown-ups have found a way to get in on this. There are 169 teams competing in California alone, and 32 countries are listed on the international page. (Nanodot 10.17.06) http://www.foresight.org/nanodot/?p=2344

Penn researcher shows that DNA gets kinky easily at the nanoscale. Scientists have answered a long-standing molecular stumper regarding DNA: How can parts of such a rigid molecule bend and coil without requiring large amounts of force? According to a team of researchers from the United States and the Netherlands, led by a physicist from the University of Pennsylvania, DNA is much more flexible than previously believed when examined over extremely small lengths. They used a technique called atomic force microscopy to determine the amount of energy necessary to bend DNA over nano-size lengths (about a million times smaller than a printed letter). (U of Penn 11.3.06) 
http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/article.php?id=1048

Breaking the nanometer barrier in X-ray microscopy. Argonne National Laboratory scientists in collaboration with Xradia have created a new X-ray microscope technique capable of observing molecular-scale features, measuring less than a nanometer in height. Combining x-ray reflection together with high resolution x-ray microscopy, scientists can now study interactions at the nanometer-scale which often can exhibit different properties and lead to new insights. Improving our understanding of interactions at the nanoscale holds promise to help us cure the sick, protect our environment and make us more secure. (Eurekalert 11.9.06) http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-11/dnl-btn110906.php

Carbon Nanotubes You Can Live With. Carbon nanotubes, or CNTs, are hollow wires of pure carbon about 50,000 times narrower than the finest human hair but stronger than steel. CNTs have enormous potential in a variety of biological applications, including medical diagnostics and treatments. There's a problem, however, and until now it has been what technologists call a "stopper." For reasons not entirely known, CNTs are cytotoxic - contact with them kills cells. This is one stopper that may have been solved. A team of researchers with Berkeley Lab, the University of California at Berkeley, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) have developed a means of making CNTs biocompatible. (Science Berkeley Lab 8.26.06) http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/sabl/2006/Jul/01.html

Anti Aging Medical Group Corp. Establishes Collaboration With AlphaRx and Leading Neurologists for Alzheimer's Disease. The collaboration has selected a well-known compound which in various pre-clinical studies have demonstrated low toxicity and proven to be highly effective in reducing brain inflammation, protecting neuronal cells, restoring cognitive function and preventing the development of Alzheimer's. This has not been a priority by the major pharmaceutical companies due to various formulation issues. In addition, the collaboration believes its approach of using nanotechnology to deliver such compound through the blood brain barrier is viable and will attempt to screen 2 to 3 formulations in Alzheimer's animal models to determine the right dosage for human trials. (Marketwire 11.9.06) http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=182304

Still Dyeing After 2,000 Years - Ancient formula, now re-created, darkens locks with lead sulfide nanoparticles. Nanotechnology may seem like the latest fad in beauty products, but a new report suggests that people have been using nanomaterials to improve upon nature for at least 2,000 years. According to researchers in France, an ancient hair-coloring concoction turns tresses black via the formation of lead sulfide nanoparticles within the hair shaft 'Nano Lett., DOI: 10.1021/nl061493u'.
(C&E 9.11.06) http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/84/i37/8437notw7.html

Bio-nanotechnology to kill cancer cells. The University of Surrey has been awarded a grant of £420,000 to utilize nanotechnology to develop cancer treatments. The grant is part of an international project: "Multifunctional Carbon Nanotubes for Biomedical Applications (CARBIO)" supported by the European Union under the Marie Curie scheme. (Nanotechnology 11.6.06)
http://www.nanotechnology.com/news/?id=9329

Nanotech eyed for help with outages. Area residents are still talking about the October snowstorm that knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and business. So are researchers at the University at Buffalo. Engineers at UB's Energy Systems Institute, in fact, have been studying how nanotechnology a branch of engineering that designs and builds extremely small electronic circuits and devices -- can be used to build a more reliable, efficient power system. (SmallTimes 11.6.06)
http://www.smalltimes.com/news/display_news_story.cfm?Section=WireNews&Category=HOME&NewsID=140666

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"Nanotechnology: Solutions for the future."
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