[ExI] The Nanogirl News~

Sun Jan 27 06:28:53 UTC 2008

The Nanogirl News
January 26, 2008

Cancer fight could advance via thin film. Chemotherapy drugs are intended to kill the fast-growing cancer cells that populate tumors, but the poison kills a lot of innocent bystander cells as well. Nanotech researchers who seek ways to send chemokillers where they're needed while avoiding healthy tissue had some good news last week in the form of a film so thin as to be virtually invisible. (Chicago Tribune 1.28.08)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-mon_notebook_0128jan28,1,7259809.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

Scientists Make 'Perfect' Nanowires. Scientists have created silicon nanowires that are perfect-at least atomically. Down at the single-atom level, the identical wires have no bumps, bends, or other imperfections. They are perfectly crystalline, even more so than bulk silicon. The full array of nanowires is also highly parallel, and each wire is an excellent metallic conductor. (Physorg 1.23.08) http://www.physorg.com/news120313863.html

Vision of the future: Researchers build bionic eye. Nanotech could let travelers check Net, e-mail or play games on floating display screen...University researchers reported that they have used nanotechnology manufacturing techniques to combine a flexible, biologically safe contact lens with an imprinted electronic circuit and lights. Perfecting virtual displays could mean that traveling executives could surf the Net or check their e-mail on a floating virtual display screen that only they could see. It also would mean that drivers could see their speed projected onto the windshield, or gamers could become far more immersed in their virtual worlds. (Computer World 1.25.08)http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=mobile_and_wireless&articleId=9059144&taxonomyId=15
Related - you may all remember my speculative 2004 cornea computer animation:
http://www.nanogirl.com/museumfuture/corneacomputer.htm

Nanowires hold promise for more affordable solar cells...The Department of Engineering Physics at McMaster University, Cleanfield Energy and the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) have formed a partnership to pursue the commercialization of nanowire technology in the production of solar cells. The particular type of nanowire technology developed at McMaster is able to trap more sunlight and convert it to electricity more efficiently than traditional solar cells. (Nanotechwire 1.25.08) http://nanotechwire.com/news.asp?nid=5512

DNA 'fabricator' constructs walking DNA. The goal of being able to program biochemical reactions as precisely and easily as computers crunch numbers and process words has moved a giant step closer. A group at the California Institute of Technology, led by biomolecular engineer Niles Pierce, has created a DNA-based fabricator. This is a system that allows the team to specify a piece of DNA with a desired shape and function, and then execute a molecular program to assemble it in a test tube. As an example, they used their system to construct a piece of DNA that walks along another strip of DNA. (Newscientist 1.16.08)
http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn13192-dna-fabricator-constructs-walking-dna.html

Fine print: New technique allows fast printing of microscopic electronics. A new technique for printing extraordinarily thin lines quickly over wide areas could lead to larger, less expensive and more versatile electronic displays as well new medical devices, sensors and other technologies. Solving a fundamental and long-standing quandary, chemical engineers at Princeton developed a method for shooting stable jets of electrically charged liquids from a wide nozzle. The technique, which produced lines just 100 nanometers wide (about one ten-thousandth of a millimeter), offers at least 10 times better resolution than ink-jet printing and far more speed and ease than conventional nanotechnology. (Eurekalert 1.24.08) 
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-01/pues-fpn012408.php

Controlling Cell Behavior with Magnets. Nanoparticles allow researchers to initiate biochemical events at will. For the first time, researchers have demonstrated a means of controlling cell functions with a physical, rather than chemical, signal. Using a magnetic field to pull together tiny beads targeted to particular cell receptors, Harvard researchers made cells take up calcium, and then stop, then take it up again. Their work is the first to prove that such a level of control over cells is possible. If the approach can be used with many cell types and cell functions, it could lead to a totally new class of therapies that rely on cells themselves to make and release drugs. (Technologyreview 1.18.08)
http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/08/

Nanotechnology Innovation May Revolutionize Gene Detection In A Single Cell. Scientists at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute have developed the world's first gene detection platform made up entirely from self-assembled DNA nanostructures. The results, appearing in the January 11 issue of the journal Science, could have broad implications for gene chip technology and may also revolutionize the way in which gene expression is analyzed in a single cell. (ScienceDaily 1.16.08) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080110144839.htm

Scientists discover new method of observing interactions in nanoscale systems. Scientists have used new optical technologies to observe interactions in nanoscale systems that Heisenberg's uncertainty principle usually would prohibit, according to a study published Jan. 17 in the journal Nature. (Physorg 1.16.08)
http://www.physorg.com/news119711240.html

Artificial Viral Shells Could Be Useful Nano-Containers. Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and The Scripps Research Institute in California are designing an artificial viral shell as a valuable nano-container for pinpoint drug delivery, molecular computing components, and a host of other applications. (Sciencedaily 1.22.08)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080118135314.htm

Nanotechnology makes photo inscription on diamonds possible. A Silicon Valley firm has developed a new nanotechnology process that permanently inscribes high-resolution photos on any diamond or other gemstone. The unique process used by Gemory LLC, does not harm the diamond in any way, preserving its original quality and customers' memories forever. Immortalize the treasured moments of your life - any event or occasion can be preserved forever with high-resolution photo inscription from GemoryT. Events and the emotions tied to them are only temporary, but now you can maintain memories of them forever by inscribing photos on your diamond...No damage...eliminates forgery. (PR-USA 1.19.08) http://www.pr-usa.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=58771&Itemid=9

Was Tipu's sword made using nanotechnology? Indians had the know-how for nanotechnology, one of the latest branches in science, from 18th century only, a Nobel Laureate in Chemistry said on Monday. Robert F Curl, the Nobel Laureate, said right from the 18th Century, Indians were using nanotechnology, and the sword of Tipu Sultan is one example. However, he refused to comment as to whether they were using it knowingly or unknowingly. Similarly, there are examples of the use of nanotechnology in preparing glass in Rome, he said speaking to media persons on the sidelines of a lecture. (The Hindu 12.31.07) http://www.hinduonnet.com/holnus/001200801061523.htm

...Nanotechnology researchers have now been able to demonstrate that semiconductor nanowires can be designed to achieve extremely large enhancements in thermoelectric efficiency. Bulk silicon is a very inefficient thermoelectric material. It conducts heat so well that is is difficult to produce a temperature difference big enough to generate any useful voltage at all. (Nanowerk 1.16.08) http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=4083.php

Surprise: silicon nanotechnology turns heat into electricity. Two teams of US scientists have demonstrated silicon-based 'thermoelectric' materials that could convert waste heat back into electricity - potentially giving a boost to the efficiency of everything from power stations to refrigerators. (Nanodot 1.17.08) http://www.foresight.org/nanodot/?p=2633

Dark, dark nanotechnology. An ideal black object absorbs all of the colors of light and reflects none of them. Researchers at Rice University have demonstrated a new concept based on a low-density nanotube array material that can be engineered to dramatically change an object's index of refraction and nanoscale roughness, hence, its optical reflection.  
An article in the Houston Chronicle puts it like this: "A scientist at Rice University has created the darkest material known to man, a carpet of carbon nanotubes that reflects only 0.045 percent of all light shined upon it. That's four times darker than the previously darkest known substance, and more than 100 times darker than the paint on a black Corvette."  (Nanowerk 1.15.08) http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=4074.php

Nanotechnology improves the prospect of better treatment for brain disorders...In a recent review in the Journal of Peptide Science, Dr. Ernest Giralt from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Barcelona, Spain, together with Dr. Meritxell Teixidó from his group, summarized literature reports on the use of peptides and nanotechnology for the treatment and diagnosis of brain disorders, and comparing these approaches to other methods..."Over the past few decades, pharmaceutical technology has lead to the emergence of different nanosystems or nanoplatforms tailored to deliver drugs to the brain, including polymeric nanoparticles, liposomes, and solid lipid nanoparticles" Giralt tells Nanowerk. (Nanomednet 1.7.08) http://www.nano.org.uk/nanomednet/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=93&Itemid=105

Scientists invent nanotechnology device for disease biomarker discovery. Scientists at George Mason University's Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine have invented an innovative nanotechnology tool that may lead to a dramatic improvement in treatment results for patients diagnosed with cancer or other diseases. The novel diagnostic tool is uniquely suited for the discovery of new protein biomarkers in the blood that provide sensitive and specific disease detection at the earliest stage when treatment is most effective. (Nanovip 1.14.08) http://www.nanovip.com/node/4905

Adieu!

Gina "Nanogirl" Miller
Nanotechnology Industries
http://www.nanoindustries.com
Personal: http://www.nanogirl.com
Animation Blog: http://maxanimation.blogspot.com/
Craft blog: http://nanogirlblog.blogspot.com/
Foresight Senior Associate http://www.foresight.org
Nanotechnology Advisor Extropy Institute  http://www.extropy.org
Email: nanogirl at halcyon.com
"Nanotechnology: Solutions for the future."
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