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<DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><STRONG>The Nanogirl
News</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><STRONG><EM>April 1,
2005</EM></STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>NASA Tests Shape-Shifting Robot Pyramid For
Nanotech Swarms. Like new and protective parents, engineers watched as the
TETWalker robot successfully traveled across the floor at NASA's Goddard Space
Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Robots of this type will eventually be
miniaturized and joined together to form "autonomous nanotechnology swarms"
(ANTS) that alter their shape to flow over rocky terrain or to create useful
structures like communications antennae and solar sails. This technology has the
potential to directly support NASA's Vision for Space Exploration. "This
prototype is the first step toward developing a revolutionary type of robot
spacecraft with major advantages over current designs," said Dr. Steven Curtis,
Principal Investigator for the ANTS project, a collaboration between Goddard and
NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. (Sciencedaily 4/1/05) <A
href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050331110135.htm">http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050331110135.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Scientists modify carbon nanotubes using
microwaves. Researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology have discovered a
novel method of changing the chemical characteristics of carbon nanotubes by
heating them in a closed vessel microwave oven. Somenath Mitra, PhD, professor
of chemistry and environmental sciences, and Zafar Iqbal, PhD, also a professor
of chemistry and environmental sciences, will discuss their findings at the
229th national meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). (Physorg
3/17/05)<BR><A
href="http://www.physorg.com/news3425.html">http://www.physorg.com/news3425.html</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>U.K.'s $38-Million Nanotech Bet. Brits appropriate
funds to help commercialize nanotech, boosting the U.K.’s competitive position
in the emerging market. The U.K. Department of Trade and Industry will make
eight more grants totaling £20 million ($37 million) to help companies and
university researchers commercialize nanotechnology research. The funds are part
of a £90 million ($170 million) nanotech initiative announced almost two years
ago by the DTI, the British equivalent of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Combined with millions more in public grants and private capital, the money
announced Wednesday by science and innovation minister Lord Sainsbury puts the
United Kingdom in a solid competitive position in the nascent nanotech market,
which cuts across dozens of sectors and could be worth trillions within a
decade. (RedHerring 3/31/05)<BR><A
href="http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=11644&hed=U.K.+Spends+%2438+Million+on+Nanotech§or=Capital&subsector=VentureCapital">http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=11644&hed=U.K.+Spends+%2438+Million+on+Nanotech§or=Capital&subsector=VentureCapital</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>New look for nanomotors. Physicists in the US have
built the first nanoelectromechanical device that exploits the effects of
surface tension. The "relaxation oscillator" consists of two droplets of liquid
metal on a substrate made of carbon nanotubes and can be controlled with a small
applied electric field. Alex Zettl and colleagues at the University of
California at Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory say the
device could find use in various nanomechanical applications, including
actuators and motors (B C Regan et al. 2005 Appl. Phys. Lett. 86
123119).<BR>(Physicsweb 3/22/05) <A
href="http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/9/3/14/1">http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/9/3/14/1</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Turn on the Nanotech High Beams by Mike Treder
Executive Director, The Center for Responsible Nanotechnology. You’re driving a
car, very fast, on a poorly marked road, in the pitch-black darkness. There are
no streetlights, there is no moon out tonight, the only illumination you have is
your car’s headlights…you’re in uncharted territory; you have no roadmap, no way
to know for sure where you are going…but you’re driving very fast, into the
pitch-black darkness… That’s the state of nanotechnology today. We’re advancing
rapidly into uncharted territory. The changes this technology will bring may
arrive sooner than we are prepared to respond effectively to them. <BR>(Future
Brief 05) <A
href="http://www.futurebrief.com/miketrederbeams001.asp">http://www.futurebrief.com/miketrederbeams001.asp</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Tiny porphyrin tubes developed by Sandia may lead
to new nanodevices. Sunlight splitting water molecules to produce hydrogen using
devices too small to be seen in a standard microscope. That's a goal of a
research team from the National Nuclear Security Administration's Sandia
National Laboratories. The research has captured the interest of chemists around
the world pursuing methods of producing hydrogen from water. (Sandia 3/17/05) <A
href="http://www.sandia.gov/news-center/news-releases/2005/renew-energy-batt/nano.html">http://www.sandia.gov/news-center/news-releases/2005/renew-energy-batt/nano.html</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hold Still. Particles floating in a fluid jiggle
constantly, an effect called Brownian motion, which makes them tricky to handle.
A new trapping technique, described in the 25 March PRL, effectively cancels out
the Brownian motion of a particle by continually nudging it with just the right
fluid flow. The system could allow researchers to hold and manipulate smaller
particles than they can with current techniques and could help them fabricate
nanomachines or hold biomolecules in place while their interactions are
monitored. (PRF 4/25/05) <A
href="http://focus.aps.org/story/v15/st10">http://focus.aps.org/story/v15/st10</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Paint On The Wall TV Screens? Case Chemist To
Design Chemical Building Blocks For Such Potential Use. Imagine your television
or computer screen coming from a container as something to be applied to a flat
surface like a wall—or, screens so flexible that they can be rolled up and put
in a pocket. Those futuristic screens are closer to reality. John Protasiewicz,
Case Western Reserve University professor of chemistry, plans to use funding
from a special two-year, unsolicited grant for creativity from the National
Science Foundation to prepare new conjugated polymers that feature novel
chemical building blocks and inorganic elements. Such special plastics have
potential uses in understanding how these new display devices work, and could
lead to improvements in plastic display technologies. (Sciencedaily 3/31/05) <A
href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050329140351.htm">http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050329140351.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Nanotech Is Booming Biggest in U.S., Report Says.
The science of the very small is getting big in the United States. Americans are
investing more money, publishing more scientific papers and winning more patents
than anyone else in the quickly growing field of nanotechnology, according to
the first comprehensive federal report on the science of things only a few
hundred millionths of an inch in size. But the nation's lead may be short-lived,
the report warns, as Europe and Asia show evidence of gaining. (Washington Post
3/28/05) <A
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5221-2005Mar27.html">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5221-2005Mar27.html</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Harnessing microbes, one by one, to build a better
nanoworld. Taking a new approach to the painstaking assembly of nanometer-sized
machines, a team of scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has
successfully used single bacterial cells to make tiny bio-electronic circuits.
(Eurekalert 3/17/05) <A
href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-03/uow-hmo031605.php">http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-03/uow-hmo031605.php</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Fate Of Nano Waste: Researchers Study How To Make
Nanomaterial Industry Environmentally Sustainable. Research into making the
emerging nanomaterial industry environmentally sustainable is showing promise in
a preliminary engineering study conducted at the Georgia Institute of Technology
and Rice University. Under the auspices of the Rice University Center for
Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN) funded by the National
Science Foundation (NSF), researchers have been investigating the potential
environmental impact of nanomaterial waste. Specifically, they want to know if
they can predict the fate and transport of nanomaterial waste in natural
systems, and whether nanomaterials will behave the same as common environmental
pollutants. In addition, they want to determine if nanomaterials can be treated
before they enter the environment to minimize impact. (Sciencedaily
3/29/05)<BR><A
href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050323143506.htm">http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050323143506.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ceria nanoparticles catalyze reactions for
cleaner-fuel future. Experiments on ceria nanoparticles may lead to catalytic
converters that are better at cleaning up auto exhaust, and/or to more-efficient
ways of generating hydrogen. Researchers used bright beams of x-rays at the
National Synchrotron Light Source to study how their composition, structure, and
reactivity changed in response to doping with zirconium in one case, and
impregnation with gold in another. (Eurekalert 3/15/05) <A
href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-03/dnl-cnc030705.php">http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-03/dnl-cnc030705.php</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Nanogen and Pathway Diagnostics Sign License
Agreement for Gene Variants Linked to Drug Response. Nanogen, Inc. and Pathway
Diagnostics have announced that they have entered into a nonexclusive, worldwide
license agreement under which Nanogen will develop diagnostic products that
detect genetic variations associated with responses to antidepressant and
antipsychotic therapeutics. The companies have begun work on developing a
molecular diagnostic product that could be used to select the most appropriate
drug and dosage for patients treated for psychiatric diseases. Specific
financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. (Azonano 3/24/05) <BR><A
href="http://www.azonano.com/news.asp?newsID=675">http://www.azonano.com/news.asp?newsID=675</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Smart Nanocarriers to Combat Tumors. IBN's
technology spells hope for cancer patients who suffer from painful side-effects
of chemotherapy. A 'smart' nanocarrier technology developed by a team of
researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) is set
to vastly improve the way cancer patients are treated. Anticancer drugs are now
being administered to patients using methods that cause the indiscriminate
killing of both diseased and healthy cells. Such chemotherapy leads to
side-effects, such as nausea, fatigue, and hair loss, and makes the patient weak
and frail. Between 1998 and 2002, 38,447 people in Singapore were diagnosed with
some type of cancer, while 20,289 died of the disease. Hence, there is a crucial
need for the development of more effective cancer therapy, which not only
minimizes side-effects but also directly targets diseased cells. Scientists at
IBN have found a way to tackle this problem through the use of anticancer drug
delivery vehicles that transport drugs only to where they are needed in the
body. This method significantly reduces or even eliminates the severe
side-effects typically induced by conventional chemotherapeutics. (AStar
3/21/05) <A
href="http://www.a-star.gov.sg/astar/biomed/action/biomed_pressrelease_details.do?id=0f8fd05aceQV">http://www.a-star.gov.sg/astar/biomed/action/biomed_pressrelease_details.do?id=0f8fd05aceQV</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Drug-Delivering Contact Lenses Revealed. Scientists
at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore have
developed new contact lenses that are designed to provide a slow release of
medications. The New Scientist reports: Contact lenses that release controlled
doses of drugs to treat eye diseases such as glaucoma have been created by
nano-engineers in Singapore. (4/1/05 mdeGadget) <A
href="http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2005/04/drugdelivering.html">http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2005/04/drugdelivering.html</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>NanoMarkets Releases New White Paper on
Nanotechnology and Energy Markets. NanoMarkets a leading industry consulting
firm based here, today announced the release of a new white paper titled, "How
Nanotechnology is Changing the Energy Equation" that reviews the many ways in
which the energy industry is being (and will continue to be) impacted by
nanotech. The paper is drawn from NanoMarkets' current research on
emerging alternative energy and power markets and addresses topics such as
fossil fuels and nanocatalysts, solar power, fuel cells, wind, biomass and
geothermal energy. The paper can be accessed from the firm's website at <A
href="http://www.nanomarkets.net">http://www.nanomarkets.net</A>.<BR>(PRNewswire
3/31/05) <A
href="http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/03-31-2005/0003294493&EDATE">http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/03-31-2005/0003294493&EDATE</A>=
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>New nanotech centre opens new food possibilities. A
£3.5 million grant for a new state-of-the-art nanotech research centre in the UK
underlines the potential of this brave new technology for the food industry,
writes Anthony Fletcher. The Nottingham Micro Nano Technology (MNT) Centre will
be an advanced manufacturing facility designed to help companies develop
revolutionary new products and services at a scale of thousandths of a
millimetre. Announced today by Lord Sainsbury, UK science and innovation
minister, the grant will provide open access for companies to cutting-edge
facilities designed to help bring nanotechnology products and services to the
market.<BR>(Foodanddrinkeurope 3/31/05) <A
href="http://www.foodanddrinkeurope.com/news/news-ng.asp?n=59074-new-nanotech-centre">http://www.foodanddrinkeurope.com/news/news-ng.asp?n=59074-new-nanotech-centre</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Human Contact Spreads PC Viruses. The federal
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and National Science Foundation (NSF) have
issued a stunning joint announcement: PC viruses, worms, and spyware can now be
transmitted via human contact. Researchers at St. Paul's College in Virginia
have isolated roughly 100 cases of systems infected by human contact, the two
agencies said at a press conference at NSF headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.
The mode of transmission? Each system's user had physical contact with another
user whose system was known to be infected. The level of contact was found to be
as brief as a handshake. One researcher, Avril Hidokwon, said she documented a
case where the Netsky.P virus spread to 12 systems via a sneeze. Scientists have
long held that electronic viruses could not possibly spread unless there was
some sort of digital (wired or wireless) connection between the infected PC and
the victim systems (or the victim systems and servers). "What we did not account
for," explained Hidokwon at the hastily organized joint press conference, "was
nanotechnology." (PCmag 4/1/05) <A
href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1781208,00.asp">http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1781208,00.asp</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Okay, if you didn't figure out this last news
release, Happy April Fools Day!<BR>All the other news stories are
genuine.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Gina "Nanogirl" Miller<BR>Nanotechnology
Industries<BR><A
href="http://www.nanoindustries.com">http://www.nanoindustries.com</A><BR>Personal:
<A
href="http://www.nanogirl.com/index2.html">http://www.nanogirl.com/index2.html</A><BR>Foresight
Senior Associate <A
href="http://www.foresight.org">http://www.foresight.org</A><BR>Nanotechnology
Advisor Extropy Institute <A
href="http://www.extropy.org">http://www.extropy.org</A><BR>3D/Animation <A
href="http://www.nanogirl.com/museumfuture/index.htm">http://www.nanogirl.com/museumfuture/index.htm</A><BR>My
New Project: Microscope Jewelry<BR><A
href="http://www.nanogirl.com/crafts/microjewelry.htm">http://www.nanogirl.com/crafts/microjewelry.htm</A><BR>Email:
<A
href="mailto:nanogirl@halcyon.com">nanogirl@halcyon.com</A><BR>"Nanotechnology:
Solutions for the future."<BR></FONT></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>