[extropy-chat] The Nanogirl News~

Sun Sep 25 06:48:44 UTC 2005

The Nanogirl News
September 24, 2005

Physicists Measure Tiny Force That Limits How Far Machines Can Shrink. University of Arizona physicists have directly measured how close speeding atoms can come to a surface before the atoms' wavelengths change. Theirs is a first, fundamental measurement that confirms the idea that the wave of a fast-moving atom shortens and lengthens depending on its distance from a surface, an idea first proposed by pioneering quantum physicists in the late 1920s. (Daily Science News 9/23/05)
http://www.sciencenewsdaily.org/story-6724.html

Nanowires can detect molecular signs of cancer, scientists find. Harvard University researchers have found that molecular markers indicating the presence of cancer in the body are readily detected in blood scanned by special arrays of silicon nanowires - even when these cancer markers constitute only one hundred-billionth of the protein present in a drop of blood. In addition to this exceptional accuracy and sensitivity, the minuscule devices also promise to pinpoint the exact type of cancer present with a speed not currently available to clinicians. (Eurekalert 9/23/05)
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-09/hu-ncd092305.php

Molecular Needles: Carbon nanotubes inject antimycotics into cells and increase their effectiveness. Putting pharmaceutical agents into the body isn't hard, but getting them into targeted areas can be problematic. If drugs aren't taken up by a large enough proportion of cells, a suitable "transport agent" must be used. A French and Italian research team has successfully used carbon nanotubes as transport agents for antimycotics (antifungal agents). In addition, they have developed a strategy for attaching a second agent or marker to the nanotubes in a controlled fashion. (Chemie.De 9/21/05) http://www.chemie.de/news/e/49045/

Quantum-dot syntheses developed. UB scientists report new processes have applications in bioimaging and solar conversion. Efficient and highly scalable new chemical synthesis methods developed at UB's Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics have the potential to revolutionize the production of quantum dots for bioimaging and photovoltaic applications. 
(UB Reporter 9/22/05) http://www.buffalo.edu/reporter/vol37/vol37n4/articles/QuantumDots.html

Like fireflies and pendulum clocks, nano-oscillators synchronize their behavior. Like the flashing of fireflies and ticking of pendulum clocks, the signals emitted by multiple nanoscale oscillators can naturally synchronize under certain conditions, greatly amplifying their output power and stabilizing their signal pattern, according to scientists at the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). (Physorg 9/14/05) http://www.physorg.com/news6484.html

Nanodiamonds prove magnetic. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, SUNY Albany, NASA Ames Research Center and Philip Morris, all in the US, have created magnetic nanodiamonds by bombarding the particles with carbon or nitrogen ions. The nanodiamonds became ferromagnetic at room temperature. "These findings could lead to a systematic, controllable method for producing magnetic carbon materials," said Pulickel Ajayan of Rensselaer. "Though the value of the magnetization is much lower than in regular magnets, the nature of the spin interactions in carbon could lead to a number of potential applications." (nanotechweb 9/15/05) http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/4/9/9/1

Purdue scientists treat cancer with RNA nanotechnology. Using strands of genetic material, Purdue University scientists have constructed tiny delivery vehicles that can carry anticancer therapeutic agents directly to infected cells, offering a potential wealth of new treatments for chronic diseases. The vehicles look nothing like delivery trucks, though that is their function once inside the body. Instead, these so-called nanoparticles, which are assembled from three short pieces of ribonucleic acid, resemble miniature triangles. The microscopic particles possess both the right size to gain entry into cells and also the right structure to carry other therapeutic strands of RNA inside with them, where they are able to halt viral growth or cancer's progress. The team has already tested the nanoparticles successfully against cancer growth in mice and lab-grown human cells. (Ascribe 9/13/05) http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20050913.144406&time=21%2005%20PDT&year=2005&public=1

Tiny Twister. Trucks drive over the Golden Gate Bridge with little effect, but a proposed nanoscale bridge would shudder even from the flow of electrons. The device, described theoretically in the 2 September PRL, would detect the electrons' spins by measuring the bridge's tilt as the electrons traverse it. Running it backward by forcing the bridge to tilt could generate a current of electrons with aligned spins. The device could be an essential component in the emerging field of spintronics--electronics that manipulate electron spins in addition to charges--which may someday transform information technology and computing. 
(Phys. Rev. 9/19/05) http://focus.aps.org/story/v16/st9

Bamboo-Shaped Nanowires. There has been a growing interest in the synthesis of bamboo-shaped carbon, BN, CN, and MoS2 nanotubes based on their applications as both structural and functional materials. Bamboo-shaped Ag-doped TiO2 nanowires with heterojunctions were synthesized by a simple solvothermal method and the detailed structure of the heterojunction in the nanowire is characterized. (Chemistry.org Sept. 2005) http://pubs3.acs.org/acs/journals/doilookup?in_doi=10.1021/ic0505551

Nanotechnology Innovation Enables Recovery and Reuse of Spilled Oil. Interface Sciences Corporation announced that in response to oil spill problems stemming from the current Hurricane Katrina disaster and oil crises, the company is launching its proprietary oil remediation and recovery application. Interface Sciences treated material absorbs about 40 times it weight in oil, far exceeding existing commercially available remediation materials. (Nanotech cafe 9/7/05)
http://www10.nanotechcafe.com/nbc/articles/view_article.php?section=CorpNews&articleid=204185

Nanotechnology facilities, enhanced by thousand-year-old decorative style, near completion. A two-story-high, 450-foot-long wall surface with rock chipped flat - reminiscent of the thousand-year-old stonework at New Mexico's Chaco Canyon archaeological site - cuts across the three laboratory wings of the new core facility of the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies.
The wall's function is not structural but meant to serve as an advertisement rooted in New Mexico's history.(Sandia 9/15/05) 
http://www.sandia.gov/news-center/news-releases/2005/micro-nano/cint-facilities.html

Nano World: Nano for artificial kidneys. Nanotechnological filters could lead to wearable or implantable artificial kidneys, experts told UPI's Nano World. Animal studies for artificial-kidney prototypes should begin one or two years from now, and clinical trials would follow a year or two afterward, reported scientists at Biophiltre in Burlingame, Calif., the medical-device company developing the artificial-kidney technology. (Medlineplus 9/8/05) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_26808.html

Researchers Awarded NSF Grant to Study Nano Springs, Rods, Beams. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are exploring the potential of nanomechanical systems by making and testing springs, rods, and beams on the nanoscale. They have been awarded a $1.15 million grant from the National Science Foundation for the research. The past decade has seen an explosion of interest in electronic devices at the molecular level, but less attention has been paid to nanoscale mechanical systems, according to Toh-Ming Lu, the R.P. Baker Distinguished Professor of Physics at Rensselaer and principal investigator for the project. "Nanomechanical devices may have as important an impact as nanoelectronics, but a number of challenges need to be overcome before these systems can be practically realized," (newswise 9/15/05) http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/514562/

Nanohelix Structure Provides New Building Block For Nanoscale Piezoelectric Devices. A previously-unknown zinc oxide nanostructure that resembles the helical configuration of DNA could provide engineers with a new building block for creating nanometer-scale sensors, transducers, resonators and other devices that rely on electromechanical coupling. Based on a superlattice composed of alternating single-crystal "stripes" just a few nanometers wide, the "nanohelix" structure is part of a family of nanobelts -- tiny ribbon-like structures with semiconducting and piezoelectric properties -- that were first reported in 2001. The nanohelices, which get their shape from twisting forces created by a small mismatch between the stripes, are produced using a vapor-solid growth process at high temperature. Information about the growth and analysis of the new structures will be reported in the September 9 issue of the journal Science. (ScienceDaily 9/13/05) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/09/050911104847.htm

Researchers Create DNA-Based Sensors for Nano-Tongues and Nano-Noses. Nano-sized carbon tubes coated with strands of DNA can create tiny sensors with abilities to detect odors and tastes, according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Monell Chemical Sciences Center. Their findings are published in the current issue of the journal Nano Letters, a publication of the American Chemical Society. According to the researchers, arrays of these nanosensors could detect molecules on the order of one part per million, akin to finding a one-second play amid 278 hours of baseball footage or a single person in Times Square on New Years' Eve. In the report, the researchers tested the nanosensors on five different chemical odorants, including methanol and dinitrotoluene, or DNT, a common chemical that is also frequently a component of military-grade explosives. The nanosensors could sniff molecules out of the air or taste them in a liquid, suggesting applications ranging from domestic security to medical detectors.(nanotechwire 9/21/05) http://nanotechwire.com/news.asp?nid=2330&ntid=&pg=1

Nanotechnology Confronts the Bad Hair Day. Ohio State University researchers have just completed the first comprehensive study of human hair on the nanometer level. Special equipment enabled Bharat Bhushan, Ohio Eminent Scholar and the Howard D. Winbigler Professor of mechanical engineering at Ohio State, and his colleagues to get an unprecedented close-up look at a rogue's gallery of bad hair days - from chemically overprocessed locks to curls kinked up by humidity.
They used the techniques they developed to test a new high-tech hair conditioner. Ultimately, the same techniques could be used to improve lipstick, nail polish and other beauty products, said Bhushan. His specialty is nanotribology - the measurement of very small things, such as the friction between moving parts in microelectronics. (SAWF 9/8/05)
http://news.sawf.org/Health/2608.aspx

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