Nanotechnology News Archives Page 4

Switchable nanovalves: pH-sensitive pseudorotaxane as reversible gate for drug nanotransporter (3/10/2008)

We encounter valves every day, whether in the water faucet, the carburetor in our car, or our bicycle tire tube. Valves are also present in the world of nanotechnology. A team of researchers headed by J. Fraser Stoddart and Jeffrey I. Zink at the University of California, Los Angeles, has now developed a new nanovalve. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, the scientists reveal what is special about it: In contrast to prior versions, which only function in organic solvents, this valve operates in an aqueous environment and under physiological conditions-prerequisites for any application as a gate for nanoscopic drug-transport agents, which need to set their cargo free at the right place and time. ...> Full Article

Variable nanocomposites: Small, rigid DNA rings with a gap for the incorporation of functional molecules (3/9/2008)

What appear under an atomic force microscope to be tiny rings with little bits missing are actually nanoscopic rings made of double-stranded DNA with a little gap in the form of a short single-stranded fragment. As Michael Famulok and his team from the University of Bonn, Germany, explain in the journal Angewandte Chemie , this gap is a place to attach other molecules that have the potential to transform the rings into versatile nanocomposites for various applications. ...> Full Article

Researchers create invisibiity cloak (3/8/2008)

New technique to control nanoparticles ...> Full Article

Fluorescent organic nanoparticles help illuminate cellular proteins (3/8/2008)

Like a smart highlighter, immunofluorescent labeling can zero in on a specific protein, helping scientists understand the structure of a cell and how diseases affect that structure. Current techniques have disadvantages, though. ...> Full Article

Nanoswitches Toggled by Light (3/7/2008)

Ultrafast electron microscopy reveals switchable nanochannels in materials ...> Full Article

Physicists Discover Gold Can Be Magnetic on the Nanoscale (3/6/2008)

Physicists have found that applying an electrical field on a surface-supported gold nanocluster changes its structure from a three-dimensional one to a planar flat structure. In another paper, they relate their discovery that gold in this size regime can be made magnetic through oxygenation of gold nanowires. They also found that up to a certain length, oxygenated gold nanowires behave as a conducting metal, but beyond that, they become insulators. This marks the first time on the nanoscale that such a metal-to-insulation transition has been found on the nanoscale. Both findings are important predictions that could some day be implemented as control parameters governing the chemical and physical material properties employed in nanotechnology. ...> Full Article

Surface dislocation nucleation: Strength is but skin deep at the nanoscale, Penn engineers discover (3/4/2008)

For centuries, engineers have bent and torn metals to test their strength and ductility. Now, materials scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science are studying the same metals but at nanoscale sizes in the form of wires a thousand times thinner than a human hair. This work has enable Penn engineers to construct a theoretical model to predict the strength of metals at the nanoscale. Using this model, they have found that, while metals tend to be stronger at nanoscale volumes, their strengths saturate at around 10-50 nanometers diameter, at which point they also become more sensitive to temperature and strain rate. Such prediction of different strength regimes of nano-solids is important for future application and engineering design of nanotechnology. ...> Full Article

Breakthroughs in Nanotechnology on Edge of 'Knowledge Frontier' (3/2/2008)

Scientist's nanotech research earns him 'Outstanding Missourian' award ...> Full Article

Magnetic atoms of gold, silver and copper have been obtained (3/1/2008)

Scientists create magnetic forms of gold, silver and copper ...> Full Article

Nanoemulsion vaccines effective against two new targets (2/29/2008)

Studies in mice of oil-based nasal vaccine technology show effective immunity against smallpox and HIV ...> Full Article

Astronomy Technology Brings Nanoparticle Probes Into Sharper Focus (2/26/2008)

While pondering the challenges of distinguishing one nano-sized probe image from another in a mass of hundreds or thousands of nanoprobes, researchers at Georgia Tech and Emory University made an interesting observation. The tiny, clustered dots of light looked a lot like a starry sky on a clear night. ...> Full Article

Advances and Future Directions in Nanotechnology to feature in Melbourne next week (2/23/2008)

Australia's major forum for the advancement and discussion of nanotechnology - the International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICONN2008) - will be hosted by the University of Melbourne and Monash University from 25th to 29th February. ...> Full Article

University of Oregon dedicates nanoscience research center (2/22/2008)

University of Oregon students crossing a grassy oval in the Lorry I. Lokey Science Complex this spring will be surprised to learn that, under their feet, researchers are operating millions of dollars worth of delicate high-tech equipment to find answers that could help propel Oregon to the forefront of the fast-growing nanotechnology industry. ...> Full Article

Lensless camera uses X-rays to view nanoscale materials and biological specimens (2/21/2008)

X-rays have been used for decades to take pictures of broken bones, but scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and their collaborators have developed a lensless X-ray technique that can take images of ultra-small structures buried in nanoparticles and nanomaterials, and features within whole biological cells such as cellular nuclei. ...> Full Article

Strengthening Fluids With Nanoparticles (2/20/2008)

New study paves way for using nanofluids in cameras, microdevices, and displays ...> Full Article

Engineers demonstrate nanotube wires operating at speed of commercial chips (2/16/2008)

Integrated circuits, such as the silicon chips inside all modern electronics, are only as good as their wiring, but copper conduits are approaching physical performance limitations as they get thinner. Chipmakers have hoped that carbon "nanotubes" would allow them to continue using thinner wiring as they pack more devices into chips, but no one had demonstrated nanotube wires working on a conventional silicon chip. In a paper published online today by the journal Nano Letters, electrical engineers at Stanford University and Toshiba report using nanotubes to wire a silicon chip operating at speeds comparable to those of commercially available processors and memory. ...> Full Article

China starts flagship project on smart nanocomposites (2/15/2008)

With the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology, a major research project on intelligent nanocomposites has recently kicked off in Beijing. ...> Full Article

Remarkable New Clothing May Someday Power Your MP3 Player (2/14/2008)

The promise of piezoelectric fiber pairs ...> Full Article

Nanosieves Save Energy In Biofuel Production (2/14/2008)

A new type of membrane, developed by scientists of the University of Twente in The Netherlands, can stand high temperatures for a long period of time. This 'molecular sieve' is capable of removing water out of e.g. solvents and biofuels. It is a very energy efficient alternative to existing techniques like distillation. ...> Full Article

Bacteria and nanofilters - the future of clean water technology (2/13/2008)

Bacteria often get bad press, with those found in water often linked to illness and disease. But researchers at The University of Nottingham are using these tiny organisms alongside the very latest membrane filtration techniques to improve and refine water cleaning technology. ...> Full Article

With a jolt, 'nanonails' go from repellant to wettable (2/10/2008)

Sculpting a surface composed of tightly packed nanostructures that resemble tiny nails, University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers and their colleagues from Bell Laboratories have created a material that can repel almost any liquid. ...> Full Article

New research facility to analyse a nano-world (2/9/2008)

A new South Australian research facility being launched today will help researchers around Australia view, analyse and modify structures as small as one-millionth of the diameter of a human hair. ...> Full Article

DNA nanotechnology could transform gene detection (2/8/2008)

Scientists at ASU'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 Jan. 11 issue of the journal Science, could have broad implications for gene chip technology - and also could revolutionize the way in which gene expression is analyzed in a single cell. ...> Full Article

Shear Ingenuity: Tweaking the Conductivity of Nanotube Composites (2/6/2008)

One of the immediate applications of carbon nanotubes (CNT) is as an additive to polymers to create electrically conducting plastics-a relatively low CNT concentration can dramatically change the polymer's electrical conductivity by orders of magnitude, from an insulator to a conductor. New measurements by scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have uncovered an intriguing wrinkle. For a given CNT concentration, the electrical properties of the composite can be tuned from being a conductor to a non-conductor simply by changing processing conditions-basically how fast the polymer flows. ...> Full Article

Researchers mine the 'Terahertz gap' (2/5/2008)

Research underway at the University of Leeds will provide a completely fresh insight into the workings of nano-scale systems, and enable advances in the development of nano-electronic devices for use in industry, medicine and biotechnology. ...> Full Article

Rounding up gases, nano style (2/3/2008)

Chemists unveil new process for capturing and storing gas. Potential spin-offs include improvements to greenhouse gas management and fuel cell development. ...> Full Article

Nanomedicine Research for Prostate Cancer Supported By $5 Million Gift from Prostate Cancer Foundation and David H. Koch (2/2/2008)

The Prostate Cancer Foundation, largely through the generosity of David H. Koch, has given $5 million to four institutions, including Weill Cornell Medical College, to support novel research in prostate cancer. The gift is one of the largest-ever individual donations for prostate cancer research. ...> Full Article

Researcher pioneers nano scaffold to rebuild nerve damage (2/1/2008)

A Monash University PhD student has developed a new technique that could revolutionise stem cell treatment for Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injury. ...> Full Article

Scientists Use Nanomaterials to Localize and Control Drug Delivery (1/31/2008)

Using nanotechnology, scientists from Northwestern University and UCLA have developed a localized and controlled drug delivery method that is invisible to the immune system, a discovery that could provide newer and more effective treatments for cancer and other diseases. ...> Full Article

New kind of transistor radios show capability of nanotube technology (1/30/2008)

Carbon nanotubes have a sound future in the electronics industry, say researchers who built the world's first all-nanotube transistor radios to prove it. ...> Full Article