Nanotechnology News - August 2007 Archives

Researchers knock down theory about nanofluids (8/30/2007)

MIT engineers have shown that nanofluids, which once held promise as a super-coolant, do not have the theoretical cooling capabilities many scientists believed they had. ...> Full Article

Discovering A Natural Workbench for Nanoscale Construction (8/29/2007)

Engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have taken a step toward simplifying the creation of nanostructures by identifying the first inorganic material to phase separate with near-perfect order at the nanometer scale. The finding provides an atomically tuneable nanocomposite "workbench" that is cheap and easy to produce and provides a super-lattice foundation potentially suitable for building nanostructures. ...> Full Article

Bioengineers Devise Nanoscale System to Measure Cellular Forces (8/27/2007)

University of Pennsylvania researchers have designed a nanoscale system to observe and measure how individual cells react to external forces. ...> Full Article

Nanowire Coating for Bone Implants, Stents (8/20/2007)

University of Arkansas researchers have found a simple, inexpensive way to create a nanowire coating on the surface of biocompatible titanium that can be used to create more effective surfaces for hip replacement, dental reconstruction and vascular stenting. Further, the material can easily be sterilized using ultraviolet light and water or using ethanol, making it useful in hospital settings and meat-processing plants ...> Full Article

New nanotoxicology study delivers promising results (8/17/2007)

Findings by a team of researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee bode well for using single-walled carbon nanohorns, a particular form of engineered carbon-based nanoparticles, for drug delivery and other commercial applications. ...> Full Article

Engineering Expert's 'Nanospikes' Add New Dimension to Solar, Biomedical, Microelectronics Research (8/13/2007)

New technology in development at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science could lead to more successful hip and bone replacement surgeries, make better use of solar power and even prevent your computer from overheating. Through the creation of nano/micro laser texturing and "nanospikes" on the surfaces of semiconductors and metals, Mool C. Gupta, Langley Distinguished Professor in U.Va.'s Charles L. Brown Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is adding an entirely new dimension to these materials' effectiveness. ...> Full Article

Beyond Batteries: Storing Power in a Sheet of Paper (8/13/2007)

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new energy storage device that easily could be mistaken for a simple sheet of black paper. ...> Full Article

In-plane vibration of nanoresonators (8/6/2007)

Tiny vibrating silicon resonators are of intense interest in nanotechnology circles for their potential ability to detect bacteria, viruses, DNA and other biological molecules. ...> Full Article

Scientists Turn Glue On And Off (8/6/2007)

Scientists from the University of Sheffield, in collaboration with the University of Bayreuth in Germany and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxford, have developed a water-based adhesive that can be turned on and off. The glue, which can lose and regain its stickiness at different pH levels, could have huge implications for administering drugs in the body. ...> Full Article

Nano-boric acid makes motor oil more slippery (8/3/2007)

One key to saving the environment, improving our economy and reducing our dependence on foreign oil might just be sitting in your mother's medicine cabinet. ...> Full Article

Engineers ready a blueprint for a nanomechanical computer (8/3/2007)

If efforts now under way by a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers pan out, the age of the nanomechanical computer may be at hand. ...> Full Article

A New Wrinkle in Thin Film Science (8/3/2007)

A remarkably simple experiment devised by scientists yields important information about the mechanical properties of thin films--nanoscopically thin layers of material that are deposited onto a metal, ceramic or semiconductor base. ...> Full Article

Scientists train nano-'building blocks' to take on new shapes (8/3/2007)

Researchers from the University of Delaware and Washington University in St. Louis have figured out how to train synthetic polymer molecules to behave--to literally "self-assemble" --and form into long, multicompartment cylinders 1,000 times thinner than a human hair, with potential uses in radiology, signal communication and the delivery of therapeutic drugs in the human body. ...> Full Article

Automation of Nanotech Manufacturing May Be Ahead (8/1/2007)

Engineers apply CAD-CAM to atomic force microscope ...> Full Article