Nanotechnology News - December 2009 Archives

An easy way to see the world's thinnest material (12/30/2009)

Jiaxing Huang at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science uses the dye fluorescein to create a new imaging technique to view graphene. ...> Full Article

Scientists create world's first molecular transistor (12/29/2009)

A group of scientists has succeeded in creating the first transistor made from a single molecule. The team, which includes researchers from Yale University and the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea, showed that a benzene molecule attached to gold contacts could behave just like a silicon transistor. ...> Full Article

Scientists use nanosensors for first time to measure cancer biomarkers in blood (12/28/2009)

A team led by Yale University researchers has used nanosensors to measure cancer biomarkers in whole blood for the first time. Their findings could dramatically simplify the way physicians test for biomarkers of cancer and other diseases. ...> Full Article

Nanoprobes hit targets in tumors, could lessen chemo side effects (12/27/2009)

Tiny nanoprobes have shown to be effective in delivering cancer drugs more directly to tumor cells -- mitigating the damage to nearby healthy cells -- and Purdue University research has shown that the nanoprobes are getting the drugs to right cellular compartments. ...> Full Article

Nanoemulsion treatment advances with GSK agreement (12/26/2009)

GlaxoSmithKline and NanoBio Corporation have signed an exclusive over-the-counter licensing agreement for NanoBio's nanoemulsion treatment for cold sores. ...> Full Article

Tiny whispering gallery (12/23/2009)

A tiny sensor that exploits the same physics as the whispering gallery in St. Paul's Cathedral in London will help make nanotechnology safer. ...> Full Article

New Singapore-French nanotech lab opens at NTU (12/22/2009)

Just two months after the Nanyang Technological University signed the Memorandum of Understanding in Paris with the National Center for Scientific Research and the Thales Group of Companies to set up a joint research laboratory, the three parties are meeting again in Singapore to inaugurate the CNRS-International-NTU-Thales Research Alliance Laboratory at NTU. ...> Full Article

Bioactive glass nanofibers produced (12/21/2009)

A team of researchers from the University of Vigo, Rutgers University in the United States and Imperial College London, in the United Kingdom, has developed "laser spinning," a novel method of producing glass nanofibres with materials. They have been able to manufacture bioglass nanofibres, the bioactive glass used in regenerating bone, for the first time. ...> Full Article

Water droplets shape graphene nanostructures (12/20/2009)

A team of University of Illinois at Chicago chemists, lead by assistant professor Petr Král report the ability to bend and reshape graphene, opening up the possibility of forming new and novel devices in the nanoscale. They use an everyday household ingredient to perform the work -- a droplet of water. ...> Full Article

Thermochemical nanolithography now allows multiple chemicals on a chip (12/19/2009)

Scientists at Georgia Tech have developed a nanolithographic technique that can produce high-resolution patterns of at least three different chemicals on a single chip at writing speeds of up to one millimeter per second. The nanopatterns can be designed with any shape and are stable enough to be stored for weeks and used elsewhere. ...> Full Article

Nanomedicine: Ending 'hit and miss' design (12/17/2009)

A dozen laboratories in the Texas Medical Center, including four from Rice University, have won a $3 million Grand Opportunity grant from the National Institutes of Health to conduct a systematic survey of how different sizes and types of nanoparticles behave inside living cells. The two-year project, which is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, could speed the development of nanomedicine. ...> Full Article

New curriculum mixes nanotechnology and skiing (12/16/2009)

"Yes, we're going to make skis. No, it's not really Ski Building 101," said Kam K. Leang, the faculty member and principal investigator for a project to further integrate nanotechnology into the undergraduate curriculum at the University. Leang and his colleagues aim to prepare 21st century mechanical engineers at the University to meet the emerging challenges of nanotechnology using a top-down approach where the first important step is to excite them about the technology. ...> Full Article

Scientists to control attractive force for nanoelectromechanical systems (12/14/2009)

Scientists at the US Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory are developing a way to control the Casimir force, a quantum mechanical force, which attracts objects when they are only hundred nanometers apart. ...> Full Article

Dip ordinary paper into ink infused with nanotubes and nanowires to create an instant battery (12/13/2009)

Dip an ordinary piece of paper into ink infused with carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires, and it turns into a battery or supercapacitor. Crumple the piece of paper, and it still works. Stanford researcher Yi Cui sees many uses for this new way of storing electricity. ...> Full Article

Nanoparticle protects oil in foods from oxidation, spoilage (12/12/2009)

Using a nanoparticle from corn, a Purdue University scientist has found a way to lengthen the shelf life of many food products and sustain their health benefits. ...> Full Article

New silicon-germanium nanowires could lead to smaller, more powerful electronic devices (12/11/2009)

Currently chip manufacturers are facing great challenges in miniaturizing transistors, a semiconductor device commonly used to amplify or switch electronic signals. A recent study, published in the November 27 issue of Science, details how a team of researchers from UCLA, Purdue and IBM have successfully grown semiconducting nanowires made of silicon-germanium that could lead to a new generation of smaller, faster, and more powerful electronics many hope for in the industry. ...> Full Article

Metamaterials could reduce friction in nanomachines (12/8/2009)

Nanoscale machines expected to have wide application in industry, energy, medicine and other fields may someday operate far more efficiently thanks to important theoretical discoveries concerning the manipulation of famous Casimir forces that took place at the US Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory. ...> Full Article

Lasers used to make first boron-nitride nanotube yarn (12/5/2009)

Researchers have used lasers to create the first practical macroscopic yarns from boron nitride fibers, opening the door for an array of applications, from radiation-shielded spacecraft to stronger body armor, according to a just-published study. ...> Full Article

First metallic nanoparticles resistant to extreme heat (12/1/2009)

A University of Pittsburgh team overcame a major hurdle plaguing the development of nanomaterials such as those that could lead to more efficient catalysts used to produce hydrogen and render car exhaust less toxic. The researchers reported Nov. 29 in Nature Materials the first demonstration of high-temperature stability in metallic nanoparticles, the vaunted next-generation materials hampered by a vulnerability to extreme heat. ...> Full Article