Nanotechnology News - May 2010 Archives

Secrets of a chiral gold nanocluster unveiled (5/31/2010)

Researchers at the Department of Chemistry and Nanoscience Center of the University of Jyvaskyla have resolved the structural, electronic and optical properties of a chiral gold nanocluster that remained a mystery for 10 years. ...> Full Article

Powe Award supports development of nanocomposites to monitor wind turbine blade structure (5/30/2010)

Wind turbine blades enjoy a steady wind but can be damaged by gust-induced vibrations. The researcher proposes to create tiny sensor patches that can be selectively placed in key locations where it is anticipated that damage will start. The patches are made of the same base material as the blade but sprinkled with carbon nanotubes, resulting in a nanocomposite sensor which adds negligible weight to the structure. ...> Full Article

Outstanding in their field effect (5/29/2010)

Rice University researchers have discovered thin films of nanotubes created with ink-jet printers offer a new way to make field-effect transistors, the basic element in integrated circuits. ...> Full Article

Graphane yields new potential (5/28/2010)

Researchers mentored by Boris Yakobson, a Rice professor of mechanical engineering and materials science and of chemistry, have discovered the strategic extraction of hydrogen atoms from a 2-D sheet of graphane naturally opens up spaces of pure graphene that look -- and act -- like quantum dots. ...> Full Article

Inspired by a cotton candy machine, engineers put a new spin on creating tiny nanofibers (5/27/2010)

Hailed as a "cross between a high-speed centrifuge and a cotton candy machine," bioengineers at Harvard have developed a new, practical technology for fabricating tiny nanofibers. The reference by lead author Mohammad Reza Badrossamay to the fairground treat of spun sugar is deliberate, as the device literally -- and just as easily -- spins, stretches and pushes out 100 nanometer-diameter polymer-based threads using a rotating drum and nozzle. ...> Full Article

Collaboration mimics library of bio-membranes for use in nanomedicine, drug delivery (5/26/2010)

An international collaboration led by chemists and engineers from the University of Pennsylvania has prepared a library of synthetic biomaterials that mimic cellular membranes and that show promise in targeted delivery of cancer drugs, gene therapy, proteins, imaging and diagnostic agents and cosmetics safely to the body in the emerging field called nanomedicine. ...> Full Article

Antibacterial silver nanoparticles are a blast (5/25/2010)

Writing in the International Journal of Nanoparticles, Rani Pattabi and colleagues at Mangalore University, explain how blasting silver nitrate solution with an electron beam can generate nanoparticles that are more effective at killing all kinds of bacteria, including gram-negative species that are not harmed by conventional antibacterial agents. ...> Full Article

Nanotech breath sensor detects diabetes and potentially serious complication (5/21/2010)

Scientists are reporting development and successful testing of a sensor that can instantly tell whether someone has type I diabetes. It could also be used by emergency room doctors to determine whether a patient has developed diabetic ketoacidosis, a potentially serious complication that happens when diabetics do not take enough insulin. Someday the technology may also be used by diabetics, in their own homes, to determine whether they need more insulin. A report on the sensor appears in ACS' Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal. ...> Full Article

Scientists reveal secret of nanoparticle crystallization in real time (5/19/2010)

A collaboration between the Advanced Photon Source and Center for Nanoscale Materials at US Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory has "seen" the crystallization of nanoparticles in unprecedented detail. ...> Full Article

Spiders at the nanoscale: Molecules that behave like robots (5/17/2010)

A team of scientists from Columbia University, Arizona State University, the University of Michigan, and Caltech have programmed an autonomous molecular "robot" made out of DNA to start, move, turn, and stop while following a DNA track. The development could ultimately lead to molecular systems that might be used for medical therapeutic devices and molecular-scale reconfigurable robots -- robots made of many simple units that can reposition or even rebuild themselves to accomplish different tasks. ...> Full Article

Survey: Hiding risks can hurt public support for nanotechnology (5/12/2010)

A new national survey on public attitudes toward medical applications and physical enhancements that rely on nanotechnology shows that support for the technology increases when the public is informed of the technology's risks as well as its benefits -- at least among those people who have heard of nanotechnology. The survey also found that discussing risks decreased support among those people who had never previously heard of nanotechnology -- but not by much. ...> Full Article

Nano parfait a treat for scientists (5/11/2010)

In two new papers, Rice University researchers report using ultracentrifugation to create highly purified samples of carbon nanotube species. ...> Full Article

Gold nanoparticles enrich everyday products (5/6/2010)

A new technique for dispersing nanoparticles through polymers opens a world of new properties for diverse products. ...> Full Article

Nano-infused filters prove effective (5/4/2010)

Rice University researchers and their colleagues in Finland and Hungary have found a way to make carbon nanotube membranes that could find wide application as extra-fine air filters and as scaffolds for catalysts that speed chemical reactions. ...> Full Article

Lollipops and ice fishing: Molecular rulers used to probe nanopores (5/3/2010)

Using a pair of exotic techniques including a molecular-scale version of ice fishing, a team at the National Institute of Standards and Technology has developed methods to measure accurately the length of "nanopores," the miniscule channels found in cell membranes. The team's "molecular rulers" could serve as a way to calibrate tailor-made nanopores -- whose diameters are nearly 10,000 times smaller than that of a human hair -- for applications such as rapid DNA analysis. ...> Full Article

Seeing moire in graphene (5/2/2010)

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Georgia Institute of Technology have demonstrated that atomic scale moire patterns, an interference pattern that appears when two or more grids are overlaid slightly askew, can be used to measure how sheets of graphene are stacked and reveal areas of strain. ...> Full Article

Researcher develops 'dimmer switch' for superconducting quantum computing (5/1/2010)

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have developed the first "dimmer switch" for a superconducting circuit linking a quantum bit (qubit) and a quantum bus -- promising technologies for storing and transporting information in future quantum computers. The NIST switch is a new type of control device that can "tune" interactions between these components and potentially could speed up the development of a practical quantum computer. ...> Full Article