X-Message-Number: 19807 From: "Gina Miller" <> References: <> Subject: The Nanogirl News~ Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2002 16:28:14 -0700 The Nanogirl News August 14, 2002 Report predicts 'wired brains'. A report by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Commerce in the US says the right investment in IT and biotech could have startling results. People linking their brains together to form a global collective intelligence. Humans living well beyond 100 years. Computers uploading aspects of our personalities to a network. These could all happen this century with the proper investments in technology, according to a recent report from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Commerce. Titled Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance: Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, and Cognitive Science, the 405-page report calls for more research into the intersection of these fields. (ZDNet 8/6/02) http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2120374,00.html Intel Corp. on Tuesday announced plans to use a technology that stretches the atoms apart in a silicon wafer, a process that mass-produces the world's smallest transistors. The Santa Clara, Calif., chip maker's big leap into the nanotechnology era extends on the "strained silicon" technique first adopted by competitor IBM Corp but Intel would be the first to use it in large scale production. By stretching the atoms, Intel said the new technology would allow electrical current to flow faster, boosting computing performance and, more importantly, reduce chip-making costs in a tough market for the semiconductor group. (Zwire 8/13/02) http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5039087&BRD=1594&PAG=740&dept_id=2 26964&rfi=6 At Tech, research brings a little light. In the small, small world of nanotechnology, Georgia Tech researchers are casting a little light --- one with bright prospects for what could be the next industrial revolution. Tech scientists said Monday that they had created what may be the world's smallest light source --- a luminescent glow emitted by a molecule of silver. Under a microscope, the multicolored glow emitted by a chain of silver molecules looks for all the world like a string of Christmas tree lights. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 8/13/02) http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/tuesday/news_d385d996859481 980069.html IBM, Nion create highest resolution electron microscope. IBM and Nion Co. researchers have developed innovative technology to peer deep inside materials and view atoms interacting in different environments at a resolution never before possible. The new technique significantly extends the capabilities of the electron microscope -- a scientific instrument that uses magnetic lenses to focus electrons into very small beams to look at small, atomic-scale details in thin slices of materials. (IBM.com 8/02) http://www.ibm.com/news/us/2002/08/08.html A Nanobridge Too Far? Future nanoscale devices will likely incorporate structural features that are either partially or completely self-assembled. One of the most fundamental structures necessary for electronic and other devices will be a "bridge" that can link structures. Organic molecules with hydrophilic and hydrophobic portions (amphiphiles) are known to self-assemble into sphere or tubelike structures depending on experimental conditions of solvent, pH, and temperature. Usually, either spheres or tubes form, but not both. (Chemistry.org 8/14/02) http://chemistry.org/portal/Chemistry?PID=feature_pro.html&id=156b1bc8a57811 d6f1d04fd8fe800100 Nanoparticles Used In Solar Energy Conversion. An enormous source of clean energy is available to us. We see it almost every day. It's just a matter of harnessing it. The problem with solar energy is that it has not been inexpensive enough in the past. David Kelley, professor of chemistry at Kansas State University, developed a new type of nanoparticle -- a tiny chemical compound far too small to be seen with the naked eye -- that may reap big dividends in solar power...Kelley is developing nanoparticles that are just the right size for solar cells -- they can absorb all visible light but nothing from the invisible light at the red end of the spectrum, which would reduce voltage. (Science Daily 8/9/02) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020809071535.htm Scientists Sweat the Small Stuff. At three VLSI symposia in Honolulu, Hawaii, researchers debated the best way to update chip materials for the nanoelectronics age. The guardians of Moore's Law, which states that the number of transistors on an IC doubles every 18 months, met in Honolulu, 9-15 June, for three consecutive symposia, to ensure that the law remains in force. The burning question before the Nanoelectronics Workshop, the VLSI Technology Symposium, and the VLSI Circuits Symposium was this: if an IC's smallest features are to shrink to 90 nm and below, what properties will be needed in its transistors and the wires interconnecting them? (IEEE 8/1/02) http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/resource/aug02/vlsi.html Considering Corrosion. The full impact of Thomas M. Devine Jr.'s research into the nanoscale properties of certain metals may not be fully realized for millennia. At the same time, his laboratory results could have a positive impact on the computer industry immediately. (Berkeley College of Engineering 7/25/02) http://www.coe.berkeley.edu/labnotes/0802/devine.html http://www.codesta.com/knowledge/market/nanotech_part_two_markets/ The above, takes a look at a few markets of nanotechnology, outlining technology in use and how it may aid that market. It is a follow-up to the following: http://www.codesta.com/knowledge/market/nanotech_part_one_taxonomy/ The above provides a taxonomy, describing various manufactured states, fabrication chemistries, and assemblies. This was the first we had placed up in preparation of the top publication. (Codesta) Jumping genes can knock out DNA; alter human genome. Results of a new University of Michigan study suggest that junk DNA - dismissed by many scientists as mere strings of meaningless genetic code - could have a darker side. In a paper published in the Aug. 9 issue of Cell, scientists from the U-M Medical School report that, in cultured human cancer cells, segments of junk DNA called LINE-1 elements can delete DNA when they jump to a new location - possibly knocking out genes or creating devastating mutations in the process. (University of Michigan Health System 8/8/02) http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2002/junkdel.htm I received this in my e-mail box; "Dear Sir/Madam: American Scientific Publishers is bringing the Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in 10-volumes in March 2003. This is the World's First encyclopedia ever published in the field of Nanotechnology." The ten volume set (6000 pgs) is forwarded by Richard E. Smalley, and will be available in print or online. The editor of the new Encyclopedia, Hari Singh Nalwa is also the chief editor of the Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology published by American Scientific Publishers. In 1999 he also was the editor for the Handbook of Nanostructured Materials and Nanotechnology which was published in 2000. I am curious to see how this series turns out. There are a considerable amount of promises in a tremendous amount of nanoscale areas and a rather large advisory board." http://www.aspbs.com/enn Researchers at UCLA Create Better Materials By Emulating Spiders' Techniques. Researchers at UCLA believe that the secret to creating stronger, better materials may be solved by studying an unlikely source: the common spider....Hahn, for example, is taking nanoparticles provided by UCLA chemistry professor Richard Kaner and putting them into polymers to make stronger and more functional nanocomposites. Starting with a basic polymer - similar to the biological material the spider uses to spin its web - Hahn adds nanoparticles with certain properties to tailor composites for different functions. "A spider has the impressive ability to change the properties of the silk it produces for different tasks," Ko said. "There is a similarity to what we are trying to do."...For example, by adding graphite nanoplatelets, Hahn can create a material with greater electromagnetic capabilities, including high conductivity, an important property for aircraft. (UCLA 8/6/02) http://www.ucla.edu/Templates/NewsItem2.html Molecule-size machines the wave of the future, ASU scientists say. The machines are inside you. Deep within your body, tiny gates are opening and closing; rotors are spinning; vehicles are chugging along tracks, delivering supplies or removing waste. And scientists at Arizona State University are watching. ASU researchers think the body's billions of tiny machines are a key to a new field that has excited scientists, government officials and investors around the world. The field is nanotechnology, the study and manipulation of matter at the atomic and molecular level. (AZCentral.com 8/6/02) http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0806nano06.html Cool Chips Passes Technical Milestone: On Track for Production. Cool Chips plc (COLCF) is pleased to announce that its labs are now producing Cool Chip prototypes which have active tunneling areas of up to 10% of the surface area of each device. This is a significant technical achievement as it demonstrates that it is possible to repeatedly fabricate a vacuum gap of only a few nanometers across a macroscopic surface of several square centimetres. Tunneling currents in excess of 10A have been observed in laboratory testing. (Northern Light 8/12/02) http://library.northernlight.com/FC20020812390000115.html (Feature on Nanotech Planet) Nanostructures and Semiconductors Combine in Kopin's LEDs. By applying some of the principles behind genetic engineering to materials using its patented Wafer Engineering Process, Kopin Corp. (NASDAQ:KOPN) has created miniature displays for 30 percent of the world's camcorders and vertical transistors found in about 25 percent of the world's cell phones. For the company's third product line, the Wafer Engineering Process was combined with nanotechnology, and the result was a blue light-emitting diode (LED) smaller than a grain of sand but ultra efficient when it came to power consumption. 2Pages. (Nanotech-Planet 8/7/02) http://www.nanotech-planet.com/features/article/0,4028,6571_1442111,00.html Chicago is looking to seize leadership in the emerging field of nanotechnology by providing tax subsidies to foster a high-tech corridor on the Near West Side. The first beneficiary will be a start-up called NanoInk Inc., which is seeking $1 million in tax-increment financing to move into a three-story brick building at 1335 W. Randolph St. The 44,000-square-foot building is on a former industrial strip now dotted with restaurants, near where MarchFirst Inc. had planned a world headquarters campus. City officials were hoping MarchFirst's growth would contribute to the area's revitalization, but the Internet consultancy declared bankruptcy last year and its real estate is being sold. (Small Times 8/12/02) http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=4413 Giant Ions Invade BECs. If physics had a sideshow, the latest addition would surely be this: bacterium-sized ions. According to new theoretical results, normal ions dropped into a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC)--an ultracold gas in its quantum mechanical ground state--could seed the formation of micron-wide charged shells of atoms, or "molecular ions." These objects, described in the 26 August print issue of PRL, could serve as moveable microtraps for atoms or aid in testing condensed matter theories. (Physical Review Focus 8/13/02) http://focus.aps.org/v10/st8.html Intellectual Property Rights in Nanotechnology. Intellectual property rights are essential in today's technology-driven age. Building a strategic IP portfolio is economically important from both an offensive and defensive standpoint. Applicable areas in Nanotechnology to which intellectual property rights can apply are presented. Some challenging issues surrounding the acquisition of IP rights in Nanotechnology are also presented. (Nanomagazine.com 8/02) http://www.nanomagazine.com/articles/iprnanotech Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies receives $75 million DOE go-ahead. Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories will jointly receive $75.8 million for the design and construction of buildings to house the practical yet visionary Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT). The Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy approved funding in July for two new buildings: a joint core facility in Albuquerque and a smaller gateway building in Los Alamos. (Sandia 8/8/02) http://www.sandia.gov/news-center/news-releases/2002/mat-chem/nanotechcenter .html Scientists use alfalfa plants to harvest nanoparticles of gold. Ordinary alfalfa plants are being used as miniature gold factories that one day could provide the nanotechnology industry with a continuous harvest of gold nanoparticles. An international research team from the University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) and Mexico advanced the work at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL) - part of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) in Menlo Park, Calif. The researchers are using, as tiny factories, the alfalfa's natural, physiological need to extract metals from the medium in which they are growing. Of most value here is that the alfalfa extracts gold from the medium and stores it in the form of nanoparticles - specks of gold less than a billionth of a meter across. (EurekAlert 8/14/02) http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-08/su-sua081402.php Gina "Nanogirl" Miller Nanotechnology Industries http://www.nanoindustries.com Personal: http://www.nanogirl.com Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=19807