X-Message-Number: 20556 From: "Gina Miller" <> References: <> <> Subject: The Nanogirl News~ Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 03:58:21 -0800 The Nanogirl News December 5, 2002 Digital image stored in single molecule. An image composed of over 1000 bits of information can be stored in the atoms of a single molecule, US researchers have shown. Bing Fung and colleagues at the University of Oklahoma found that the 19 hydrogen atoms in a lone liquid crystal molecule can store at least 1024 bits of information. The data are stored in the complex interaction of the protons' magnetic moments. Fung hopes the technique, dubbed "molecular photography", could one day be used to pack massive amounts of digital information into a tiny space but admits that the process is currently experimental. "It's a very, very first step towards using nuclear spins for molecular information processing," he told New Scientist. (New Scientist 12/2/02) http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993129 Boulder firm uses nanotechnology to improve tennis game. A European company with U.S. operations based in Boulder is marketing a line of tennis rackets constructed with nanotechnology. These high-tech rackets aren't for the pros, however; they're made for the amateurs, or "club players," among us. "Players who don't have a nice full swing need a stiff racket to get speed into the ball," said Jean-Louis Boyre, president of Babolat VS North American Inc. "By using nanotechnology, we increase the resistance of a racket." (The Denver Business Journal 12/2/02) http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2002/12/02/story6.html Magnets double up. Researchers in the US have developed a new technique for making small and powerful permanent magnets. These so-called 'exchange-coupled nanocomposites' contain two magnetic phases, which makes them stronger than conventional magnets made from single phase materials (H Zeng et al. 2002 Nature 420 395) (PhysicsWeb 11/27/02) http://www.physicsweb.org/article/news/6/11/15 Stanford study may unlock secrets to aging. A new form of nanotechnology developed at Stanford may lead to a better understanding of the life and death of human cells. Writing in the Nov. 18 "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" (PNAS), Stanford researchers describe how newly created circles of synthetic DNA -- called "nanocircles" -- could help researchers learn more about the aging process in cells. (San Jose Business Journal 11/29/02) http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2002/11/25/daily58.html ChevronTexaco finds nanotechnology blocks. San Francisco-based oil giant ChevronTexaco Corp. (NYSE: CVX) said researchers at its Energy Research and Technology Co. discovered a new class of nanometer-sized materials that may help advance the field of nanotechnology. The materials, called diamondoids, are found in petroleum and have the same internal structure as diamonds. ChevronTexaco scientists have produced higher diamondoids with the weight of less than a billionth of a billionth of a carat. ChevronTexaco has been the only company able to isolate higher diamondoids to date. (San Francisco Business Times 12/2/02) http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2002/12/02/daily11. html Growing Smaller. In "Prey," Michael Crichton's latest novel, to be released this week, the master of technology-run-amok visions sets his sights on nanotechnology and describes a horde of bacterium-size machines that break out of a lab and evolve into flesh-eating, self-reproducing predators. While even experts in nanotechnology consider it "so new that it barely exists," the science already sparks widespread alarm among environmentalists and disarmament proponents, not to mention science fiction writers. (eweek 11/25/02) http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,728185,00.asp Or see ABC: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/abs_news_body.asp?section=Opinion&OID=10066 NASA looks to mud-dwelling bacteria for nanoelectronics templates. Scientists from NASA Ames Research Center, SETI Institute and Argonne National Laboratory in the US have genetically engineered a protein from a mud-dwelling microbe so that it can form nanoscale arrays of metal and semiconductor quantum dots. The technique could have applications in making nanoelectronic devices. (nanotechweb.org 11/25/02) http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/1/11/16/1 Nanotech seen enabling steady semiconductor growth. Nanotechnology will catapult the semiconductor industry into a new phase of relatively steady, sustained growth that will replace its historical boom-and-bust cycles, microprocessor veteran Nick Tredennick said Tuesday (Nov. 19) in a keynote at the Embedded Systems Conference here. Just as the increased circuit complexity posited by Moore's Law enabled the PC and its derivatives, nanotechnologies will enable ever more diverse embedded applications that will outnumber those spawned by the PC, Tredennick said. (11/21/02) http://www.eet.com/semi/news/OEG20021120S0024 Artificial cell gets light-powered nanopump for calcium ions. A team of chemists have found a new way to power artificial cells or liposomes: using an shuttle molecule, calcium ions are transported across the membrane barrier to the interior of the cell. The process is powered and controlled by light, using an artificial reaction center molecule adapted from photosynthesis. (Eurekalert 11/27/02) http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-11/asu-acg112502.php New Nano Capacity. As conventional transistors shrink in size, they lose their ability to amplify signals, and thus their very status as transistors. Now researchers have taken advantage of a proposed quantum effect to construct a Y-shaped, nano electronic circuit that boosts signals spontaneously. The unique device, described in the 25 November print issue of PRL , is one of just a few known designs that might lead to circuits of atomic proportions. (Physical Review Focus, Print issue 11/25/02) http://focus.aps.org/story/v10/st23 Diffusion narrows contact gap. Researchers have come up with a technique that may ultimately overcome the resolution limits of conventional lithography to create contacts with very narrow gaps for nanoelectronic devices. The scientists, from the Institute of Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity (ISOF) at Italy's National Research Council and the Canadian National Research Council's Institute for Microstructural Sciences and Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences, reckon the key to the solution could be the diffusion of titanium from titanium silicide. (nanotechweb.org 11/20/02) http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/1/11/13/1 Quantum dot 'basketball' promises new architectures. A group of European scientists has used a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to add and remove quantum dots from a gold substrate. The researchers, from Gent University in Belgium, the University of Hamburg, Germany, and Utrecht University in the Netherlands, first attached the dots to the substrate using molecular bridges with thiol (sulphur containing) and carboxylate end functions. (nanotechweb.org 11/26/02) http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/1/11/18/1 Protein based nanomachines for space applications. A 24 page pdf. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. MIAC Phase I Grant. "Our Vision: To Develop Protein Based Nano Machines and Robots. Novel, Biological, Multi-Degree of Freedom, Apply Forces, Manipulate Objects, Move from Nano to Macro, Lightweight/Efficient, Self-Assembling, Self-Reproducing. http://www.niac.usra.edu/files/library/fellows_mtg/oct02_mtg/pdf/806Mavroidi s.pdf Patently absurd. Too many patents could kill nanotechnology. Cosmetics company L'Or al Group hopes to make its products more colorful (patent No. 5,612,021). The U.S. Department of Energy wants to enable the long-term storage of nuclear waste (patent No. 5,350,569). And the University of California aspires to arrest the spread of HIV (patent No. 20,010,041,801). All of these ambitious plans depend on a tiny molecule, the buckminsterfullerene, or "buckyball" as it's known colloquially, discovered in 1985 and named after the architect Buckminster Fuller, because its spherical structure of 60 carbon atoms resembles Fuller's famous geodesic domes...(Red Herring 11/20/02) http://www.redherring.com/insider/2002/11/patents112002.html Rice deciphers optical spectra of carbon nanotubes. Building upon this summer's groundbreaking finding that carbon nanotubes are fluorescent, chemists at Rice University have precisely identified the optical signatures of 33 "species" of nanotubes, establishing a new methodology for assaying nanotubes that is simpler and faster than existing methods. The research is detailed in a paper published online this week by Science magazine. (Eurekalert 11/28/02) http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-11/ru-rdo112502.php Altair Nanotechnologies' RenaZorb Begins Animal Testing; First Nanotechnology Based Drug for Phosphate Control in Kidney Dialysis Patients -- a $400 to $600 Million Market. Altair Nanotechnologies (Nasdaq:ALTI) today announced that RenaZorb(TM), its new non-calcium containing pharmaceutical for removal of phosphate ions from patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing kidney dialysis, has begun in vivo testing in animals. This battery of tests will determine if RenaZorb performs as well in animals as in the in vitro laboratory tests. The testing should be completed by the end of February 2003 and is being conducted at no expense to Altair. "It is significant that RenaZorb is being tested in dogs," commented Dr. Rudi E. Moerck, president of Altair Nanotechnologies. (StockHouse USA 12/4/02) http://www.stockhouse.com/news/news.asp?tick=ALTI&newsid=1427701 Guinness calls Japanese thermometer world's smallest. The Guinness World Records book has named a thermometer using a carbon nano tube as the world's smallest thermometer, its developer, the National Institute for Materials Science, said Tuesday...The device, a tube formed by carbon atoms, measures about 85 nanometers in diameter and several thousand nanometers in length. One nanometer is one-millionth of a millimeter. (Japan Today 12/3/02) http://japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=4&id=241209 New US Patent for Gradiflow. The potential value of Gradipore's (ASX Code: GDP) breakthrough separations platform - Gradiflow has been extended with the granting of a new US patent. The patent covers Gradiflow's unique ability to remove biological contaminants such as viruses and bacteria. Unlike other large-scale purification technologies, Gradiflow can purify proteins and remove viral and bacterial pathogens simultaneously. This offers pharmaceutical manufacturers the opportunity to reap the economic benefits of faster, higher yielding manufacturing processes, reduced processing costs and improved product safety and quality. (StockHouse USA 12/4/02) http://www.stockhouse.com/news/news.asp?tick=GDP&newsid=1427148 Look, Ma, No Stains. New techno-clothes let a man be a mess without looking like one. Will shoppers buy slob chic? ...The idea of pants as a bib is one whose time has come. Levi's Dockers brand has unveiled its Go Khaki with Stain Defender line. Treated with DuPont Teflon, these trousers allow the wearer to spill any "oil or water-based liquid" (e.g., beer, salad dressing) and have it bead up and roll off. Earlier this year, Lee introduced its Performance Khaki, which uses Nano-Care, microscopic whiskers that repel spills. (Time.com from the 12/9/02 issue of TIME magazine) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101021209-395345,00.html Startup debuts 'nanoimprint' litho tool for 20-nm designs. Paving the way for a new class of applications, startup Molecular Imprints Inc. (MII) next week will unveil its first product--a tool aimed at the emerging "nano-imprint" lithography market, SBN has learned. MII will roll out what the company calls a "step and flash imprint lithography" (S-FIL) tool for use in processing a range of emerging devices at the 100-nm (0.10-micron) node and below. The Austin-based company also claims that it has demonstrated the ability to process devices at linewidth geometries down to 20-nm (0.02-micron). http://www.eetimes.com/semi/news/OEG20021202S0082 (Small Piece) Triton, Thermonix merge to target breast cancer. Chelmsford-based Triton BioSystems Inc. has merged operations with Minneapolis-based Thermonix Inc. for an undisclosed sum. The companies will continue operating under the Triton name at the Chelmsford facility. The former partners decided to merge the companies to focus on developing nanotechnology-based therapies for advanced breast cancer. Nanotechnology is a fast-growing field that merges chemistry and engineering to manufacture devices on a molecular or atomic scale. (Boston Business Journal 12/3/02) http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2002/12/02/daily18.html Plant sucks up gold particles through roots. US researchers have found that alfalfa plant sucks up gold through its roots in a form that perfectly suits the needs of the field of nanotechnology. They have shown that alfalfa produces specks of gold less than a billionth of a metre across in a form needed in devices a billionth of a metre in size, according to the American Chemical Society's Nano Letter. (The Times of India 12/3/02) http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/comp/articleshow?artid=300944 51 University At Buffalo Engineer Develops Novel Method For Assembly Of Nanoparticles; Process May Lead To Manufacture Of Nanoscale Devices. A University at Buffalo engineer has developed a novel method for assembling nanoparticles into three-dimensional structures that one day may be used to produce new nanoscale tools and machines. The work could be an important step in fulfilling the immense potential of nanotechnology because it gives scientists and engineers improved control and flexibility in the creation of materials for the manufacture of many nanoscale devices, according to Paschalis Alexandridis, associate professor of chemical engineering in UB's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. (ScienceDaily 12//4/02) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021204081355.htm The United Kingdom's business community has to put nanotech and MEMS "on its research agenda" or lose the race to commercialize the technology, according to Marc Desmulliez, author of a recent report, "2010 Micro/Nanotechnology in the U.K." Desmulliez is chairman of the Institution of Electrical Engineers' (IEE) Microsystems and Nanotech Professional Network (PN). The report was based on a survey of about 200 U.K. company officials his team at the Micro Systems Engineering Center at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh conducted for the IEE. (Small Times 12/4/02) http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=5139 Nano-lubrication: facts and friction. The sickening grinding noise that a car engine makes if it runs out of oil is unforgettable. Without suitable lubrication, the microscopic 'nanoscale' machines and gears of the future will fail in the same way. US chemists have now worked out how to reduce friction at the molecular level. Their findings should help keep tomorrow's micro-machines running smoothly and may even speed up computer processing. Hyun Kim and Jack Houston of Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico, have separated out the roles played by physical and chemical resistance, which, when combined, cause friction. They studied the friction between gold film and a one-molecule-thick lubricating layer. (Nature Science Update 12/6/02) http://www.nature.com/nsu/001207/001207-7.html "Happy Holidays!" Gina "Nanogirl" Miller Nanotechnology Industries http://www.nanoindustries.com Personal: http://www.nanogirl.com Foresight Senior Associate http://www.foresight.org Extropy member http://www.extropy.org "Nanotechnology: Solutions for the future." Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=20556