X-Message-Number: 21305 From: "Gina Miller" <> Subject: The Nanogirl News~ Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 19:37:59 -0800 The Nanogirl News February 27, 2003 NNI Gets 9.5 Percent Increase in Proposed Budget. The budget for fiscal year 2004 presented by President George W. Bush provides $847 million for the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), a 9.5 percent increase over the 2003 budget. View the chart of the proposed budget here: (Nanotech Planet 2/5/03) http://www.nanoelectronicsplanet.com/nanochannels/funding/article/0,4028,104 99_1579841,00.html Or view the PDF from the National Nanotechnology Initiative website: http://www.nano.gov/fy2004_budget_ostp03_0204.pdf Optical trap provides new insights into motor molecules - nature`s ultimate nanomachines. When it comes to nanotechnology, many researchers turn to nature for inspiration. Of particular interest to nanoengineers is the naturally occurring protein kinesin. If kinesin-like nanodevices are to become reality, researchers first need to solve a fundamental mystery about how kinesin moves. A new laser microscope designed at Stanford University is providing new clues. (Stanford University news 2/25/03) http://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/pr/03/tweezers226.html New crystals may shape better nanotech. Taking a cue from a starfishlike marine creature, scientists at Bell Labs have created what they say are high-quality crystals that may one day help improve communications networks and nano-devices. (zdnet/cnet 2/21/03) http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-985534.html Or see StockHouse USA: http://www.stockhouse.com/news/news.asp?tick=LU&newsid=1533911 Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Sheffield report in the Feb. 21 issue of Science that they have created tree-like molecules that assemble themselves into precisely structured building blocks of a quarter-million atoms. Such building blocks may be precursors to designing nanostructures for molecular electronics or photonics materials, which "steer" light in the same way computer chips steer electrons. (Newswise/Scinews 2/21/03) http://www.newswise.com/articles/2003/2/PERCEC.NSF.html Researchers Develop 'Natural Bandages' That Mimic Body's Healing Process. With the same compound the body uses to clot blood, scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University have created a nano-fiber mat that could eventually become a "natural bandage." Spun from strands of fibrinogen 1,000 times thinner than a human hair, the fabric could be placed on a wound and never taken off - minimizing blood loss and encouraging the natural healing process. (ScienceDaily 2/11/03) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/02/030211072313.htm Nanotech circuits could bud from brain's bane. Rogue proteins blamed for mad cow disease could yet find a use - in tiny electrical wires, scientists revealed this week in Denver. The proteins, called prions, are also thought to cause the human brain disease variant Creutzfeld Jacob disease (vCJD) when they wad together into tough, messy clumps. (Nature Science Update 2/16/03) http://www.nature.com/nsu/030210/030210-21.html Tiny Battery May Power Next-Gen Gadgets. A radical new design that promises to revamp and rewire a decades-old staple of electronics -- the battery -- may also be the elusive blueprint for powering so-called "micro-electromechanical systems," or MEMS, futuristic devices no wider than a human hair. No battery yet exists that will provide long-lasting power and still fit inside devices this small," said Bruce Dunn, a materials science professor from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. "Our team of engineers and chemists are establishing the enabling science for a new battery that represents a real paradigm shift," he told NewsFactor. (Yahoo! News 2/21/03) http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nf/20030221/tc_nf/20819 Michigan Researchers Achieve Quantum Entanglement Of Three Electrons. The quantum entanglement of three electrons, using an ultrafast optical pulse and a quantum well of a magnetic semiconductor material, has been demonstrated in a laboratory at the University of Michigan, marking another step toward the realization of a practical quantum computer. While several experiments in recent years have succeeded in entangling pairs of particles, few researchers have managed to correlate three or more particles in a predictable fashion. (Science Daily 2/27/03) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/02/030227071834.htm Nanotechnology: The Shape of Tomorrow... Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Dave Geohegan, Alex Puretzky and Ilia Ivanov are using laser ablation and vapor deposition techniques to grow nanotubes up to millimeters long. They also are developing ways to align them in polymers for new generations of materials. The challenge now is to gain a better understanding of the tubes' chemistry and how they grow so scientists can optimize the process. (Oak Ridge National Laboratory Feb.. 2003) http://www.ornl.gov/news/cco/storytip.htm NanoMuscle eyes a giant market. What do cars and toys have in common? Very little, except for a device the size of a paper clip that is wedging its way into both markets. The device comes from Antioch-based NanoMuscle Inc. - a little company that is making a big name for itself. This week at the American International Toy Fair in New York City, the first consumer product using NanoMuscle's technology hit the market. Hong Kong-based Playmates Toys unveiled Baby Bright Eyes, a doll with eyes powered by NanoMuscle's tiny actuator that open and close and move slowly, as if gazing around her environs..."What they don't realize is this Christmas, their children will be playing with it, and in 2005, cars will be driving with nanotechnology," MacGregor said. (East Bay bizjournals 2/21/03) http://www.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2003/02/24/story6.html Connecticut is poised to become the nanotechnology capital of the world, maker of novel materials, wonder drugs, super fuel cells and many more miracles of the 21st century. So believe the invitation-only members of a new organization called the Connecticut Nanotechnology Initiative, which met for the first time over the weekend at Yale University. The provost of Yale and the chancellor of the University of Connecticut gathered with Lt. Gov. M. Jodi Rell, entrepreneurs, policy makers and some of the top nanotechnology scientists in the world. (New Haven Register.com 2/24/03) http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=7158067&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=3 1007&rfi=6 Nanotech to pave way for micro-machines. Disposable satellite transmitters, inexpensive medical testing equipment and sensors for automatically tracking inventory or traffic patterns will become possible over the next 10 years through developments in nanotechnology, speakers at the Nanotech 2003 conference said Monday. (ZDnet 2/25/03) http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-985770.html Nanowires approach the quantum realm. Scientists at the City University of Hong Kong have fabricated the smallest silicon nanowires ever. Shuit-Tong Lee and colleagues believe that such wires - which have diameters approaching 1 nanometre - could be used to make UV light-emitting diodes, transistors and lasers (D D Ma et al. 2003 Sciencexpress to be published) (PhysicsWeb 2/20/03) http://physicsweb.org/article/news/7/2/9 The so-called 'nanoforum' consortium supported by the European Union has launched a pan-European Internet portal for nanotechnology research at http://www.nanoforum.org . By providing an exhaustive source of information, the site aims to help European nanotechnology experts work together and make faster progress. It is also designed to give less developed countries in Europe better access to cutting edge innovations in the field and encourage young scientists to publish their results. (Newsfox 2/25/03) http://www.pressetext.com/pte.mc?pte=030225028 Diatomists shell out on nanotechnology. It's unlikely that many nanotechnologists are familiar with diatoms - a group of single-celled shelled algae - but that could change following a world-first conference on diatom nanotechnology that's set to take place in the US in October. Liz Kalaugher spoke to conference organizer Richard Gordon of the University of Manitoba, Canada, to find out more. (nanotechweb.org 2/03) http://nanotechweb.org/articles/feature/2/2/2/1 Pacific Nanotechnology Brings 'Developer's Corner' Resource to Customers. AFM Users Can Stay Abreast of Application Options Available and Submit Their Own Ideas and Requests Regarding AFM Imaging Problems or Solutions. Pacific Nanotechnology, Inc. (PNI), the global leader in high-performance, easy-to-use, and affordable atomic force microscopes (AFMs), has added a Pacific Nanotechnology "Developer's Corner" feature to its Web site at http://www.pacificnanotech.com. The Developer's Corner is a resource for Pacific Nanotechnology customers that have modified or would like to customize a PNI product for a specific application. (Prn newswire 2/24/03) http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/02-24 -2003/0001896450&EDATE= Carbon nanotubes may be magical molecular wands. Thousands of times thinner than a human hair but hundreds of times stronger than steel, carbon nanotubes could play an important role in the next wave of technological innovation...That's where Jun Jiao comes in. Jiao, co-director of Portland State University's Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, leads a team that is devising ways to build custom-designed nanotubes. "We're trying to create new procedures to synthesize carbon nanotubes in controlled ways, to produce carbon nanotubes with controlled properties," said Jiao, whose 1997 Ph.D. thesis at the University of Arizona compared different ways of making nanotubes. (Oregon Live 2/26/03) http://www.oregonlive.com/science/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/science/10461784 8494540.xml DNA strings along metal atoms. Researchers from the University of Tokyo and the Institute for Molecular Science in Japan have used DNA to assemble strings of up to five copper ions. The technique could have applications in producing molecular magnets and wires. "One of the most important goals in the field of inorganic chemistry is to control metal arrays spatially and dynamically," Mitsuhiko Shionoya of the University of Tokyo told nanotechweb.org. "DNA shows promise as the provider of a structural basis for the bottom-up fabrication of inorganic and bio-organic molecular devices." (nanotechweb.org 2/21/03) http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/2/2/10/1 Tiny Computing Machine Fueled By DNA; Device Awarded In Guinness World Record For "Smallest Biological Computing Device". Fifty years after the discovery of the structure of DNA, a new use has been found for this celebrated molecule: fuel for molecular computation systems. The research, conducted by scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science, will appear in this week's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS). Whether plugged in or battery powered, computers need energy. Around a year ago, Prof. Ehud Shapiro of the Weizmann Institute made international headlines for devising a programmable molecular computing machine composed of enzymes and DNA molecules. Now his team has made the device uniquely frugal: the single DNA molecule that provides the computer with the input data also provides all the necessary fuel. (Science Daily 2/27/03) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/02/030227074409.htm U-M launches ambitious exploration of inner space. A path-breaking collaborative effort of University of Michigan researchers will attempt to capture never-before-seen views of the chemical activity inside living cells in real time and 3-D...The U-M team will be using synthetic nanoprobes small enough to fit inside a cell without interrupting its normal functions to measure the activity of crucial metal ions like zinc and copper as the cell works. Sophisticated statistical modeling programs will be used to interpret data that looks something like a swarm of fast-moving fruit flies zinging around a bowl of fruit. (University of Michigan 2/20/03) http://www.umich.edu/news/Releases/2003/Feb03/r022003a.html Pace-Setting Nanotubes May Power Micro-Devices. New measurements by an India n physicist and his team support the idea that nanotubes -- cylindrical carbon rolls no thicker than an atom -- may make good batteries for tiny devices or even power pacemakers, dispensing with cumbersome power packs. Submersed in a slow-flowing liquid, a dense bundle of nanotubes develops a voltage that ranges up to 10 millivolts and increases with flow speed, according to Ajay Sood and his colleagues at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. (Yahoo! News 2/27/03) http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nf/20030227/tc_nf/20867 Nanotech Research Center to Start. Officials broke ground Friday on what was billed as the world's most advanced facility for atomic-level research. The California NanoSystems Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles will explore the power and potential of manipulating atoms to engineer new materials and devices. "Nanotech may be one of the world's smallest sciences, but it has the greatest potential," Gov. Gray Davis said at the ceremony. (Yahoo! News 2/14/03) http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030214/ap_on_sc/nanotech _research_1 Photronics, MII devise first 'nano-imprint templates'. During the SPIE Microlithography conference here, Photronics Inc. and Molecular Imprints Inc. (MII) claimed to have demonstrated and built one of the world's first masks--or templates--for nano-imprint lithography applications. (EE Times 2/26/03) http://eetimes.com/semi/news/OEG20030226S0031 Canadian NanoBusiness Alliance News. The Canadian NanoBusiness Alliance and key partners have expanded their effort to build a National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) in Canada. As one of the world's only industrialized countries without an NNI, Canadian industry is increasingly vulnerable to miss out on the vast technological and economic opportunities developing from nanotechnology. Canada's Nanotech SWAT Team was created last year to prepare a position paper on the need for a Canada NNI by presenting the viewpoints of various stakeholders in Canada. Some of Canada's foremost nanotech business and regional leaders have been added to the SWAT team to gain critical mass and industry representation. (Nanotechnology Now 2/26/03) http://nanotech-now.com/CNA-release-02262003.htm Merkle resigns as Zyvex's nano theorist. Zyvex Corp. soon will be short a nanotechnology theorist, but interested applicants need not apply. Nanotech pioneer Ralph Merkle will step down from that post this week at Zyvex, a Texas-based maker of tools and technologies for molecularly precise manufacturing. He plans to pursue independent consulting and speaking about nanotech, two of his main tasks since he joined Zyvex in 1999. (Small Times 2/25/03) http://www.smalltimes.com/document_brief.cfm#brief_4 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." 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