X-Message-Number: 22037 From: "Gina Miller" <> References: <> Subject: The Nanogirl News~ Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 19:47:09 -0700 The Nanogirl News June 20, 2003 Gear change for miniature machines. Wear-free cogs build themselves while floating on liquid.US scientists have made cogs and gears that assemble themselves, experience little wear, and perform gyrations quite beyond conventional interlocking tooth systems. Instead of rotating on fixed spindles, sets of the gears can continue to drive one another while traversing freely along a meandering path. And some of the gear wheels have no fixed teeth at all - rather, their teeth are made from liquid. In principle, one gear of this kind could drive another turning at quite a different speed. (Nature science Update 6/16/03) http://www.nature.com/nsu/030609/030609-17.html Incredibly Tough Nanotube Fibers. Spinning method turns out fibers with unparalleled properties. With a little chemistry know-how, Spiderman made silk strong enough to use for swinging from building to building and tying up bad guys. But the comic book wall crawler might have been an even better match for New York's criminals had he been armed with the supertough carbon fibers prepared recently at the University of Texas, Dallas (UTD). Researchers there have developed a procedure for spinning composite carbon nanotube fibers that are tougher than spider silk and any other natural or synthetic organic fiber reported so far [Nature, 423, 703 (2003)]. The new fibers are being used to make supercapacitors and to weave textiles. (C&E 6/16/03) http://pubs.acs.org/cen/topstory/8124/8124notw8.html Electron Nanodiffraction Technique Offers Atomic Resolution Imaging. A new imaging technique that uses electron diffraction waves to improve both image resolution and sensitivity to small structures has been developed by scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (Space Daily 6/4/03) http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanotech-03zf.html Making nanodots useful for chemistry. Nanosized clusters of germanium that can be reacted chemically to make useful materials, such as plastics, have been made by chemists at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and UC Davis...Robin Tanke, an assistant professor of chemistry at UWSP, worked with UC Davis chemistry professors Susan Kauzlarich and Tim Patten to put useful coatings on germanium nanoclusters. Kauzlarich's laboratory has developed methods for making germanium and silicon nanoclusters, while Patten's research focuses on attaching polymer coatings to different kinds of nanoparticles. (EurekAlert 6/18/03) http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-06/uoc--mnu061803.php Nanotechnology Commission Wants Your Help in Assessing Benefits and Risks. A UK commission will assess the potential benefits and risks of nanotechnology and nanoscience, as well as make recommendations as to how the emerging fields should be regulated..."A key role of the project will be to separate the hype and hypothetical from the reality," says the chair of the study, professor Ann Dowling. Dowling is calling on stakeholders from academia, industry, lobby groups and the general public to contact the commission to express their views and worries. (Betterhumans 6/13/03) http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2003-06-13-1 Imaging Lithium Atoms. One Angstrom Microscope's observations of the smallest, lightest metal atoms are a first for electron microscopy. For the first time researchers have used a transmission electron microscope -- the One Angstrom Microscope (O M) at the Department of Energy's National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory -- to image lithium atoms. Only atoms of hydrogen and helium are smaller and lighter than those of lithium, which under ordinary conditions is not a gas but a soft, white metal. (Berkeley Lab 6/13/03) http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/MSD-1-Ang-microscope.html Nano-nose sniffs out smallest particles. Researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee have claimed a new world record for weighing tiny amounts of stuff. At the U.S. Department of Energy lab, they were able to measure variations in the resonant frequency of tiny gold-coated silicon bars just two microns long and fifty nanometers thick by vibrating them with the heat of a solid-state laser at a speed of about two million times a second. (CNet 6/12/03) http://news.com.com/2100-1008_3-1016653.html Holey Fullerene Opens Wide for H2. Open-cage derivative is first to provide H2-encapsulated complex in 100% yield. Japanese chemists for the first time have prepared an open-cage fullerene derivative with an orifice large enough to allow a hydrogen molecule to be inserted into the cage in 100% yield [J. Am. Chem. Soc., 125, 7152 (2003)]. "I think it is an important advance for this field, since I can see this type of system being used for H2 storage once C60 becomes cheaper," comments Yves Rubin, a chemistry professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Scientists are looking for efficient methods for stuffing fullerene cages with metal atoms or gases to make new types of functional materials. (C&E 6/16/03) http://pubs.acs.org/cen/topstory/8124/8124notw1.html The government (UK) today launched an independent study into the benefits and risks of nanotechnology, the science of manipulating ultra-small particles. The Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering have been commissioned to look at this emerging area of science, engineering and technology to see how it should be regulated as it develops. (The Guardian 6/11/03) http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/story/0,9865,975190,00.html Molecular Switches May Not Be Switching After All. Phenylene-ethynylene oligomers are molecules that have interested molecular electronics researchers because they conduct electricity and appear to turn to turn their conductivity on and off in observations with a scanning tunneling microscope probe. Because of this, scientists have thought the molecules could be used as molecular switches. In order for this to happen, the molecules' intermittent conductivity had to be attributed to some internal property of the molecules that could be controlled. Research done by Scientists from Arizona State University and Motorola Labs suggests this isn't the case. Physicists Ganesh K. Ramachandran, and Stuart M. Lindsay and chemist Alex Primak from Arizona Stateand Theresa J. Hopson, Adam M. Rawlett and Larry A. Nagahara from Motorola Labs report in the May 30 issue of Science that the molecules' apparent "switching" behavior is more likely the result of an unexpectedly weak bond with the layer of current-conducting gold molecules on which they are arranged. When the bond is broken, the molecules lose contact with the gold surface, and the electrical connection is turned off. (Nanotech Planet 5/30/93) http://www.nanoelectronicsplanet.com/nanochannels/research/article/0,4028,10 497_2214611,00.html Nano expert and D.C. insider will lobby White House and public. It wasn't a headline that the scientist liked much: "Clayton Teague Thinks Small," blared the Georgia Tech University student newspaper. That was 1968, and Teague was a graduate student at the time. Now, he's the first full-time director of the federal National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO), and he's thinking even more infinitesimally. Teague has spent his career helping the federal government explore the world at the nanoscale. The visible contours of that world have grown during Teague's more than 30 years of federal service, thanks in part to his work...During an interview at his National Science Foundation office in Arlington, Va., he championed nanotechnology as a great potential economic and social balm for the nation, and he pledged to use his office to help knit together the many scientific and research threads comprising nanotechnology today, from simulation and modeling to biotechnology to materials science. (SmallTimes 6/20/03) http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=6249 (Event) UC Riverside Hosts Frontiers in Nanotechnology and Engineering Programs. Summer Program Designed for Students and Teachers, Grades 8-12. Twenty teachers and 50 students will meet at the University of California, Riverside to explore the big ideas behind the smallest things at the "Frontiers in Nanotechnology and Engineering" program, scheduled June 23 though July 4. Nanotechnology, an emerging field representing the future frontier in miniaturization, is likely to have a profound effect on numerous areas such as manufacturing processes, medical devices and delivery of medications, and space exploration. (UCR 6/10/03) http://www.newsroom.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/display.cgi?id=613 Nanotech breakthrough jogs memory. The first 10GB nanotechnology memory (NRAM) device has been built in the laboratories of Nantero, the Boston, Massachusetts company has said. Using carbon nanotubes a billionth of a meter in diameter sprinkled onto a silicon wafer, the device has been made using mostly standard chip production techniques. The company claims that the technology can combine the speed and price of dynamic memory with the non-volatility of flash, making it a strong candidate for the eagerly awaited universal memory devices that the industry hopes will replace all other types. (ZDnet 6/13/03) http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-1016942.html (Book) Is the end nigh? Sir Martin Rees, Britain's most distinguished theoretical astrophysicist and one of its best writers on matters cosmological, is no stranger to catastrophe; he has a professional interest in supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, cannibal galaxies and many of the universe's other savageries. In Our Final Century, though, his concern is not just destruction, but self-destruction. The 20th century, he points out, was the first in which humanity's chance of self-destruction shot up above the eschatological background noise...But the heart of his argument is the risk of intentional destruction. Like Bill Joy, chief scientist of Sun Microsystems, who wrote an influential article on the matter in Wired a few years ago, Rees fears that biotechnology and nanotechnology will provide greater potential for destruction, and permit ever smaller groups - or indeed individuals - to make use of them. (The Guardian 6/14/03) http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,975702,00.html Quantum Dot Advances. Studies show that nanoparticles have potential biological applications. The semiconductor nanoparticles known as quantum dots have moved closer to biological applications, according to two recent reports. In one paper, scientists at Cornell University, collaborating with Quantum Dot Corp. in Hayward, Calif., use quantum dots as a label for multiphoton imaging in live animals. In the other report, Japanese researchers use chaperone proteins to encapsulate and protect quantum dots, preventing them from aggregating and losing their size-dependent properties. (C&E 6/19/03) http://pubs.acs.org/cen/topstory/8123/8123notw6.html Hydrogen goes universal. Two researchers from the US and Germany have calculated a 'universal alignment' effect for the electronic energy levels in hydrogen. This effect could allow scientists to predict how hydrogen behaves in materials used for applications as diverse as integrated circuits, fuel cells and hydrogen storage materials (C G Van de Walle and J Neugebauer 2003 Nature 423 626). (PhysicsWeb 6/4/03) http://physicsweb.org/article/news/7/6/3 Nanotechnology: the next small thing. Investors are piling into a revolutionary new sector, but skeptics say it's just another bubble in the making. Richard Fletcher and Lauren Mills report. It's the stuff of science fiction: nanotechnology, a scientific breakthrough which its proponents claim will create computers the size of a grain of sand and miniature robots that will march through the body repairing damaged organs. Nanotechnology is no Hollywood fiction. According to a report to be published this week by Lux Capital, the US venture capital firm, worldwide governments and venture capitalists invested more than $3bn in the fledgling sector in 2002. And the investors hope to grab a fat slice of a market which the US government confidently claims will be worth $1 trillion by 2012. (Telegraph.co.uk 6/15/03) http://money.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=P8&targetRu le=5&xml=%2Fglobal%2F2003%2F06%2F15%2Ffiano15.xml Tetrapod nanocrystals could improve solar cells. A new shape for semiconductor nanocrystals-tetrapods, rather than simple spheres, rods and disks-could double the efficiency of "plastic" solar cells, according to the inventor of tetrapods. Paul Alivisatos, the inventor of semiconductor tetrapods and a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, said they promise to convert twice as much incident light into electricity. Tetrapods also promise to improve chemical sensors, biomedicine and optoelectronic devices, as well as serving as strengthening additives to plastic composites. (EETimes 6/9/03) http://www.eet.com/at/n/news/OEG20030609S0065 Single-electron transistors shed heat. Characterizing the electron flow and the resulting causes of heat dissipation in low-dimensional nanoscale electronics could lead to cool-running single-electron "quantum dot" transistors, according to a researcher here at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Better understanding of heat dissipation in semiconductor materials should enable chip makers to cool down even massive heat-generating chips like central processing units (CPUs). "So much heat is being dissipated by CPUs today that may people's laptops get uncomfortably warm. Our technique for studying low-dimensional electron systems should help future chips avoid generating so much heat," said Robert Blick, electrical and computer engineering associate professor. He collaborated on the work with his graduate student, Eva H hberger, as well as with professor Werner Wegscheider at the University of Regensburg, Germany, and researcher Tomas Kr mer of Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich. (EETimes 6/2/03) http://www.eet.com/at/n/news/OEG20030602S0105 Rage Against the (Green) Machine. First came the concerns about nuclear power. Then, the fears about genetically modified foods. Now, European and C anadian environmentalists have a new, lab-made monstrosity to rail against: nanotechnology. Last week, at the Brussels headquarters of the European Parliament, Greenpeace, GeneWatch U.K., the ETC Group and others held a teach-in, of sorts. The goal was to highlight the potential dangers that could arise when scientists start manipulating matter at the nano -- billionth of a meter -- level. Nano-sized bits are so small that they can penetrate your skin, get into your lungs, and travel through your body unmolested by the immune system, argues ETC program manager Jim Thomas. Research, he claims, shows that matter gets more toxic when it's shrunk to the super-small -- no matter what the material is. -What?- (Wired 6/19/03) http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,59287,00.html 'Nano' Suddenly a Gigantic Label. Nanotechnology has become one of the hottest areas in scientific research, pulling in billions of dollars in government, corporate and foundation cash. But the scientist who coined the term "nanotechnology" says a lot of what passes for nano is just plain ol' science, gussied up with a fancy name to rake in the bucks. "'Nanotechnology'" has now become little more than a marketing term," said Eric Drexler, founder of the Foresight Institute, the leading nanotech think tank. "Work that scientists have been doing for decades is now being relabeled nanotechnology." (Wired 6/16/03) http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,59181,00.html 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=22037