X-Message-Number: 24574
From: "Gina Miller" <>
References: <>
Subject: The Nanogirl News~
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 14:20:05 -0700

The Nanogirl News
August 31, 2004


How to Build a Biobot. Synthetic-biology researchers are creating a tool kit to 
build biobots, autonomous, special-purpose nanorobots the size of cells, with 
applications in medicine, national security, environmental protection, and many 
other fields. Too simple to replicate, biobots will be put together like Legos 
from a catalogue of biological and artificial parts.   

(ScienceBeat 8/27/04) 
http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/sb/Aug-2004/2_biobots.html   


Nanoscale parts get binding aid. Nanoscale particles that are easy to 
manufacture piecemeal - but hard to assemble - may benefit from a new "sticky 
patch" technology that researchers at the University of Michigan say enables 
nanoscale self-assembly. "By mimicking biological assembly, we are exploring 
ways to nanoengineer materials that are self-assembling, self-sensing, 
self-healing and self-regulating," said Sharon Glotzer, an associate professor 
of chemical engineering on the Ann Arbor campus. (EETimes 8/23/04) 
http://www.eetimes.com/at/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=29116670

View an image here: 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/08/040819082902.htm


Spotlight on Nanotubes. Think of it as track lighting on the smallest possible 
scale. Physicists recently discovered that a tiny tube-like molecule of carbon 
can produce light when electricity passes through it. Now, the same team has 
captured images of the precise spot from which the light shines, and by varying 
the applied voltages, the researchers have even moved the spot back and forth 
along the 3-nanometer-wide molecule. Described in the 13 August PRL, the effect 
provides a new tool for studying the inner workings of nanotubes, which might 
someday serve as the building blocks for molecular electronic circuits. (PRL 
8/19/04) http://focus.aps.org/story/v14/st8


Tiny Writing: Researchers Develop Improved Method to Produce Nanometer-scale 
Patterns. Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Naval 
Research Laboratory (NRL) have developed an improved method for directly writing
nanometer-scale patterns onto a variety of surfaces. The new writing method, 
dubbed "thermal dip pen nanolithography," represents an important extension for 
dip pen nanolithography (DPN), an increasingly popular technique that uses 
atomic force microscopy (AFM) probes as pens to produce nanometer-scale 
patterns. (Georgia Tech 8/30/04)
http://gtresearchnews.gatech.edu/newsrelease/tdpn.htm


Zyvex Offers New Nanoprobing/Nanomanipulation Analytical Services. Zyvex 
Corporation today (25th) announced that it will provide IC probing, electrical 
characterization of nanomaterials, TEM sample lift-out, nanomanipulation, and 
other analytical services to both potential and existing customers. These 
services allow customers to test, measure, and characterize their samples at 
Zyvex's state-of-the-art facilities. (Yahoo 8/25/04) 
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040825/daw004_1.html


A Push-Pull Approach to Proteins. Researchers learn the biophysical properties 
of bacterial condensin. By stretching a poorly understood protein like a rubber 
band, a team of Berkeley Lab and University of California at Berkeley scientists
is learning how the protein and its cousins perform some of life's most 
fundamental tasks. Their work, published in the journal Science, is the first 
look at the biophysical properties of a condensin. (Science Beat 8/27/04)
http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/sb/Aug-2004/1_condensin.html


Nanotubes may have no 'temperature'. Could quantum effects plague miniature 
devices? Physicists have made a bizarre discovery: the concept of temperature is
meaningless in some tiny objects. Although the concept of temperature is known 
to break down on the scale of individual atoms, research now suggests that it 
may also fail to apply in rather larger entities, such as carbon nanotubes. 
(Nature 8/17/04) http://www.nature.com/news/2004/040816/full/040816-4.html


(UK) Nanotechnology projects win  15 million funding from DTI. The Department of
Trade and Industry has given a major boost to Nanotechnology projects 
throughout the UK. Twenty five projects are to receive  15 million worth of 
funding for projects ranging from anti-corrosion coatings and electronics to 
water purification and printing. This new investment will provide up to a 
maximum of 50% of each project's total value. A further  3 million will be given
to INEX, a microsystems and nanotechnology facility for industry based at 
Newcastle. These grants are the first to be allocated from the Government's  90 
million micro and nanotechnology manufacturing initiative in support of both 
nanotechnology applied research programmes and for the creation of new 
nanotechnology facilities across the country. Further grants will be made 
available over the next five years to complete the initiative.
(PublicTechnology 8/24/04)


http://www.publictechnology.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1635&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0


RNA shapes up for "nano-scaffolding". Researchers at Purdue University, US, have
made a variety of shapes from molecules of packaging ribonucleic acid (pRNA). 
The forms included twins, tetramers, triangles, rods and three-dimensional 
arrays. "Our work shows that we can control the construction of 
three-dimensional arrays made from RNA blocks of different shapes and sizes," 
said Peixuan Guo of Purdue. "With further research, RNA could form the 
superstructures for tomorrow's nanomachines." (Nanotechweb 8/25/04) 
http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/3/8/7/1


Now, nanotechnology to help surf the Internet 100 times faster! University of 
Toronto's Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
have claimed that in the future nanotechnology could be used to surf on the 
Internet through light. The findings published in the journal Nano Letters 
states that nano technology can make the networks work as much as 100 times 
faster compared to present day's technology. (Yahoo 8/30/04)
http://in.tech.yahoo.com/040830/139/2frrh.html


Scientists Reinvent DNA As Template To Produce Organic Molecules. By 
piggybacking small organic molecules onto short strands of DNA, chemists at 
Harvard University have developed an innovative new method of using DNA as a 
blueprint not for proteins but for collections of complex synthetic molecules. 
The researchers will report on the prolific technique, dubbed "DNA-templated 
library synthesis," this week on the web site of the journal Science. (Bio.com 
8/20/04) http://www.bio.com/realm/research.jhtml?realmId=5&cid=3500012


Nanotube Dynamos. Two scientists in India have produced a tiny voltage in a 
small electrical circuit by blowing gas across a mat of carbon nanotubes and 
doped semiconductors. This result arises from two physical effects. First, in 
the Bernoulli effect, gas rushing past a surface produces pressure differences 
along streamlines, which in turn can produce a temperature gradient along a 
material sample. (Physics News Update 8/19/04) 
http://www.aip.org/pnu/2004/split/697-3.html


Nanowires take directions from substrate. For the first time, scientists have 
been able to control the growth direction of a gallium nitride nanowire. The 
researchers, from the University of California, Berkeley and the Lawrence 
Berkeley National Laboratory, US, tailored the growth by altering the substrate 
on which they grew the wires. (nanotechweb 8/4/04)
http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/3/8/2/1


Holographix Finds Replication Niche in Nano Industry. Call it the art of making 
cheap knockoffs, at the nanoscale. Holographix LLC, a 10-person startup in 
suburban Boston, knows it has neither the resources nor the expertise to 
fabricate nanoscale components. So the team has put its efforts in another 
valuable niche of nanoscale manufacturing: making inexpensive replicas of 
components that others have fabricated already. (8/23/04) 
http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=8237


Smooth operators: New fabrics fight off wrinkles and stains. We may soon be 
listening to music emitted by the fabric of our clothing or watching our shirts 
change color as we heat up. But the hottest thing in fabric for the moment is 
only a little less remarkable, able to fight off dirt and wrinkles like 
something out of Superman's closet. That's the view from Eva Snopek, fashion 
design instructor at the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago. "There is a lot 
of new technology out there," she said, citing nanotechnology as the superstar 
of the day. And our testing backed her up.
(Fortwayne 8/31/04) http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/9545951.htm


Grad's Breakthrough Artificial Pancreas May Help Diabetics. Even though her 
colleagues told her it was impossible to create an artificial pancreas that 
could alleviate diabetes, and that she would never finish it in time to graduate
from UC Berkeley, Tejal Desai finished what she set out to do...Desai, 31, 
built an implantable device-containing live pancreas cells-that could be used in
place of daily insulin injections for diabetics to control their blood sugar 
levels...This combination of biology and nanotechnology was unknown when Desai 
began her research, but bioengineering breakthroughs such as her own are making 
it a quickly growing field.  (Dailycal 8/31/04) 
http://www.dailycal.org/article.php?id=15896


Professor Ken Donaldson, a lung toxicology expert and Professor of Respiratory 
Medicine at the University, calls for a new discipline--nanotoxicology-- to be 
built up, to address knowledge gaps and to help develop a safe nanotechnology. 
He wants guidelines to be developed to test all materials in the nanoscale where
human health could be involved. (Physorg 8/30/04) 
http://www.physorg.com/news995.html


Hope for Alzheimer's patients: Virus that cures. Scientists here have found 
method which uses virus to deliver DNA to damaged brain cells and help mend them
in patients. Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology 
(IBN) are relying on the prowess of viruses to get into cells and deliver 
healthy genes in order to reverse the effects of these debilitating diseases.

(StraitsTimes 8/28/04) 
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/techscience/story/0,4386,269719,00.html


The future of nanotech. Students at new college proud and excited to be in 1st 
class...When Garg started her doctoral program, she was a graduate student at 
UAlbany's School of NanoScience and NanoEngineering. Beginning Aug. 30, she'll 
be a charter member of the new College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, 
which absorbed the school...One of the main purposes of the college is to make 
computer chips smaller and more powerful. It already has been recognized by Phil
Bond, President Bush's chief technology expert, as the first in the country to 
focus exclusively on nanotechnology. (MSNBC 8/29/04) 
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5843618/


Little particles make cars, profits shine. Keith Matthews knows his car wax. A 
car detailer at International Motor Car Co., 2111 Dana Ave., he puts a shine on 
two or three vehicles a day for the luxury-car dealership. "Nanowax is the best 
thing I've used, and I've been doing this for 15 years,'' he said. Eagle One 
Nanowax, produced by Ashland Inc.'s Lexington-based Valvoline unit, is easier to
apply, leaves less residue and does a better job of handling swirls and defects
in car finishes, he says. (Enquirer 8/27/04) 
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/08/27/biz_nanowax27.html


Big Minds Gather to Discuss Ultra-Small Technology at NASA. Experts from NASA, 
academia and industry will meet this week to learn the latest developments in 
nanotechnology and provide input to guide the fledgling industry. The National 
Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) Grand Challenge workshop, hosted by NASA Ames 
Research Center, located in California's Silicon Valley, will be held Aug. 
24-26, 2004 at Rickey's Hyatt Hotel in Palo Alto, Calif. The workshop will focus
on six themes: nanomaterials, microcraft, nanorobots, nano-micro-macro 
integration, nanosensors and instrumentation and astronaut health management. 
During the workshop, participants will attend a series of 'breakout' sessions 
with guest experts. (SpaceRef 8/24/04) 
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=14876


Chemical Sensors Made from Nanomaterials. New types of chemical sensors for 
environmental monitoring, food safety or security applications could be based on
nanotechnology, according to Frank Osterloh, an assistant professor of 
chemistry at UC Davis. "Nanomaterials are very well suited for chemical sensor 
applications, because their physical properties often vary considerably in 
response to changes of the chemical environment," Osterloh said.
(azom 8/24/04) http://www.azom.com/news.asp?newsID=1873


Trapped Single Atom Presages New Technology. Once thought impossible to catch, 
scientists have now snared a single atom. A report from the Department of Energy
s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee says that collaborating 
Indian-American researchers have accomplished the feat, which could lead to a 
whole new technology. ORNL scientists Thomas Thundat and Adosh Mehta have 
collaborated with Ramesh Bhargava of Nanocrystals Technology in Briarcliff, 
N.Y., to cage single atoms in nanocrystals not much larger than the atoms 
themselves. Previous attempts to catch atoms have been difficult because of the 
unpredictable nature of atoms, as dictated by the rules of quantum mechanics. 
(Indolink 8/20/04)
http://www.indolink.com/SciTech/fr082004-035406.php
 


Gina "Nanogirl" Miller
Nanotechnology Industries
http://www.nanoindustries.com
Personal: http://www.nanogirl.com/index2.html
Foresight Senior Associate http://www.foresight.org
Nanotechnology Advisor Extropy Institute  http://www.extropy.org
Tech-Aid Advisor http://www.tech-aid.info/t/all-about.html
Email: 
"Nanotechnology: Solutions for the future."


 Content-Type: text/html;

[ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] 

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=24574