From: Gina Miller (nanogirl@halcyon.com)
Date: Fri Jun 20 2003 - 20:47:09 MDT
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 (OÅM) 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 Höhberger, as well as with professor
Werner Wegscheider at the University of Regensburg, Germany, and researcher
Tomas Krämer 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
nanogirl@halcyon.com
"Nanotechnology: Solutions for the future."
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