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A coordination action on graphene will be funded by the European Commission to develop plans for a 10-year, 1,000 million euro FET flagship. This is ''an ambitious, large-scale visionary research initiative, aiming at a breakthrough for technological innovation and economic exploitation based on graphene and related two-dimensional materials''.
Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms, may be the most amazing and versatile substance available to mankind. Stronger than diamond, yet lightweight and flexible, graphene enables electrons to flow much faster than silicon. It is also a transparent conductor, combining electrical and optical functionalities in an exceptional way.
Graphene can trigger a smart and sustainable [[carbon revolution|Graphene and the Carbon Revolution]], with profound impact in information and communication technology (ICT) and everyday life. Its unique properties will spawn innovation on an unprecedented scale and scope for high speed, transparent and flexible consumer electronics; novel information processing devices; biosensors; supercapacitors as alternatives to batteries; mechanical components; lightweight composites for cars and planes.
The groundbreaking experiments on graphene in 2004 by European scientists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were awarded the [[2010 Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene"]]. Their work has sparked a scientific explosion, best illustrated by the exponential growth of publications and patent applications related to graphene. Huge amounts of human resources and capital are being invested into graphene research and applications in the US, Japan, Korea, Singapore and elsewhere. The first products are expected to enter the market by 2014, according to estimates by Samsung.
The research effort of individual European research groups pioneered graphene science and technology, but a coordinated European level approach is needed to secure a major role for EU in this ongoing technological revolution.
The graphene flagship aims to bring together a large, focused, interdisciplinary European research community, acting as a sustainable incubator of new branches of ICT applications, ensuring that European industries will have a major role in this radical technology shift over the next 10 years. An effective transfer of knowledge and technology to industries will enable product development and production.
The graphene flagship already includes over 130 research groups, representing 80 academic and industrial partners in 21 European countries. The coordination action is lead by a consortium of nine partners who pioneered graphene research, innovation, and networking activities. Coordinated by [[Chalmers University of Technology|http://www.chalmers.se/en/about-chalmers/Pages/default.aspx]] in Sweden, it includes the Universities of Manchester, Lancaster, and Cambridge in the UK, the [[Catalan Institute of Nanotechnology|http://www.nanocat.org/aboutICN.php#]] in Spain, the [[Italian National Research Council|http://www.cnr.it/sitocnr/Englishversion/Englishversion.html]], the [[European Science Foundation|http://www.esf.org/about-esf.html]], [[AMO GmbH|http://www.amo.de/aboutus.0.html?&L=11]] in Germany, and the [[Nokia corporation|Nanotechnologies for future mobile devices]]. The advisory council includes Nobel Laureates [[Andre Geim|Awarded for the discovery of graphene]] (University of Manchester), Konstantin Novoselov (University of Manchester), [[Albert Fert|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Fert]] (THALES) and [[Klaus von Klitzing|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_von_Klitzing]] (Max-Planck Institute), the leading graphene theoretician [[Francisco Guinea|http://www.icmm.csic.es/PacoGuinea/webpage.htm]] (CSIC, Spain), as well as [[Luigi Colombo|http://www.techconnectworld.com/Nanotech2011/bio.html?id=39]] (Texas Instruments, USA) and Byung Hee Hong (SKK University, Korea), both pioneers of graphene mass production and graphene-based product development.
The pilot phase coordination action started on May 1. Its main task is to pave the way for the full, 10 year, 1,000 million euro flagship both in terms of the organizational framework and a scientific and technological roadmap for research and innovation. The action plan for the FET Flagship will be submitted in 2012 to the European Commission, aiming for GRAPHENE to be one of the two flagships launched in 2013.
"We are convinced that exploiting the full potential of graphene will have huge impacts on society at large, and thrilled that the EU Commission shares our view and believes in our focused and open approach to moving forward", says Prof. Jari Kinaret, Chalmers University of Technology, the project leader of [[GRAPHENE-CA|http://www.graphene-flagship.eu/GF/index.php]] (GRAPHENE-Coordinated Action). Source: [[GRAPHENE-CA appointed an EU Future Emerging Technology Flagship Pilot|http://www.graphene-flagship.eu/GFprelease/PR_GRAPHENE-CA_final.pdf]]
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The ubiquity of tiny particles of minerals -mineral nanoparticles- in oceans and rivers, atmosphere and soils, and in living cells are providing scientists with new ways of understanding Earth's workings. ''Our planet's physical, chemical, and biological processes are influenced or driven by the properties of these minerals''.
So states a team of researchers from seven universities in a paper published in the journal Science: [["Nanominerals, Mineral Nanoparticles, and Earth Systems."|http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/319/5870/1631]] "This is an excellent summary of the relevance of natural nanoparticles in the Earth system," said Enriqueta Barrera, program director in NSF's Division of Earth Sciences. "It shows that there is much to be learned about the role of nanominerals, and points to the need for future research."
Minerals have an enormous range of physical and chemical properties due to a wide range of composition and structure, including particle size. Each mineral has a set of specific physical and chemical properties. ''Nanominerals'', however, ''have one critical difference: a range of physical and chemical properties, depending on their size and shape''.
"This difference changes our view of the diversity and complexity of minerals, and how they influence Earth systems," said [[Michael Hochella|http://www.vt.edu/spotlight/achievement/2008-03-03_hochella/2008-03-03_hochella.html]] of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va.
''The role of nanominerals is far-reaching'', said Hochella. ''Nanominerals are widely distributed throughout the atmosphere, oceans, surface and underground waters, and soils, and in most living organisms, even within proteins''.
Nanoparticles play an important role in the lives of ocean-dwelling phytoplankton, for example, which remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Phytoplankton growth is limited by iron availability. Iron in the ocean is composed of nanocolloids, nanominerals, and mineral nanoparticles, supplied by rivers, glaciers and deposition from the atmosphere. Nanoscale reactions resulting in the formation of phytoplankton biominerals, such as calcium carbonate, are important influences on oceanic and global carbon cycling.
On land, nanometer-scale hematite catalyzes the oxidation of manganese, resulting in the rapid formation of minerals that absorb heavy metals in water and soils. The rate of oxidation is increased when nanoparticles are present.
Conversely, harmful heavy metals may disperse widely, courtesy of nanominerals. In research at the Clark Fork River Superfund Complex in Montana, Hochella discovered a nanomineral involved in the movement of lead, arsenic, copper, and zinc through hundred of miles of Clark River drainage basin.
Nanominerals can also move radioactive substances. Research at one of the most contaminated nuclear sites in the world, a nuclear waste reprocessing plant in Mayak, Russian, has shown that plutonium travels in local groundwater, carried by mineral nanoparticles.
In the atmosphere, mineral nanoparticles impact heating and cooling. Such particles act as water droplet growth centers, which lead to cloud formation. The size and density of droplets influences solar radiation and cloud longevity, which in turn influence average global temperatures.
''"The biogeochemical and ecological impact of natural and synthetic nanomaterials is one of the fastest growing areas of research, with not only vital scientific, but also large environmental, economic, and political consequences,"'' the authors conclude.
In addition to Hochella, authors of the paper are Steven Lower of Ohio State University, and Patricia Maurice of the University of Notre Dame; along with R. Lee Penn of the University of Minnesota; Nita Sahai of the University of ~Wisconsin-Madison; Donald Sparks of the University of Delaware; and Benjamin Twining of the University of South Carolina.
Source: [["Nanominerals" Influence Earth Systems from Ocean to Atmosphere to Biosphere|http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111279&org=NSF&from=news]]. See also [[Nanoscience will change the way we think about the world|http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/story.php?relyear=2008&itemno=177&head=Nanoscience%20will%20change%20the%20way%20we%20think%20about%20the%20world]]
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"Recently, a study from Australia reported that daily sunscreen use reduces the risk of melanoma by 50%, and reduces the risk of squamous cell carcinoma, another type of skin cancer, by 39%. Therefore, the importance of sun protection is unquestionable. Although more research is needed to solidify the environmental and occupational risks, the Nanodermatology Society believes that nano-based sunscreens do not pose serious health risks to consumers and agrees with regulatory agencies like the Environmental Working Group, which states: “Zinc and titanium-based formulations are among the safest, most effective, sunscreens on the market”. This statement is based on the current evidence showing:
• Consumers using zinc and titanium sunscreen products are exposed to 20% less UVA radiation than those using sunscreens without these products.
• Nano-titanium and zinc do not penetrate the outer layer of human skin, even through hair follicles.
• Nano-titanium and zinc do not reach living cells, and therefore pose no risk of toxicity.
As the summer months approach, we encourage all individuals to protect themselves from the damaging effects of the sun. In concurrence with the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) we suggest:
• Wear protective clothing including a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses
• For areas that are exposed, apply a water-resistant sunscreen with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of
30 or above that provides both UVA and UVB protection.
• Reapply sunscreen every 2 hours, regardless of activity (swimming, sweating)
• Seek shade, especially when the sun’s rays are strongest between 10am and 4pm." Source: From ''[[Nanodermatology Society Sunscreen Guidelines|http://www.nanodermsociety.org/documents/press/Nanodermatology_Society_Sunscreen_Guidelines_.pdf]]''. The 2011 Nanodermatology Society Position Statement on Sunscreens
"The [[Nanodermatology Society (NDS)|http://www.nanodermsociety.org/]] was established in 2010 to promote a greater understanding of the scientific and medical aspects of nanotechnology in skin health and disease. The Society is composed of physicians, dermatologists, physicists, chemists, policy makers, regulators, nanotechnology scientists, and students involved in nanotechnology specifically related to dermatology from teaching, to education, to scientific research. The Nanodermatology Society is supported by generous donations from Merck, Schering-Plough, Johnson & Johnson, Horiba Scientific, P&G, BASF". The [[1st International Conference of the Nanodermatology Society|http://www.nanomedjournal.org/content/nanodermatologysociety]] was held February 4th, 2011
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/nanotechnology_engines_on.jpg" title="x" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>//"Controlling climate change, abandoning dependency on fossil fuels, and creating the conditions for sustainable development will require as great a transformation as our ancestors accomplished over tens of thousands of years in moving from agrarian to urban societies". ''A new book about how Nanotechnology is contributing to solve this vital challenges''.
"Merging and blending some thoughts on recent news on energy that appeared in on our Nanowiki 2010 on the question of the unknown potential benefits to human health and environmental risks of nanotechnology. The responsible implementation of Nanotechnology should be a balance between the risks and benefits to society, as analyzed by a broad spectrum of stakeholders. Our intention is to promote the debate on the evolution of this young discipline, nanotechnology, to ensure its safe and responsible development. "
Download: [[Nanotechnology:Engines On|http://www.archive.org/details/NanotechnologyEnginesOn]]
Read online: [[Nanotechnology: Engines On]]//
Rather than infer that nanotechnology is safe, members of the public who learn about this novel science tend to become sharply polarized along cultural lines, according to a study conducted by the [[Cultural Cognition Project|http://www.culturalcognition.net/]] at Yale Law School in collaboration with the [[Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies|http://www.nanotechproject.org/]]. These findings have important implications for garnering support of the new technology, say the researchers.
According to Kahan and other experts, the findings of the experiment highlight the need for public education strategies that consider citizens' predispositions. "There is still plenty of time to develop risk-communication strategies that make it possible for persons of diverse values to understand the best evidence scientists develop on nanotechnology's risks," added Kahan. "The only mistake would be to assume that such strategies aren't necessary."
''"The message matters,"'' said David Rejeski, director of the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. ''"How information about nanotechnology is presented to the vast majority of the public who still know little about it can either make or break this technology''. Scientists, the government, and industry generally take a simplistic, 'just the facts' approach to communicating with the public about a new technology. But, this research shows that diverse audiences and groups react to the same information very differently."
Source: [[Nanotechnology 'culture war' possible, says Yale study|http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-12/yu-nw120508.php]]
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Using lasers, Korean researchers have crafted a microscopic version of Rodin's famed sculpture "The Thinker" just about twice the size of a red blood cell at 20 millionths of a meter high. For more than a decade, researchers worldwide have experimented with lasers to fabricate elaborate 3-D creations.
[img[the thinker|img/thinker.jpg]]
<html><a href="http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=APPLAB000090000007079903000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes">Ultraprecise microreproduction of a three-dimensional artistic sculpture by multipath scanning method in two-photon photopolymerization</a> [Appl. Phys. Lett 90, 013113 (2007)] by Dong-Yol Yang, Sang Hu Park, Tae Woo Lim, Hong-Jin Kong, Shin Wook Yi, Hyun Kwan Yang and Kwang-Sup Lee</html>
Nanotechnologists have discovered that ''the photosynthesis system of bacteria can be used to transport light over relatively long distances. They have developed a type of 'molecular glass fibre''', a thousand times thinner than a human hair.
All plants and some bacteria use photosynthesis to store energy from the sun. Researchers from the [[MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology]] of the University of Twente have now discovered how parts of the photosynthesis system of bacteria can be used to transport light. In their experiments the researchers used isolated proteins from the so-called Light Harvesting Complex (LHC). These proteins transport the sunlight in the cells of plants and bacteria to a place in the cell where the solar energy is stored. The researchers built a type of 'molecular glass fibre' from the LHC proteins that is a thousand times thinner than a human hair.
In the experiment the researchers fastened the proteins onto a fixed background. They positioned them in a line, and in this way formed a thread. They then shone laser light to one point in the thread, and observed where the light went to. The line with the LHC proteins did not only transport the light, but transported it over much longer distances than the researchers had initially expected. Distances of around 50 nanometres are normally bridged in the bacteria from which the LHC proteins were isolated. In the researchers' experiments the light covered distances at least thirty times greater.
According to Cees Otto, one of the researchers involved, we can learn a lot from nature in experiments such as this. "The LHC proteins are the building blocks that nature gives us, and using then ''we can learn more about natural processes such as the transport of light in photosynthesis''. When we understand how nature works, we can then imitate it. In time we will be able to use this principle in, for example, solar panels."
The research was carried out in partnership with the University of Sheffield, and fully financed by [[NanoNed|http://www.nanoned.nl/]]. Source: [[MESA+/University of Twente nanotechnologists create ‘molecular glass fibres’|http://www.mesaplus.utwente.nl/news/otto.doc/]]. This work is detailed in the paper [[Long-Range Energy Propagation in Nanometre Arrays of Light Harvesting Antenna Complexes|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl1003569]] by Maryana Escalante, Aufried Lenferink, Yiping Zhao, Niels Tas, Jurriaan Huskens, Neil Hunter, Vinod Subramaniam and Cees Otto. "Here we report the first observation of long-range transport of excitation energy within a biomimetic molecular nanoarray constructed from LH2 antenna complexes from Rhodobacter sphaeroides."
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''The project ‘i, scientist’ is designed to get students to actually carry out scientific research themselves.'' The kids received some support from [[Beau Lotto|http://www.lottolab.org/]], a neuroscientist at UCL, and David Strudwick, Blackawton’s head teacher. As the children write, “This experiment is important, because no one in history (including adults) has done this experiment before.” From [[Eight-year-old children publish bee study in Royal Society journal|http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/12/21/eight-year-old-children-publish-bee-study-in-royal-society-journal/]]
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[<img[DNA cassette | http://www.nyu.edu/public.affairs/images/photos/uploads/Seeman-Proofs-12.jpg]] New York University chemistry professor Nadrian C. Seeman and his graduate student Baoquan Ding have developed a DNA cassette through which a nanomechanical device can be inserted and function within a DNA array, allowing for the motion of a nanorobotic arm. The results, reported in the latest issue of the journal Science, mark the first time scientists have been able to employ a functional nanotechnology device within a DNA array.
"It is crucial for nanorobotics to be able to insert controllable devices into a particular site within an array, thereby leading to a diversity of structural states," explained Seeman. "Here we have demonstrated that a single device has been inserted and converted at a specific site." He added that the results pave the way for creating nanoscale "assembly lines" in which more complex maneuvers could be executed... http://www.nyu.edu/public.affairs/releases/detail/1355
Scientists at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine have discovered a new way to use Rice's famed buckyball nanoparticles as passkeys that allows drugs to enter cancer cells.
The passkeys that Barron and colleagues developed contain a molecule called Bucky amino acid that was created in Barron's lab. Bucky amino acid, or Baa, is based on pheylalanine, one of the 20 essential amino acids that are strung together like beads on a necklace to build all proteins.
Barron's graduate student, Jianzhong Yang, developed several different Baa-containing peptides, or slivers of protein containing about a dozen or so amino acids. In their natural form, with pheylalanine as a link in their chain, these peptides did not pass through the cell walls.
Barron's group collaborated with Yang's brother, Baylor College of Medicine assistant professor Jianhua Yang at Texas Children’s Cancer Center, and found the Baa-containing peptides could mimick viral proteins and pass through the walls of cancer cells. The peptides were found effective at penetrating the defenses of both liver cancer cells and neuroblastoma cells.
http://media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=9213&SnID=1476741455
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-SPIE Optics + Photonics"> <a class="url" href="http://spie.org/optics-photonics.xml"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20100801">August 1th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20100805">5th, 2010</abbr> <span class="summary">SPIE Optics + Photonics</span>— at <span class="location">San Diego, California, USA</span> </a> <div class="description">For the Latest Research in Solar, Nano, Optical, and Photonics Technologies and Applications</div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-Graphene 2012"> <a class="url" href="http://www.grapheneconf.com"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20120410">April 10th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20120413"> 13th, 2012</abbr> <span class="summary">Graphene 2012</span>— at <span class="location">Brussels, Belgium</span></a>
<div class="description">Graphene 2012 International Conference will be <b>the largest European Event in Graphene</b>. A Plenary session with internationally renowned speakers, extensive thematic workshops in parallel, an important industrial exhibition carried out with the latest Graphene nanotrends for the future will be some of the features of this event.</div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-US-EU bridging nanoEHS research efforts"> <a class="url" href="http://www.nano.gov/html/meetings/us-eu/index.html"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20110310">March 10th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20110311">11th, 2011</abbr> <span class="summary">US-EU bridging nanoEHS research efforts</span>— at <span class="location">Washington, DC, USA</span></a><div class="description">To contribute to the dialogue that will lead to more effective collaboration between US and EU: Engage in an active discussion about Environmental Health and Safety questions for nano-enabled products, Encourage joint programs of work that would leverage resources, Establish communities of practice, including identification of key points of contact / interest groups / themes between key US and EU researchers and key US and EU funding sources for near-term and future collaborations
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-25th Anniversary of Buckminsterfullerene Discovery"> <a class="url" href="http://buckyball.smalley.rice.edu/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20101010">October 10th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20101013">13th, 2010</abbr> <span class="summary">25th Anniversary of Buckminsterfullerene Discovery</span>— at <span class="location">Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA</span> </a> <div class="description">Rice University is celebrating the Buckyball's 25th Birthday with a commemorative celebration and conference. The pivotal discovery of the buckyball marks the birth of nanoscience and nanotechnology on Rice's Campus. This celebration and conference will reunite the members of the research team in a special symposium. Here they ''will reminsce about the discovery and provide insight into the future of carbon nanotechnology''. </div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-NanoDYF 2012"> <a class="url" href="http://www.ifuap.buap.mx/nanopuebla2012/nanodyf12/Simposio_NANODYF.html"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20120611">June 11th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20120620"> 13th, 2012</abbr> <span class="summary">NanoDYF 2012</span>— at <span class="location">Puebla, Mexico</span></a>
<div class="description">NanoDYF 2012 1er. Simposio Iberoamericano de Divulgación y Formación en Nanotecnología </div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-ICNS4"> <a class="url" href="http://icns4.nanosharif.ir/page.asp?id=1"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20120312">March 12th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20120314"> 14th, 2012</abbr> <span class="summary">ICNS4</span>— at <span class="location">Kish Island, Iran</span></a>
<div class="description">ICNS4, <b>the 4th International Conference on Nanostructures</b>. Nanostructures have been at the heart of nanoscience and nanotechnology. They play an important role and make significant contributions to the big challenges of energy, environment, health and sustainability. </div>
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/nanosilver.jpg" title="TEM image of silver nanoparticles in the algicide Algaedyn used for swimming pools" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>Nanosilver is not a new discovery by nanotechnologists – it has been used in various products for over a hundred years, as is shown by a new Empa study. The antimicrobial effects of minute silver particles, which were then known as “colloidal silver”, were known from the earliest days of its use.
Numerous nanomaterials are currently at the focus of public attention. In particular silver nanoparticles are being investigated in detail, both by scientists as well as by the regulatory authorities. The assumption behind this interest is that they are dealing with a completely new substance. However, Empa researchers Bernd Nowack and Harald Krug, together with Murray Heights of the company HeiQ have shown in a paper recently published in the journal «Environmental Science & Technology» that ''nanosilver is by no means the discovery of the 21st century''. Silver particles with diameters of seven to nine nm were mentioned as early as 1889. They were used in medications or as biocides to prevent the growth of bacteria on surfaces, for example in antibacterial water filters or in algaecides for swimming pools.
''The material has always been the same''
The nanoparticles were known as “colloidal silver” in those days, but what was meant was the same then as now – extremely small particles of silver. The only new aspect is the use today of the prefix "nano". "However," according to Bernd Nowack, "nano does not mean something new, and nor does it mean something that is harmful." When "colloidal silver" became available on the market in large quantities in the 1920s it was the topic of numerous studies and subject to appropriate regulation by the authorities. Even in those days the significance of the discovery of nanoparticles and how they worked was realized. "That is not to say that the possible side-effects of nanoparticles on humans and the environment should be played down or ignored," adds Nowack. It is important to characterize in exact detail the material properties of nanosilver and not just to believe unquestioningly the doubts and reservations surrounding the product.
''Nanosilver has different effects than silver''
The term nanoparticle is understood to refer to particles whose dimensions are less than 100 nm. Because of their minute size nanoparticles have different properties than those of larger particles of the same material. For example, for a given volume nanoparticles have a much greater surface area, so they are frequently much more reactive than the bulk material. In addition, even in small quantities nanosilver produces more silver ions than solid silver. These silver ions are toxic to bacteria. Whether or not nanosilver represents a risk to humans and the environment is currently the subject of a great deal of investigation.
''Nanosilver in wastewater treatment plants''
Currently there are hundreds of products in circulation which contain silver nanoparticles. Examples include cosmetics, food packaging materials, disinfectants, cleaning agents and – not least – antibacterial socks and underwear. Every year some 320 tonnes of nanosilver are used worldwide, some of which is released into wastewater, thus finding its way into natural water recirculation systems. What effects solar particles have on rivers, soil and the organisms that live in them has not yet been clarified in detail. [[A commentary by Bernd Nowack|http://www.sciencemag.org/content/330/6007/1054.summary]] in the scientific journal "Science" discusses the implications of the newest studies on nanosilver in sewage treatment plants. More than 90% remains bound in the sewage sludge in the form of silver sulfide, a substance which is extremely insoluble and orders of magnitude less poisonous than free silver ions. It apparently does not matter what the original form of the silver in the wastewater was, whether as metallic nanoparticles, as silver ions in solution or as precipitated insoluble silver salts. "As far as the environmental effects are concerned, it seems that nanosilver in consumer goods is no different than other forms of silver and represents only a minor problem for eco-systems," says Nowack. What is still to be clarified, however, is in what form the unbound silver is present in the treated water released from sewage works, and what happens to the silver sulfide in natural waters. Is this stable and unreactive or is it transformed into other forms of silver? Source: From ''[[At work against microbes for over a century. Nanosilver: a new name – well known effects|http://www.empa.ch/plugin/template/empa/3/103123/---/l=2]]''. This work was detailed in the paper [[“120 Years of Nanosilver History: Implications for Policy Makers”|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es103316q]] by Bernd Nowack, Harald F. Krug, Murray Height<<slider chkSldr [[120 Years of Nanosilver History: Implications for Policy Makers]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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<br>//Nanosilver is one nanomaterial that is currently under a lot of scrutiny. Much of the discussion is based on the assumption that nanosilver is something new that has not been seen until recently and that the advances in nanotechnology opened completely new application areas for silver. However, we show in this analysis that nanosilver in the form of colloidal silver has been used for more than 100 years and has been registered as a biocidal material in the United States since 1954. Fifty-three percent of the EPA-registered biocidal silver products likely contain nanosilver. Most of these nanosilver applications are silver-impregnated water filters, algicides, and antimicrobial additives that do not claim to contain nanoparticles. Many human health standards for silver are based on an analysis of argyria occurrence (discoloration of the skin, a cosmetic condition) from the 1930s and include studies that considered nanosilver materials. The environmental standards on the other hand are based on ionic silver and may need to be re-evaluated based on recent findings that most silver in the environment, regardless of the original silver form, is present in the form of small clusters or nanoparticles. The implications of this analysis for policy of nanosilver is that it would be a mistake for regulators to ignore the accumulated knowledge of our scientific and regulatory heritage in a bid to declare nanosilver materials as new chemicals, with unknown properties and automatically harmful simply on the basis of a change in nomenclature to the term “nano”.//
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-SME Nanomanufacturing Conference"> <a class="url" href="http://www.sme.org/cgi-bin/get-event.pl?--001875-000007-nhome--SME-"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20100414">April 14th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20100415">15th, 2010</abbr> <span class="summary">SME Nanomanufacturing Conference</span>— at <span class="location">Mesa, Arizona</span> </a> <div class="description">Looking to understand what nanotechnology means for you? Need to understand how and why nanotechnology can improve your products, process and may even cut costs? Interested in learning about the latest applications and trends in top-down fabrication and bottom-up assembly techniques? This conference will highlight the current, near-term, and future applications of nanotechnology and how they are transforming the way we manufacture products. Peer networking, information sharing, and technology exchange among the world's nanomanufacturing leaders will be a key feature of the event.</div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-DNA Computing and Molecular Programming (DNA16)"> <a class="url" href="http://dna16.ust.hk"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20100614">June 14th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20100617">17th, 2010</abbr> <span class="summary">DNA Computing and Molecular Programming (DNA16)</span>— at <span class="location">Hong Kong, China</span> </a> <div class="description">Biomolecular computing has emerged as an interdisciplinary field that draws together chemistry, computer science, mathematics, molecular biology, and physics. Our knowledge of DNA nanotechnology and biomolecular computing increases dramatically with every passing year. The international meeting on DNA Computing has been a forum where scientists with different backgrounds, yet sharing a common interest in biomolecular computing, meet and present their latest results. Continuing this tradition, the 14th International Meeting on DNA Computing, under the auspices of the International Society for Nanoscale Science, Computation and Engineering (ISNSCE), will focus on the current theoretical and experimental results with the greatest impact. This annual conference focuses on topics that merge mathematics, computation, biology, and nanotechnology. Some examples are modeling of bionanoscale systems, using DNA oligonucleotides to guide the assembly of nanostructures, and implementing DNA-based computational devices for medical and other applications.</div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-IEEE Nano 2011"> <a class="url" href="http://ieeenano2011.org/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20110815">August 15th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20110818">18th, 2011</abbr> <span class="summary">IEEE Nano 2011</span>— at <span class="location">Portland, Oregon, USA</span></a><div class="description">NANO is the flagship IEEE conference in Nanotechnology, which makes it a must for students, educators, researchers, scientists and engineers alike, working at the interface of nanotechnology and the many fields of electronic materials, photonics, bio-and medical devices, alternative energy, environmental protection, and multiple areas of current and future electrical and electronic applications. In each of these areas, NANO is the conference where practitioners will see nanotechnologies at work in both their own and related fields, from basic research and theory to industrial applications.
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-nano tech 2012"> <a class="url" href="http://www.nanotechexpo.jp/en/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20120215">February 15th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20120209">17th, 2012</abbr> <span class="summary">nano tech 2012</span>— at <span class="location">Tokyo, Japan</span></a>
<div class="description">nano tech International Nanotechnology Exhibition & Conference is <b>the world’s largest nanotechnology fair</b> and an essential event for state-of the-art manufacturing.
With the evolution of nanotechnology, application fields have broadened. Recently, nanotechnology based products and technologies became a key factor for the solution of important issues such as IT & electronics field, medical & health care, biotechnology, environment & energy problems.</div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-NanoBio-Europe 2010"> <a class="url" href="http://www.nanobio-europe.com/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20100615">June 15th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20100617">17th, 2010</abbr> <span class="summary">NanoBio-Europe 2010</span>— at <span class="location">Münster, Germany</span> </a> <div class="description">Nanobiotechnology as one of todays most fascinating and challenging field of research is a multidisciplinary and fast developing research area with revolutionary innovations in almost any field of science and engineering. The NanoBio-Europe Congress is going to present the most recent international developments in the field of nanobiotechnology and is providing a platform for interdisciplinary communication, new cooperations and projects to participants from science and industry. The major focus of the NanoBio-Europe Congress is set on medical applications of nanobio technology, in particular the characterization of cellular processes, machinery and interaction to control, manipulate or manufacture molecules or supramolecular assemblies to improve human health.</div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-Nanotech 2011"> <a class="url" href="http://www.nanotechexpo.jp/en/index.html"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20110216">February 16th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20110218">18th, 2011</abbr> <span class="summary">nano tech 2011</span>— at <span class="location">Tokyo, Japan</span></a><div class="description">At nano tech 2011, visitors will see the whole range of cutting-edge technologies and products that are essential today for modern manufacturing: nano materials, nano fabrication technology, evaluation & measurement, applied nanotech for IT & electronics, biotechnology, and the automotive field. nano tech 2011 will be held together with eight concurrent exhibitions.</div>
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Siemens Foundation announced winners of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology, "revealing the brightest high school minds in contention for the nation’s most coveted teen science prize." The Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology recognizes remarkable talent early on, fostering individual growth for high school students who are willing to challenge themselves through science research. Through this competition, students have an opportunity to achieve national recognition for science research projects that they complete in high school.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/angela_zhang.jpg" title="Angela Zhang. 17-year-old wins 100k for creating cancer-killing nanoparticle" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>//Design of Image-guided, Photo-thermal Controlled Drug Releasing Multifunctional Nanosystem for the Treatment of Cancer Stem Cells - Biochemistry//
MENTOR: [[Dr. Zhen Cheng|http://med.stanford.edu/profiles/radiology/researcher/Zhen_Cheng/]], Stanford University
//“I was surprised by the survival rate of patients who had undergone current cancer therapy.”//
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are responsible for initiating and driving tumor growth yet are often resistant to current cancer therapies. In her research, Angela Zhang aimed to design a CSC-targeted, gold and iron oxide-based nanoparticle with a potential to eradicate these cells through a controlled delivery of the drug salinomycin to the site of the tumor. The multifunctional nanoparticle combines therapy and imaging into a single platform, with the gold and iron-oxide components allowing for both MRI and Photoacoustic imaging. This nanosystem could potentially help overcome cancer resistance, minimize undesirable side effects, and allow for real-time monitoring of treatment efficacy.
Angela, a senior, is interested in nanomedicine and molecular imaging because they allow her “to transform my interests in physics, chemistry, and biology into solutions for current health problems.” She won the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2011 Grand Award and the ISEF 2010 Grand Award (both for medicine and health science), and a trip to attend the Taiwan International Science Fair awarded by the National Taiwan Science Education Center. Angela planned and executed a fundraiser that raised over $5,000 a year for the Monta Vista Interact International Night and has participated in the Jade Ribbon Youth Council to raise awareness about Hepatitis B. She plays golf and the piano and would like to major in chemical or biomedical engineering or physics. She was a 2010 Siemens Competition Regional Finalist who put in 1,000 hours on her current project. Angela hopes to become a research professor. Source: From [[2011 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology|http://www.siemens-foundation.org/en/competition/2011_winners.htm#1]]
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-EuroScience-Open-Forum-ESOF-2008"> <a class="url" href="http://www.euroscience.org/ESOF/esof2008.htm"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20080718">July 18th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20080723">22th, 2008</abbr> <span class="summary">EuroScience Open Forum ESOF 2008</span>— at <span class="location">Barcelona</span> </a> <div class="description">Euroscience Open Forum is a biennial event which seeks to showcase European achievements right across the scientific spectrum and serves as an open forum for debates on science-related issues and also as a showcase for European and International research. Through ESOF, researchers and scientists, as well as the general public, are provided with an adequate platform for exchanging views and discussing the challenges and consequences of scientific developments around the world. Barcelona has been selected to host ESOF in 2008 and, thus, deserves the tribute as Europe’s “City of Science” for that year. </div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-NanoBio - Europe"> <a class="url" href="http://nanobio-europe-2012.jrc.ec.europa.eu/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20120618">June 18th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20120620"> 20th, 2012</abbr> <span class="summary">NanoBio - Europe</span>— at <span class="location">Varese, Italy</span></a>
<div class="description">The 8th NanoBio-Europe conference will showcase the <b>latest international developments in nanobiotechnology</b>, and providing a platform to facilitate interdisciplinary communications, new collaborations for delegates from academic, industrial and clinical backgrounds.</div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-IUTOX-2010"> <a class="url" href="http://gestion.pacifico-meetings.com/www/iutox2010/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20100719">July 19th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20100723">23th, 2010</abbr> <span class="summary">IUTOX-2010, the XII International Congress of Toxicology</span>— at <span class="location">Barcelona, Catalunya, España</span> </a> <div class="description">The Spanish Association of Toxicology (AETOX) and EUROTOX in the name of the International Union of Toxicology (IUTOX), invite you to participate in IUTOX-2010. The Congress will encourage the interaction between Academia, Industry, Regulators, Expert in Human (clinical and epidemiology) and Environmental Toxicology. Chemical Safety is increasingly requiring integrated and translational approaches to get successful possibilities of innovative application of the results of research and development based on added values with safety to human health and the environment. </div>
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<div class="vevent"i d="hcalendar-Nanotech 2012 Conference and Expo"> <a class="url" href="http://www.techconnectworld.com/Nanotech2012/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20120618">June 18th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20120621">June 21th, 2012</abbr> <span class="summary">Nanotech 2012 Conference and Expo</span>— at <span class="location">Santa Clara, California</span></a><div class="description">"The world’s largest nanotechnology event, Nanotech 2012, delivers application-focused research from the top international academic, government and private industry labs. Thousands of leading researchers, scientists, engineers and technology developers participate in Nanotech to identify new technology trends, development tools, product opportunities, R&D collaborations, and commercialization partners. Join the global community that has been working together for over 15 years to integrate nanotechnology into industry with a focus on scale, safety and cost-effectiveness."
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-BCNano'11"> <a class="url" href="http://www.ccit.ub.edu/w3/wcat/hom/hom_0000.htm"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20110919">September 19th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20110923">September 23th, 2011</abbr> <span class="summary">BCNano'11</span>— at <span class="location">Barcelona, Spain</span></a><div class="description">BCNano11 goal is two-fold: first of all, we want this meeting to be the right spot to learn about nanotechnology, both from the university and industry point of view. Second, and thanks to debate forums, hands-on practical demos and poster sessions, we intend BCNano11 to be a generator of scientific relationships between researchers and also between industry and academia. Because the future of Nanotechnology relies on both of them.
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-BioNanoMed 2010"> <a class="url" href="http://www.bionanomed.at/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20101102">November 2th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20101103">3th, 2010</abbr> <span class="summary">BioNanoMed 2010</span>— at <span class="location">Krems, Austria</span> </a> <div class="description">Nanotechnology: New frontiers in Medicine & Biology. The aim of BioNanoMed 2010, 2nd International Congress, is to bring together clinical physicians, nanoscientists with a background of physics, biology, pharmacology, engineering or material science, industry experts as well as technology transfer and education institutions, governmental and non-governmental institutions in the field of life science to discuss current, emerging and future trends of the converging fields of Nanotechnology, Biotechnology and Medicine. </div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-ICONSAT-2012"> <a class="url" href="http://www.iconsat2012.com/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20120120">January 20th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20120124">24th, 2012</abbr> <span class="summary">ICONSAT-2012</span>— at <span class="location">Hyderabad, India</span></a>
<div class="description">The International Conference On NanoScience And Technology (ICONSAT) was conducted every alternate year since 2003, primarily motivated by the desire <b>to promote scientific exchange between experts in India and abroad</b> in the area of nanoscience and technology. ICONSAT - 2012 is the fifth in the above series of international conferences and comes at a time when nanoscience and technology is on the upswing and the varied Nano Mission initiatives are beginning to bear fruit.</div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-NanoAgri 2010"> <a class="url" href="http://www.nanoagri2010.com/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20100620">June 20th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20100625">25th, 2010</abbr> <span class="summary">NanoAgri 2010</span>— at <span class="location">São Pedro, SP, Brazil</span> </a> <div class="description">I International Conference on Food and Agriculture Applications of Nanotechnologies. New and emerging applications of nanotechnologies in food and agriculture and issues related to their use will be the focus of this Conference. In addition to exploring relevant scientific and technological advances, the Conference will also seek to highlight areas of research with the greatest potential to benefit society.</div>
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Nanotechnology in Cosmetics!
These days we are debating if nanoparticles in sunblock and toothpaste are safe. The ancient Greeks and Romans didn't know about such things - but they already used nanotechnology in their cosmetics. An ancient dyeing process for blacking hair is a remarkable illustration of synthetic nanoscale biomineralization.... http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/8233/
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We cordially invite you to attend the closing ceremony of the 2011 UCLA Sci|Art NanoLab “Imagine the Impossible” summer program and see the efforts of these bright young minds come to fruition. The event will begin promptly at 10 am PST in the CNSI auditorium. If you are unable to attend in person, please feel free to view the event online by visiting the following link:
''Video stream at 10:00 am, Friday, July 1st
http://cnsi.ctrl.ucla.edu/streaming/art-sci-live''
The Sci|Art NanoLab is a highly competitive summer program for high school juniors and seniors interested in collaborating with diverse and notable minds to challenge traditional, polarized perspectives of the arts and sciences. Sponsored by UCLA's ART|SCI Center, Department of Design | Media Arts and the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) , the Sci|Art NanoLab focuses on multi-disciplinary collaborations exploring the possibilities and implications of scientific and technological innovation. Throughout the 2-week intensive program, students have made connections between cutting edge scientific research, popular culture and contemporary arts. Lab visits, workshops, hands-on experiments, and meetings with world renowned scientists are balanced with visits to museums, daily movie screenings and meetings with famous contemporary artists who collaborate with scientists. As part of the program curriculum, students have be asked to develop an original concept for a collaborative project under the general guidelines of ‘Imagine the Impossible’. With the assistance skill workshops and the knowledge base of the Sci|Art Team, groups of students will deliver their final multimedia presentations during the closing ceremony on July 1st.
For more information on the program, please visit: http://artsci.ucla.edu/summer
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Via [[Roger Malina]]
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-Nanotech 2010"> <a class="url" href="http://www.techconnectworld.com/Nanotech2010/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20100621">June 21th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20100625">25th, 2010</abbr> <span class="summary">Nanotech 2010</span>— at <span class="location">Anaheim, California</span> </a> <div class="description">Uniting innovators to bring nanotechnology from laboratory to marketplace. Nanotech 2010 brings together over 5,000 technology and business leaders and experts from academia, government, startups and Fortune 1,000 companies. </div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-NanoBio Europe 2011"> <a class="url" href="http://www.nisenet.org/nanodays/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20110621">June 21th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20110623">June 23th, 2011</abbr> <span class="summary">7th NanoBio Europe conference</span>— at <span class="location">Cork, Ireland</span></a><div class="description">Nanobiotechnology is one of the most fascinating and challenging fields of research and development. It is highly multidisciplinary, involving research from all scientific and engineering disciplines, together with relevant clinical expertise as applicable. As such, nanobiotechnology provides great opportunities for innovation through converging of knowledge in materials, photonics, electronics, biology and medicine, with technology-driven and application-driven approaches combining. The major focus of the NanoBio-Europe Congress is on medical applications of nanobiotechnology, in which nanotechnology enabled devices and systems which should provide the basis for better, more accessible healthcare with improved outcomes for patients.
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar- Inaugural Conference of the American Society for Nanomedicine"> <a class="url" href="http://www.amsocnanomed.org/conference_info.php"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20091022">October 22th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20091025">25th, 2009</abbr> <span class="summary">Inaugural Conference of the American Society for Nanomedicine</span>— at <span class="location">Potomac, Maryland, USA</span> </a> <div class="description">The areas of emphasis are clinical applications of nanotechnology enabling successful vaccine development, effective cancer therapy and novel treatment for neurological disorders. In addition, issues such as ethics, safety and toxicity, patent law, intellectual property, and commercialization will be addressed. </div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-NanoSpain 2010"> <a class="url" href="http://www.nanospainconf.org/2010/index.php?conf=10"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20100323">March 23th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20100326">26th, 2010</abbr> <span class="summary">NanoSpain 2010</span>— at <span class="location">Malaga</span> </a> <div class="description">In 2008, Spain, Portugal and France (through their respective networks NanoSpain, PortugalNano and C'Nano GSO) decided to join efforts in order that NanoSpain events facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and promote interdisciplinary discussions not only in Spain but among the different groups from Southern Europe. Other objectives will also be to enhance industrial participation and permit considering the situation of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in the south of Europe. The NanoSpain2010 edition will be organised in Malaga (Spain) - to emphasise the importance at the Spanish and European level of the launch of the Centre for Research in Nanomedicine and Biotechnology, Bionand.</div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-4th European-Conference for Clinical Nanomedicine (CLINAM 2011)"> <a class="url" href="http://www.clinam.org/conference.html"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20110523">May 23th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20110525">25th, 2011</abbr> <span class="summary">4th European-Conference for Clinical Nanomedicine (CLINAM 2011)</span>— at <span class="location">Basel, Switzerland</span></a><div class="description">The Great Strides towards the Medicine of the Future. The European Joint Conference for Nanomedicine CLINAM 2011 reveals the limits and horizon of the promises of nanomedical tools, techniques, and materials in the context of prevalent and unsolved medical problems. The conference starts with the clinicians, reporting unsolved problems in a variety of medical disciplines. Based on these reports nanoscience-based technologies for solving these problems will be discussed.
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-Graphene Week 2011"> <a class="url" href="http://www.esf.org/activities/esf-conferences/details/2011/confdetail350.html"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20110424">April 24th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20110429">29th, 2011</abbr> <span class="summary">Graphene Week 2011</span>— at <span class="location">Innsbruck, Austria</span></a>
<div class="description">The Graphene Week 2011 conference will be devoted to the science and technology of graphene, advances in its growth and chemical processing, manufacturing graphene-based devices and studies of electronic transport, investigation of physical properties using ARPES, STM and AFM, emerging applications of this new material. It will also address studies of optical properties of graphene and their applications in optoelectronics, graphene manufacturing by mechanical and chemical exfoliation, synthesis on SiC, and growth on metals and semiconductors.
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-Third International NanoBio Conference 2010"> <a class="url" href="http://www.nanobio.ethz.ch/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20100824">August 24th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20100827">27th, 2010</abbr> <span class="summary">Third International NanoBio Conference 2010</span>— at <span class="location">Zurich, Switzerland</span> </a> <div class="description">Nanobiotechnology is the discipline of the future that is taking over the role of being the motor of economic growth from information technology. Biology is inherently nano. Just think of a cell, which is a warehouse of structures and functional units that are finely harmonized on the nanometer scale. The new tools of nanotechnology allow us to address biological and medical problems with unprecedented accuracy and sensitivity because now it has become possible to interact with the bio-world at the length scale at which it operates. New intelligent drug delivery vehicles, novel nanobiosensors, nanomedical imaging tools and other nanobio-devices, and new nanostructured biomaterials are expected to speed up quantitative biological and medical research, boost our diagnostic capabilities, and increase the length and quality of our lives. At the same time nanostructures inspired by nature or created using biological processes are expected to reduce the production costs of new nanodevices making them accessible for the public.</div>
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<div class="vevent"i d="hcalendar-NanoDays 2012"> <a class="url" href="http://www.nisenet.org/nanodays/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20120324">March 24th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20120401">April 1th, 2012</abbr> <span class="summary">NanoDays 2012</span>— at <span class="location">U.S.A.</span></a><div class="description">NanoDays is part of a nationwide festival of educational programs about nanoscale science and engineering. NanoDays is organized by the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net). This community event is the largest public outreach effort in nanoscale informal science education and involves science museums, research centers, and universities from Puerto Rico to Alaska.
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-First International Workshop on Nanomedicine"> <a class="url" href="http://www.etp-nanomedicine.eu/public/news-events/news/first-international-workshop-on-nanomedicine"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20100426">April 26th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20100427">27th, 2010</abbr> <span class="summary">First International Workshop on Nanomedicine</span>— at <span class="location">Canary Wharf, London</span> </a> <div class="description">The workshop is intended to be a platform involving scientists, regulators (European Commission, US Food and Drug Administration, Health Canada, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) and pharmaceutical industry active in application of nanotechnologies to pharmaceuticals. The objective is to have a discussion on identified issues and emerging science aspects, which may provide directions for future developments and regulatory considerations for nanomedicines.</div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-Nanosafety Congress-Turkey"> <a class="url" href="http://www.nanolinenturkey.org/v1/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20120426">April 26th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20120428"> 28th, 2012</abbr> <span class="summary">Nanosafety Congress-Turkey</span>— at <span class="location">Kemer-Antalya, Turkey</span></a>
<div class="description">Nanosafety Congress-Turkey<b> Workshop on the Safety Assessment of Nanomaterials: New Paradigms and Workshop on Genotoxicity Tests to Assess Human Toxicity</b>. The congress will be organized by NanoLINEN with contribution of two of the largest FP7 projects on nanosafety field, MARINA and NanoValid </div>
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<img src="http://www.nisenet.org/sites/default/files/nd_logo_3.full%20right%20sidebar.jpg"/><div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-NanoDays"> <a class="url" href="http://www.nisenet.org/nanodays/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20110326">March 26th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20110403">April 3th, 2011</abbr> <span class="summary">NanoDays</span>— at <span class="location">U.S.A.</span></a><div class="description">NanoDays is our nationwide festival of educational programs about nanoscale science and engineering and its potential impact on the future. NanoDays events are organized by participants in the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network, and take place at over 200 science museums, research centers, and universities across the country
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-NanoIsrael 2012"> <a class="url" href="http://www2.kenes.com/nano/pages/home.aspx"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20120326">March 26th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20120327"> 27th, 2012</abbr> <span class="summary">NanoIsrael 2012</span>— at <span class="location">Tel Aviv, Israel</span></a>
<div class="description">Israel is renowned for its achievements in innovation. Join us to meet the top people on the scientific and business fronts from Israel and abroad presenting cutting-edge technologies, leading scientific achievements and unique business opportunities </div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-The International GENNESYS Congress on Nanotechnology and Research Infrastructures"> <a class="url" href="http://www.gennesys2010.eu/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20100426">May 26th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20100427">28th, 2010</abbr> <span class="summary">The International GENNESYS Congress on Nanotechnology and Research Infrastructures</span>— at <span class="location">Barcelona</span> </a> <div class="description">The GENNESYS Congress will also make key recommendations on how to structure and organize nanomaterials development in Europe and to promote a new culture in the world of nanomaterials in which research-discoveries will smoothly be transferred into industrial innovations by human-resource networks around modern research infrastructure platforms.</div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-Foundations of Nanoscience 2010"> <a class="url" href="http://www.cs.duke.edu/~reif/FNANO/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20100427">April 27th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20100430">30th, 2010</abbr> <span class="summary">Foundations of Nanoscience (FNANO10)</span>— at <span class="location">Snowbird, Utah</span> </a> <div class="description">Foundations of Nanoscience is a yearly conference on foundations of nanoscience, maintaining the highest scientific standards. Self-assembly is the central theme of the conference. Topics include self-assembled architectures and devices, at scales ranging from nano-scale to meso-scale. Methodologies include both experimental as well as theoretical approaches. The conference spans traditional disciplines including chemistry, biochemistry, physics, computer science, mathematics, and various engineering disciplines including MEMS. Also a Co-located NSF Workshop on DNA Origami is being organized for April 26, 2010</div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-NanoSpain 2012"> <a class="url" href="http://www.nanospainconf.org/2012/index.php?conf=12"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20120227">February 27th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20120301"> March 1th, 2012</abbr> <span class="summary">NanoSpain 2012</span>— at <span class="location">Santander, Spain</span></a>
<div class="description">In 2008, Spain, Portugal and France (through their respective networks NanoSpain, PortugalNano and C'Nano GSO) decided to join efforts in order that <b>NanoSpain events facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and promote interdisciplinary discussions not only in Spain but among the different groups from Southern Europe</b>.
Other objectives will also be to enhance industrial participation and permit considering the situation of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in the south of Europe.</div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-Open Day on Nanotechnologies"> <a class="url" href="http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/ict/key_technologies/openday-nanotech_en.htm"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20101027">October 27th</abbr> —<span class="summary">Open Day on Nanotechnologies</span>— at <span class="location">Brussels, Belgium, EU</span> </a> <div class="description">EU Commission Open Day on Nanotechnologies. “The development of nanotechnologies in and from Europe for more societal benefits” is the topic of an open workshop organized by the EU Commission High Level Group on Key Enabling Technologies.</div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-Nanotech Europe 2009"> <a class="url" href="http://www.nanotech.net"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20090928">September 28th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20090930">30th, 2009</abbr> <span class="summary">Nanotech Europe 2009</span>— at <span class="location">Berlin</span> </a> <div class="description">Europe's largest annual nanotechnology conference and exhibition, Nanotech Europe takes place on 28th - 30th September 2009 in Berlin, Germany. Nanotech Europe is an event for nanotechnology professionals, with an interest in research or taking that research to market. The fifth Nanotech Europe offers a broad, interdisciplinary overview of nanotechnology, and the opportunity to meet and discuss with others in the nanotechnology community.</div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-Open Science Summit 2010"> <a class="url" href="http://opensciencesummit.com/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20100729">July 29th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20100731">31th, 2010</abbr> <span class="summary">Open Science Summit 2010</span>— at <span class="location">Berkeley, California, USA</span> </a> <div class="description">Renowned physicist Freeman Dyson identifies two kinds of scientific revolutions, those driven by new concepts (theoretical), and those driven by new tools (technological). To this classification of scientific revolutions, we can now add a third kind, an Organizational Revolution, the advent of a truly “Open Science,” which will profoundly affect the pace and character of subsequent theory and tool-driven paradigm shifts. The 21st century is off to a rocky start, and as economic and ecological crises converge, there is no shortage of dire predictions. On the other hand, politicians and pundits point to the expectation that Science and Technology will let humanity invent its way out of the problems we’ve created. This rosy outlook ignores a deep crisis that has been brewing and could hamstring our innovative capacity when we most urgently need it.</div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-MINM 2010"> <a class="url" href="http://www.cmrdi.sci.eg/minm2010"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20101129">November 29th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20101202">December 2th, 2010</abbr> <span class="summary">Materials imperatives in the new millenium</span>— at <span class="location">Cairo, Egypt</span> </a> <div class="description">Materials are essential for the economic growth of any country. They provide support to the down-stream industries and the entire industrial development of the nation. Maximization of the use of materials would result in an increase of the added value as new products could be obtained from the materials and its processing intermediates. During the last two decades, new technologies have been developed in the areas of material processing which allow its utilization in advanced applications. However, the intermediates require further purification to produce advanced materials for advanced industrial applications. Scientific collaboration among scientists from a variety of disciplines can help in better understanding of the material processing and utilization. R&D should focus on developing cost effective techniques to develop and utilize materials for solving the problems facing the world during the new millennium such as energy, environment, climate change, food and water supply. On the regional level, Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute (CMRDI) being a base of the Arab Association of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology, will arrange during the conference a regional meeting of the association to identify areas of the mutual cooperation between members and non-member countries, consequently the conference will be a good forum for coordination of joint efforts.</div>
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In his project, “High Efficient 3-Dimensional Nanotube Solar Cell for Visible and UV Light,” William Yuan (12-year-old) invented ''a novel solar panel that enables [[light absorption from visible to ultraviolet light|Nanoantennas: the next generation of solar energy collectors]]''. He designed carbon nanotubes to overcome the barriers of electron movement, doubling the light-electricity conversion efficiency. William also developed a model for solar towers and a computer program to simulate and optimize the tower parameters. //His optimized design provides 500 times more light absorption than commercially-available solar cells and nine times more than the cutting-edge, three-dimensional solar cell//.
Since 2005, William has been involved in the [[First Lego League|nano quest]] ([[FLL|nanoquest competition lego 2006]]), which led him to research renewable energy and nanotechnology. During his research and community outreach, William //realized the importance of renewable energy for future generations and began to focus his research on solar cells//.
Source: [[2008 Davidson Fellow Laureates|http://presskit.ditd.org/2008_Davidson_Fellows_Press_Kit/2008_DF_William_Yuan.pdf]]. "Davidson Fellows scholarships recognize young people under the age of 18 for completing a significant piece of work that has the potential to make a positive contribution to society in one of the following areas: science, technology, mathematics, music, literature, philosophy, or any other graduate-level work considered outside the box. [[The Davidson Institute|http://www.davidsongifted.org/]] mission is to recognize, nurture and support profoundly intelligent young people and to provide opportunities for them to develop their talents to make a positive difference."
A new X-ray microscope can look at nanomaterials in three dimensions.
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Transmission electron microscopy (TEM)</a></html> has traditionally been used to study nanomaterials, but because electrons do not penetrate far into materials, the sample preparation procedure is usually complicated and destructive. Furthermore, TEM only gives two-dimensional images.
The new method shines a powerful X-ray source onto a nanoparticle and collects the X-rays scattered from the sample. Then computers construct a three-dimensional image from that data. The microscope can resolve details down to 17 nanometers, or a few atoms across.
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-EuroNanoForum 2011"> <a class="url" href="http://www.euronanoforum2011.eu/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20110530">May 30th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20110601">June 1th, 2011</abbr> <span class="summary">EuroNanoForum 2011</span>— at <span class="location">Budapest, Hungary</span></a><div class="description">EuroNanoForum is a biannual event supported by the European Commission and organised within the framework of the Presidency of the European Union. For the first time, EuroNanoForum is joining forces with another leading European nanotechnology event, <a href="http://www.nanotech.net/">Nanotech Europe</a>, to provide a single meeting point for the whole nanotechnology community. The event will cover the whole life cycle of nanotechnology, from basic research to nanotechnology-enabled products. In addition to a full conference programme, a matchmaking programme and exhibition will maximize opportunities for networking.
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Printing three dimensional objects with incredibly fine details is now possible using “two-photon lithography”. With this technology, ''tiny structures on a nanometer scale can be fabricated''. Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) have now made a major breakthrough in speeding up this printing technique: The high-precision-3D-printer at TU Vienna is orders of magnitude faster than similar devices (see video). This opens up completely new areas of application, such as in medicine.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/3dPrinterInLab.jpg" title="Jan Torgersen (l) and Peter Gruber (r) with 3D printer in lab" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>''The 3D printer uses a liquid resin, which is hardened at precisely the correct spots by a focused laser beam''. The focal point of the laser beam is guided through the resin by movable mirrors and leaves behind a polymerized line of solid polymer, just a few hundred nanometers wide. This high resolution enables the creation of intricately structured sculptures as tiny as a grain of sand. “Until now, this technique used to be quite slow”, says Professor Jürgen Stampfl from the Institute of Materials Science and Technology at the TU Vienna. “The printing speed used to be measured in millimeters per second – our device can do five meters in one second.” In two-photon lithography, this is a world record.
This amazing progress was made possible by combining several new ideas. “It was crucial to improve the control mechanism of the mirrors”, says Jan Torgersen (TU Vienna). The mirrors are continuously in motion during the printing process. The acceleration and deceleration-periods have to be tuned very precisely to achieve high-resolution results at a record-breaking speed.
3D-printing is not all about mechanics – chemists had a crucial role to play in this project too. “The resin contains molecules, which are activated by the laser light. They induce a chain reaction in other components of the resin, so-called monomers, and turn them into a solid”, says Jan Torgersen. These initiator molecules are only activated if they absorb two photons of the laser beam at once – and this only happens in the very center of the laser beam, where the intensity is highest. In contrast to conventional 3D-printing techniques, solid material can be created anywhere within the liquid resin rather than on top of the previously created layer only. Therefore, the working surface does not have to be specially prepared before the next layer can be produced (see Video), which saves a lot of time. A team of chemists led by Professor Robert Liska (TU Vienna) developed the suitable initiators for this special resin.
''Researchers all over the world are working on 3D printers today'' – at universities as well as in industry. “Our competitive edge here at the Vienna University of Technology comes from the fact that we have experts from very different fields, working on different parts of the problem, at one single university”, Jürgen Stampfl emphasizes. In materials science, process engineering or the optimization of light sources, there are experts working together and coming up with mutually stimulating ideas.
Because of the dramatically increased speed, much larger objects can now be created in a given period of time. This makes two-photon-lithography an interesting technique for industry. At the TU Vienna, scientists are now developing bio-compatible resins for medical applications. They can be used to create [[scaffolds|First synthetic organ transplant]] to which living cells can attach themselves facilitating the systematic creation of biological tissues. The 3d printer could also be used to create tailor made construction parts for biomedical technology or nanotechnology. Source: From [[3D-Printer with Nano-Precision|http://www.tuwien.ac.at/en/news/news_detail/article/7444/]]. Ultra-high-resolution 3D Printer Breaks Speed-Records at Vienna University of Technology.
''Context:''
March 10, 2012. ''[[The future of U.S. manufacturing: Nanotech, 3D printing, and self-aware factories|http://wp.me/p1re2-1Gu1]]''. Vivek Wadhwa, WashingtonPost.com.
January 29, 2012. ''[[Will 3D printers lead toward nanofactories?|http://www.foresight.org/nanodot/?p=4946]]''. Foresight Institute, James Lewis.
December, 2010. ''[[Factory@Home|http://web.mae.cornell.edu/lipson/FactoryAtHome.pdf]]'' by Hod Lipson and Melba Kurman. The Emerging Economy of Personal Manufacturing. A report commissioned by the US Office of Science and Technology Policy
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-Bionanotechnology III"> <a class="url" href="http://www.biochemistry.org/tabid/379/MeetingNo/SA121/view/Conference/default.aspx"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20120104">January 4th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20120106">6th, 2012</abbr> <span class="summary">Bionanotechnology III</span>— at <span class="location">Cambridge, United Kingdom</span></a>
<div class="description">Bionanotechnology III: from biomolecular assembly to applications. This meeting, the third in the series, brings together an international set of speakers who will discuss a broad range of topics in bionanotechnology from different perspectives and with different technical approaches.<br><br>Topics: Large natural and designed assemblies, Single-molecule studies, Nanomaterials and devices in vitro, Nanomaterials and devices in vivo, Biomolecular self-assembly
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<div class="vevent"i d="hcalendar-Graphene Week 2012"> <a class="url" href="http://www.graphene-week.eu/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20120604">June 4th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20120408">June 8th, 2012</abbr> <span class="summary">Graphene Week 2012</span>— at <span class="location">Delft, The Netherlands</span></a><div class="description">Sixth International Conference on the Fundamental Science of Graphene and Applications of Graphene-Based Devices. The sixth Graphene Week Conference will be devoted to the science and technology of graphene (atomically thin graphitic films – monolayers, bilayers, trilayers), investigation of its physical properties, advances in its growth and chemical processing, manufacturing graphene-based devices, and emerging applications of this new material.
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-Nanofair 2010"> <a class="url" href="http://www.nanofair.com/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20100706">July 6th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20100707">7th, 2010</abbr> <span class="summary">Nanofair 2010 - 8th International Nanotechnology Symposium</span>— at <span class="location">Dresden, Germany</span> </a> <div class="description">Nanofair is, since 2002, the most established conference on nanotechnology in Europe and will provide a forum for presenting current research results and for the exchange of ideas and information between researchers, scientists and engineers from industry, research laboratories and universities. The focus for this year’s conference will be on all kinds of material aspects, for instance functional nanocomposites, nanomaterials for energy applications or nanoanalytica methods.</div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-TNT2009 Trends in NanoTechnology"> <a class="url" href="http://www.tntconf.org/2009/index.php?conf=09"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20090907">September 7th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20090911">11th, 2009</abbr> <span class="summary">TNT2009 Trends in NanoTechnology</span>— at <span class="location">Barcelona</span> </a> <div class="description">The TNT2009 edition (September 07-11, 2009) will take place in Barcelona in particular to emphasise the importance at the Spanish and European level of the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology activity of the Catalonian region.This high-level scientific meeting series aims to present a broad range of current research in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology as well as related policies (European Commission, etc.) or other kind of initiatives (nanoGUNE, FinNano, GDR-I, etc.). </div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-Magnetic Nanostructures"> <a class="url" href="http://www.nanobio.ethz.ch/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20100808">August 8th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20100813">13th, 2010</abbr> <span class="summary">Magnetic Nanostructures</span>— at <span class="location">Bates College,
Lewiston, Maine, USA</span> </a> <div class="description">This conference will be a forum for discussion of spin-dependent and magnetic phenomena in condensed matter systems with nanoscale dimensions. The field of magnetic nanostructures encompasses a wide variety of topics. Spintronics continues to be a prominent area of interest, but many other areas of nanomagnetism will also be included. Previous conferences have included presentations on molecular magnets, biomagnetism, new routes to high density magnetic recording media and magnetic logic devices, spin torque induced dynamics, the manipulation of magnetism by electrical fields, multiferroic materials, spin injection into semiconductors, the spin Hall effect, magnetic nanoparticles and nanowires, magnetostrictive devices, ultrafast magnetization dynamics, domain wall motion, spin wave excitations, optical and scanning probe spin manipulation, and nanoscale magnetic imaging.</div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-National Nanotechnology Innovation Summit"> <a class="url" href="http://www.nsti.org/events/NNI/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20101208">December 8th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20101210">10th, 2010</abbr> <span class="summary">National Nanotechnology Innovation Summit</span>— at <span class="location">Washington, USA</span> </a> <div class="description">The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) will celebrate its tenth anniversary with the National Nanotechnology Innovation Summit. "Don't miss this once in a decade gathering of the nation’s top Funding Agencies, Innovators and Investors at the National Nanotechnology Innovation Summit. Join the Nation’s top nanotech leaders showcasing their successes and discussing strategic insights into Nanotechnology challenges and opportunities."</div>
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-BfR-Conference on Nanosilver"> <a class="url" href="http://www.bfr.bund.de/en/event/bfr_conference_on_nanosilver-128143.html"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20120208">February 8th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20120209">9th, 2012</abbr> <span class="summary">BfR-Conference on Nanosilver</span>— at <span class="location">Germany</span></a>
<div class="description">The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) is holding <b>a scientific conference on the health risk assessment of nanosilver</b>. The aim of the conference is to provide an overview of the current scientific state regarding the production and application of nanosilver in consumer products and food. </div>
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Researchers demonstrate a new solar cell technology: ''How To Make a Solar Cell with Donuts and Tea''.
"It turns out these delicious little things contain everything we need to make a simple solar cell," said [[Blake Farrow|http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/03/donutsolar/]], a Canadian scientist who filmed the video while visiting [[Prashant Kamat’s lab|http://www.nd.edu/~pkamat/]] at the University of Notre Dame.
Notre Dame’s YouTube Channel
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="http://newscenter.lbl.gov/wp-content/uploads/nanorope.jpg" title="Berkeley Lab scientists have developed a nanoscale rope that braids itself, as seen in this atomic force microscopy image of the structure at a resolution of one-millionth of a meter" class="photo" width="50%"/></html> ''Scientists have coaxed polymers to braid themselves into wispy nanoscale ropes that approach the structural complexity of biological materials.''
Their work is the latest development in the push to develop self-assembling nanoscale materials that mimic the intricacy and functionality of nature’s handiwork, but which are rugged enough to withstand harsh conditions such as heat and dryness.
Although still early in the development stage, their research could lead to new applications that combine the best of both worlds. Perhaps they’ll be used as scaffolds to guide the construction of nanoscale wires and other structures. Or perhaps they’ll be used to develop drug-delivery vehicles that target disease at the molecular scale, or to develop molecular sensors and sieve-like devices that separate molecules from one another.
Specifically, the scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) created the conditions for synthetic polymers called polypeptoids to assemble themselves into ever more complicated structures: first into sheets, then into stacks of sheets, which in turn roll up into double helices that resemble a rope measuring only 600 nanometers in diameter (a nanometer is a billionth of a meter).
“This hierarchichal self assembly is the hallmark of biological materials such as collagen, but designing synthetic structures that do this has been a major challenge,” says Ron Zuckermann, who is the Facility Director of the Biological Nanostructures Facility in Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry.
In addition, unlike normal polymers, the scientists can control the atom-by-atom makeup of the ropy structures. They can also engineer helices of specific lengths and sequences. This “tunability” opens the door for the development of synthetic structures that mimic biological materials’ ability to carry out incredible feats of precision, such as homing in on specific molecules.
“Nature uses exact length and sequence to develop highly functional structures. An antibody can recognize one form of a protein over another, and we’re trying to mimic this,” adds Zuckermann.
Zuckermann and colleagues conducted the research at The Molecular Foundry, which is one of the five DOE Nanoscale Science Research Centers premier national user facilities for interdisciplinary research at the nanoscale.
The scientists worked with chains of bioinspired polymers called a peptoids. Peptoids are structures that mimic peptides, which nature uses to form proteins, the workhorses of biology. Instead of using peptides to build proteins, however, the scientists are striving to use peptoids to build synthetic structures that behave like proteins.
The team started with a block copolymer, which is a polymer composed of two or more different monomers.
“Simple block copolymers self assemble into nanoscale structures, but we wanted to see how the detailed sequence and functionality of bioinspired units could be used to make more complicated structures,” says Rachel Segalman, a faculty scientist at Berkeley Lab and professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at University of California, Berkeley.
With this in mind, the peptoid pieces were robotically synthesized, processed, and then added to a solution that fosters self assembly.
''The result was a variety of self-made shapes and structures, with the braided helices being the most intriguing.'' The hierarchical structure of the helix, and its ability to be manipulated atom-by-atom, means that it could be used as a template for mineralizing complex structures on a nanometer scale.
“The idea is to assemble structurally complex structures at the nanometer scale with minimal input,” says Hannah Murnen. She adds that the scientists next hope is to capitalize on the fact that they have minute control over the structure’s sequence, and explore how very small chemical changes alter the helical structure.
Says Zuckermann, “These braided helices are one of the first forays into making atomically defined block copolymers. The idea is to take something we normally think of as plastic, and enable it to adopt structures that are more complex and capable of higher function, such as molecular recognition, which is what proteins do really well.” Source: [[A Nanoscale Rope, and Another Step Toward Complex Nanomaterials That Assemble Themselves|http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stories/2011/01/18/nanoscale-rope/]]. This work was detailed in the paper [[“Hierarchical Self-Assembly of a Biomimetic Diblock Copolypeptoid into Homochiral Superhelices”|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja106340f]] by Hannah K. Murnen, Adrianne M. Rosales, Jonathan N. Jaworski, Rachel A. Segalman, and Ronald N. Zuckermann <<slider chkSldr [[Hierarchical Self-Assembly of a Biomimetic Diblock Copolypeptoid into Homochiral Superhelices]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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Access on the web at no charge in 2007
The inaugural issue of ACS Nano was released online August 14, 2007. During 2007, the journal is available on the web at no charge. Go to the web site now: http://www.acsnano.org
The first issue of ACS Nano features articles presenting the latest findings from the research groups of Drs. David Allara, Hongjie Dai, and Prashant Kamat, along with a conversation with Nobel Laureate Heinrich Rohrer and a special editorial by ~Editor-in-Chief Paul S.
Weiss.
ACS Nano is a new international forum for the communication of comprehensive articles on nanoscience and nanotechnology research at the interfaces of chemistry, biology, materials science, physics, and engineering. Moreover, the journal helps facilitate communication among scientists from all these research communities in developing new research opportunities, advancing the field through new discoveries, and reaching out to scientists at all levels.
In addition to comprehensive, original research articles, ACS Nano offers reviews, perspectives on cutting-edge research, conversations with nanoscience and nanotechnology thought leaders, and discussions of topics that are important for the entire community.
ACS Nano complements Nano Letters, the leading forum for rapid communication of nanoscale research, ranked #1 in nanoscience & nanotechnology with a 9.960 impact factor.
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[<img[This figure illustrates the comparison of a synapse with the NOMFET. (Image: Dr. Vuillaume, IEMN-CNRS)|http://www.iemn.univ-lille1.fr/uploads/pics/SynT.jpg]]For the first time, French researchers at CNRS and CEA have developed a transistor that can mimic the main functionalities of a synapse. This organic transistor, based on pentacene and gold nanoparticles and known as a NOMFET (Nanoparticle Organic Memory Field-Effect Transistor), has opened the way to new generations of neuro-inspired computers, capable of responding in a manner similar to the nervous system.
In the development of new information processing strategies, one approach consists in mimicking the way biological systems such as neuron networks operate to produce electronic circuits with new features. In the nervous system, a synapse is the junction between two neurons, enabling the transmission of electric messages from one neuron to another and the adaptation of the message as a function of the nature of the incoming signal (plasticity). For example, if the synapse receives very closely packed pulses of incoming signals, it will transmit a more intense action potential. Conversely, if the pulses are spaced farther apart, the action potential will be weaker. It is this plasticity that the researchers have succeeding in mimicking with the NOMFET.
A transistor, the basic building block of an electronic circuit, can be used as a simple switch - it can then transmit, or not, a signal - or instead offer numerous functionalities (amplification, modulation, encoding, etc.).
The innovation of the NOMFET resides in the original combination of an organic transistor and gold nanoparticles. These encapsulated nanoparticles, fixed in the channel of the transistor and coated with [[pentacene|The Chemical Structure of a Molecule Resolved by Atomic Force Microscopy]], have a memory effect that allows them to mimic the way a synapse works during the transmission of action potentials between two neurons. This property therefore makes the electronic component capable of evolving as a function of the system in which it is placed. Its performance is comparable to the seven CMOS transistors (at least) that have been needed until now to mimic this plasticity.
The devices produced have been optimized to nanometric sizes in order to be able to integrate them on a large scale. Neuro-inspired computers produced using this technology are capable of functions comparable to those of the human brain. Unlike silicon computers, widely used in high performance computing, neuro-inspired computers can resolve much more complex problems, such as visual recognition. Source: ''[[An organic transistor paves the way for new generations of neuro-inspired computers|http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=66617&CultureCode=en]]''. This work is detailed in the paper [[An Organic Nanoparticle Transistor Behaving as a Biological Spiking Synapse|http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123215199/abstract]] by Fabien Alibart, Stéphane Pleutin, David Guérin, Christophe Novembre, Stéphane Lenfant, Kamal Lmimouni, Christian Gamrat and [[Dominique Vuillaume|http://iemn.univ-lille1.fr/sites_perso/vuillaume/DVu.html]].
[[Related quotes|http://topics.treehugger.com/search/quotes?q=NOMFET]]
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Amid concerns about possible terrorist attacks with nuclear materials, and fresh memories of environmental contamination from the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, scientists described development of ''a capsule that can be dropped into water, milk, fruit juices and other foods to remove more than a dozen radioactive substances''.
In a presentation at the 243rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society, they said the technology could be used on a large scale by food processors or packaged into a small capsule that consumers at the home-kitchen level could pop into beverage containers to make them safe for consumption.
"We repurposed and repackaged for radioactive decontamination of water and beverages a tried-and-true process that originally was developed to mine the oceans for uranium and remove uranium and heavy metals from heavily contaminated water," said Allen Apblett, Ph.D., who led the research team. "The accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan and ongoing concerns about possible terrorist use of nuclear materials that may contaminate food and water led us to shift the focus of this technology."
''The technology also can remove arsenic, lead, cadmium and other heavy metals'' from water and fruit juices, Apblett said, adding that higher-than-expected levels of some of those metals have been reported in the past in certain juices. He is with Oklahoma State University in Stillwater.
''Nanoparticles composed of metal oxides, various metals combined with oxygen, are the key ingredients in the process''. The particles, so small that hundreds would fit on the period at the end of this sentence, react with radioactive materials and other unwanted substances and pull them out of solution. The particles can absorb all 15 of the so-called "actinide" chemical elements on the periodic table of the elements, as well as non-actinide radioactive metals (e.g., strontium), lead, arsenic and other non-radioactive elements.
The actinides all are radioactive metals, and they include some of the most dangerous substances associated with nuclear weapons and commercial nuclear power plant accidents like Fukushima. Among them are plutonium, actinium, curium and uranium.
In the simplest packaging of the technology, the metal-oxide nanoparticles would be packed inside a capsule similar to a medicine capsule, and then stirred around in a container of contaminated water or fruit juice. Radioactive metals would exit the liquid and concentrate inside the capsule. The capsule would be removed, leaving the beverage safe for consumption. In laboratory tests, it reduced the concentrations of these metals to levels that could not be detected, Apblett noted.
The technology is moving toward commercialization, with the first uses probably in purifying calcium dietary supplements to remove any traces of lead, cadmium and radiostrontium. Apblett said the capsule version could have appeal beyond protection against terrorist attacks or nuclear accidents, among consumers in areas with heavy metals in their water or food supplies, for instance. Source: From ''[[A capsule for removing radioactive contamination from milk, fruit juices, other beverages|http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-03/acs-acf030712.php]]''.
''Context:''
December 2011. ''[[Environmental Remediation with Nanoparticles|http://www.cnbss.eu/editorial_post3.php#]]''
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Wonder material graphene has been touted as the next silicon, with one major problem – it is too conductive to be used in computer chips. Now scientists have given its prospects a new lifeline. A Manchester team lead by [[Nobel laureates Professor Andre Geim and Professor Konstantin Novoselov|Nobel "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene"]] has literally opened a third dimension in graphene research. Their research shows ''a transistor that may prove the missing link for graphene to become the next silicon''.
Graphene – one atomic plane of carbon – is a remarkable material with endless unique properties, from electronic to chemical and from optical to mechanical. One of many potential applications of graphene is its use as the basic material for computer chips instead of silicon. This potential has alerted the attention of major chip manufactures. Individual transistors with very high frequencies (up to 300 GHz) have already been demonstrated by several groups worldwide. Unfortunately, those transistors cannot be packed densely in a computer chip because they leak too much current, even in the most insulating state of graphene. This electric current would cause chips to melt within a fraction of a second. This problem has been around since 2004 when the Manchester researchers reported their Nobel-winning graphene findings and, despite a huge worldwide effort to solve it since then, no real solution has so far been offered.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/vertical_transistor.jpg" title="Tunnelling transistor based on vertical graphene heterostructures. Tunnelling current between two graphene layers can be controlled by gating. Credit: Condensed Matter Physics Group, The University of Manchester" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>The University of Manchester scientists now suggest ''using graphene not laterally (in plane) – as all the previous studies did – but in the vertical direction. They used graphene as an electrode from which electrons tunnelled through a dielectric into another metal. This is called a tunnelling diode''. Then they exploited a truly unique feature of graphene – that an external voltage can strongly change the energy of tunnelling electrons. As a result they got a new type of a device – vertical field-effect tunnelling transistor in which graphene is a critical ingredient.
Dr Leonid Ponomarenko, who spearheaded the experimental effort, said: “We have proved a conceptually new approach to graphene electronics. Our transistors already work pretty well. I believe they can be improved much further, scaled down to nanometre sizes and work at sub-THz frequencies.” Professor Novoselov adds “It is a new vista for graphene research and chances for graphene-based electronics never looked better than they are now.”
''Graphene alone would not be enough to make the breakthrough. Fortunately, [[there are many other materials, which are only one atom or one molecule thick|Nanosheet breakthrough]], and they were used for help''. The Manchester team made the transistors by combining graphene together with atomic planes of boron nitride and molybdenum disulfide. The transistors were assembled layer by layer in a desired sequence, like a layer cake but on an atomic scale.
''Such layer-cake superstructures do not exist in nature. It is an entirely new concept'' introduced in the report by the Manchester researchers. The atomic-scale assembly offers many new degrees of functionality, without some of which the tunnelling transistor would be impossible. “The demonstrated transistor is important but the concept of atomic layer assembly is probably even more important,” explains Professor Geim. Source: From ''[[Graphene electronics moves into a third dimension|http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/display/?id=7915]]''. This work is detailed in the paper [["Field-effect tunneling transistor based on vertical graphene heterostructures"|http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1012]] by L. Britnel, R. Gorbache, R. Jalil, B. Bell, F. Schedin, A. Mishchenko, T. Georgiou, M. Katsnelson, L. Eaves, S. Morozov, N. Peres, J. Leist, A. Geim, K. Novoselov, and L. Ponomarenko.
''Context:''
February, 2012. [[Graphene: The Ultimate Switch|http://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/materials/graphene-the-ultimate-switch]] by Chun-Yung Sung, Ji Ung Lee, IEEE Spectrum. Graphene could replace the transistor with switches that steer electrons just like beams of light
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In the past decade numerous projects on the risks associated with nanomaterials have been initiated and carried out. In general, they dealt with the subject of how nanomaterials could be used without representing a danger to the environment and human health. However a lack of specialists is preventing further urgently needed studies in the field of nano(eco)toxicology from being undertaken. In addition there are numerous gaps – some quite large –.in our knowledge of this subject. These are the conclusions drawn in two reports recently made public, in both of which Empa nanotoxicologist [[Harald Krug|http://www.empa.ch/plugin/template/empa/357/*/---/uacc=krh030/l=2]] was significantly involved.
There are hundreds of products based on nanotechnological manufacturing processes available on the market today, ranging from sun cream and pigments all the way to clothing. Right from the early days these developments were accompanied by research into the safety aspects of nanoproducts. Harald Krug, a toxicologist at Empa has, ''after a decade of research in the field of nanosafety, come to the following (provisional) conclusion: "To date no specific risks are known to exist in association with the use of nanoproducts – or rather free nanoparticles."'' But even if there are no concrete indications of serious problems with synthetic nanoparticles, Hug says that this is not a general "all clear". Companies wishing to market a new nanoproduct should carefully consider its entire life-cycle, from manufacture through use of the item all the way to its final disposal or possible recycling.
“Because in recent years in Europe a large number of environmental toxicological institutes have been closed down ''there are now not enough experts and specialists in the field of the environmental nanotoxicology''.” Consequently, in countless scientific publications in the field the rules of toxicology are not being followed, usually through lack of knowledge. "And as a result there are these horror stories which create a great deal of uncertainty and unease."
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:5px" src="img/nanosafety_report.jpg" title="10 Jahre Forschung zu Risikobewertung, Human- und Ökotoxikologie von Nanomaterialien" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>A 60 page report recently published by the German Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (DECHEMA) and the Chemical Industry Association (VCI), [["10 Jahre Forschung zu Risikobewertung, Human- und Ökotoxikologie von Nanomaterialien"|http://www.dechema.de/dechema_media/Downloads/Positionspapiere/RisikobewertungNano_2011.pdf]] offers an overview of research projects conducted during the last decade on the subject of nanosafety. It covers six Swiss, 40 German, one US and 25 EU projects.
In another report, [["Impact of engineered nanomaterials on health: considerations for benefit-risk assessment"|http://ihcp.jrc.ec.europa.eu/our_activities/nanotechnology/joint-jrc-easac-report-impact-of-engineered-nanomaterials-on-health]], the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC) drew attention to the gaps in our scientific knowledge in this field and indicated very clearly the topics which need to be researched in the coming years in order that nanomaterials can be directly utilized without risks to our environment or to human health. "Looking at these results, I really wish that in future we would invest more in education and training in environmental toxicology. Only then is it possible to undertake responsible research in this field, and only then can we guarantee the sustainable development of these new technologies," says Krug. Source: From [[A decade of research on nanotechnology risks. Ten years of research on nano materials|http://www.empa.ch/plugin/template/empa/3/114948/---/l=2]].
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San Jose, Calif. - 28 Sep 2009: On this day in 1989, IBM Fellow [[Don Eigler|The Kitty Hawk of nanotechnology]] became the first person in history to move and control an individual atom. Shortly thereafter, on November 11 of that year, [[Eigler|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Eigler]] and his team used a custom-built microscope to spell out the letters IBM with 35 xenon atoms. ''This unprecedented ability to manipulate individual atoms signaled a quantum leap forward in nanoscience experimentation and heralded in the age of nanotechnology''. “Don Eigler’s accomplishment remains, to this day, one of the most important breakthroughs in nanoscience and technology,” said T.C, Chen, IBM Fellow and vice president, Science & Technology, IBM Research. “At the time, the implications of this achievement were so far-reaching they almost seemed like science fiction. But now, twenty years later, it’s clear that this was a defining moment that has spawned the kind of research that will eventually bring us beyond CMOS and Moore’s Law, to advance computing to handle the massive volumes of data in the world while using less energy resources. ” From [[IBM Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Moving Atoms|http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/28488.wss]]. Twenty years ago, IBM Fellow Don Eigler changed the course of nanotechnology research. More: [[IBM Research: Major Nanoscale Breakthroughs|http://www.ibm.com/press/attachments/28488.pdf]]
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Addictlab and IMEC are launching a new call for ideas and visions on future applications of emerging technologies in the field of art, design, architecture, fashion, communication, environments, health and well-being. After a first successful collaboration researching visual, conceptual and more practical ways of communicating about nanotechnology, a new call will take it one step further into the world of emerging technologies and their applications, with a focus on the emerging invisible (a-material) production, where benefits are perceptions centred. ''The Addict & IMEC partnership is also aimed at creating a brand new international platform for creative views on nanotechnology applications and ideas''. An international jury will select a winner for each application domain and announce it during a public event in 2009.
It all started a year ago. IMEC, Europe's leading independent nanoelectronics and nanotechnology research centre is driven by a dream: opening up the horizon of emerging technologies research, not only by widening the fields of scientific studies, but involving and informing as many people as possible. Science is for all, not only an educational topic, but also as a mean of increasing creativity and creating a true dialogue on science, technology, possible applications and implications. ''By crossing the borders between science and technology and art and design industry, research institutes, academia and policy leaders can enter into a dialogue with the broad public''.
In this aim, IMEC came to Ad!dict Creative Lab for a first project that resulted in a publication: [[#27 Nanotechnology|http://www.addictlab.com/labfiles/?page=project&project=52]]. This Inspiration Book generated workshops and exhibitions during 2007, and it’s still adopted at IMEC as a communication tool to explain that science and creativity have no limits. The present project needs to be considered as a step further: ''emerging technologies are becoming privileged media in art and design''. Even if still delimited to a niche category (e.g. bio-art, interactive- or experience design, etc.) we all know that in an optic of sustainable development, this might be the future.
The Addict Inspiration Book [[#29 “in.tangible.scape.s”|http://www.modobruxellae.be/Doc/annonces/080212_addictlab.pdf]] will go through that entire invisible domain that is ''moving the creativity world from the object predominance to the experiencing sphere of perceptions and the benefits of a more and more invisible (a-material) production''. This call reaches out to designers, artists, students, architects, engineers, researchers and dreamers worldwide. This second step will lead Addict with its labmembers and IMEC to the promotion of a new global approach of science and high-tech applied to arts and design in the wider sense.
Source: [[A joint initiative to bring science and technology to life through art and design|http://www.imec.be/wwwinter/mediacenter/en/Addict_2008.shtml]]
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When we catch a cold, the immune system steps in to defend us. This is a well-known biological fact, but is difficult to observe directly. Processes at a molecular level are not only miniscule, they are often extremely fast, and therefore difficult to capture in action. Scientists at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie ([[HZB|http://www.helmholtz-berlin.de/]]) and the Technische Universität Berlin ([[TUB|http://www.tu-berlin.de/]]) now present a method that takes us a good step towards producing a “molecular movie”. They can record two pictures at such a short time interval that it will soon be possible to observe molecules and nanostructures in real time.
''A “molecular movie” that shows how a molecule behaves at the crucial moment of a chemical reaction would help us better understand fundamental processes in the natural sciences''. Such processes are often only a few femtoseconds long. A femtosecond is a millionth of a billionth of a second. While it is possible to record a single femtosecond picture using an ultra-short flash of light, it has never been possible to take a sequence of pictures in such rapid succession. On a detector that captures the image, the pictures would overlap and “wash out”. An attempt to swap or refresh the detector between two images would simply take too long, even if it could be done at speed of light.
In spite of these difficulties, members of the joint research group “Functional Nanomaterials” of HZB and the Technische Universität Berlin have now managed to take ultrafast image sequences of objects mere micrometres in size using pulses from the X-ray laser FLASH in Hamburg, Germany. Furthermore, they chart out a path how their approach can be scaled to nanometer resolution in the future. Together with colleagues from [[DESY|http://hasylab.desy.de/]] and the University of Münster, they have published their results.
The researchers came up with an elegant way to descramble the information superimposed by the two subsequent x-ray pulses. They encoded both images simultaneously in a single X-ray hologram. It takes several steps to obtain the final image sequence: First, the scientists split the X-ray laser beam into two separate beams. Using multiple mirrors, they force one beam to take a short detour, which causes the two pulses to reach the object under study at ever so slightly different times – the two pulses arrive only 0.00000000000005 seconds apart. Due to a specific geometric arrangement of the sample, the pulses generate a “double-hologram”. This hologram encodes the structure of the object at the two times at which the x-ray pulses hit. Using a mathematical reconstruction procedure, the researchers can then simply associate the images with the respective x-ray pulses and thus determine the image sequence in correct temporal order.
''“The long-term goal is to be able to follow the movements of molecules and nanostructures in real time,”'' says project head Prof. Dr. Stefan Eisebitt. The extremely high temporal resolution in conjunction with the possibility to see the tiniest objects was the motivation to develop the new technique. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a movie made up of several pictures can tell you about an object’s dynamics. Source: [[Fastest movie in the world recorded|http://www.helmholtz-berlin.de/pubbin/news_seite?nid=13213&sprache=en&typoid=1]]. This work was detailed in the paper ''[[“Sequential femtosecond X-ray imaging”|http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/12/20/1010013108.abstract]]'' by C. M. Günther, B. Pfau, R. Mitzner, B. Siemer, S. Roling, H. Zacharias, O. Kutz, I. Rudolph, D. Schondelmaier, R. Treusch & [[S. Eisebitt|http://www.adlershof.de/newsview/?no_cache=1&L=2&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=8080]] <<slider chkSldr [[Sequential femtosecond X-ray imaging]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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''New nanomaterials research could lead to new solutions for an age-old public health problem: how to separate bacteria from drinking water.''
Working with a special kind of polymer called a block copolymer, a University at Buffalo research team has synthesized a new kind of nanomembrane containing pores about 55 nanometers in diameter -- large enough for water to slip through easily, but too small for bacteria.
"There's a lot of research in this area, but what our research team was able to accomplish is to expand the range of available pores to 50 nanometers in diameter, which was previously unattainable by block-copolymer-based methods," said Javid Rzayev, the UB chemist who led the study. "Making pores bigger increases the flow of water, which will translate into cost and time savings. At the same time, 50 to 100 nm diameter pores are small enough not to allow any bacteria through. So, that is a sweet spot for this kind of application."
The new nanomembrane owes its special qualities to the polymers that scientists used to create it. Source: [[A nano-Solution to global water problem: Nanomembranes could filter bacteria|http://www.buffalo.edu/news/12288]]. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Large Pore Size Nanoporous Materials from the Self-Assembly of Asymmetric Bottlebrush Block Copolymers|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl103747m]]'' <<slider chkSldr [[Large Pore Size Nanoporous Materials from the Self-Assembly of Asymmetric Bottlebrush Block Copolymers]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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''Context: //[[Global freshwater demand expected to exceed supply by 40% by 2030|http://www.cwn-rce.ca/news-and-events/featured/canada-to-take-leading-role/]]//''
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European scientific research is normally presented to the public after the project is complete. When clear post-hoc descriptions of the science are constructed, it can present a misleading impression - of the process of scientific research, the methods and skills used by the researchers, and the levels of uncertainty involved. This makes debate of scientific subjects in the public arena difficult, and blocks the public from actively engaging with the science. Furthermore many of the most challenging and exciting aspects of scientific research are often never seen by the public.
''To find a new way to involve the public in scientific research. To actively engage them in a two-way dialogue. To show that scientific research is not about cut-and-dried facts but is a dynamic process of discovery, surprise, occasional failure, and often the unexpected. To impart a deeper understanding of the scientific process, and hopefully transfer some of the excitement of involvement in cutting edge nanoscience research''.
Using the latest video and Internet technology, we will produce documentary films before and after the project, showing our aims, and eventual outcomes. Throughout the project, the participants will produce ''video diaries which will be available to view over the Internet'', with a forum facilitating discussion between the scientists and the public.
We use a novel plasma treatment technique developed at Namur to modify the surface of carbon nanotubes. This makes it possible, in a single step, to apply precisely controlled amounts of metal to the nanotube surfaces. These metal-nanotube hybrid materials have great potential for use in gas sensors. Combining detailed experiments with strong computer modelling support we will develop new insight into the fundamental interactions between metals and carbon nanotubes, as well as the behaviour of nanotubes in plasma treatments. At the same time we will develop industrial scale production techniques for synthesis, and design, test and optimise a gas sensing device using these metal-nanotube hybrid nanomaterials.
''To see what the scientists are doing at the moment'', go to the [[View Scientist Diaries|http://www.nano2hybrids.net/browse_posts.php]]
Source: [[nano2hybrids project|http://www.nano2hybrids.net/2-project/introduction.php]]
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For a long time miniaturization has been the magic word in electronics. Dr. Willi Auwaerter and Professor Johannes Barth, together with their team of physicists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM), have now presented a novel molecular switch. Decisive for the functionality of the switch is the position of a single proton in a porphyrin ring with an inside diameter of less than half a nanometer. The physicists can set four distinct states on demand.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/nano_switch.gif" title="Porphyrin-nano switch Picture: Knud Seufert / TUM" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>Porphyins are ring-shaped molecules that can flexibly change their structure, making them useful for a wide array of applications. Tetraphenylporphyrin is no exception: It likes to take on a saddle shape and is not limited in its functionality when it is anchored to a metal surface. The molecule holds has a pair of hydrogen atoms that can change their positions between two configurations each. At room temperature this process takes place continuously at an extremely rapid rate.
In their experiment, the scientists suppressed this spontaneous movement by cooling the sample. This allowed them to induce and observe the entire process in a single molecule using a scanning tunneling microscope. This kind of microscope is particularly well suited for the task since – in contrast to other methods – it can be used not only to determine the initial and final states, but also allows the physicists to control the hydrogen atoms directly. In a further step they removed one of the two protons from the inside of the porphyrin ring. The remaining proton could now take on any one of four positions. A tiny current that flows through the fine tip of the microscope stimulates the proton transfer, setting a specific configuration in the process.
Although the respective positions of the hydrogen atoms influence neither the basic structure of the molecule nor its bond to the metallic surface, the states are not identical. This small but significant difference, taken together with the fact that the process can be arbitrarily repeated, forms the basis of a switch whose state can be changed up to 500 times per second. A single tunneled electron initiates the proton transfer.
''The molecular switch has a surface area of only one square nanometer, making it the smallest switch implemented to date''. The physicists are thrilled by their demonstration and are also very happy about new insights into the mechanism behind the proton transfer resulting from their study. Knud Seufert played a key role with his experiments: ''“To operate a four-state switch by moving a single proton within a molecule is really fascinating and represents a true step forward in nano-scale technologies.”'' Source: From [[Targeted proton transfer within a molecule:The smallest conceivable switch|http://portal.mytum.de/pressestelle/pressemitteilungen/NewsArticle_20111208_092050]]. This work was detailed in the paper [[“A surface-anchored molecular four-level conductance switch based on single proton transfer”|http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/NNANO.2011.211]].
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[<img[Why nanosized minerals do what they do: This computer simulation reveals the cross section of the water density around a 2.7 nanometer faceted particle. The blue indicates an iron site, pink indicates the area with low water density, and red indicates the area with high water density.|http://newscenter.lbl.gov/wp-content/uploads/picture-3.png]] The red and blue images appear ghostly, like a fleeting glimpse of something that’s never been seen before — which is true. Using computer simulations, Berkeley Lab scientists have developed the first predicted images of water molecules surrounding a nanoparticle, in this case an iron-oxide mineral called [[hematite|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hematite]]. The simulations indicate that the size and shape of the nanosized mineral determines the way in which water molecules layer around it. And this influences how the mineral interacts with its environment, including other nanoparticles, dissolved ions, and the surfaces of larger minerals and bacteria.
The images are a peek into the hidden world of ''nanosized minerals'', which ''are important components of geochemical cycles in soils, groundwater, rivers and lakes. They’re also key players in some of the biggest challenges facing scientists today. Cleaning up contaminants left over from abandoned mines, or learning how to store carbon underground — where it can’t contribute to climate change — will require a better understanding of how nanosized minerals participate in these processes.''
Addressing these headline-grabbing problems is one of the reasons behind the recently created [[Berkeley Nanogeoscience Center|http://nanogeoscience.berkeley.edu/]] which seeks to uncover the roles played by nanosized particles in geochemical processes — both manmade and natural. The multidisciplinary group of scientists utilizes cutting edge imaging technologies and computer simulations to learn what makes nanosized minerals tick.
To explore this world, scientists at the Berkeley Nanogeoscience Center utilize [[transmission electron microscopy|http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Nanotechnology/Electron_microscopy#Transmission_electron_microscopy_.28TEM.29]] at Berkeley Lab’s National Center for Electron Microscopy, which offers extremely high-resolution imaging. [[Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source|http://www-als.lbl.gov/]], a national user facility that generates intense light for scientific research, is used to characterize the chemistry of nanoparticles and image their association with biopolymers and cells. Source: From ''[[Computer simulations shed light on nanosized minerals|http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stories/2009/07/06/nanosized-minerals/]]''. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Prediction of the effects of size and morphology on the structure of water around hematite nanoparticles|http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V66-4W3HX9K-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=958079547&_rerunOrigin=scholar.google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=9ddded52830b4f454340d372e2d3bf01]]'' by [[Dino Spagnoli|http://nanogeoscience.berkeley.edu/People/DSpagnoli/DSpagnoli.html]], [[Benjamin Gilbert|http://nanogeoscience.berkeley.edu/People/BGilbert/BGilbert.html]], [[Glenn Waychunas|http://nanogeoscience.berkeley.edu/People/GAWaychunas/GAWaychunas.html]], and [[Jillian Banfield|http://eps.berkeley.edu/development/view_person.php?uid=185017&page=25]].
''Nanoscale minerals - nanoparticles - are formed in the environment as a result of [[microbial activity|Nanotube-producing bacteria]], inorganic precipitation reactions and chemical weathering''. Nanoparticles of many common mineral phases have been found, including ferric iron oxyhydroxides, such as goethite; transition metal sulfides, such as sphalerite; as well as less common minerals such as ceria or gold! In addition, numerous common minerals are only found as nanomaterials, including ferrihydrite, akaganeite, mackinawite, and manganese hydroxides. Naturally-formed nanoparticles can be important components of geochemical cycles in soils, groundwater, rivers and lakes because they possess high surface areas for adsorption and reaction.
Nanoparticles may also be introduced into the environment as a consequence of human activities. For example, acid mine drainage, a legacy of decades of mining activity, can introduce huge quantities of ferric iron oxyhyoxide nanoparticles into surrounding watersheds. Moreover, the intense interest in nanoparticles as industrial catalysts, chemical additives, and novel technologies suggests that the environmental impact of synthetic nanomaterials will only increase with time. Several groups have proposed that engineered nanomaterials may be harnessed for cleaning up contaminated sites ... but the efficacy and impacts of such treatments have yet to be established. Source: ''[[Introduction to Nanogeoscience|http://nanogeoscience.berkeley.edu/]]''.
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For the first time, researchers have developed plant-based technology that could reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil and may also help treat cancer.
Known as lignin nanotubes, these cylindrical containers are smaller than viruses and tiny enough to travel through the body, carrying cancer patients’ medicine. They can be created in biorefineries from lignin, a plant substance that is a byproduct of bioethanol production. Bioethanol is a renewable alternative to fossil fuel created by fermenting sugar — such as that from sugarcane and sweet sorghum juices, stalks and stems.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/lignin_nanotubes.jpg" title="Image of synthesized lignin nanotubes. Credit: University of Florida" class="photo" width="65%"/></html>“We’re looking at biomedical applications whereby these nanotubes are injected in the body,” said Wilfred Vermerris, an associate professor in University of Florida’s agronomy department and Genetics Institute who was part of the team that developed the nanotubes.
Carbon-based nanotubes, which are the kind used today, cost around $500 a gram, and nanotechnology drug delivery has been projected to be a $220 billion market by 2015.
Nanotubes offer an advantage over radiation or traditional chemotherapy because they have a protective shell that keeps the drugs they contain from affecting healthy parts of the body, such as hair or intestinal lining, said Vermerris, a member of UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
As with current carbon nanotubes, cancer-fighting drugs can be enclosed in the plant-based nanotubes and sent to target specific tumors, he said.
But, the researcher said, unlike currently used carbon nanotubes, lignin nanotubes are flexible and lack sharp edges. That means they’re expected to have fewer, if any, of the toxicity issues associated with current varieties.
“It is also much easier to chemically modify the lignin nanotubes so that they can locate their intended targets like homing devices,” he said.
Vermerris envisions nanotubes as a way to reduce the cost of biofuel production. “By selling the nanotubes for biomedical applications, an additional revenue stream is generated for the biorefinery that can offset some of the processing costs,” he said. “That essentially reduces the price of the fuels and makes them more competitive with petroleum-based fuel.”
Luisa Amelia Dempere, an associate engineer and director of the Major Analytical Instrumentation Center in UF’s College of Engineering, guided the analysis and characterization of the lignin nanotubes as part of the research team. She called the development of the lignin nanotubes “quite significant” and noted their ability to break down in the environment as another advantage over current nanotubes.
''“They are taking something from the waste stream, like lignin is for a lot of industries, and making it into something that can be useful and then can degrade back into the environment,”'' Dempere said. “This is probably a material that can be called green and sustainable because it comes from nature and goes back to nature.”
Vermerris said his research is now testing the technology in living cells in the lab as a first step toward tests in humans in the near future. Source: From ''[[UF researchers develop plant-based technology that helps biofuels, may fight cancer|http://news.ifas.ufl.edu/2012/03/29/uf-researchers-develop-plant-based-technology-that-helps-biofuels-may-fight-cancer/]]'' by Robert H. Wells. This work is detailed in the paper [["Template-mediated synthesis and bio-functionalization of flexible lignin-based nanotubes and nanowires "|http://iopscience.iop.org/0957-4484/23/10/105605/]] by Hector M Caicedo, Luisa A Dempere and Wilfred Vermerris.
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Is the emerging field of nanomedicine a breathtaking technological revolution that promises remarkable new ways of diagnosing and treating diseases? Or does it portend the release of dangerous nanoparticles, nanorobots or nanoelectronic devices that will wreak havoc in the body? A new review of more than 500 studies on the topic concludes that neither scenario is likely. It appears in ACS' journal Molecular Pharmaceutics.
Ruth Duncan and Rogerio Gaspar explain that ''nanomedicine — the application of nanotechnology to health care — often is overhyped as cure-alls or a potential danger''. The concept debuted with the visionary notion that robots and electronic devices so tiny that dozens would fit across the width of a human hair could be built and put into the human body to treat disease and repair damaged organs. ''About 40 nano health care products actually are in use'' and nano-sized drugs, drug delivery devices, imaging agents, and other products are on the horizon.
The authors first describe the history of nanomedicine, as well as many of the nanomedicine products available today. Then, they offer suggestions for how best to move a nanomedicine through the drug development process with risks and benefits in mind. Finally, they identify key factors critical for development of practical nanomedical technology that is safe and effective.
The authors acknowledged funding from iMedUL and The Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. Source: From [[A realistic look at the promises and perils of nanomedicine|http://portal.acs.org/portal/PublicWebSite/pressroom/presspacs/CNBP_028640]]. This work was detailed in the paper [[“Nanomedicine(s) under the Microscope”|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/mp200394t]].
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The physico-chemical properties and consequent behaviour of a tiny cage of 60 carbon atoms or a compact gold aggregation of a few thousand atoms are far more different that the differences between the necessary Escherichia Coli in the guts or the dangerous Streptococcus Pneumoniae Bacterias. However, both, the carbon and the gold structure, are called nanoparticles. As a 200 nm polymeric sphere loaded with drugs or the 10 nm titanium dioxide embedded in the sunscreens creams. All of them are very different and called the same: nanoparticles. Mainly in mass media, in the headlines, many different materials are called the same, not helping to understand. Thus confusing news simultaneously appear claiming that nanoparticles will cause and will heal cancer. And all that does not help to inform the public and us (as society) to reach appropriate consensus for the efficient and safe development of new technologies . We, all concerned people, should immediately engage in an honest effort to label, describe and characterize the different players (materials, properties, phenomena) of the nanoworld in order to create an adequate ontology to accurately describe the complexity happening at the nanoscale. The physical and chemical properties change when the mater is reduced to the nanometric scale, and therefore its kinetics and thermodynamics. But all those changes happen in a particular way towards a particular direction in any piece of different material. Different by composition, size, shape, number and surface state. One should not think that materials become similar when they reach the nanometric scale. Far from that. The differences between the carbon and the metal increases when they become nanometric. The diversity of properties and behaviour expands at the nanoscale, what is fascinating and, again, remain us the celebrated sentence [[There is Plenty of Room at the Botom|http://www.its.caltech.edu/~feynman/plenty.html]].
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[<img[Dynamic Transmission Electron Microscope|http://www-cmls.llnl.gov/data/assets/images/science_and_technology/materials/dtem/fig2.jpg]] Researchers have achieved a milestone in materials science and electron microscopy by taking a high-resolution snapshot of the transformation of nanoscale structures.
Using the Lab’s [[Dynamic Transmission Electron Microscope (DTEM)|http://www-cmls.llnl.gov/?url=science_and_technology-materials-dtem]], Judy Kim and colleagues peered into the microstructure and properties of reactive multilayer foils with 15-nanosecond-scale resolution.
//Observing short-lived behavior — how a chemical reaction, structural deformation or phase transformation occurs — is not easy, but is key to understanding many of the basic phenomena at the heart of chemistry, biology and materials science//. The ability to directly observe and characterize these complex events leads to a fundamental understanding of properties such as reactivity, stability and strength, and helps in the design of new and improved materials and devices.
Transmission electron microscopy has evolved dramatically in recent years and can spatially resolve microstructural details of phase and structure, but it can’t collect at times less than a millisecond.
That’s where Livermore’s DTEM comes in. It provides scientists with the ability to image transient behavior with ''an unprecedented combination of spatial and temporal resolution: nanometers and nanoseconds''.
Multilayer foils (also known as nanolaminates) are layers of reactant materials that undergo exothermic, self-propagating reactions when layer mixing is caused by an external energy source. The foils show mobile, high-temperature reaction zones where atoms of adjoining layers diffuse across the interfaces. They are used as customized heat sources for rapid fuses, biological neutralization and joining materials via localized heating rather than global device heating.
Source: [[A snapshot of the transformation of nanoscale structures|https://publicaffairs.llnl.gov/news/news_releases/2008/NR-08-09-02.html]]. The research appears the journal Science, [["Imaging of Transient Structures Using Nanosecond in Situ TEM"|http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/sci;321/5895/1472?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Judy+Kim&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT]]
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Scientists who have ''developed a new way to create a type of radiation known as Terahertz (THz) or T-rays'' - the technology behind full-body security scanners - say their new, stronger and more efficient continuous wave T-rays could be used to make better medical scanning gadgets and may one day lead to innovations similar to the “tricorder” scanner used in Star Trek.
Researchers from the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), a research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore and Imperial College London in the UK have ''made T-rays into a much stronger directional beam than was previously thought possible and have efficiently produced T-rays at room-temperature conditions''. This breakthrough allows future T-ray systems to be smaller, more portable, easier to operate, and much cheaper.
The scientists say that the T-ray scanner and detector could provide part of the functionality of a Star Trek-like medical "tricorder" - a portable sensing, computing and data communications device - since the waves are capable of detecting biological phenomena such as increased blood flow around tumorous growths. Future scanners could also perform fast wireless data communication to transfer a high volume of information on the measurements it makes.
T-rays are waves in the far infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum that have a wavelength hundreds of times longer than visible light. Such waves are already in use in airport security scanners, prototype medical scanning devices and in spectroscopy systems for materials analysis. T-rays can sense molecules such as those present in cancerous tumours and living DNA as ''every molecule has its unique signature in the THz range''. T-rays can also be used to detect explosives or drugs, in gas pollution monitoring or non-destructive testing of semiconductor integrated circuit chips. However, the current continuous wave T-rays need to be created under very low temperatures with high energy consumption. Existing medical T-ray imaging devices have only low output power and are very expensive.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/nano-antennas.jpg" title="Optical microscope picture of an antenna structure with the nano-antennas built into its centre (highlighted, left) and the electric field distribution (right)" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>In the new technique, the researchers demonstrated that it is possible to produce a strong beam of T-rays by shining light of differing wavelengths on a pair of electrodes - two pointed strips of metal separated by a 100 nanometre gap on top of a semiconductor wafer. The unique tip-to-tip nano-sized gap electrode structure greatly enhances the THz field and acts like a nano-antenna that amplifies the THz wave generated. The waves are produced by an interaction between the electromagnetic waves of the light pulses and a powerful current passing between the semiconductor electrodes from the carriers generated in the underlying semiconductor. The scientists are able to tune the wavelength of the T-rays to create a beam that is useable in the scanning technology. Source: From ''[[T-Rays Technology Could Help Develop Star Trek-Style Hand-Held Medical Scanners|http://www.a-star.edu.sg/?TabId=828&articleType=ArticleView&articleId=1591]]''. This work is detailed in the paper [["Greatly enhanced continuous-wave terahertz emission by nano-electrodes in a photoconductive photomixer"|http://www.nature.com/nphoton/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nphoton.2011.322.html]] by H Tanoto, [[JH Teng|http://www.imre.a-star.edu.sg/researcher.php?startlet=&rid=&id=P537W534]], QY Wu, M Sun, ZN Chen, SA Maier, B Wang, CC Chum, GY Si, AJ Danner and SJ Chua.
''related:''
''[[Qualcomm Tricorder X PRIZE|http://www.qualcommtricorderxprize.org/]]''. Disruptive innovation: a competition to change a broken healthcare system
[[A tunable graphene device for putting terahertz light to work]]
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Long-wavelength terahertz light is invisible – it’s at the farthest end of the far infrared – but it’s useful for everything from detecting explosives at the airport to designing drugs to diagnosing skin cancer. Now, for the first time, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley have ''demonstrated a microscale device made of graphene'' – the remarkable form of carbon that’s only one atom thick – ''whose strong response to light at terahertz frequencies can be tuned with exquisite precision''.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/tunable-THz-plasmons.jpg" title="The graphene microribbon array can be tuned in three ways. Varying the width of the ribbons changes plasmon resonant frequency and absorbs corresponding frequencies of terahertz light. Plasmon response is much stronger when there is a dense concentration of charge carriers (electrons or holes), controlled by varying the top gate voltage. Finally, light polarized perpendicularly to the ribbons is strongly absorbed at the plasmon resonant frequency, while parallel polarization shows no such response" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>“The heart of our device is an array made of graphene ribbons only millionths of a meter wide,” says Feng Wang of Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division, who is also an assistant professor of physics at UC Berkeley, and who led the research team. “By varying the width of the ribbons and the concentration of charge carriers in them, we can control the collective oscillations of electrons in the microribbons.”
The name for such collective oscillations of electrons is “plasmons,” a word that sounds abstruse but describes effects as familiar as the glowing colors in stained-glass windows. “Plasmons in high-frequency visible light happen in three-dimensional metal nanostructures,” Wang says. The colors of medieval stained glass, for example, result from oscillating collections of electrons on the surfaces of nanoparticles of gold, copper, and other metals, and depend on their size and shape. “But graphene is only one atom thick, and its electrons move in only two dimensions. In 2D systems, plasmons occur at much lower frequencies.”
The wavelength of terahertz radiation is measured in hundreds of micrometers (millionths of a meter), yet the width of the graphene ribbons in the experimental device is only one to four micrometers each. “A material that consists of structures with dimensions much smaller than the relevant wavelength, and which exhibits optical properties distinctly different from the bulk material, is called a metamaterial,” says Wang. “So we have not only made the ''first studies of light and plasmon coupling in graphene'', we’ve also created a prototype for future graphene-based metamaterials in the terahertz range.” “Terahertz radiation covers a spectral range that’s difficult to work with, because until now there have been no tools,” says Wang. “Now we have the beginnings of a toolset for working in this range, potentially leading to a variety of graphene-based terahertz metamaterials.”
The Berkeley ''experimental setup is only a precursor of devices to come'', which will be able to control the polarization and modify the intensity of terahertz light and enable other optical and electronic components, in applications from medical imaging to astronomy – all in two dimensions. Source: From "[[A Whole New Light on Graphene Metamaterials|http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2011/09/04/graphene-thz/]]. Berkeley Lab scientists demonstrate a tunable graphene device, the first tool in a kit for putting terahertz light to work." This work was detailed in the paper [["Graphene plasmonics for tunable terahertz metamaterials”|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl201357n]] <<slider chkSldr [[Graphene plasmonics for tunable terahertz metamaterials]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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''Mixing a little dry ice and a simple industrial process cheaply mass-produces high-quality graphene nanosheets'', researchers in South Korea and Case Western Reserve University report.
[[Graphene|graphene]], which is made from graphite, the same stuff as "lead" in pencils, has been hailed as the most important synthetic material in a century. Sheets conduct electricity better than copper, heat better than any material known, are harder than diamonds yet stretch.
Scientists worldwide speculate graphene will revolutionize computing, electronics and medicine but the inability to mass-produce sheets has blocked widespread use.
Jong-Beom Baek, professor and director of the Interdisciplinary School of Green Energy/Advanced Materials & Devices, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, South Korea, led the effort.
"We have developed a low-cost, easier way to mass produce better graphene sheets than the current, widely-used method of acid oxidation, which requires the tedious application of toxic chemicals," said Liming Dai, professor of macromolecular science and engineering at Case Western Reserve and a co-author of the paper. Source: From ''[[Simple, cheap way to mass-produce graphene nanosheets|http://blog.case.edu/think/2012/03/26/simple_cheap_way_to_massproduce_graphene_nanosheets]]'' by Kevin Mayhood. Researchers in South Korea and CWRU devise new process. This work is detailed in the paper [["Edge-carboxylated graphene nanosheets via ball milling"|http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/03/26/1116897109.abstract]] by In-Yup Jeona, Yeon-Ran Shina, Gyung-Joo Sohna, Hyun-Jung Choia, Seo-Yoon Baea, Javeed Mahmooda, Sun-Min Junga, Jeong-Min Seoa, Min-Jung Kima, Dong Wook Changa, Liming Daia, and Jong-Beom Baeka.
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A team of scientists led by [[Eugenia Kumacheva|http://www.chem.utoronto.ca/staff/EK/]] of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto has ''discovered a way to predict the organization of nanoparticles in larger forms by treating them much the same as ensembles of molecules formed from standard chemical reactions.''
"Currently, no model exists describing the organization of nanoparticles," says [[Kumacheva|http://www.news.utoronto.ca/science-and-technology/uof-ts-kumacheva-first-canadian-woman-ever-chosen-for-prestigious-internati.html]] . "Our work paves the way for the prediction of the properties of nanoparticle ensembles and for the development of new design rules for such structures."
''The focus of nanoscience is gradually shifting from the synthesis of individual nanoparticles to their organization in larger structures. In order to use nanoparticle ensembles in functional devices such as memory storage devices or optical waveguides, it is important to achieve control of their structure.''
According to the researchers' observations, the self-organization of nanoparticles is an efficient strategy for producing nanostructures with complex, hierarchical architectures. "The past decade has witnessed great progress in nanoscience - particularly nanoparticle self-assembly - yet the quantitative prediction of the architecture of nanoparticle ensembles and of the kinetics of their formation remains a challenge," she continues. "We report on the remarkable similarity between the self-assembly of metal nanoparticles and chemical reactions leading to the formation of polymer molecules. The nanoparticles act as multifunctional single units, which form reversible, noncovalent bonds at specific bond angles and organize themselves into a highly ordered polymer."
"We developed a new approach that enables a quantitative prediction of the architecture of linear, branched, and cyclic self-assembled nanostructures, their aggregation numbers and size distribution, and the formation of structural isomers."
"We treated them as molecules, not particles, which in a process resembling a polymerization reaction, organize themselves into polymer-like assemblies," says Kumacheva. "Using this analogy, we used the theory of polymerization and predicted the architecture of the so-called 'molecules' and also found other, unexpected features that can find interesting applications." Source: [[Chemists make breakthrough in nanoscience research|http://www.physorg.com/news198169615.html]]. This work is detailed in the paper [[Step-Growth Polymerization of Inorganic Nanoparticles|http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/329/5988/197]] by Kun Liu, Zhihong Nie, Nana Zhao, Wei Li, [[Michael Rubinstein|http://dl9s6.chem.unc.edu/]], [[Eugenia Kumacheva|http://www.chem.utoronto.ca/ppl/faculty_profile.php?id=31]]
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Scientists have created a working cloaking device that not only takes advantage of one of nature's most bizarre phenomenon, but also boasts unique features; it has an 'on and off' switch and is best used underwater. The researchers, from the University of Texas at Dallas have ''demonstrated the device's ability to make objects disappear in a fascinating video''.
This novel design, makes use of sheets of carbon nanotubes (CNT) – one-molecule-thick sheets of carbon wrapped up into cylindrical tubes. CNTs have such unique properties, such as having the density of air but the strength of steel, that they have been extensively studied and put forward for numerous applications; however it is their exceptional ability to conduct heat and transfer it to surrounding areas that makes them an ideal material to exploit the so-called "mirage effect".
The mirage effect, frequently observed in deserts or on long roads in the summer, is an optical phenomenon in which light rays are bent to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The most common example of a mirage is when an observer appears to see pools of water on the ground. This occurs because the air near the ground is a lot warmer than the air higher up, causing lights rays to bend upward towards the viewer's eye rather than bounce off the surface. This results in an image of the sky appearing on the ground which the viewer perceives as water actually reflecting the sky; the brain sees this as a more likely occurrence.
Through electrical stimulation, the transparent sheet of highly aligned CNTs can be easily heated to high temperatures. They then have the ability to transfer that heat to its surrounding areas, causing a steep temperature gradient. Just like a mirage, this steep temperature gradient causes the light rays to bend away from the object concealed behind the device, making it appear invisible.
With this method, it is more practical to demonstrate [[cloaking|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloaking_device]] underwater as all of the apparatus can be contained in a petri dish. It is the ease with which the CNTs can be heated that gives the device its unique 'on and off' feature.
Lead-author, Dr Ali Aliev, said, "Using these nanotube sheets, concealment can be realized over the entire optical range and rapidly turned on-and-off at will, using either electrical heating or a pulse of electromagnetic radiation. The research results also provide useful insights into the optimization of nanotube sheets as thermoacoustic projectors for loud speaker and sonar applications, where sound is produced by heating using an alternating electrical current."
An Institute of Physics spokesperson said, "''It is remarkable to see this cloaking device demonstrated in real life and on a workable scale''. The array of applications that could arise from this device, besides cloaking, is a testament to the excellent work of the authors." Source: From ''[['Mirage-effect' helps researchers hide objects|http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/iop-hr092911.php]]''. This work was detailed in the paper [["Mirage effect from thermally modulated transparent carbon nanotube sheets”|http://iopscience.iop.org/0957-4484/22/43/435704]].
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created [[carbon nanotubes]]>>
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~NanoWiki, using Feed Informer and rss2pdf, created this RSS Reader tailored for nanotechnology feeds tracking
{{twocolumns{
''"A definition is required in order to provide increased clarity and consistency with respect to the term nanomaterial for use in regulations laying down provisions on substances."'' ISO TS 27687 Definition for Nano-object- //a material with one, two or three external dimensions in the nanoscale, where nanoscale is defined as the size range from approximately 1 nm to 100 nm//. ICCA Core Elements of a Regulatory Definition of Manufactured Nanomaterials is a document that oultines the key principles that should be taken into consideration for the development of a regulatory definition of manufactured nanomaterials. Source: [[International Council of Chemical Associations addresses key issues for nanomaterial definition|http://www.icca-chem.org/ICCADocs/Oct-2010_ICCA-Core-Elements-of-a-Regulatory-Definition-of-Manufactured-Nanomaterials.pdf]]
''Responding to the [[EC's consultation document|How much nano do we buy?]] :''
"The lack of an agreed definition creates legal uncertainties as shown in recent finalized or ongoing revision processes of important EU legislation which aims at protecting consumers and the environment. To ensure a coherent approach, we see an urgent need to develop a common definition at EU level. However, ''we propose that the Commission recommendation will not be restricted to the size range of 1- 100nm only and will also take into account the functional properties of nanomaterials''." From the Final ANEC/BEUC Reply to the public consultation on Proposal for a Commission definition of the term "nanomaterial". Source: [[European Comsumers' Organization reply to the European Commission public consultation on nanomaterials|http://www.anec.org/attachments/ANEC-PT-2010-NANO-018final.pdf]]
"The Center for International Environmental Law and the European Environmental Bureau submitted [[proposals to the European Commission for a definition of the term “nanomaterials”|http://www.ciel.org/Publications/Nanomaterials_ReplyForm_Nov10.pdf]]. The NGO proposal welcomes the Commission’s broad definition while warning against a narrowing of the scope in the final decision. ''NGOs favour a larger size range (i.e. 0,3 to 300 nm2) to define nanomaterials to allow the definition to capture as much material as possible about which there is already concern (including fullerenes)''" Source: [[CIEL and the European Environmental Bureau lead international NGO coalition to define nanomaterials|http://www.ciel.org/Chemicals/Nano_22Nov10.html]]
''The Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) raises concerns over draft definition of the term 'nanomaterial'''. "The size at which the properties of a material could abruptly change varied widely according to the material and the properties in question. “''There is thus concern over the selection of the single upper size boundary''. For biological materials the measurement of size and size distribution can also be dependent on the sample preparation method and the method used to size the samples.” Meanwhile,'' the way a product was formulated might also affect its classification'', noted the IFST. For example, if individual stabilised nanocrystals were sold as ingredients for colouring foods, they would be classified as nanomaterials, because they are tiny. However, were another ingredient formulated by agglomerating the same nanocrystals into bigger groups, their particle size meant that it would not be classified as a nanomaterial, even though processing it could lead to a free dispersion of its constituent nanoparticles in a food or drink, said the IFST." Source: [[Nano definition raises as many questions as it answers|http://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Regulation/Nano-definition-raises-as-many-questions-as-it-answers]] By Elaine Watson
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomaterial>><<matchTags popup sort:-created regulation>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[public opinion]]>>
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The Australian Minister for Education, launch an innovative secondary school resource that will assist science teachers to teach nanotechnology in Australian schools.
~AccessNano is a unique, cutting-edge ''nanotechnology educational resource'' designed to introduce accessible and innovative science and technology into Australian secondary school classrooms. We hope that ~AccessNano provides you with a fresh new approach to teaching science in your school, as well as stimulating new ideas and opening pathways for Australian careers in nanotechnology for your students.
The [[Australian Office of Nanotechnology|http://www.nanotechnology.gov.au/]] developed ~AccessNano following feedback from science teachers that children were asking to be taught about nanotechnology, but many teachers did not have the knowledge or resources to be able to teach the topic.
Source: [[AccessNano|http://www.accessnano.org/]]
/%
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Are you curious how I managed to get the scrollbars from being visible in these iframes? Just put your iframe into a containing div with the css style of "overflow:hidden;" and fix the width and height parameters to suit your needs. Here's the css code applied for the AccuRadio iframes:
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The idea for [[this tiddlywiki|http://mjuzik.tiddlyspot.com]] grew, when I wanted to share the music I love with all you folks. It became this self contained thing after a bit of tiddly-fiddling with one of the master in the tiddliverse... Eric Shulman.@@
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How noisy is a walking flea? What sorts of sound waves are caused by motile bacteria? Physicists at the Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM) have managed for the first time to detect sound waves at such minuscule length scales. Their nanoear is a single gold nanoparticle that is kept in a state of levitation by a laser beam. Upon weak acoustic excitation the particle oscillates parallel to the direction of sound propagation. The scientists led by Dr. Andrey Lutich, who is a member of [[Prof. Jochen Feldmann’s group at LMU Munich|http://www.phog.physik.uni-muenchen.de/]], managed to detect such tiny displacements using a dark-field microscope and an ordinary video camera. ''The nanoear is capable of detecting sound levels of approximately -60 dB. Thus, it is about a million times more sensitive than the hearing threshold of the human ear'', which by convention is set at 0 dB.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/nanoear.png" title="Trapped gold nanoparticle (left) acts as nanoear. In a water drop, an aggregate of gold nanoparticles is heated by a green laser. As a consequence, sound waves are emitted which displace a nearby single nanoparticle that is kept in levitation by a red laser (Credit: Ohlinger et al.)" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>The new method realized by the Munich physicists opens a new world to scientists: for the first time, otherwise imperceptibly weak motions – minuscule sound waves – can be visualized. The scientists developed the nanoear in two stages. “First, we validated the basic principle using a relatively strong sound source” group leader Andrey Lutich explains. “In the second step we were able to detect significantly weaker acoustic excitations.” The main element in both cases is a gold nanoparticle, 60 nm in diameter, which is kept in levitation by a so-called optical trap using a red laser. Each of the experiments was done in a small water drop on a cover slide.
''“With our nanoear, we have developed a nanomicrophone that allows us to get closer than ever to microscopic objects”'' Alexander Ohlinger, first author of the publication, explains. “By observing the oscillations of a single gold nanoparticle, tiny movements can be detected.” In this way, the nanoear could yield important information on the minute motions of cells, cell organelles or artificial microscopic objects. Additionally, no high-end devices are necessary as only well-established methods are used. Source: From [[A nanoear to listen into the silence|http://www.nano-initiative-munich.de/en/news/news/article/1/a-nanoear-to-listen-into-the-s/]]. Gold nanoparticles detect tiny acoustic vibrations. The research is detailed in the paper ''[[“Optically Trapped Gold Nanoparticle Enables Listening at the Microscale”|http://prl.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v108/i1/e018101]]'' by Alexander Ohlinger, Andras Deak, Andrey A. Lutich, and Jochen Feldmann.
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created milestone>><<matchTags popup sort:-created detection>><<matchTags popup sort:-created microscope>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanophotonics>>
<<tiddler Twitter>>
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One expect that engineered inorganic nanoparticles have customized multiple and particular functionalities to interact in a precisse manner with its environment either generating energy or delivering drugs, but it will be even better when ''the nanoparticles can in addition of transforming the environment to be -reversively and univocally- transformed by it''. The anticipated, expected and observed ''transient nature of nanoparticles'' will open exciting ways of dealing with matter at the molecular level. [[Researches observed|http://www.als.lbl.gov/als/science/sci_archive/179nanoparticle-catalyst.html]] that Heterogeneous catalysts that contain bimetallic nanoparticles underwent dramatic and reversible changes in composition and chemical state in response to oxidizing or reducing conditions. In the case of [[Rh-Pd nanoparticles|http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1164170]] the metals migrated alternatively to the surface of the particle in response to the environment.
''Background:'' [[Secret Lives of Catalysts Revealed]]
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoparticles>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[Victor Puntes]]>>
[[Dr. Robert Langer|http://web.mit.edu/langerlab/langer.html]] is institute professor, chemical and biomedical engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "//Robert Langer is the foremost pioneer and innovator in modern drug delivery//," says John Sterling, ~Editor-in-Chief of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News. "[[Dr. Langer|http://nanowiki.info/index.html#%5B%5BGroundbreakers%20in%20the%20field%20of%20Nanotechnology%20worldwide%5D%5D]] and his team continue to advance research and development on novel biomaterials and tissue- engineered products. They are constantly pushing the technology envelope for new ways to deliver biodrugs and pharmaceuticals."
[[Interview with Robert Langer|http://www.genengnews.com/genCasts.aspx?id=198]]. This podcast ''on New Polymeric Drug Delivery Systems'' is imperative for researchers and biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device executives whose companies are engaged in drug discovery and development, as well as market makers, analysts, and investors who must be knowledgeable about the challenges and directions in therapeutic delivery.
Source: [[Advances in drug delivery and tissue engineering|http://www.genengnews.com/genCasts.aspx?id=198]]
^^Via [[Joan Esteve|http://www.ub.edu/gcfes/index_es.htm]], [[Victor Puntes|Victor Puntes]]^^
Stained glass windows that are painted with gold purify the air when they are lit up by sunlight, a team of Queensland University of Technology experts have discovered. Associate Professor [[Zhu Huai Yong|http://www.sci.qut.edu.au/about/staff/physchem/chem/zhuh.jsp]] said that //glaziers in medieval forges were the first nanotechnologists who produced colours with gold nanoparticles of different sizes//. Professor Zhu said numerous church windows across Europe were decorated with glass coloured in gold nanoparticles. "For centuries people appreciated only the beautiful works of art, and long life of the colours, but little did they realise that these works of art are also, in modern language, ''photocatalytic air purifier with nanostructured gold catalyst''," Professor Zhu said.
He said tiny particles of gold, energised by the sun, were able to destroy air-borne pollutants like volatile organic chemical (~VOCs), which may often come from new furniture, carpets and paint in good condition. "These ~VOCs create that 'new' smell as they are slowly released from walls and furniture, but they, along with methanol and carbon monoxide, are not good for your health, even in small amounts," he said.
"Gold, when in very small particles, becomes very active under sunlight. The electromagnetic field of the sunlight can couple with the oscillations of the electrons in the gold particles and creates a resonance [[[surface plasmon resonance|http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Nanotechnology/Nanometals]]]. The magnetic field on the surface of the gold nanoparticles can be enhanced by up to hundred times, which breaks apart the pollutant molecules in the air." Professor Zhu said the by-product was carbon dioxide, which was comparatively safe, particularly in the small amounts that would be created through this process.
He said ''the use of gold [[nanoparticles]] to drive chemical reactions'' opened up exciting possibilities for scientific research. //"This technology is solar-powered, and is very energy efficient, because only the particles of gold heat up," he said. "In conventional chemical reactions, you heat up everything, which is a waste of energy. Once this technology can be applied to produce specialty chemicals at ambient temperature, it heralds significant changes in the economy and environmental impact of the chemical production."//
Source: [[Air-purifying church windows early nanotechnology|http://www.news.qut.edu.au/cgi-bin/WebObjects/News.woa/wa/goNewsPage?newsEventID=19841]]. Findings have been published in a recent edition of Angewandte Chemie International: [[Visible-Light-Driven Oxidation of Organic Contaminants in Air with Gold Nanoparticle Catalysts on Oxide Supports|http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1002/anie.200800602]].
[<img[the special paving stone in a lab of the Twente University|http://www.terradaily.com/images/air-purifying-concrete-afp-bg.jpg]] As of April 2008, [[Jos Brouwers|http://www.cme.ctw.utwente.nl/organisatie/Persoonlijke%20websites/Jos%20Brouwers.doc/index.html]] with a post-doc (Dr. M. Ballari) has started a 2-year project concerning the full-scale demonstration of 500 m2 air-purifying (~DeNOx) stones in a street in Hengelo. [[The municipality of Hengelo and the University of Twente|http://www.hengelo.nl/smartsite.dws?menu=8698&channel=INT&ch=INT&id=65390&hl=Castorweg]] (UT) are paving a test road section in Hengelo with air-purifying stones. The top layer of the concrete stones converts nitrogen oxide from exhaust fumes into harmless nitrates.
Car exhaust fumes contain nitrogen oxides (~NOx). Nitrogen oxides cause acid rain and smog. This problem can be partly solved by using [[air-purifying|air]] paving stones. The top layer of the paving stones is made of [[air-purifying concrete|http://www.tudelft.nl/live/pagina.jsp?id=05922daf-ecd9-4098-8b64-8dd2373e6ac6&lang=nl&binary=/doc/13-05%20High-tech%20concrete.pdf]]. This concrete contains titanium dioxide, a photocatalytic material which uses sunlight to convert the nitrogen oxides in the air into harmless nitrates. The rain then washes the streets clean.
Based on a [[Japanese invention|http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2223985/dutch-debut-pollution-eating]], the stones were further developed and their effectiveness demonstrated by the UT in its concrete research laboratory. The next step now is to test the stones in practice. The municipality of Hengelo has made the Castorweg location available for this purpose. The street will be divided into two sections, one half will be paved with conventional stones and the other half with air-purifying ones. The air quality will then be measured in each section to test the effectiveness of the stones. As an added bonus, the stones repel dirt and therefore always stay clean.
The location in Hengelo was chosen because of the volume of cars and the fact that the road is being reconstructed. The local air quality is currently well within the norm.
This trial is being carried out with stone producer [[Struyk Verwo Infra|http://www.struykverwo.nl/]]. As part of its ‘Effective Sustainability’ programme the province of Overijssel has granted a subsidy for the project. The province of Overijssel sees these stones as a good future opportunity for improving the air quality at places where the norms are not met. The demonstration project also has national significance.
The road reconstruction is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Measurements will then start early next year, with the first test results expected around the summer of 2009.
Source: [[Air-purifying paving stones on trial|http://www.utwente.nl/en/news/2008/august/66780%20UT%20PB%20Straatstenen%20(Engels).doc/]]. See also [[The European-Japanese Initiative on Photocatalytic Applications and Commercialization|http://www.ejipac.de/]]
^^Via [[Victor Puntes|Victor Puntes]]^^
{{twocolumns{
New chemistry has been developed to integrate lead chalcogenide nanocrystals into continuous inorganic matrices of chalcogenide glasses. Inorganic capping, rather than conventional organic capping ligands, allows simple and low-temperature encapsulation of these nanocrystals into solution-cast infrared (IR)-transparent amorphous As2S3 chalcogenide matrices. The resulting all-inorganic thin films display stable infrared luminescence in the technologically important near-IR region. The research team was composed of scientists from the Center for Nanoscale Materials' [[NanoBio Interfaces|http://nano.anl.gov/research/nano_bio.html]] and [[Nanophotonics|http://nano.anl.gov/research/nanophotonics.html]] groups, as well as the University of Chicago and the University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
inorganic nanocrystals.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/inorganic_nanocrystals.jpg" title="Synthesis of all-inorganic infrared-emitting PbS/CdS nanocrystals and integration into infrared-transparent As2S3 chalcogenide glass matrix" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>
Conventional methods for synthesizing nanocrystals include capping them with long-chain organic molecules to control particle size, morphology, and stability. But molecular vibrations associated with those ligands sap the particles' excitation energies, reducing IR emission efficiency and stability.
In a wholly unique approach, the research team devised a solution-phase method for making core/shell nanocrystals in which conventional organic groups are replaced with inorganic As2S3 ligands. These all-inorganic particles are then mildly heated to convert the ionic ligands to an IR-transparent As2S3 matrix. Low-temperature integration of nanocrystals into transparent inorganic matrices is an important step for their optical and optoelectronic integration The new data suggest that dielectric screening is the major cause of slow radiative rates in conventional lead chalcogenide nanocrystals. Effective integration reduces the dielectric contrast and enables fast radiative rates. This is especially useful for nanocrystals emitting in the IR region where few host materials can provide good optical transparency.
Source: Source: From ''[[All-Inorganic Nanocrystals Boost Infrared Emission|http://nano.anl.gov/news/highlights/2012_inorganic_nanocrystals.html]]''. This work is detailed in the paper [["Inorganically Functionalized PbS-CdS Colloidal Nanocrystals: Integration into Amorphous Chalcogenide Glass and Luminescent Properties"|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja2087689]] byM.V. Kovalenko et al..
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoscience>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanocrystals>>
<<tiddler Twitter>>
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A groundbreaking poll (Risks and Benefits of Nanotechnology & Synthetic Biology) finds that //almost half of U.S. adults have heard nothing about nanotechnology, and nearly nine in 10 Americans say they have heard just a little or nothing at all about the emerging field of synthetic biology//, according to a new report released by the [[Project on Emerging Technologies|http://www.nanotechproject.org/about/mission/]] and [[Peter D. Hart Research|http://www.nanotechproject.org/multimedia/flash/focus3/garin/garin.html]]. Both technologies involve manipulating matter at an incredibly small scale to achieve something new.
This ''new insight into limited public awareness of emerging technologies'' comes as a major leadership change is about to take hold in the nation's capital. Public policy experts are concerned, regardless of party, that //the federal government is behind the curve in engaging citizens on the potential benefits and risks posed by technologies that could have a significant impact on society//.
"Early in the administration of the next president, //scientists are expected to take the next major step toward the creation of synthetic forms of life//. Yet the results from the first U.S. telephone poll about synthetic biology show that most adults have heard just a little or nothing at all about it," says PEN Director David Rejeski. The poll findings are contained in the report, [[The American Public's Awareness Of And Perceptions About Potential Risks and Benefits of Nanotechnology & Synthetic Biology|http://www.nanotechproject.org/mint/pepper/tillkruess/downloads/tracker.php?url=http%3A//www.nanotechproject.org/process/assets/files/7040/final-synbioreport.pdf]].
//Synthetic biology is the use of advanced science and engineering to construct or re-design living organisms–like bacteria–so that they can carry out specific functions. This emerging technology is likely to develop rapidly in the coming years, much as nanotechnology did in the last decade//.
//At the same time, the poll found that about half of adults say they have heard nothing at all about nanotechnology. About 50 percent of adults are too unsure about nanotechnology to make an initial judgment on the possible tradeoffs between benefits and risks. Of those people who are willing to make an initial judgment, they think benefits will outweigh risks by a three to one margin when compared to those who believe risks will outweigh benefits. The plurality of respondents, however, believes that risks and benefits will be about equal. A major industry forecasting firm determined that last year nanotech goods in the global marketplace totaled $147 billion.//
According to the poll, ''the level of U.S. public awareness about nanotechnology has not changed measurably since 2004'' when Hart Research conducted the first poll on the topic on behalf of the PEN.
Source: [[Poll: Risks and Benefits of Nanotechnology & Synthetic Biology|http://www.nanotechproject.org/news/archive/synbio_poll/]]
“Information about the toxicity of nanoparticles is important in determining how nanoparticles will be regulated. In the U.S., the burden of collecting this information and conducting risk assessment is placed on regulatory agencies without the budgetary means to carry out this mandate. In this paper, we analyze the impact of testing costs on society’s ability to gather information about nanoparticle toxicity and whether such costs can reasonably be borne by an emerging industry. We show for the United States that costs for testing existing nanoparticles ranges from $249 million for optimistic assumptions about nanoparticle hazards (i.e., they are primarily safe and mainly require simpler screening assays) to $1.18 billion for a more comprehensive precautionary approach (i.e., all nanomaterials require long-term in vivo testing). At midlevel estimates of total corporate R&D spending, and assuming plausible levels of spending on hazard testing, the time taken to complete testing is likely to be very high (34-53 years) if all existing nanomaterials are to be thoroughly tested. These delays will only increase with time as new nanomaterials are introduced. The delays are considerably less if less-stringent yet risk-averse perspectives are used. Our results support a tiered risk-assessment strategy similar to the EU’s REACH legislation for regulating toxic chemicals.” Source: [[The Impact of Toxicity Testing Costs on Nanomaterial Regulation|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es802388s]] by ~Jae-Young Choi, Gurumurthy Ramachandran and Milind Kandlikar.
Apparently, there is no way out for this situation other than take risks. However, we could imagine another and more peaceful scenario where companies delay the aggressive and competitive commercialization of advanced products containing nanostructures until enough scientific knowledge is gathered and matured. This may take long time, I do not thing that so much, however, even if we work for the next generation, will not they be our sons? Is not that better than just contaminate the world until things like fertility is challenged and mankind enter into a decline? Why companies are selling while scientist are still wondering about the impact of nanotechnology?
Off course, it is very different to uncontrolledly disperse antibiotic nanoparticles with underwear, than using nanoparticles in critical cases in therapies or diagnosis in a controlled environment (like and hospital) applied by specialists s(as doctors).
What we have to do is very simple, that we will be able to do despite ourselves is another question.
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Just as artists at Disney and Pixar Animation Studios bring Mickey Mouse, Shrek and Nemo to life, life science artists are using animation to bring viruses, bacteria and even nanowires to life and demystify scientific concepts.
Life science animators from Purdue Research Park-based [[Seyet LLC|http://www.seyet.com/]] recently used their video talents to demonstrate how silicon nanowires form, a process that may change the way computers and consumer electronics are manufactured. Seyet's video provides people who don't have a medical or scientific background a "visual story" of how such complicated organisms or human-designed technologies operate.
"Scientific research is becoming increasingly complex, At the same time, it is important that researchers clearly communicate new discoveries to the public," said Jon Kevan, director of research and design for Seyet LLC, a visual communication company. "The animation of the nanowires demonstrates how a silicon nanowire can 'nucleate,' or begin to form on the way to becoming wires."
Seyet specializes in ''translating difficult-to-grasp scientific concepts and processes into the highly accurate animated forms now demanded by specialized scientific- and technology-focused audiences, as well as regulatory agencies''.
"For example, ''a National Science Foundation grant is reviewed first on intellectual merit and second on 'broader impacts,'''" Kevan said. "Seyet's animations can help fulfill the second criteria for those broader impacts in an innovative way."
A recent video animation was designed for a research discovery by Eric Stach, a Purdue University assistant professor of materials engineering. The video describes his work with an instrument called a transmission electron microscope, which shows [[how nanowires develop|http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2008b/081113StachNanowires.html]]. The research is based at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center, and at Purdue's Birck Nanotechnology Center in the university's Discovery Park.
Stach published a paper on his research that appeared in the journal Science this month. It is the first time researchers have made such precise measurements of the nucleation process in nanowires, Stach said."This is very complicated science, and showing people how it works is a tremendous help in understanding it," Kevan said. "The demand for new discoveries like Eric Stach's is great, as is the need to explain, in a non-scientific way, their meaning to the public." Stach's research is funded by the NSF's Electronic Materials Division.
''Translating data into visual images, such as showing how nanowires grow, may help researchers secure funding from government and other sources'', such as the National Institutes for Health, the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Education.
Source: [[Animation demystifies complex science; brings nanotechnology to life|http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2008b/081118SeyetGraphic.html]]
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/antenna.jpg" title="Ultra-wideband antenna. Credit: Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>Researchers have discovered a way to capture and harness energy transmitted by such sources as radio and television transmitters, cell phone networks and satellite communications systems. By scavenging this ambient energy from the air around us, the technique could provide a new way to power networks of wireless sensors, microprocessors and communications chips.
''"There is a large amount of electromagnetic energy all around us, but nobody has been able to tap into it,"'' said Manos Tentzeris, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering who is leading the research. "We are using an ultra-wideband antenna that lets us exploit a variety of signals in different frequency ranges, giving us greatly increased power-gathering capability."
Tentzeris and his team are ''using inkjet printers to combine sensors, antennas and energy-scavenging capabilities on paper or flexible polymers''. The resulting self-powered wireless sensors could be used for chemical, biological, heat and stress sensing for defense and industry; radio-frequency identification (RFID) tagging for manufacturing and shipping, and monitoring tasks in many fields including communications and power usage.
Communications devices transmit energy in many different frequency ranges, or bands. The team's scavenging devices can capture this energy, convert it from AC to DC, and then store it in capacitors and batteries. The scavenging device could be used by itself or in tandem with other generating technologies. For example, scavenged energy could assist a solar element to charge a battery during the day. At night, when solar cells don't provide power, scavenged energy would continue to increase the battery charge or would prevent discharging.
To print electrical components and circuits, the Georgia Tech researchers use a standard-materials inkjet printer. However, they add what Tentzeris calls "a unique in-house recipe" containing silver nanoparticles and/or other nanoparticles in an emulsion. This approach enables the team to print not only RF components and circuits, but also novel sensing devices based on such nanomaterials as carbon nanotubes.
The researchers believe that self-powered, wireless paper-based sensors will soon be widely available at very low cost. Source: From ''[[Ambient Electromagnetic Energy Harnessed for Small Electronic Devices|http://www.ece.gatech.edu/media/news/release.php?nid=68714]]''.
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first:<<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoparticles>> <<matchTags popup sort:-created [[carbon nanotubes]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created energy>>
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University of Toronto researchers have derived inspiration from the photosynthetic apparatus in plants to engineer a new generation of nanomaterials that control and direct the energy absorbed from light.
The U of T researchers, led by Professors Shana Kelley and Ted Sargent, ''report the construction of what they term “artificial molecules.”''
“Nanotechnologists have for many years been captivated by quantum dots - particles of semiconductor that can absorb and emit light efficiently, and at custom-chosen wavelengths,” explained co-author Kelley, a professor at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, the Department of Biochemistry in the Faculty of Medicine, and the Department of Chemistry in the Faculty of Arts and Science. “What the community has lacked - until now - is a strategy to build higher-order structures, or complexes, out of multiple different types of quantum dots. This discovery fills that gap.”
The team ''combined its expertise in DNA and in semiconductors to invent a generalized strategy to bind certain classes of nanoparticles to one another''.
“The credit for this remarkable result actually goes to DNA: its high degree of specificity - its willingness to bind only to a complementary sequence - enabled us to build rationally-engineered, designer structures out of nanomaterials,” said Sargent, a professor in The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Canada Research Chair in Nanotechnology. “The amazing thing is that our antennas built themselves - we coated different classes of nanoparticles with selected sequences of DNA, combined the different families in one beaker and nature took its course. The result is a beautiful new set of self-assembled materials with exciting properties.”
''Traditional antennas increase the amount of an electromagnetic wave - such as a radio frequency - that is absorbed, and then funnel that energy to a circuit. The U of T nanoantennas instead increased the amount of light that is absorbed and funneled it to a single site within their molecule-like complexes''. This concept is already used in nature in light harvesting antennas, constituents of leaves that make photosynthesis efficient. “Like the antennas in radios and mobile phones, our complexes captured dispersed energy and concentrated it to a desired location. Like the light harvesting antennas in the leaves of a tree, our complexes do so using wavelengths found in sunlight,” explained Sargent.
“What this work shows is that our capacity to manipulate materials at the nanoscale is limited only by human imagination. If semiconductor quantum dots are artificial atoms, then we have rationally synthesized artificial molecules from these versatile building blocks,” said Kelley.
Source: From [[U of T researchers build antenna for light|http://www.news.utoronto.ca/science-and-technology/u-of-t-researchers-build-antenna-for-light.html]]. Work informed by photosynthesis by Jef Ekins. This work was detailed in the paper ''[[“DNA-based programming of quantum dot valency, self-assembly and luminescence”|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nnano.2011.100.html]]''<<slider chkSldr [[DNA-based programming of quantum dot valency, self-assembly and luminescence]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomaterial>><<matchTags popup sort:-created self-assembly>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[quantum dots]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[dna nanotechnology]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created photosynthesis>><<matchTags popup sort:-created energy>>
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Interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, cross-disciplinary, intermedia, transmedia, and multimedia are becoming ever more prominent within the sciences, technology, and arts. These new ways of conceiving knowledge and its products creates opportunities and confusion about objectives. To stimulate discussion about where new arts and sciences should intersect, we propose an overarching synthesis we call “ArtScience” <html><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Siler" title="Siler, TS. Breaking the Mind Barrier. Simon and Schuster, 1990; Siler, TS. Think Like A Genius. Bantam Books, 1996">(1)</a></html>. ArtScience integrates all human knowledge through the processes of invention and exploration <html><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Root-Bernstein" title="Root-Bernstein RS & MM. Sparks of Genius. Houghton Mifflin, 1999">(2)</a></html>. It is both new and old; conservative and revolutionary; playful and serious. It enfolds the work of such liminal figures as Etienne Jules Marey, Loie Fuller, Harold “Doc” Edgerton, Alexander Calder, Lejaren Hiller, John Cage, Gerald Oster, Frank Malina, Lillian Schwartz, Buckminster Fuller, Gyorgy Kepes, and Piotr Kowalski, yet it proffers an infinite variety of future possibilities. ArtScience will move art out of galleries and museums, science from its laboratories and journals, into newly invented spaces and places, such as MIT’s Media Lab <html><a href="http://www.media.mit.edu/" title="Brand, S. Inventing the Future at MIT. Penguin Books, 1988">(3)</a></html>, La Laboratoire in Paris <html><a href="http://www.lelaboratoire.org/" title="Edwards D. ArtScience. Creativity in the Post-Google Generation. Harvard University Press, 2009">(4)</a></html>, SymbioticA in Perth <html><a href="http://www.symbiotica.uwa.edu.au/" title="SymbioticA">(5)</a></html>, and Harvard University’s Initiative for Innovative Computing (IIC) <html><a href="http://iic.seas.harvard.edu/" title="Initiative for Innovative Computing (IIC)">(6)</a></html>, which already do scientific exploration, engineering, design, and artistic display in a single space. Other novel venues will be invented. In that inventiveness lies the excitement of ArtScience.
''ArtScience Manifesto:''
1) Everything can be understood through art but that understanding is incomplete.
2) Everything can be understood through science but that understanding is incomplete.
3) ArtScience enables us to achieve a more complete and universal understanding of things.
4) ArtScience involves understanding the human experience of nature through the synthesis
of artistic and scientific modes of exploration and expression.
5) ArtScience melds subjective, sensory, emotional, and personal understanding with objective, analytical, rational, public understanding.
6) ArtScience embodies the convergence of artistic and scientific processes and skills, not from their products.
7) ArtScience is not Art + Science or Art-and-Science or Art/Science, in which the components retain their disciplinary distinctions and compartmentalization.
8) ArtScience transcends and integrates all disciplines or forms of knowledge.
9) One who practices ArtScience is both an Artist and a Scientist simultaneously, and one who produces things that are both artistic and scientific simultaneously.
10) Every major artistic advance, technological breakthrough, scientific discovery, and medical innovation since the beginning of civilization has resulted from the process of ArtScience.
11) Every major inventor and innovator in history was an ArtScience practitioner.
12) We must teach Art, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics as integrated disciplines, not separately.
13) We must create curricula based in the history, philosophy, and practice of ArtScience, using best practices in experiential learning.
14) The vision of ArtScience is the re-humanization of all knowledge.
15) The mission of ArtScience is the re-integration of all knowledge.
16) The goal of ArtScience is to cultivate a New Renaissance.
17) The objective of ArtScience is to inspire open-mindedness, curiosity, creativity, imagination, critical thinking, problem solving, and innovation through innovation and collaboration!
ArtScience, in sum, connects. The future of humanity and civil society depend on these connections. ArtScience is a new way to explore culture, society, human experience, that is synaesthetic experience integrated with analytical exploration. It is knowing, analyzing, experiencing and feeling simultaneously.
//“The acute problems of the world can be solved only by whole men [and women], not by people who refuse to be, publicly, anything more than a technologist, or a pure scientist, or an artist. In the world of today, you have got to be everything or you are going to be nothing.”// <html><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_Hal_Waddington" title="Waddington CH. Biology and the History of the Future. Edinburgh University Press, 1972, p. 360">(7)</a></html> Conrad Hal Waddington, biologist, philosopher, artist, and historian. <html><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_Hal_Waddington" title="Waddington CH. Behind Appearance. A Study of the relations between painting and the natural sciences in this century. Edinburgh University Press, 1969">(8)</a></html>
Signed,
Bob Root-Bernstein http://www.msu.edu/~rootbern
Todd Siler http://www.toddsilerart.com/
Adam Brown http://adamwbrown.net
Kenneth Snelson http://www.kennethsnelson.net/
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See also [[Nano and art: Leonardo/ISAST cooperation with NanoWiki]]
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Researchers develop first models for producing polymer-based artificial cells capable of self-organizing, performing tasks, and transporting “cargo,” from chemicals to medicine. Inspired by the social interactions of ants and slime molds, University of Pittsburgh engineers have designed artificial cells capable of self-organizing into independent groups that can communicate and cooperate. ''The research is a significant step toward producing synthetic cells that behave like natural organisms and could perform important, microscale functions in fields ranging from the chemical industry to medicine.''
The team presents computational models that provide a blueprint for developing artificial cells—or microcapsules—that can communicate, move independently, and transport “cargo” such as chemicals needed for reactions. Most importantly, the “biologically inspired” devices function entirely through simple physical and chemical processes, behaving like complex natural organisms but without the complicated internal biochemistry, said the researcher [[Anna Balazs|http://www.engr.pitt.edu/chemical/facstaff/balazs.html]], Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering in Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering.
The Pitt group’s ''microcapsules interact by secreting nanoparticles in a way similar to that used by biological cells signal to communicate and assemble into groups''. And with a nod to ants, the cells leave chemical trails as they travel, prompting fellow microcapsules to follow. Balazs worked with German Kolmakov and Victor Yashin, both postdoctoral researchers in Pitt’s Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, who produced the cell models; and with Pitt professor of electrical and computer engineering [[Steven Levitan|http://kona.ee.pitt.edu/steve/]], who devised the ant-like trailing ability.
The researchers write that communication hinges on the interaction between microcapsules exchanging two different types of nanoparticles. The “signaling” cell secretes nanoparticles known as agonists that prompt the second “target” microcapsule to emit nanoparticles known as antagonists. [[Video of this interaction|http://www.pitt.edu/news2010/CellTalk.wmv]] is available on Pitt’s Web site, one of several videos of the artificial cells Pitt has provided.
Locomotion results as the released nanoparticles alter the surface underneath the microcapsules. The cell’s polymer-based walls begin to push on the fluid surrounding the capsule and the fluid pushes back even harder, moving the capsule. At the same time, the nanoparticles from the signaling cell pull it toward the target cells. Groups of capsules begin to form as the signaling cell rolls along, picking up target cells. In practical use, Balazs said, the signaling cell could transport target cells loaded with cargo; the team’s next step is to control the order in which target cells are collected and dropped off.
The researchers adjusted the particle output of the signaling cell to create various cell formations, some of which are shown in the videos available on Pitt’s Web site. Source: [[Pitt Team Designs Artificial Cells That Communicate and Cooperate Like Biological Cells, Follow Each Other Like Ants|http://www.news.pitt.edu/news/pitt-team-designs-artificial-cells-communicate-and-cooperate-biological-cells-follow-each-othe-0]]. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Designing communicating colonies of biomimetic microcapsules|http://www.pnas.org/content/107/28/12417.abstract?sid=fcd7e4c5-0900-4934-9f48-6fab2940e077]]'' by German V. Kolmakov, Victor V. Yashin, Steven P. Levitan, and Anna C. Balazs.
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Cilia, tiny hair-like structures that perform feats such as clearing microscopic debris from the lungs and determining the correct location of organs during development, move in mysterious ways. Their beating motions are synchronized to produce metachronal waves, similar in appearance to “the wave” created in large arenas when audience members use their hands to produce a pattern of movement around the entire stadium.
Due to the importance of ciliary functions for health, there is great interest in understanding the mechanism that controls the cilias’ beating patterns. But learning exactly how cilia movement is coordinated has been challenging.
That may be beginning to change as a result of the creation, by a team of Brandeis researchers, of artificial cilia-like structures that dramatically offers a new approach for cilia study. Associate Professor of Physics [[Zvonimir Dogic|http://www.brandeis.edu/departments/physics/people/faculty/dogic.html]] and colleagues present ''the first example of a simple microscopic system that self-organizes to produce cilia-like beating patterns''.
“We’ve shown that there is a new approach toward studying the beating,” says Dogic. “Instead of deconstructing the fully functioning structure, we can start building complexity from the ground up.”
The complexity of these structures presents a major challenge as each cilium contains more than 600 different proteins. For this reason, most previous studies of cilia have employed a top-down approach, attempting to study the beating mechanism by deconstructing the fully functioning structures through the systematic elimination of individual components.
The interdisciplinary team consisted of physics graduate student Timothy Sanchez and biochemistry graduate student David Welch who worked with biologist [[Daniela Nicastro|http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/faculty/nicastro.html]] and Dogic. Their experimental system was comprised of three main components: microtubule filaments — tiny hollow cylinders found in both animal and plant cells, motor proteins called kinesin, which consume chemical fuel to move along microtubules and a bundling agent that induces assembly of filaments into bundles.
Sanchez and colleagues found that under a particular set of conditions these very simple components spontaneously organize into active bundles that beat in a periodic manner. In addition to observing the beating of isolated bundles, the researchers were also able to assemble a dense field of bundles that spontaneously synchronized their beating patterns into traveling waves.
''Self-organizing processes of many kinds have recently become a focus of the physics community''. These processes range in scale from microscopic cellular functions and swarms of bacteria to macroscopic phenomena such as flocking of birds and traffic jams. Since controllable experiments with birds, crowds at football stadiums and traffic are virtually impossible to conduct, the experiments described by Sanchez and colleagues could serve as a model for testing a broad range of theoretical predictions.
In addition, the reproduction of such an essential biological functionality in a simple system will be of great interest to the fields of cellular and evolutionary biology, Dogic says. The findings also open a door for the development of one of the major goals of nanotechnology — to design an object that’s capable of swimming independently.
The Dogic lab is currently planning refinements to the system to study these topics in greater depth. Source: [[Brandeis lab's artificial cilia spur new thinking in nanotechnology|http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2011/july/cilia.html]]. One step closer to learning how cilia movement is coordinated. This work was detailed in the paper ''[[Cilia-Like Beating of Active Microtubule Bundles|http://www.sciencemag.org/content/333/6041/456.abs]]''<<slider chkSldr [[Cilia-Like Beating of Active Microtubule Bundles]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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"The Nobelprize.org YouTube channel is currently dedicated to questions and answers series called [["Ask a Nobel Laureate."|http://www.youtube.com/thenobelprize#p/p]]
Our fourth Nobel Laureate to participate is Harry Kroto, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 1996 awarded together with Robert F. Curl Jr. and Richard E. Smalley [["for their discovery of fullerenes"|C60: Buckminsterfullerene]], called C60, a remarkable molecule composed of 60 carbon atoms arranged in a soccer-ball-like pattern. Ask as many questions as you like and don't forget to vote for your favorite question to get answered. Deadline for submission is 4 September 2010. Answers from Harry Kroto will be posted at the end of September." Source: [[Ask a Nobel Laureate, Sir Harry Kroto|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vh8PQXC9po&feature=player_embedded]]
''[[Ask a Nobel Laureate: Answers from Sir Harry Kroto|http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=222AA1DB5CB24A88]]'' by thenobelprize. Sir Harry Kroto, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 1996, has answered a selection of your video and text questions from YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, sharing his thoughts on the discovery of C60 in space, science and religion, tennis racquets and the future of carbon chemistry.
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Tthe President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) released its latest assessment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI): ''[[Report to the President and Congress on the Fourth Assessment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative|http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/PCAST_2012_Nanotechnology_FINAL.pdf]]''. The assessment is a Congressionally mandated biennial review of the NNI, a crosscutting Federal program designed to coordinate U.S. investments in research and development (R&D) activities in nanoscale science, engineering, technology, and related efforts across 26 agencies and programs. It was written by PCAST, acting in its capacity as the National Nanotechnology Advisory Panel.
This year’s assessment focused on the progress made by the NNI and the National Nanotechnology Coordinating Office (NNCO) in fulfilling the recommendations that PCAST made in its [[2010 assessment|http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/pcast-nni-report.pdf]].
PCAST found that the Federal agencies in the NNI have made ''substantial progress in addressing many of the 2010 recommendations that were aimed at maintaining U.S. leadership in nanotechnology''. One of the primary goals of the NNI is to stay ahead of heavily-investing competitors such as China, South Korea, the European Union, and Russia. Overall, PCAST concluded that the NNI remains a successful cooperative venture that is supporting high-quality research, facilitating the translation of discoveries into new commercial products, and ensuring the Nation’s continued global leadership in this important field.
The PCAST assessment particularly commends the expanded efforts of the NNCO in the area of commercialization and coordination with industry, and the NNCO’s release of a focused research strategy for addressing environmental, health, and safety (EHS) implications of nanotechnology. In addition, the assessment recognizes NNI’s strong and growing portfolio of research on the societal implications of nanotechnology, nanotechnology education, and public outreach.
The report makes recommendations (summarized on page vii) for additional progress in the areas of strategic planning, program management, metrics for assessing nanotechnology’s commercial and societal impacts, and increased support for EHS research. It notes, for example, that while the NNI has produced a visionary strategic plan, it remains unclear how agencies will implement the actions suggested in the plan. In the case of program management, it calls for the NNCO to be better supported by the participating agencies given the increasingly important coordinating role that the NNCO plays. In the area of metrics development, it identifies a need to track the development of, and ultimately utilize, metrics for assessing commercial impacts of nanotechnology. And in the area of EHS, the report concludes that cross-agency governance and coordinated research funding is going to be essential as the field of nanotechnology matures.
PCAST is optimistic that with continued efforts to implement these 2012 recommendations, the United States will continue to maintain its global leadership position in nanotechnology with widespread impact on the economy, high-tech jobs, health, national security, energy, and other critical domains. Source: [[PCAST Releases Assessment of National Nanotechnology Initiative|http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/04/27/pcast-releases-assessment-national-nanotechnology-initiative]] by [[Maxine Savitz|http://www.ccst.us/news/2009/20090430savitz.php]], [[Ed Penhoet|http://www.altapartners.com/team_detail.php?id=16]], and [[Chad Mirkin|http://chemgroups.northwestern.edu/mirkingroup/]] on April 27, 2012.
//Maxine Savitz, Ed Penhoet, and Chad Mirkin were co-chairs of the assessment and are members of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). PCAST is an advisory group of the Nation’s leading scientists and engineers, appointed by the President to augment the science and technology advice available to him from inside the White House and from cabinet departments and other Federal agencies.//
''Context:''
May 1, 2012. ''[[President's Council Wants a Few More Things from the National Nanotechnology Initiative|http://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/semiconductors/nanotechnology/national-nanotechnology-initiative-meeting-recommendations]]'' by Dexter Johnson, IEEE Spectrum. //Nobody is satisfied with the metrics that we have//
January 25, 2012. [[The National Academies: Health and Environmental Effects of Nanomaterials Remain Uncertain|NAS: Health and Environmental Effects of Nanomaterials Remain Uncertain]]
March 2010. [[Debate around U.S National Nanotechnology Initiative]]. //U.S. leadership in nanotechnology is threatened //
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<<tiddler Twitter>>
}}}
While pondering the challenges of distinguishing one nano-sized probe image from another in a mass of hundreds or thousands of nanoprobes, researchers made an interesting observation. ''The tiny, clustered dots of light looked a lot like a starry sky on a clear night''.
The biomedical researchers realized that astronomers had already made great strides in solving a problem very similar to their own — isolating and analyzing one dot (in this case a star) in a crowded field of light. They hypothesized that a computer system designed for stellar photometry, a branch of astronomy focused on measuring the brightness of stars, could hold the solution to their problem.
Now, Georgia Tech and Emory ''researchers have created a technology based on stellar photometry software that provides more precise images of single molecules tagged with NanoProbes, particles specially designed to bind with a certain type of cell or molecule and illuminate when the target is found''. The clearer images allow researchers to collect more detailed information about a single molecule, such as how the molecule is binding in a gene sequence, taking scientists a few steps closer to truly personalized and predictive medicine as well as more complex biomolecular structural mapping.
In addition to biomedical applications, the system could be used to clarify other types of nanoparticle probes, including tagged particles or molecules.
''“This work is pointing to a new era in light microscopy in which single molecule detection is achieved at nanometer resolution,”'' said Dr. Shuming Nie, a professor of biomedical engineering and chemistry and also the director of the ~Emory-Georgia Tech Cancer Nanotechnology Center.'' “This is also an example of interdisciplinary research in which advanced computing meets nanotechnology''. I envision major applications not only for single-molecule imaging, but also for ultrasensitive medical diagnostics.”
Source: [[Astronomy Technology Brings Nanoparticle Probes into Sharper Focus|http://www.gatech.edu/newsroom/release.html?id=1728]]
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Nanoparticles are atmospheric materials so small that they can’t be seen with the naked eye, but they can very visibly affect both weather patterns and human health all over the world – and not in a good way, according to a study by a team of researchers at Texas A&M University.
Researchers say that nanoparticles appear to be growing in many parts of the world, but how they do so remains a mystery.
The team looked at ''how nanoparticles are formed and their relationship with certain organic vapors responsible for additional growth. “This is one of the most poorly understood of all atmospheric processes,”'' Zhang says. “But we found that certain types of organics tend to grow very rapidly. When this happens, they scatter light back into space, and that definitely has a cooling effect – sort of a reverse ‘greenhouse effect.’ It can alter Earth’s weather patterns and it also tends to have a negative effect on human health.”
Persons with breathing problems, such as those who suffer from asthma, emphysema or other lung ailments, can be at risk, he notes.
Zhang says the team used new methods of measuring nanoparticles and formed new models to determine their impact on atmospheric conditions.
“These changes on our weather systems appear to be the most dramatic consequences of these nanoparticles,” he adds. “Once these form, they can change cloud formations, which in turn can affect weather all over the world, so this can become a global problem to deal with. We’re trying to get a better understanding of these particles work and grow. “They can form near areas that have petrochemical plants, such as Houston, which also has high amounts of aerosols from traffic emissions and other numerous factories. But we’re still trying to learn how they form and interact with the atmosphere.”
Many types of trees and plants also contribute to the formation of nanoparticles, which are natural processes, Zhang says, and certain forms of organic materials can also speed up the development of the particles. But all of these ultimately affect the atmosphere, and very often, cloud formation, where the aerosols scatter light and radiation back into space and provide the “seeds” of cloud droplets and development.
“These nanoparticles are very small – about one million times smaller than a typical raindrop,” Zhang says. “But what they do can have a huge effect on our weather.”
Source: [[Texas A&M News & Information Services » Blog Archive » Atmospheric Nanoparticles Impact Health, Weather Prof Says|http://tamunews.tamu.edu/2010/02/28/atmospheric-nanoparticles-impact-health-weather-prof-says/]]. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Atmospheric nanoparticles formed from heterogeneous reactions of organics|http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v3/n4/full/ngeo778.html]]'' by Lin Wang, Alexei F. Khalizov, Jun Zheng, Wen Xu, Yan Ma, Vinita Lal & Renyi Zhang.
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Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created [[nano before nanotech]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoparticles>><<matchTags popup sort:-created astronomy>><<matchTags popup sort:-created climate>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanotoxicology>><<matchTags popup sort:-created video>>
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[<img[In an atom pinhole camera, atoms pass through pinholes in a mask and generate a scaled-down nanostructure of the mask’s pattern onto a substrate. (Credit: sci publication)|http://www.en.nanonewsnet.ru/sites/en.nanonewsnet.ru/files/users/u1331/PinholeCameraNanolythography1_060209.jpg]] Scientists from the [[Institute of Spectroscopy|http://www.isan.troitsk.ru/]], Russian Academy of Sciences have developed a method of nanofabrication using an atom pinhole camera. For the first time, the researchers, along with coauthors from the [[Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology|http://phystech.edu/]], have experimentally demonstrated ''how to use the camera obscura to manufacture an array of identical atomic nanostructures of controlled shapes and sizes''. The technique could produce individual nanostructures down to 30 nm, a size reduction of 10,000 times compared with the original object.
As the scientists explain, the atom pinhole camera they designed is based on the idea of an optical [[pinhole camera|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinhole_camera]], which is often used in optics when creation of a focusing lens is difficult. Instead of light traveling through a lens, light travels through a pinhole on a mask, and creates an inverted image on a substrate on the other side. Optical pinhole cameras can produce high-quality images with high resolution that depends on the diameter of the pinhole.
In an atom pinhole camera, atoms act like photons in an optical pinhole camera, and so the main principles are the same in both versions. In their experimental setup, the scientists used ion beam milling to poke a pinhole in a mask. After the atoms passed through the pinhole, they created an atomic nanostructure on a silicon substrate. As the atom pinhole camera provides a way to replicate micro-sized objects as nano-sized ones, the camera is an example of <html><b><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/1451541/Feynman-1983" title="Infinitesimal Machines by Richard Feynman. 1983">Feynman’s scalable manufacturing system</a></b></html>
The scientists also created another mask with a large array of pinholes. In this “atom multiple pinhole camera,” each pinhole could generate its own image, which does not intersect with neighboring images. As the scientists noted, a camera with up to 10 million pinholes could open up opportunities for simultaneous generation of large numbers of identical (or diverse) nanostructures.
Using an atom pinhole camera to fabricate nanostructures offers several advantages compared to other nanofabrication techniques, which include optical photolithography (in which a photosensitive material is molded by light), nanolithography (in which focused particle beams mold objects), and atom optics methods that use lenses, which are limited by diffraction.
The atom pinhole camera is a novel type of lens-less atom optics technique, which uses diffraction to its advantage. While it might seem that resolution in atom pinhole camera would be limited to the diameter of the pinhole, the researchers show in an upcoming study that the image spot diameter can be three times smaller than the pinhole diameter, which is due to diffraction effects.
The new method can be used with a variety of materials for nanostructures (e.g. atoms, molecules, and clusters) and a variety of substrates, which could make it useful for diverse applications such as electronics and biological uses. The scientists predict that the method could have applications in metamaterials, plasmonics, spintronics, MEMS/NEMS, and more.
Source: From [[Atom pinhole camera for nanolithography from the Institute of Spectroscopy, Russian Academy of Sciences|http://www.en.nanonewsnet.ru/news/2009/atom-pinhole-camera-nanolithography-institute-spectroscopy-russian-academy-sciences]]. Nano News Net, nanotechnology news from Russia. Submitted by birger. This work is detailed in the paper [[Nanolithography based on an atom pinhole camera|http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0957-4484/20/23/235301]] by P.N. Melentiev, A.V. Aablotskiy, [[D.A. Lapshin|http://www.isan.troitsk.ru/dls/lapshin/homepage_start.htm]], E.P. Sheshin, A.S. Baturin, and [[V.I. Balykin|http://www.isan.troitsk.ru/dls/balykin.htm]]
Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomachinery>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomaterial>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoelectronics>>
A chronicle of the first effort to move individual atoms. [[Positioning single atoms with a scanning tunnelling microscope]] by D. M. Eigler & E. K. Schweizer (Nature, April 5, 1990)
"In 1989, three years after joining IBM’s Almaden Research Center, [[Don Eigler|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Eigler]] and colleague Erhard Schweitzer demonstrated the ability to position individual atoms with atomic precision using a low-temperature [[Scanning Tunneling Microscope|http://www.almaden.ibm.com/vis/stm/gallery.html]]".<html><object width="620" height="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/57QQqbziiFs&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/57QQqbziiFs&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="620" height="500"></embed></object></html>
<<matchTags popup sort:-created video>><<matchTags popup sort:-created microscope>><<matchTags popup sort:-created milestone>>
{{twocolumns{
University of Queensland scientists have earned their place alongside artists in a new exhibition that promotes sustainability through creative practice.
An animation and images created by [[Dr David Poger and Professor Alan Mark|http://www.bio-diverse-cityproject.com/participants.php]] from the School of Chemistry & Molecular Biosciences are featured in the [[Bio-diverse-city exhibition|http://www.bio-diverse-cityproject.com/]].
The animation shows how phospholipid molecules, the main component of cell membranes, will spontaneously self-assemble to form a well-ordered functional membrane from a random mixture in water.
The water molecules are depicted in blue, the lipid "tails" are drawn as grey sticks while the yellow and green balls represent the "head group" of the lipid molecules. The animation is the result of computer simulations that are being used by Professor Mark and his laboratory to understand how cells operate at an atomic level.
''"Molecular self-assembly is one of the most fundamental properties of life,"'' [[Professor Mark|http://www.uq.edu.au/uqresearchers/researcher/marka.html]] said.
"Understanding this process is not only a major scientific challenge but is also central to unravelling the origins of conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and the rational design of nano-materials modelled on biological systems.
"The great thing about the exhibition is that it can help convey the sense of amazement you get when studying life in atomic detail."
''The Bio-diverse-city project aims to explore new concepts around building social and environmental resilience through diversity.''
The work of [[Dr Poger|http://compbio.chemistry.uq.edu.au/~david/]] and Professor Mark was selected for the exhibition not only because it is striking but also because it represents one of the most fundamental processes involved in building and sustaining life.
The Bio-diverse-city exhibition forms part of the Sunshine Coast Regional Council's Treeline Project – a series of environmentally focused art events being staged between January and July 2010. Source: [[Atomic art promotes sustainability|http://www.uq.edu.au/news/?article=21310]]
Bio-diverse-city: the Treeline Project 2010: One of Australia's most innovative art exhibition concepts is entering its second phase. In tune with the United Nations International Year of Biodiversity, the Bio-diverse-city project explores new concepts around building social and environmental <html><a href="http://www.resalliance.org/576.php" title="Ecosystem resilience is the capacity of an ecosystem to tolerate disturbance without collapsing into a qualitatively different state that is controlled by a different set of processes. A resilient ecosystem can withstand shocks and rebuild itself when necessary">resilience</a></html> through diversity by putting visual artists, scientists, architects, urban planners and social scientists together in the 'white cube', setting up unique visual dialogues about the emerging future.
Why 'Bio-diverse-city' ? This is a way of forcing the two ideas together - the idea of the 'city' and the idea of 'biodiversity'. There is an obvious play around the word 'biodiversity' of course. Beyond that, hyphenating the components of the title implies a deconstruction into individual parts that nevertheless still belong to the whole. Thus 'bio' might suggest the natural world, or 'organic' rather than 'mechanical', while 'diverse' suggests a spread of characteristics and increased complexity. The city is the preferred ecological niche now for Homo sapiens and inevitably will be where much of the focus is directed for planning human futures in the face of great environmental change. Fusing the ideas of biodiversity and the city reflects <html><a href="http://transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork/TransitionNetwork" title="Transition Network's role is to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities as they self-organise around the transition model, creating initiatives that rebuild resilience and reduce CO2 emissions.">a growing world view</a></html> of the importance of containing one within the other in planning. From [[Bio-diverse-city site project|http://www.bio-diverse-cityproject.com/]]
Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created art>><<matchTags popup sort:-created city>>
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<img src="http://www.uq.edu.au/news/images/media/Sustainable-art.jpg" alt="A still from the animation created by Dr David Poger and Professor Alan Mark " title="A still from the animation created by Dr David Poger and Professor Alan Mark" width="100%"/>
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{{twocolumns{
The Royal Society, the UK’s independent academy for science, has announced the recipients of its 2010 Awards, Medals, Royal Medals and Lectures. The scientists receive the awards in recognition of their achievements in a wide variety of fields of research - the uniting factor is the excellence of their work and the profound implications their findings have had for others working in their relevant fields and wider society. From [[Royal Society recognises excellence in science|http://royalsociety.org/Royal-Society-recognises-excellence-in-science/]]
The Royal Society awarded Professor Andre Geim the Hughes Medal for his revolutionary discovery of graphene, and explanation of its remarkable properties.
The director of the [[Manchester Centre for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology|http://intranet.cs.man.ac.uk/nanotechnology/]] adds the medal to his long list of awards [1] which reflect his stature in the world of scientific research after ''the discovery of graphene – the world’s thinnest material – in 2004''.
For his award, Professor Geim paid tribute to his colleagues, saying: "I am honoured to receive this award that recognises original discoveries in the physical sciences.
“''Graphene is a supreme representative of a new class of materials that are one-atom-thick and until recently remained missing from our perception of the universe''. During the last five years, graphene has become one of the hottest research topics, and the interest shows no sign of receding.
“The area continues deliver a new exciting science, and the applications are no longer wishful thinking. Our work previously attracted a number of awards, and the recognition by the Royal Society is of course a great source of personal pride.
“Also, it is testament to the hard work and dedication taking place here at the University of Manchester, with my many colleagues contributing to this achievement." Source: [[Professors honoured by Royal Society for excellence in science|http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/display/?id=5818]]
The original paper with the discovery: ''[[Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films|http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/306/5696/666]]'' by K. S. Novoselov, A. K. Geim, S. V. Morozov, D. Jiang, Y. Zhang, S. V. Dubonos, I. V. Grigorieva, A. A. Firsov. "We describe monocrystalline graphitic films, which are a few atoms thick but are nonetheless stable under ambient conditions, metallic, and of remarkably high quality. The films are found to be a two-dimensional semimetal with a tiny overlap between valence and conductance bands, and they exhibit a strong ambipolar electric field effect such that electrons and holes in concentrations up to 10^^13^^ per square centimeter and with room-temperature mobilities of 10,000 square centimeters per volt-second can be induced by applying gate voltage."
<html><img src="http://onnes.ph.man.ac.uk/~geim/index_files/slide0614_image001.jpg" alt="Professor Andre Geim" title="Professor Andre Geim, awarded for the discovery of graphene" align="middle" width="75%"/></html>
''References:''
^^<html><h2><a name="awards">[1] Awards:</a></h2></html>
[[2010 NAS John J Carty Award|http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=01202010b]] for “realization and investigation of graphene, the two-dimensional form of carbon”
[[2009 Körber Science Prize|http://www.koerber-stiftung.de/en/science/koerber-prize/presse/pressemeldungen/presse-details-koerber-preis/artikel/the-2009-koerber-european-science-award-goes-to-andre-geim.html]] for “developing the first two-dimensional crystals made of carbon atoms”
[[2008 Europhysics Prize|http://www.eps.org/news/news-files/Awards%20from%202008%20on%20-%20EPSeurophys.%20Prize.pdf/view]] “for discovering and isolating a single free-standing atomic layer of carbon (graphene) and elucidating its remarkable electronic properties“ (shared with [[Kostya Novoselov|http://www.condmat.physics.manchester.ac.uk/people/academic/novoselov/]])
[[2007 Mott Prize|http://www.iop.org/News/Community_News_Archive/2006/news_8650.html]] “for the discovery of a new class of materials – 2D atomic crystals – particularly graphene^^
Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created milestone>><<matchTags popup sort:-created graphene>>
}}}
<br>Alexie M. Kolpak and Jeffrey C. Grossman. 2011. ''ACS Nano Letters. doi:10.1021/nl201357n''
//Solar thermal fuels, which reversibly store solar energy in molecular bonds, are a tantalizing prospect for clean, renewable, and transportable energy conversion/storage. However, large-scale adoption requires enhanced energy storage capacity and thermal stability. Here we present a novel solar thermal fuel, composed of azobenzene-functionalized carbon nanotubes, with the volumetric energy density of Li-ion batteries. Our work also demonstrates that the inclusion of nanoscale templates is an effective strategy for design of highly cyclable, thermally stable, and energy-dense solar thermal fuels.//
{{twocolumns{
Forget computer viruses - magnet-making bacteria could be used to build tomorrow’s computers with larger hard drives and speedier connections. Researchers at the University of Leeds have used a type of bacterium which 'eats' iron to create a surface of magnets, similar to those found in traditional hard drives, and wiring. As the bacterium ingests the iron it creates tiny magnets within itself.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:5px" src="img/biomagnets.jpg" title="Biomagnets. Credit: University of Leeds" class="photo" width="60%"/></html>The team has also begun to understand how the proteins inside these bacteria collect, shape and position these "nanomagnets" inside their cells and can now replicate this behaviour outside the bacteria.
Led by Dr Sarah Staniland from the University's School of Physics and Astronomy, in a longstanding collaboration with the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, the team hope to develop a 'bottom-up' approach for creating cheaper, more environmentally-friendly electronics of the future.
Dr Staniland said: "We are quickly reaching the limits of traditional electronic manufacturing as computer components get smaller. The machines we've traditionally used to build them are clumsy at such small scales. Nature has provided us with the perfect tool to circumvent this problem."
The magnetic array was created by Leeds PhD student Johanna Galloway using a protein which creates perfect nanocrystals of magnetite inside the bacterium Magnetospirilllum magneticum. In a process akin to potato-printing on a much smaller scale, this protein is attached to a gold surface in a checkerboard pattern and placed in a solution containing iron.
At a temperature of 80°C, similarly-sized crystals of magnetite form on the sections of the surface covered by the protein. The team are now working to reduce the size of these islands of magnets, in order to make arrays of single nanomagnets. They also plan to vary the magnetic materials that this protein can control. These next steps would allow each of these nanomagnets to hold one bit of information allowing the construction of better hard drives.
"Using today's 'top-down' method - essentially sculpting tiny magnets out of a big magnet - it is increasingly difficult to produce the small magnets of the same size and shape which are needed to store data," said Johanna Galloway. "Using the method developed here at Leeds, the proteins do all the hard work; they gather the iron, create the most magnetic compound, and arrange it into regularly-sized cubes."
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/biowires.jpg" title="'Nanowires' are made of 'quantum dots' and are encased by fat molecules, or lipids. Credit: University of Leeds" class="photo" width="60%"/></html>A different protein has been used to create tiny electrical wires by Dr Masayoshi Tanaka, during a secondment to Leeds from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. These 'nanowires' are made of 'quantum dots' - particles of copper indium sulphide and zinc sulphide which glow and conduct electricity - and are encased by fat molecules, or lipids.
The magnetic bacteria contain a protein that moulds mini compartments for the nanomagnets to be formed in using the cell membrane lipids. Dr Tanaka used a similar protein to make tubes of fat containing quantum dots - biological-based wiring.
"It is possible to tune these biological wires to have a particular electrical resistance. In the future, they could be grown connected to other components as part of an entirely biological computer," said Dr Tanaka.
The research group and the team at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, led by Prof. Tadashi Matsunaga, now plan to examine the biological processes behind the behaviour of these proteins. "Our aim is to develop a toolkit of proteins and chemicals which could be used to grow computer components from scratch," adds Dr Staniland. Source: From ''[[Bacterial builders on site for computer construction|http://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/3181/bacterial_builders_on_site_for_computer_construction]]''. This work is detailed in the papers [["Biotemplated Magnetic Nanoparticle Arrays"|http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smll.201101627/abstract]] by Galloway, J. M., Bramble, J. P., Rawlings, A. E., Burnell, G., Evans, S. D. and Staniland, S. S. and [["Fabrication of Lipid Tubules with Embedded Quantum Dots by Membrane Tubulation Protein"|http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smll.201102446/abstract]] by Tanaka, M., Critchley, K., Matsunaga, T., Evans, S. D. and Staniland, S. S.
''Context:''
[[Death Valley Microbe May Spark Novel Nanotech Uses]]
[[How bacterial magnetosomes form]]
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanobiotechnology>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanowire>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[quantum dots]]>>
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}}}
The selection of these images question and move us to a playground where it is possible to disclose what apparently seems to be hidden and where we can experience the convergence of art and science. Knowledge, reflection, aesthetic enjoyment, and beauty find here their own place.
The playground opened in front of us is not predefined, neither for the scientist nor for the receiver, if any of these figures could ever be independent one from the other. In fact it is a space where incontigency, what is for itself, it appears in front of us contingently like an //objet trouvé//.
It is absolutely possible to establish a link between the representation of certain nanotechnological images and their perception by the spectator in a way that can evoke an aesthetic experience leading to sensory-cognitive connections.
I am going to mention two quotes from the article "Balancing the promises" very appropriate for this introduction to the aesthetics of the nanotechnology images: "nanoparticles conjugate composed by an inorganic core coated by a thin layer of organic matter" and "How do we go from chemistry to biology? Nanotechnology". In this way is configured a double corollary, the one of 'covering-uncovering' and the one of 'bridge-path'.
The interpretation and the playground will be opened if we are able to accept the invitation to unwrap and cross //objet trouvé//,that means, these
images from the nanometric world, with their own potentialities, as if we were contemplating a simple Haiku from Matsuo Basho or a caligram from Apollinaire.
Is not by chance that as first plate it appears a sample of human in an alert position, walking stealthily on tiptoe across 'Nanoland' balancing the promises. The character (main figure) I guess is there, in order to be our guide through this territory full of winding curves, intricate paths, complex nets, floral landscape and bright stars escaped from the Van Gogh picture 'Starry night' It is useless to expect that maps could help us in this trip because maps themselves are part of that magnificent territory. At the end of this enriching walk our tiny guide points us cubic shapes that remind us dice, an then comes to our mind the Mallarme's poem 'A throw of the dice will never abolish chance' concluding that any interpretation along this trek could only be, even tough we have a guide, a matter of chance. Source: ''Balancing the promises plates by Anna Rierola, [[Transcultural|http://www.transcultural.es/]]''
''Context:'' The book [[Nanotechnology: balancing the promises]] includes 42 original plates of nanoparticles
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created art>><<matchTags popup sort:-created book>><<matchTags popup sort:-created NanoWiki>>
{{twocolumns{
Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry) have discovered a universal technique for stripping nanocrystals of tether-like molecules that until now have posed as obstacles for their integration into devices. These findings could provide scientists with a clean slate for developing new nanocrystal-based technologies for energy storage, photovoltaics, smart windows, solar fuels and light-emitting diodes.
Nanocrystals are typically prepared in a chemical solution using stringy molecules called ligands chemically tethered to their surface. These hydrocarbon-based or organometallic molecules help stabilize the nanocrystal, but also form an undesirable insulating shell around the structure. Efficient and clean removal of these surface ligands is challenging and has eluded researchers for decades.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/bare_nanocrystals_vials.jpg" title="Vials of ligand-free nanocrystals dispersed in solution for various applications, including energy storage, smart windows and LEDs." class="photo" width="100%"/></html> [[The Molecular Foundry|http://foundry.lbl.gov/]] is one of five DOE Nanoscale Science Research Centers (NSRCs), national user facilities for interdisciplinary research at the nanoscale, supported by the DOE Office of Science. Together the NSRCs comprise a suite of complementary facilities that provide researchers with state-of-the-art capabilities to fabricate, process, characterize and model nanoscale materials, and constitute the largest infrastructure investment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. Source: From [[Nanocrystals Go Bare:|http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stories/2011/12/08/nanocrystals-go-bare/]]Berkeley Lab Researchers Strip Material’s Tiny Tethers by Aditi Risbud. This work was detailed in the paper [[“Exceptionally mild reactive stripping of native ligands from nanocrystal surfaces using Meerwein’s salt”|http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201105996/abstract]].
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoscience>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoparticles>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanocrystals>><<matchTags popup sort:-created energy>>
<<tiddler Twitter>>
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{{twocolumns{
One Chicago skyline is dazzling enough. Now imagine 15,000 of them. A Northwestern University research team has done just that -- drawing 15,000 identical skylines with tiny beams of light using an innovative nanofabrication technology called beam-pen lithography (BPL). ''The new method could do for nanofabrication what the desktop printer has done for printing and information transfer.'' The Northwestern technology offers a means to rapidly and inexpensively make and prototype circuits, optoelectronics and medical diagnostics and promises many other applications in the electronics, photonics and life sciences industries.
"It's all about miniaturization," said ''[[Chad A. Mirkin|http://mccormick.northwestern.edu/news/archives/691]]'', George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and director of Northwestern's [[International Institute for Nanotechnology|http://www.iinano.org/]]. "Rapid and large-scale transfer of information drives the world. But conventional micro- and nanofabrication tools for making structures are very expensive. We are trying to change that with this new approach to photolithography and nanopatterning."
''Beam-pen lithography is the third type of "pen" in Mirkin's nanofabrication arsenal. He developed [[polymer-pen lithography (PPL)|http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/321/5896/1658]] in 2008 and [[Dip-Pen Nanolithography (DPN)|http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/283/5402/661]] in 1999'', both of which deliver chemical materials to a surface and have since been commercialized into research-grade nanofabrication tools that are now used in 23 countries around the world. Like PPL, beam-pen lithography uses an array of tiny pens made of a polymer to print patterns over large areas with nanoscopic through macroscopic resolution. But instead of using an "ink" of molecules, BPL draws patterns using light on a light-sensitive material.
Beam-pen lithography could lead to the development of a desktop printer of sorts for nanofabrication, giving individual researchers a great deal of control of their work. "Such an instrument would allow researchers at universities and in the electronics industry around the world to rapidly prototype -- and possibly produce -- high-resolution electronic devices and systems right in the lab," Mirkin said. "They want to test their patterns immediately, not have to wait for a third-party to produce prototypes, which is what happens now." Source: From [[15,000 beams of light|http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-08/nu-1bo073010.php]]. This work is detailed in the paper [[Beam-pen Nanolithography|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nnano.2010.161.html]] by Fengwei Huo, Gengfeng Zheng, Xing Liao, Louise R. Giam, Jinan Chai, Xiaodong Chen and Wooyoung Shim & Chad A. Mirkin
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomachinery>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomanufacturing>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoelectronics>><<matchTags popup sort:-created video>>
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/***
|Name|BetterTimelineMacro|
|Created by|SaqImtiaz|
|Location|http://tw.lewcid.org/#BetterTimelineMacro|
|Version|0.5 beta|
|Requires|~TW2.x|
!!!Description:
A replacement for the core timeline macro that offers more features:
*list tiddlers with only specfic tag
*exclude tiddlers with a particular tag
*limit entries to any number of days, for example one week
*specify a start date for the timeline, only tiddlers after that date will be listed.
!!!Installation:
Copy the contents of this tiddler to your TW, tag with systemConfig, save and reload your TW.
Edit the ViewTemplate to add the fullscreen command to the toolbar.
!!!Syntax:
{{{<<timeline better:true>>}}}
''the param better:true enables the advanced features, without it you will get the old timeline behaviour.''
additonal params:
(use only the ones you want)
{{{<<timeline better:true onlyTag:Tag1 excludeTag:Tag2 sortBy:modified/created firstDay:YYYYMMDD maxDays:7 maxEntries:30>>}}}
''explanation of syntax:''
onlyTag: only tiddlers with this tag will be listed. Default is to list all tiddlers.
excludeTag: tiddlers with this tag will not be listed.
sortBy: sort tiddlers by date modified or date created. Possible values are modified or created.
firstDay: useful for starting timeline from a specific date. Example: 20060701 for 1st of July, 2006
maxDays: limits timeline to include only tiddlers from the specified number of days. If you use a value of 7 for example, only tiddlers from the last 7 days will be listed.
maxEntries: limit the total number of entries in the timeline.
!!!History:
*28-07-06: ver 0.5 beta, first release
!!!Code
***/
//{{{
// Return the tiddlers as a sorted array
TiddlyWiki.prototype.getTiddlers = function(field,excludeTag,includeTag)
{
var results = [];
this.forEachTiddler(function(title,tiddler)
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Gold is for ever… is inert and not biodegradable, the most noble of the noble metals. That is why it is used in medicine (stents) or dental restoration. However, if you look very close, with your nanoglasses, ''gold'' dissolves in biological environments. This metabolization of inorganic “non-biodegradable” matter is slow and it has been usually neglected. However, nanoparticles are also small and the dissolution rates become significant when your entity has few thousand of atoms. Mainly if the immune system is involved. See [[Gold ions bio-released from metallic gold particles reduce inflammation and apoptosis and increase the regenerative responses in focal brain injury|http://www.springerlink.com/content/a127670376840111/]].
Metabolization of magnetite/maghemite ''iron oxide'' ~NPs has also been described recently. See [[Bioinorganic transformations of liver iron deposits observed by tissue magnetic characterisation in a rat model|http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TGG-4KB6YV2-6&_user=1517286&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000053449&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=1517286&md5=b224b4272d490a17a278f6c74483b03f]]
''~CdSe nanoparticles'' have also been reported to corrode and dissolve in biological environments in a matter of 24-48 hours. See [[Cytotoxicity of Colloidal CdSe and CdSe/ZnS Nanoparticles|http://www.nanion.de/pdf/NanoLetters_Cytotoxicity.pdf]]
Thus, if ~CdSe, iron oxide, Au dissolve in biological environments, one may expect that many other materials will do so (may be not carbon nanostructures, as carbon nanotubes or fullerenes, will be diamonds for ever even in the nanometer? Or very stable oxides as ~SiO2, will it dissolve?) ''and this will have an enormous impact on the risk evaluation of nanoparticles'' since it will determine their accumulation potential and therefore the doses, regulations, toxicities…
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoparticles>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanotoxicology>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanobiotechnology>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[Victor Puntes]]>>
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Researchs uses self-assembling blood, milk, and mucus proteins to build next generation technology. Silicon, a semi-conducting element, is the basis of most modern technology, including cellular phones and computers. But according to Tel Aviv University researchers, this material is quickly becoming outdated in an industry producing ever-smaller products that are less harmful to the environment.
Now, a team of TAU's Department of Chemistry and [[The Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology|http://nano.tau.ac.il/]], with supervisor [[Dr. Shachar Richter|http://www.tau.ac.il/~srichter/]], has brought together cutting-edge techniques from multiple fields of science to create ''protein-based transistors — semi-conductors used to power electronic devices — from organic materials found in the human body''. They could become the basis of a new generation of nano-sized technologies that are both flexible and biodegradable.
Working with blood, milk, and mucus proteins which have the ability to self-assemble into a semi-conducting film, the researchers have already succeeded in taking the first step towards biodegradable display screens, and they aim to use this method to develop entire electronic devices.
One of the challenges of using silicon as a semi-conductor is that a transistor must be created with a "top down" approach. Manufacturers start with a sheet of silicon and carve it into the shape that is needed, like carving a sculpture out of a rock. This method limits the capabilities of transistors when it comes to factors such as size and flexibility.
The TAU researchers turned to biology and chemistry for a different approach to building the ideal transistor. When they appled various combinations of blood, milk, and mucus proteins to any base material, ''the molecules self-assembled to create a semi-conducting film on a nano-scale''. In the case of blood protein, for example, the film is approximately four nanometers high. The current technology in use now is 18 nanometers, says Mentovich.
Together, the three different kinds of proteins create a complete circuit with electronic and optical capabilities, each bringing something unique to the table. Blood protein has the ability to absorb oxygen, Mentovich says, which permits the "doping" of semi-conductors with specific chemicals in order to create specific technological properties. Milk proteins, known for their strength in difficult environments, form the fibers which are the building blocks of the transistors, while the mucosal proteins have the ability to keep red, green and, blue fluorescent dyes separate, together creating the white light emission that is necessary for advanced optics.
Overall, ''the natural abilities of each protein give the researchers "unique control" over the resulting organic transistor, allowing adjustments for conductivity, memory storage, and fluorescence among other characteristics''.
Technology is now shifting from a silicon era to a carbon era, notes Mentovich, and this new type of transistor could play a big role. Transistors built from these proteins will be ideal for smaller, flexible devices that are made out of plastic rather than silicon, which exists in wafer form that would shatter like glass if bent. The breakthrough could lead to a new range of flexible technologies, such as screens, cell phones and tablets, biosensors, and microprocessor chips.
Just as significant, because the researchers are using natural proteins to build their transistor, the products they create will be biodegradable. It's a far more environmentally friendly technology that addresses the growing problem of electronic waste, which is overflowing landfills worldwide. Source: From ''[[Biodegradable Transistors -- Made from Us|http://www.aftau.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=16121]]''. This work is detailed in the papers: [["Resolving the Mystery of the Elusive Peak: Negative Differential Resistance in Redox Proteins"|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jz200304s]] by [[Elad D. Mentovich|http://www.mrs.org/f11-gsa/]], Bogdan Belgorodsky, and Shachar Richter; and [["Efficient Separation of Dyes by Mucin: Toward Bioinspired White-Luminescent Devices"|http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.201100529/abstract]] by Netta Hendler, Bogdan Belgorodsky, Elad D. Mentovich, Michael Gozin, Shachar Richter.
''Context:''
November 13, 2009. [[Biodegradable Transistors|https://www.technologyreview.es/biomedicine/23940/]]. MIT Technology Review, Katherine Bourzac. //"The Stanford group, led by chemical engineering professor [[Zhenan Bao|http://baogroup.stanford.edu/]], is the first to make electronics from fully biodegradable semiconducting materials"//
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University of Pittsburgh researchers have developed ''the first natural, nontoxic method for biodegrading carbon nanotubes'', a finding that could help diminish the environmental and health concerns that mar the otherwise bright prospects of the super-strong materials commonly used in products, from electronics to plastics.
A Pitt research team has found that carbon nanotubes deteriorate when exposed to the natural enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP). These results open the door to further development of safe and natural methods-with HRP or other enzymes-of cleaning up carbon nanotube spills in the environment and the industrial or laboratory setting.
Carbon nanotubes are one-atom thick rolls of graphite 100,000 times smaller than a human hair yet stronger than steel and excellent conductors of electricity and heat. They reinforce plastics, ceramics, or concrete; conduct electricity in electronics or energy-conversion devices; and are sensitive chemical sensors, Alexander Star said. (Star created an [[early-detection device for asthma attacks|http://mac10.umc.pitt.edu/m/FMPro?-db=ma.fp5&-format=d.html&-lay=a&-sortfield=date&-sortorder=descend&keywords=asthma&-max=50&-recid=37156&-find=]] wherein carbon nanotubes detect minute amounts of nitric oxide preceding an attack)
"The many applications of nanotubes have resulted in greater production of them, but their toxicity remains controversial," Star said. "Accidental spills of nanotubes are inevitable during their production, and the massive use of nanotube-based materials could lead to increased environmental pollution. We have demonstrated a nontoxic approach to successfully degrade carbon nanotubes in environmentally relevant conditions."
The team's work focused on nanotubes in their raw form as a fine, graphite-like powder, Valerian Kagan explained. In this form, nanotubes have caused severe lung inflammation in lab tests. Although small, nanotubes contain thousands of atoms on their surface that could react with the human body in unknown ways, Kagan said. Both he and Star are associated with a three-year-old Pitt initiative to investigate nanotoxicology.
"Nanomaterials aren't completely understood. Industries use nanotubes because they're unique-they are strong, they can be used as semiconductors. But do these features present unknown health risks? The field of nanotoxicology is developing to find out," Kagan said. "Studies have shown that they can be dangerous. We wanted to develop a method for safely neutralizing these very small materials should they contaminate the natural or working environment."
To break down the nanotubes, the team exposed them to a solution of HRP and a low concentration of hydrogen peroxide at 4 degrees Celcius (39 degrees Fahrenheit) for 12 weeks. Once fully developed, this method could be administered as easily as chemical clean-ups in today's labs, Kagan and Star said.
Source: [[Pitt Researchers Create Nontoxic Clean-up Method for Common, Potentially Toxic Nano Materials|http://www.news.pitt.edu/m/FMPro?-db=ma&-lay=a&-format=d.html&id=3552&-Find]]. This work is detailed in the paper [[Biodegradation of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes through Enzymatic Catalysis|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/nl802315h?prevSearch=Alexander+Star&searchHistoryKey=]] by Brett L. Allen, Padmakar D. Kichambare, Pingping Gou, Irina I. Vlasova, Alexander A. Kapralov, Nagarjun Konduru, Valerian E. Kagan and Alexander Star
<<matchTags popup sort:-created [[green chemistry]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanotoxicology>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[carbon nanotubes]]>>
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/quantumdot_in_bacteria.jpeg" title="The quantum dot-tainted bacteria stop digestion in the protozoan, and food vacuoles with undigested material accumulate, seen in the right image. This is in contrast to the normal condition of protozoa eating untreated bacteria, seen in the left image" class="photo" width="50%"/></html> An interdisciplinary team of researchers at UC Santa Barbara has produced ''a groundbreaking study of how nanoparticles are able to biomagnify in a simple microbial food chain''.
"This was a simple scientific curiosity," said [[Patricia Holden|http://www.bren.ucsb.edu/people/Faculty/patricia_holden.htm]], professor in UCSB's Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and the corresponding author of the study. "But it is also ''of great importance to this new field of looking at the interface of nanotechnology and the environment''."
The research was partially funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) STAR Program, and by the UC Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology ([[UC CEIN|http://www.cein.ucsb.edu/]]), based at UCLA, with researchers from UCSB, UC Davis, UC Riverside, Columbia University, and other national and international partners. UC CEIN is funded by the National Science Foundation and the EPA.
The fact that the ratio of cadmium and selenide was preserved throughout the course of the study indicates that the nanoparticles were themselves biomagnified. "Biomagnification –– the increase in concentration of cadmium as the tracer for nanoparticles from prey into predator –– this is the first time this has been reported for nanomaterials in an aquatic environment, and furthermore involving microscopic life forms, which comprise the base of all food webs," Holden said.
An implication is that nanoparticles inside the protozoa could then be available to the next level of predators in the food chain, which could lead to broader ecological effects. "These protozoa are greatly enriched in nanoparticles because of feeding on quantum dot-laced bacteria," Hold said. "Because there were toxic effects on the protozoa in this study, there is a concern that there could also be toxic effects higher in the food chain, especially in aquatic environments."
One of the missions of UC CEIN is to try to understand the effects of nanomaterials in the environment, and how scientists can prevent any possible negative effects that might pose a threat to any form of life. "In this context, one might argue that if you could ‘design out' whatever property of the quantum dots causes them to enter bacteria, then we could avoid this potential consequence," Holden said. "That would be a positive way of viewing a study like this. ''Now scientists can look back and say, ‘How do we prevent this from happening?' "'' Source: [[UCSB Scientists Demonstrate Biomagnification of Nanomaterials in Simple Food Chain|http://www.ia.ucsb.edu/pa/display.aspx?pkey=2391]]. This work was detailed in the paper [[“Biomagnification of cadmium selenide quantum dots in a simple experimental microbial food chain”|http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2010.251]] by R. Werlin, J. H. Priester, R. E. Mielke, S. Krämer, S. Jackson, P. K. Stoimenov, G. D. Stucky, G. N. Cherr, [[E. Orias|http://www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/mcdb/emeriti/orias/index.html]] & P. A. Holden <<slider chkSldr [[Biomagnification of cadmium selenide quantum dots in a simple experimental microbial food chain]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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<br>//Previous studies have shown that engineered nanomaterials can be transferred from prey to predator, but the ecological impacts of this are mostly unknown. In particular, it is not known if these materials can be biomagnified—a process in which higher concentrations of materials accumulate in organisms higher up in the food chain. Here, we show that bare CdSe quantum dots that have accumulated in Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria can be transferred to and biomagnified in the Tetrahymena thermophila protozoa that prey on the bacteria. Cadmium concentrations in the protozoa predator were approximately five times higher than their bacterial prey. Quantum-dot-treated bacteria were differentially toxic to the protozoa, in that they inhibited their own digestion in the protozoan food vacuoles. Because the protozoa did not lyse, largely intact quantum dots remain available to higher trophic levels. The observed biomagnification from bacterial prey is significant because bacteria are at the base of environmental food webs. Our findings illustrate the potential for biomagnification as an ecological impact of nanomaterials.//
Berkeley Lab scientists have developed a nano-sized synthetic polymer bundle that can fold in half and trap a zinc molecule between its jaws, ''a first-of-its-kind feat that mimics how proteins conduct life’s vital functions''.
//“Our goal is to take proteins’ catalysis and molecular-recognition capabilities, and add them to a material that is more rugged and less prone to degradation,”// said Ron Zuckermann, who is the Facility Director of the Biological Nanostructures Facility in Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry. “Proteins are precisely folded linear polymer chains of amino acids. So we thought, why not make a similar polymer chain by linking together non-natural amino acids?”
The scientists’ research is detailed in a study entitled [[“Biomimetic Nanostructures: Creating a High-Affinity Zinc-Binding Site in a Folded Nonbiological Polymer”|http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/jacsat/2008/130/i27/abs/ja802125x.html]].
Source: [[Nanosized Jaws Perform Like Proteins|http://www.lbl.gov/publicinfo/newscenter/features/2008/MSD-nano-jaws.html]]
^^Via [[Joan Esteve|http://www.ub.edu/gcfes/index_es.htm]]^^
Testing for diseases such as cancer and multiple sclerosis could soon be as simple as using a pregnancy testing kit. A team led by scientists at the University of Leeds has developed ''a biosensor technology that uses antibodies to detect biomarkers'' - molecules in the human body which are often a marker for disease – much faster than current testing methods (provides results in 15 minutes or less).
The technology could be used in doctors’ surgeries for more accurate referral to consultants, and in hospitals for rapid diagnosis. Tests have shown that the biosensors can detect a wide range of analytes (substances being measured), including biomarkers present in prostate and ovarian cancer, stroke, multiple sclerosis, heart disease and fungal infections. The team also believes that the biosensors are versatile enough to test for diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV.
The technology was developed through a European collaboration of researchers and commercial partners in a 2.7 million Euro project called [[ELISHA|http://www.immunosensors.com]] (~Electro-Immunointerfaces and Surface Nanobiotechnology: A Heterodoxical Approach).
ELISHA was co-ordinated by Dr Paul Millner from the Faculty of Biological Sciences at the [[University of Leeds|http://www.fbs.leeds.ac.uk]], and managed by colleague Dr Tim Gibson. Says Dr Millner: “''We believe this to be the next generation diagnostic testing''. We can now detect almost any analyte faster, cheaper and more easily than the current accepted testing methodology.“
Currently blood and urine are tested for disease markers using a method called ELISA (Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant Assay). Developed in the 1970s, the process takes an average of two hours to complete, is costly and can only be performed by highly trained staff.
The Leeds team are confident their new technology could be developed into a small device the size of a mobile phone into which different sensor chips could be inserted, depending on the disease being tested for. “We’ve designed simple instrumentation to make the biosensors easy to use and understand,” says Dr Millner. “They’ll work in a format similar to the glucose biosensor testing kits that diabetics currently use.”
Says Dr Gibson: “''The analytes used in our research only scratch the surface of the potential applications. We’ve also shown that it can be used in environmental applications'', for example to test for herbicides or pesticides in water and antibiotics in milk.”
Source: [[Disease diagnosis in just 15 minutes|http://www.leeds.ac.uk/media/press_releases/current/15minutes.htm]]
<<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomedicine>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nano-oncology>><<matchTags popup sort:-created detection>>
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''Photovoltaic panels made from plant material could become a cheap, easy alternative to traditional solar cells''. Within a few years, people in remote villages in the developing world may be able to make their own solar panels, at low cost, using otherwise worthless agricultural waste as their raw material. That’s the vision of MIT researcher Andreas Mershin, whose work appears in the open-access journal Scientific Reports.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/biosolar.jpg" title="Solar panels made of photosynthetic molecules found in plants and bacteria can generate electricity. To boost their efficiency, nanowires like these can increase the surface area of a substrate and expose more of the molecules to sunlight. SEM of nanostructured TiO2 and ZnO photoanodes and schematic of an ideal ultra-low cost biophotovoltaic arrangement" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>The work is an extension of a project begun eight years ago by Shuguang Zhang, a principal research scientist and associate director at MIT’s Center for Biomedical Engineering. Zhang was senior author of the new paper along with [[Michael Graetzel|Millennium Prize for Grätzel cells]] of Switzerland’s École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. In his original work, Zhang ''was able to enlist a complex of molecules known as photosystem-I (PS-I), the tiny structures within plant cells that carry out photosynthesis''. Zhang and colleagues derived the PS-I from plants, stabilized it chemically and formed a layer on a glass substrate that could — like a conventional photovoltaic cell — produce an electric current when exposed to light.
''But that early system had some drawbacks''. Assembling and stabilizing it required expensive chemicals and sophisticated lab equipment. What’s more, the resulting solar cell was weak: Its efficiency was several orders of magnitude too low to be of any use, meaning it had to be blasted with a high-power laser to produce any current at all.
''Now Mershin says the process has been simplified to the point that virtually any lab could replicate it'' — including college or even high school science labs — allowing researchers around the world to start exploring the process and making further improvements. The new system’s efficiency is 10,000 times greater than in the previous version — although in converting just 0.1 percent of sunlight’s energy to electricity, it still needs to improve another tenfold or so to become useful, he says.
The key to achieving this huge improvement in efficiency, Mershin explains, was finding a way to expose much more of the PS-I complex per surface area of the device to the sun. Zhang’s earlier work simply produced a thin flat layer of the material; Mershin’s inspiration for the new advance was pine trees in a forest.
Mershin, a research scientist in the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms, noticed that while most of the pines had bare trunks and a canopy of branches only at the very top, a few had small branches all the way down the length of the trunk, capturing any sunlight that trickled down from above. He decided to create a microscopic forest on a chip, with PS-I coating his “trees” from top to bottom.
Turning that insight into a practical device took years of work, but in the end Mershin was able to create a tiny forest of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires as well as a sponge-like titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanostructure coated with the light-collecting material derived from bacteria. The nanowires not only served as a supporting structure for the material, but also as wires to carry the flow of electrons generated by the molecules down to the supporting layer of material, from which it could be connected to a circuit. “It’s like an electric nanoforest.”
As an bonus, both zinc oxide and titanium dioxide — the main ingredient in many sunscreens — are very good at absorbing ultraviolet light. That’s helpful in this case because ultraviolet tends to damage PS-I, but in these structures that damaging light gets absorbed by the support structure.
Mershin thinks that because he and his colleagues have now lowered the barrier to entry for further work on these materials, progress toward improving their efficiency should be rapid. Ultimately, once the efficiency reaches 1 or 2 percent, he says, that will be good enough to be useful, because the ingredients are so cheap and the processing so simple.
“You can use anything green, even grass clippings” as the raw material, he says — in some cases, waste that people would otherwise pay to have hauled away. While centrifuges were used to concentrate the PS-I molecules, the team has proposed a way to achieve this concentration by using inexpensive membranes for filtration. No special laboratory conditions are needed, Mershin says: “It can be very dirty and it still works, because of the way nature has designed it. Nature works in dirty environments — it’s the result of billions of experiments over billions of years.”
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Because the system is so cheap and simple, he hopes this will become a “way of getting low-tech electricity to people who have never been thought of as consumers or producers of solar-power technology.” He hopes the instructions for making a solar cell will be simple enough to be reduced to “one sheet of cartoon instructions, with no words.” The only ingredient to be purchased would be chemicals to stabilize the PS-I molecules, which could be packaged inexpensively in a plastic bag.
Essentially, Mershin says, within a few years a villager in a remote, off-grid location could “take that bag, mix it with anything green and paint it on the roof” to start producing power, which could then charge cellphones or lanterns. Today, the most widely used source of lighting in such locations is kerosene lanterns — “the most expensive, most unhealthy” form of lighting there is, he says. “Nighttime illumination is the number one way to get out of poverty,” he adds, because it enables people who work in the fields all day to read at night and get an education. Source: From ''[[Harnessing nature’s solar cells|http://www.mit.edu/press/2012/biosolar.html]]''. This work is detailed in the paper [["Self-assembled photosystem-I biophotovoltaics on nanostructured TiO2 and ZnO"|http://www.nature.com/srep/2012/120202/srep00234/full/srep00234.html]] by Andreas Mershin, Kazuya Matsumoto Liselotte Kaiser, Daoyong Yu, Michael Vaughn, Md. K. Nazeeruddin, [[Barry D. Bruce|http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/2012/02/02/biosolar-breakthrough/]], [[Michael Graetzel|http://actu.epfl.ch/news/how-to-turn-leaves-into-solar-panels/]] & Shuguang Zhang.
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[<img[The nanostructures that produce some birds’ brightly colored plumage, such as the blue feathers of the male Eastern Bluebird, have a sponge-like structure (Photo: Ken Thomas)|http://opa.yale.edu/images/articles/6559-58758972.jpg]] Some of the brightest colors in nature are created by tiny nanostructures with a structure similar to beer foam or a sponge, according to Yale University researchers.
Most colors in nature—from the color of our skin to the green of trees—are produced by pigments. But the bright blue feathers found in many birds, such as Bluebirds and Blue Jays, are instead produced by nanostructures. Under an electron microscope, these structures look like sponges with air bubbles.
Now an interdisciplinary team of Yale engineers, physicists and evolutionary biologists has taken a step toward uncovering how these structures form. They compared the nanostructures to examples of materials undergoing phase separation, in which mixtures of different substances become unstable and separate from one another, such as the carbon-dioxide bubbles that form when the top is popped off a bubbly drink. They found that the color-producing structures in feathers appear to self-assemble in much the same manner. Bubbles of water form in a protein-rich soup inside the living cell and are replaced with air as the feather grows.
The research, which appears online in the journal Soft Matter, provides new insight into how organisms use self-assembly to produce color, and has important implications for the role color plays in birds’ plumage, as the color produced depends entirely on the precise size and shape of these nanostructures.
“Many biologists think that plumage color can encode information about quality – basically, that a bluer male is a better mate,” said [[Richard Prum|http://www.yale.edu/eeb/prum]], chair of the [[Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology|http://www.yale.edu/eeb]] and one of the paper’s authors. “Such information would have to be encoded in the feather as the bubbles grow. I think our hypothesis that phase separation is involved provides less opportunity for encoding information about quality than most biologists thought. At the same time, it’s exciting to think about other ways birds might be using phase separation.”
[[Eric Dufresne|http://www.seas.yale.edu/faculty-detail.php?id=31]], lead author of the paper, is also interested in the potential technological applications of the finding. “We have found that nature elegantly self assembles intricate optical structures in bird feathers. We are now mimicking this approach to make a new generation of optical materials in the lab,” said Dufresne, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, chemical engineering and physics.
Prum believes it was the interdisciplinary approach the team took that led to their success – a result he plans on celebrating “with another practical application of phase separation: champagne!”
Other authors of the paper include Heeso Noh, Vinodkumar Saranathan, Simon Mochrie Hui Cao (all of Yale University).
Source: [[Bird Feathers Produce Color Through Structure Similar to Beer Foam|http://opa.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=6559&s=t]].
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="https://www.ameslab.gov/files/imagepicker/k/kgibson/Citrate.jpg" title="This diagram shows the effect of citrate concentration on the size of hydroxyapatite crystals fabricated with self-assembling block copolymer templates. Just as it does with actual bone structure, as the concentration of citrate increases, the thickness of the nanocrystals decreases and the thinner nanocrystals appear to make the bone more resistant to stress cracking. Credit: U.S. Dept. of Energy's Ames Laboratory" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>Bone is one of nature’s surprising “building materials.” Pound-for-pound it’s stronger than steel, tough yet resilient. Scientists ''have identified the composition that gives bone its outstanding properties'' and the important role citrate plays, work that may help science better understand and treat or prevent bone diseases such as osteoporosis.
Using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory scientist and Iowa State University chemistry professor [[Klaus Schmidt-Rohr|http://www.ameslab.gov/dmse/srohr]] and his colleagues studied ''bone, an organic-inorganic nanocomposite whose stiffness is provided by thin nanocrystals of carbonated apatite, a calcium phosphate, imbedded in an organic matrix of mostly collagen, a fibrous protein''.
By understanding the nanostructure of naturally occurring materials, researchers may be able to develop new light-weight, high-strength materials that will require less energy to manufacture and that could make the products in which they are used more energy efficient.
“The organic, collagen matrix is what makes bones tough,” Schmidt-Rohr said, “while the inorganic apatite nanocrystals provide the stiffness. And the small thickness – about 3 nanometers – of these nanocrystals appears to provide favorable mechanical properties, primarily in prevention of crack propagation.” While bone structure has been studied extensively, ''how these apatite nanocrystals form and what prevents them from growing thicker was a mystery''.
After studying bone structure over a five-year period, it was actually serendipitous that Schmidt-Rohr came across a signature that appeared to match what he was seeing. “We had gotten some crystalline collagen samples to study,” he said, “and it turned out that the supplier had used citrate to dissolve the collagen. And the citrate signature in the collagen samples matched the signature we were seeing in bone.”
According to Schmidt-Rohr, the role of citrate in bone had been studied up until about 1975, but since that time, no mention was made in any of the newer literature on bone. So in essence, his research team had to rediscover it.
“We feel that citrate probably also has a role in the biomineralization of the apatite,” Schmidt-Rohr said. “It’s also been noted in the literature that as an organism ages, the nanocrystal thickness increases and the citrate concentration goes down,” Schmidt-Rohr said, “and there’s also support from clinical studies that citrate is good for bones,” adding that one of the leading supplements for bone strength contains calcium citrate. “While calcium loss is a major symptom in osteoporosis, the decline of citrate concentration may also contribute to bone brittleness,” he said. Source: From ''[[Citrate Key in Bone's Nanostructure|http://www.ameslab.gov/news/news-releases/citrate-key-bones-nanostructure]]''.
See also [[The calcification at a nanometer scale|Early atherosclerosis imaged: the calcification at a nanometer scale]]. "Unravelling the processes of calcium phosphate formation is important in our understanding of both bone and tooth formation, and also of pathological mineralization, for example in cardiovascular disease."
<br>''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomedicine >><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomaterial >><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanominerals >><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[nano before nanotech]] >>
''Share this content on Twitter:'' <html><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="nanowiki">Tweet</a></html><script src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" show></script>
}}}
{{twocolumns{
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/glycine.png" title="ORNL researchers detected for the first time ferroelectric domains (seen as red stripes) in the simplest known amino acid – glycine" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>The boundary between electronics and biology is blurring with the ''first detection of ferroelectric properties in an amino acid called glycine''.
A multi-institutional research team led by Andrei Kholkin of the University of Aveiro, Portugal, used a combination of experiments and modeling to identify and explain the presence of [[ferroelectricity|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferroelectricity]], a property where materials switch their polarization when an electric field is applied, in the simplest known amino acid—glycine.
"The discovery of ferroelectricity opens new pathways to novel classes of bioelectronic logic and memory devices, where polarization switching is used to record and retrieve information in the form of ferroelectric domains," said coauthor and senior scientist at Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS) Sergei Kalinin.
''Although certain biological molecules like glycine are known to be piezoelectric, a phenomenon in which materials respond to pressure by producing electricity, ferroelectricity is relatively rare in the realm of biology''. Thus, scientists are still unclear about the potential applications of ferroelectric biomaterials.
"This research helps paves the way toward building memory devices made of molecules that already exist in our bodies," Kholkin said.
For example, making use of the ability to switch polarization through tiny electric fields may help build nanorobots that can swim through human blood. Kalinin cautions that such nanotechnology is still a long way in the future.
"Clearly there is a very long road from studying electromechanical coupling on the molecular level to making a nanomotor that can flow through blood," Kalinin said. "But unless you have a way to make this motor and study it, there will be no second and third steps. Our method can offer an option for quantitative and reproducible study of this electromechanical conversion."
The study builds on previous research at ORNL's CNMS, where Kalinin and others are developing ''new tools such as the piezoresponse force microscopy used in the experimental study of glycine''.
"It turns out that piezoresponse force microsopy is perfectly suited to observe the fine details in biological systems at the nanoscale," Kalinin said. "With this type of microscopy, you gain the capability to study electromechanical motion on the level of a single molecule or small number of molecular assemblies. This scale is exactly where interesting things can happen."
Kholkin's lab grew the crystalline samples of glycine that were studied by his team and by the ORNL microscopy group. In addition to the experimental measurements, the team's theorists verified the ferroelectricity with molecular dynamics simulations that explained the mechanisms behind the observed behavior. Source: From [[ORNL microscopy yields first proof of ferroelectricity in simplest amino acid|http://www.ornl.gov/info/press_releases/get_press_release.cfm?ReleaseNumber=mr20120419-00]] by Morgan McCorkle. This work is detailed in the paper ''[["Nanoscale Ferroelectricity in Crystalline γ-Glycine"|http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adfm.201103011/abstract]]'' by Alejandro Heredia, Vincent Meunier, Igor K. Bdikin, José Gracio, Nina Balke, Stephen Jesse, Alexander Tselev, Pratul K. Agarwal, Bobby G. Sumpter, Sergei V. Kalinin, Andrei L. Kholkin.
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created [[nano before nanotech]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomaterial>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoelectronics>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanobiotechnology>>
<<tiddler Twitter>>
}}}
/***
|Name|BreadcrumbsPlugin|
|Author|Eric Shulman|
|Source|http://www.TiddlyTools.com/#BreadcrumbsPlugin|
|Documentation|http://www.TiddlyTools.com/#BreadcrumbsPluginInfo|
|Version|2.1.2|
|License|http://www.TiddlyTools.com/#LegalStatements|
|~CoreVersion|2.1|
|Type|plugin|
|Description|list/jump to tiddlers viewed during this session plus "back" button/macro|
This plugin provides a list of links to all tiddlers opened during the session, creating a "trail of breadcrumbs" from one tiddler to the next, allowing you to quickly navigate to any previously viewed tiddler, or select 'home' to reset the display to the initial set of tiddlers that were open at the start of the session (i.e., when the document was loaded into the browser).
!!!!!Documentation
<<<
see [[BreadcrumbsPluginInfo]]
<<<
!!!!!Configuration
<<<
<<option chkCreateDefaultBreadcrumbs>> automatically create breadcrumbs display (if needed)
<<option chkShowBreadcrumbs>> show/hide breadcrumbs display
<<option chkReorderBreadcrumbs>> re-order breadcrumbs when visiting a previously viewed tiddler
<<option chkBreadcrumbsHideHomeLink>> omit 'Home' link from breadcrumbs display
<<option chkBreadcrumbsSave>> prompt to save breadcrumbs when 'Home' link is pressed
<<option chkShowStartupBreadcrumbs>> show breadcrumbs for 'startup' tiddlers
<<option chkBreadcrumbsReverse>> show breadcrumbs in reverse order (most recent first)
<<option chkBreadcrumbsLimit>> limit breadcrumbs display to {{twochar{<<option txtBreadcrumbsLimit>>}}} items
<<option chkBreadcrumbsLimitOpenTiddlers>> limit open tiddlers to {{twochar{<<option txtBreadcrumbsLimitOpenTiddlers>>}}} items
<<<
!!!!!Revisions
<<<
2009.10.19 [2.1.2] code reduction
| Please see [[BreadcrumbsPluginInfo]] for previous revision details |
2006.02.01 [1.0.0] initial release
<<<
!!!!!Code
***/
//{{{
version.extensions.BreadcrumbsPlugin= {major: 2, minor: 1, revision: 2, date: new Date(2009,10,19)};
var defaults={
chkShowBreadcrumbs: true,
chkReorderBreadcrumbs: true,
chkCreateDefaultBreadcrumbs: true,
chkShowStartupBreadcrumbs: false,
chkBreadcrumbsReverse: false,
chkBreadcrumbsLimit: false,
txtBreadcrumbsLimit: 5,
chkBreadcrumbsLimitOpenTiddlers:false,
txtBreadcrumbsLimitOpenTiddlers:3,
chkBreadcrumbsHideHomeLink: false,
chkBreadcrumbsSave: false,
txtBreadcrumbsHomeSeparator: ' | ',
txtBreadcrumbsCrumbSeparator: ' > '
};
for (var id in defaults) if (config.options[id]===undefined)
config.options[id]=defaults[id];
config.macros.breadcrumbs = {
crumbs: [], // the list of current breadcrumbs
askMsg: "Save current breadcrumbs before clearing?\n"
+"Press OK to save, or CANCEL to continue without saving.",
saveMsg: 'Enter the name of a tiddler in which to save the current breadcrumbs',
saveTitle: 'SavedBreadcrumbs',
handler: function(place,macroName,params,wikifier,paramString,tiddler) {
var area=createTiddlyElement(place,"span",null,"breadCrumbs",null);
area.setAttribute("homeSep",params[0]||config.options.txtBreadcrumbsHomeSeparator);
area.setAttribute("crumbSep",params[1]||config.options.txtBreadcrumbsCrumbSeparator);
this.render(area);
},
add: function (title) {
var thisCrumb = title;
var ind = this.crumbs.indexOf(thisCrumb);
if(ind === -1)
this.crumbs.push(thisCrumb);
else if (config.options.chkReorderBreadcrumbs)
this.crumbs.push(this.crumbs.splice(ind,1)[0]); // reorder crumbs
else
this.crumbs=this.crumbs.slice(0,ind+1); // trim crumbs
if (config.options.chkBreadcrumbsLimitOpenTiddlers)
this.limitOpenTiddlers();
this.refresh();
return false;
},
getAreas: function() {
var crumbAreas=[];
// find all DIVs with classname=="breadCrumbs"
var all=document.getElementsByTagName("*");
for (var i=0; i<all.length; i++)
try{ if (hasClass(all[i],"breadCrumbs")) crumbAreas.push(all[i]); } catch(e) {;}
// or, find single DIV w/fixed ID (backward compatibility)
var byID=document.getElementById("breadCrumbs")
if (byID && !hasClass(byID,"breadCrumbs")) crumbAreas.push(byID);
if (!crumbAreas.length && config.options.chkCreateDefaultBreadcrumbs) {
// no crumbs display... create one
var defaultArea = createTiddlyElement(null,"span",null,"breadCrumbs",null);
defaultArea.style.display= "none";
var targetArea= document.getElementById("tiddlerDisplay");
targetArea.parentNode.insertBefore(defaultArea,targetArea);
crumbAreas.push(defaultArea);
}
return crumbAreas;
},
refresh: function() {
var crumbAreas=this.getAreas();
for (var i=0; i<crumbAreas.length; i++) {
crumbAreas[i].style.display = config.options.chkShowBreadcrumbs?"block":"none";
removeChildren(crumbAreas[i]);
this.render(crumbAreas[i]);
}
},
render: function(here) {
var co=config.options; var out=""
if (!co.chkBreadcrumbsHideHomeLink) {
createTiddlyButton(here,"Home",null,this.home,"tiddlyLink tiddlyLinkExisting");
out+=here.getAttribute("homeSep")||config.options.txtBreadcrumbsHomeSeparator;
}
for (c=0; c<this.crumbs.length; c++) // remove non-existing tiddlers from crumbs
if (!store.tiddlerExists(this.crumbs[c]) && !store.isShadowTiddler(this.crumbs[c]))
this.crumbs.splice(c,1);
var count=this.crumbs.length;
if (co.chkBreadcrumbsLimit && co.txtBreadcrumbsLimit<count) count=co.txtBreadcrumbsLimit;
var list=[];
for (c=this.crumbs.length-count; c<this.crumbs.length; c++) list.push('[['+this.crumbs[c]+']]');
if (co.chkBreadcrumbsReverse) list.reverse();
out+=list.join(here.getAttribute("crumbSep")||config.options.txtBreadcrumbsCrumbSeparator);
wikify(out,here);
},
home: function() {
var cmb=config.macros.breadcrumbs;
if (config.options.chkBreadcrumbsSave && confirm(cmb.askMsg)) cmb.saveCrumbs();
story.closeAllTiddlers(); restart();
cmb.crumbs = []; var crumbAreas=cmb.getAreas();
for (var i=0; i<crumbAreas.length; i++) crumbAreas[i].style.display = "none";
return false;
},
saveCrumbs: function() {
var tid=prompt(this.saveMsg,this.saveTitle); if (!tid||!tid.length) return; // cancelled by user
var t=store.getTiddler(tid);
if(t && !confirm(config.messages.overwriteWarning.format([tid]))) return;
var who=config.options.txtUserName;
var when=new Date();
var text='[['+this.crumbs.join(']]\n[[')+']]';
var tags=t?t.tags:[]; tags.pushUnique('story');
var fields=t?t.fields:{};
store.saveTiddler(tid,tid,text,who,when,tags,fields);
story.displayTiddler(null,tid);
story.refreshTiddler(tid,null,true);
displayMessage(tid+' has been '+(t?'updated':'created'));
},
limitOpenTiddlers: function() {
var limit=config.options.txtBreadcrumbsLimitOpenTiddlers; if (limit<1) limit=1;
for (c=this.crumbs.length-1; c>=0; c--) {
var tid=this.crumbs[c];
var elem=document.getElementById(story.idPrefix+tid);
if (elem) { // tiddler is displayed
if (limit <=0) { // display limit has been reached
if (elem.getAttribute("dirty")=="true") { // tiddler is being edited
var msg= "'"+tid+"' is currently being edited.\n\n"
+"Press OK to save and close this tiddler\n"
+"or press Cancel to leave it opened";
if (confirm(msg)) {
story.saveTiddler(tid);
story.closeTiddler(tid);
}
}
else story.closeTiddler(this.crumbs[c]);
}
limit--;
}
}
}
};
//}}}
// // PreviousTiddler ('back') command and macro
//{{{
config.commands.previousTiddler = {
text: 'back',
tooltip: 'view the previous tiddler',
handler: function(event,src,title) {
var here=story.findContainingTiddler(src); if (!here) return;
var crumbs=config.macros.breadcrumbs.crumbs;
if (crumbs.length<2) config.macros.breadcrumbs.home();
else story.displayTiddler(here,crumbs[crumbs.length-2]);
return false;
}
};
config.macros.previousTiddler= {
label: 'back',
prompt: 'view the previous tiddler',
handler: function(place,macroName,params,wikifier,paramString,tiddler) {
var label=params.shift(); if (!label) label=this.label;
var prompt=params.shift(); if (!prompt) prompt=this.prompt;
createTiddlyButton(place,label,prompt,function(ev){
return config.commands.previousTiddler.handler(ev,this)
});
}
}
//}}}
// // HIJACKS
//{{{
// update crumbs when a tiddler is displayed
if (Story.prototype.breadCrumbs_coreDisplayTiddler==undefined)
Story.prototype.breadCrumbs_coreDisplayTiddler=Story.prototype.displayTiddler;
Story.prototype.displayTiddler = function(srcElement,tiddler) {
var title=(tiddler instanceof Tiddler)?tiddler.title:tiddler;
this.breadCrumbs_coreDisplayTiddler.apply(this,arguments);
if (!startingUp || config.options.chkShowStartupBreadcrumbs)
config.macros.breadcrumbs.add(title);
}
// update crumbs when a tiddler is deleted
if (TiddlyWiki.prototype.breadCrumbs_coreRemoveTiddler==undefined)
TiddlyWiki.prototype.breadCrumbs_coreRemoveTiddler=TiddlyWiki.prototype.removeTiddler;
TiddlyWiki.prototype.removeTiddler= function() {
this.breadCrumbs_coreRemoveTiddler.apply(this,arguments);
config.macros.breadcrumbs.refresh();
}
//}}}
Scientists unveiled a method for the industrial-scale processing of pure carbon-nanotube fibers that could lead to revolutionary advances in materials science, power distribution and nanoelectronics. The result of a nine-year program, the method builds upon tried-and-true processes that chemical firms have used for decades to produce plastics.
"Plastics is a $300 billion U.S. industry because of the massive throughput that's possible with fluid processing," said Rice University's [[Matteo Pasquali|http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~che/people/faculty/pasquali/pasquali.html]], a paper co-author. "The reason grocery stores use plastic bags instead of paper and the reason polyester shirts are cheaper than cotton is that polymers can be melted or dissolved and processed as fluids by the train-car load. Processing nanotubes as fluids opens up all of the fluid-processing technology that has been developed for polymers."
The report was co-authored by an 18-member team of scientists from Rice's <html><a href="http://cnst.rice.edu/" title="first nanotechnology center in the world">Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology</a></html>, the University of Pennsylvania and the ~Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Co-authors include Smalley Institute namesake [[Rick Smalley, the late Nobel laureate chemist|http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1996/smalley-autobio.html]] who developed the first high-throughput method for producing high-quality carbon nanotubes.
The new process builds upon the 2003 Rice discovery of a way to dissolve large amounts of pure nanotubes in strong acidic solvents like sulfuric acid. The research team subsequently found that nanotubes in these solutions aligned themselves, like spaghetti in a package, to form liquid crystals that could be spun into monofilament fibers about the size of a human hair.
"That research established an industrially relevant process for nanotubes that was analogous to the methods used to create Kevlar from rodlike polymers, except for the acid not being a true solvent," said Wade Adams, director of the Smalley Institute and co-author of the new paper. "The current research shows that we have a true solvent for nanotubes -- chlorosulfonic acid -- which is what we set out to find when we started this project nine years ago."
Following the 2003 breakthrough with acid solvents, the team methodically studied how nanotubes behaved in different types and concentrations of acids. By comparing and contrasting the behavior of nanotubes in acids with the literature on polymers and rodlike colloids, the team developed both the theoretical and practical tools that chemical firms will need to process nanotubes in bulk.
"[[Ishi Talmon|http://www.technion.ac.il/~ceritit/Ishi.html]] and his colleagues at Technion did the critical work required to help get direct proof that [[nanotubes were dissolving spontaneously in chlorosulfonic acid|http://pard.technion.ac.il/archives/presseng/Html/PR_breakthrough_11_11.Html]]," Pasquali said. "To do this, they had to develop new experimental techniques for direct imaging of vitrified fast-frozen acid solutions." Talmon said, "This was a very difficult study. Matteo's team not only had to pioneer new experimental techniques to achieve this, they also had to make significant extensions to the classical theories that were used to describe solutions of rods. The Technion team had to develop a new methodology to enable us to produce high-resolution images of the nanotubes dispersed in chlorosulfonic acid, a very corrosive fluid, by state-of-the-art electron microscopy at cryogenic temperatures."
Few technological breakthroughs have been hyped as much as carbon nanotubes. Since their discovery in 1991, nanotubes have been touted as everything from a cure for cancer to a solution for the world's energy crisis. The hype is all the more remarkable given that nanotubes are notoriously difficult to work with and that chemists worldwide struggled for years even to make them. So why the hype? Put simply, carbon nanotubes are remarkable. While they are roughly the same size and shape as some rodlike polymer molecules, nanotubes can conduct electricity as well as copper, and they can be either metals or semiconductors. They can be tagged with antibodies to diagnose diseases or heated with radio waves to destroy cancer. They've been used to make transistors far smaller than those in today's finest microchips. Nanotubes also weigh about one-sixth as much as steel but can be up to 100 times stronger.
"Kevlar, the polymer fiber used in bulletproof vests, is about five to 10 times stronger than our strongest nanotube fibers today, but in principle we should be able to make our fibers about 100 times stronger," Pasquali said. "If we can realize even 20 percent of our potential, we will have a great material, perhaps the strongest ever known. "The electrical conductivity is already pretty good," he said. "It's about the same of the best-conducting carbon-carbon fibers, and that could be improved 200 times if better production methods for metallic nanotubes can be found."
The new research appears just as the Smalley Institute prepared for a 10th anniversary celebration Nov. 5 of the creation of [[Smalley's "HiPco" reactor|http://smalley.rice.edu/content.aspx?id=174]], the first system capable of producing high-quality nanotubes in bulk. ~HiPco, short for high-pressure carbon monoxide process, broke the logjam on nanotube production and cleared the way for more scientific study and for industry to begin using them in some materials. Industrial nanotube reactors today generate several tons of low-quality carbon nanotubes per year, and the worldwide market for nanotubes is expected to top $2 billion annually within the next decade.
But a final breakthrough remains before the true potential of high-quality carbon nanotubes can be realized. That's because ~HiPco and all other methods of making high-end, "single-walled" nanotubes generate a hodgepodge of nanotubes with different diameters, lengths and molecular structures. Scientists worldwide are scrambling to find a process that will generate just one kind of nanotube in bulk, like the best-conducting metallic varieties, for instance.
"One good thing about the process that we have right now is that if anybody could give us one gram of pure metallic nanotubes, we could give them one gram of fiber within a few days," Pasquali said. Source: From [[Breakthrough in industrial-scale nanotube processing. Rice pioneers method for processing carbon nanotubes in bulk fluids|http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=13294&SnID=80899504]] . This work is detailed in the paper [[True solutions of single-walled carbon nanotubes for assembly into macroscopic materials|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nnano.2009.302.html]] by Virginia A. Davis, A. Nicholas G. ~Parra-Vasquez, Micah J. Green, Pradeep K. Rai, Natnael Behabtu, Valentin Prieto, Richard D. Booker, Judith Schmidt, Ellina Kesselman, Wei Zhou, Hua Fan, W. Wade Adams, Robert H. Hauge, John E. Fischer, Yachin Cohen, Yeshayahu Talmon, Richard E. Smalley & Matteo Pasquali
Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created [[carbon nanotubes]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomaterial>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoelectronics>><<matchTags popup sort:-created energy>>
This booklet provides ''an introduction to informal science education and to science museum practice for nano and materials science researchers''. It advises researchers on ways to collaborate with science museums to increase the impact of their education outreach activities, and includes a rich bibliography.
"This booklet invites scientists and engineers who work in nanoscale science and engineering to collaborate with museums to present nanoscience and technology to the general public. ''It is writen by a resarcher for others researchers, and it's designated as an introduction to what museums call the "informal science education" field'' (...) Museums and researchers need each other. Museums often find themselves shorthanded when it comes to content expertise, presenters who are practicing scientists or engineers, and connections to larger networks within the scientific community. At the same time, researchers benefit from partnering with museums for a host of reasons — from ready access to public audiences who want to learn more about science, to the organizational infrastructure needed to address outreach goals for a federal grant.
It is challenging to develop new ways of inspiring wonder, creating a spectacle and making science and engineering concepts memorable for a broad audience. Whether one-time opportunities or large, ongoing programs, partnerships between museums and researchers have the capacity to break new ground and invent creative new strategies for communicating complex ideas to the general public.
''Nanoscale science and technology are perfect topics for museum/researcher partnerships''. The applications of nanoscale science are likely to have significant economic, social, and political implications, making them an important piece of science for the public to understand and explore. Museums will need help presenting these breakthroughs to the public, and you, as a nanoscale scientist or engineer, can help.
The NISE Network and the Materials Research Society are partnering to help create connections among museums and researchers to bring nanoscale science and engineering to the public. We hope that this booklet has given you some ideas about how you could get involved, and provided the motivation that will actually move you to contact your local museum, [[NISE Net|http://www.nisenet.org/resource]], or [[MRS|http://www.mrs.org/nise_survey]]. We look forward to making the connections that will help you share your scientific expertise and your excitement about science with people in your community." Source: ''[[Bringing Nano to the Public: A Collaboration Opportunity for Researchers and Museums|http://www.nisenet.org/catalog/topics/bringing_nano_public]]'' by [[Dr. Wendy C. Cron|http://mandm.engr.wisc.edu/faculty_pages/crone/main.htm]], edited by Susan E. Koch. This guidebook was prepared with funding from the National Science Foundation.
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created [[public opinion]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created dissemination>><<matchTags popup sort:-created educational>>
With the joint release of [[Principles for the Oversight of Nanotechnologies and Nanomaterials|http://www.icta.org/doc/Principles%20for%20the%20Oversight%20of%20Nanotechnologies%20and%20Nanomaterials_final.pdf]], a broad international coalition of consumer, public health, environmental, labor, and civil society organizations spanning six continents called for strong, comprehensive oversight of the new technology and its products.
Source: [[International Center for Technology Assessment (CTA): BROAD INTERNATIONAL COALITION ISSUES URGENT CALL FOR STRONG OVERSIGHT OF NANOTECHNOLOGY|http://www.icta.org/press/release.cfm?news_id=26]]
{{twocolumns{
<html><img title="For the first time, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has detected little spheres of carbon, called buckyballs, in a galaxy beyond our Milky Way galaxy. The space balls were detected in a dying star, called a planetary nebula, within the nearby galaxy, the Small Magellanic Cloud. What's more, huge quantities were found -- the equivalent in mass to 15 of our moons. An infrared photo of the Small Magellanic Cloud taken by Spitzer is shown here in this artist's illustration, with two callouts. The middle callout shows a magnified view of an example of a planetary nebula, and the right callout shows an even further magnified depiction of buckyballs, which consist of 60 carbon atoms arranged like soccer balls. In July 2010, astronomers reported using Spitzer to find the first confirmed proof of buckyballs. Since then, Spitzer has detected the molecules again in our own galaxy -- as well as in the Small Magellanic Cloud. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech" src="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpegMod/PIA13551_modest.jpg" width="95%"/>
</html>
[[Fresh after finding buckyballs around an aging star|NASA telescope finds elusive buckyballs]], NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has now detected these intriguing, miniature-soccer-ball-shaped molecules in interstellar space for the first time.
''With these new results, the buckyball claims the record for the largest molecule ever discovered floating between the stars''. The unique properties of [[buckyballs|C60: Buckminsterfullerene]] that have made these rounded particles such a hot area of research here on Earth also offer up some exciting possibilities for cosmic chemistry.
Astronomers had long expected to find buckyballs in outer space. [[Kris Sellgren|http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~sellgren/]], a professor of astronomy at The Ohio State University, and her team, while on the hunt for buckyballs in infrared data collected by Spitzer, looked at two nebulae.
Hints of interstellar buckyballs had first come in 1994, when [[Foing and Ehrenfreund|http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v369/n6478/abs/369296a0.html]] detected absorption lines they attributed to buckyballs missing an electron <<slider chkSldr [[Comment by Bernard H. Foing]] [[Comment by Bernard H. Foing»]] [["other references where we confirmed the evidence for interstellar C60+"]]>>.
Then, in 2004, Sellgren and her colleagues serendipitously detected two light signatures indicative of the faceted mini-globes. The researchers knew they had caught a buckyball for sure this time around when they saw a predicted third signature in infrared light from the nebulae.
Carbon is the key building block for life as we know it; the possibility exists that some of the very carbon in ours or even extraterrestrials' bodies might well have been balled up once as a buckyball crafted in space. "Now that there are buckyballs confirmed in the interstellar medium and in circumstellar space, it's likely that chemists will get more interested in the astrobiological implications of these fascinating molecules," Sellgren said. From [[Spitzer Goes Buck Wild and Finds Buckyballs Floating Between the Stars|http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/news/1212-feature10-18-Spitzer-Goes-Buck-Wild-and-Finds-Buckyballs-Floating-Between-the-Stars]] by Adam Hadhazy. This work is detailed in the paper [[C60 in Reflection Nebulae|http://iopscience.iop.org/2041-8205/722/1/L54]] by Kris Sellgren, Michael W. Werner, James G. Ingalls, J. D. T. Smith, T. M. Carleton and Christine Joblin <<slider chkSldr [[C60 in Reflection Nebulae]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
''Spitzer detected buckyballs around a fourth dying star in a nearby galaxy in staggering quantities'' -- the equivalent in mass to about 15 of our moons. "It turns out that buckyballs are much more common and abundant in the universe than initially thought," said astronomer [[Letizia Stanghellini|http://www.noao.edu/noao/staff/letizia/]] of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Ariz. "Spitzer had recently found them in one specific location, but now we see them in other environments. This has implications for the chemistry of life. It's possible that buckyballs from outer space provided seeds for life on Earth."
Anibal García-Hernández of the [[Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias|http://www.iac.es/divulgacion.php?op1=16&id=653]], Spain, and his team found the buckyballs around three dying sun-like stars, called planetary nebulae, in our own Milky Way galaxy. ''The new research shows that all the planetary nebulae in which buckyballs have been detected are rich in hydrogen''. This goes against what researchers thought for decades. "We now know that fullerenes and hydrogen coexist in planetary nebulae, which is really important for telling us how they form in space," said García-Hernández. They also located buckyballs in a planetary nebula within a nearby galaxy called the Small Magellanic Cloud. This was particularly exciting to the researchers, because, in contrast to the planetary nebulae in the Milky Way, the distance to this galaxy is known. Knowing the distance to the source of the buckyballs meant that the astronomers could calculate their quantity -- twenty percent of Earth's mass, or the mass of 15 of our moons.
The other new study, from Sellgren and her team, demonstrates that buckyballs are also present in the space between stars, but not too far away from young solar systems. The cosmic balls may have been formed in a planetary nebula, or perhaps between stars. "It’s exciting to find buckyballs in between stars that are still forming their solar systems, just a comet’s throw away," Sellgren said. "This could be the link between fullerenes in space and fullerenes in meteorites."
[[The implications are far-reaching|C60 by Harry Kroto]]. Scientists have speculated in the past that ''buckyballs, which can act like cages for other molecules and atoms, might have carried substances to Earth that kick-started life''. Evidence for this theory comes from the fact that buckyballs have been found in meteorites carrying extraterrestial gases. "Buckyballs are sort of like diamonds with holes in the middle," said Stanghellini. "They are incredibly stable molecules that are hard to destroy, and they could carry other interesting molecules inside them. We hope to learn more about the important role they likely play in the death and birth of stars and planets, and maybe even life itself." From [[Space Buckyballs Thrive, Finds NASA Spitzer Telescope|http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-351]]. This work is detailed in the paper [[Formation of Fullerenes in H-containing Planetary Nebulae|http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010ApJ...724L..39G]] by García-Hernández, D. A.; Manchado, A.; García-Lario, P.; Stanghellini, L.; Villaver, E.; Shaw, R. A.; Szczerba, R.; Perea-Calderón, J. V. <<slider chkSldr [[Formation of Fullerenes in H-containing Planetary Nebulae]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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}}}
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''What is Buckypaper?''
A novel easy-to-handle thin film formed using carbon nanotubes or fibers
Composed of single-walled, multi-walled carbon nanotubes or carbon nanofibers that undergo a repeatable and scalable manufacturing process
Extremely thin (~25 microns) and and lightweight (areal density: 0.0705 oz/ft²)
Thermally conductive
Electrically conductive
High mechanical strength and modulus
High strain rate
Highly efficient field emission
Self-actuation
It's a car, it's a plane, it's...paper? Watch and learn how this revolutionary new carbon nanotube material could change the world and lead us toward a highly advanced, sustainable future. Learn more about Buckypaper and the High Performance Materials Institute at Florida State University here: http://www.hpmi.net/
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<data>{"video_id":"nRMiQRiK5GY"}</data>
Buildings are majorly funcional, but in some special cases they become icons, as the olympic stadiums, airports, train stations, museums or bridges.
Interestingly now, this concept has also arrived to the nanotechnology research buildings and beyond, underlaying the increasing public impact of this developing technology. Like the coming building of the new [[Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory|http://www.pr-inside.com/m-w-zander-selected-to-design-iberian-r634975.htm]] in Braga (Portugal), where the format and the substance/content are related.
Related to that there is the by Herzog & de Meuron [[40 Bond Street|http://www.40bond.com/]] building in New York, where a nanostructured coating ([[Diamon-Fusion|http://www.diamonfusion.com/en/news/pr121906.html]]) keeps the glasses clean saving time and resources. Or [[Richard Meier|http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/world/europe/28smog.html?n=Top/News/World/Countries%20and%20Territories/Italy]]'s Dives in [[Misericordia Church|http://www.richardmeier.com/Releases/Press_Jubilee_Text.htm]] in Rome (Italy) which has a ~TiO2 coating which in the presence of the UV light coming from the Sun, degrades combustion contaminants and maintain the walls clean and eats environmental smog too. This approach is also explored in a street in the town of Segrate, near Milan (Italy), using the same [[TX Active technology by Italcementi|http://www.italcementigroup.com/ENG/Research+and+Innovation/Innovative+Products/]]; the street with an average traffic of 1,000 cars per hour, has been repaved with the compound, and measures show a reduction in nitric oxides of around 60%
<br>Sanketh R. Gowda, Arava Leela Mohana Reddy, Xiaobo Zhan, and Pulickel M. Ajayan. 2011. ''ACS Nano Letters. doi:0.1021/nl2017042''
//Hybrid electrochemical energy storage devices combine the advantages of battery and supercapacitors, resulting in systems of high energy and power density. Using LiPF6 electrolyte, the Ni–Sn/PANI electrochemical system, free of Li-based electrodes, works on a hybrid mechanism based on Li intercalation at the anode and PF6– doping at the cathode. Here, we also demonstrate a composite nanostructure electrochemical device with the anode (Ni–Sn) and cathode (polyaniline, PANI) nanowires packaged within conformal polymer core–shell separator. Parallel array of these nanowire devices shows reversible areal capacity of 3 μAh/cm2 at a current rate of 0.03 mA/cm2. The work shows the ultimate miniaturization possible for energy storage devices where all essential components can be engineered on a single nanowire.//
//As our contribution to the celebration of [[25th Anniversary|10 October 2010]] of [[Buckminsterfullerene Discovery|C60: Buckminsterfullerene]] we publish an email by ''[[Harry Kroto|http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1996/kroto-autobio.html]]'' commenting on [[the discovery of buckyballs in space for the first time|NASA telescope finds elusive buckyballs]].//
from Harry Kroto
to josep saldana
date july 28, 2010 12:58
subject C60
........................................................................
Hi Josep
Great isn't it and quite
nice for me as I predicted at this end of an Horizon Nova Programme
http://mediasite.apps.fsu.edu/Mediasite/Viewer/?peid=89aba1dfd9494329aff5122f129367f11d
This is the end of the 5th part on
http://www.cosmolearning.com/documentaries/molecules-with-sunglasses-364/
I was certain it would be present but quite amazed at its abundance I am now almost certain that C60 is ubiquitously distributed throughout many regions of the interstellar medium and if so this has some very interesting implications.
I have always said that Buckminsterfullerene the third form of carbon is a bit like Orson Welles in "the Third Man" see
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1148765209280
NASA quote
"Sir Harry Kroto, who shared the Nobel Prize in 1996 with Bob Curl and Rick Smalley for their discovery of buckyballs, said about the recent finding, "This most exciting breakthrough, provides convincing evidence that the buckyball has, as I long suspected, existed since time immemorial in the dark recesses of our galaxy. I think of the buckyball -- which is the third form of carbon -- as being like Orson Welles' mysterious character in 'The Third Man," revealing itself only fleetingly."
My very best wishes
harry
--
Harold Kroto
Francis Eppes Professor of Chemistry
Chemistry and Biochemistry Department
The Florida State University
Tallahassee
Florida 32306-4390
www.kroto.info
www.vega.org.uk
www.geoset.info
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<br>//The fullerene C~~60~~ has four infrared-active vibrational transitions at 7.0, 8.5, 17.4, and 18.9 μm. We have previously observed emission features at 17.4 and 18.9 μm in the reflection nebula NGC 7023 and demonstrated spatial correlations suggestive of a common origin. We now confirm our earlier identification of these features with C~~60~~ by detecting a third emission feature at 7.04 ± 0.05 μm in NGC 7023. We also report the detection of these three C~~60~~ features in the reflection nebula NGC 2023. Our spectroscopic mapping of NGC 7023 shows that the 18.9 μm C60 feature peaks on the central star and that the 16.4 μm emission feature due to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons peaks between the star and a nearby photodissociation front. The observed features in NGC 7023 are consistent with emission from UV-excited gas-phase C~~60~~. We find that 0.1%-0.6% of interstellar carbon is in C~~60~~; this abundance is consistent with those from previous upper limits and possible fullerene detections in the interstellar medium (ISM). This is the first firm detection of neutral C~~60~~ in the ISM.//
{{twocolumns{
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''How did viewing the stars lead to the discovery of a new form of Carbon? And why is it called a Buckyball?'' Interview with the 1996 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Sir Harold Kroto.
"During experiments aimed at understanding the mechanisms by which long-chain carbon molecules are formed in interstellar space and circumstellar shells, graphite has been vaporized by laser irradiation, producing a remarkably stable cluster consisting of 60 carbon atoms. Concerning the question of what kind of 60-carbon atom structure might give rise to a superstable species, we suggest a truncated icosahedron". From the paper ''[[C60: Buckminsterfullerene|http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v318/n6042/pdf/318162a0.pdf]]'' by H. W. Kroto, J. R. Heath, S. C. O'Brien, R. F. Curl & R. E. Smalley. Nature 318, 162 - 163 (14 November 1985)
"New forms of the element carbon - called [[fullerenes|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckminsterfullerene]] - in which the atoms are arranged in closed shells was discovered in September 1985 by Robert F. Curl, [[Harold W. Kroto|http://www.kroto.info/]] and Richard E. Smalley." From ''[[The discovery of carbon atoms bound in the form of a ball is rewarded|http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1996/press.html]]''. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1996
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}}}
{{twocolumns{
[[World Community Grid|http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/]], a worldwide network of PC owners helping scientists solve humanitarian challenges, announced several computing projects aimed at developing techniques to produce cleaner and safer water, an increasingly scarce commodity eluding at least 1.2 billion people worldwide.
One new water-related project, called ''[["Computing For Clean Water,"|http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/research/c4cw/overview.do]]'' is looking to produce more efficient and effective water filtering, and is now getting underway at [[Tsinghua University|http://www.tsinghua.edu.cn/eng/]]'s newly launched [[Centre for Novel Multidisciplinary Mechanics|http://cnmm.tsinghua.edu.cn/contents/1/89.html]] in China. The idea is to develop ways to filter and scrub polluted water, as well as convert saltwater into drinkable freshwater, with less expense, complexity, and energy than current techniques.
The effort will seek to reduce the pressure and energy required to force water through microscopic, nanometer-sized pores in tubes made of carbon, whose tiny holes prevent harmful organic material from being transmitted. ''Scientists need to produce millions of computer simulations to model how water molecules interact with one another and against the walls of these carbon nanotubes.''
Although led by China's Tsignhua University, researchers are participating from all over the world, including Australia's [[University of Sydney|http://www.usyd.edu.au/]] and [[Monash University|http://www.monash.edu.au/]]; as well as the [[Citizen Cyberscience Centre|http://www.citizencyberscience.net/]], based in Geneva, Switzerland. The project is the result of an initiative launched by the Chinese Academy of Sciences to promote volunteer participation in science. It is called CAS@home, and is hosted by the [[Institute of High Energy Physics|http://english.ihep.cas.cn/prs/ue/201002/t20100224_50975.html]] in Beijing.
In the last 100 years, global water usage has increased at twice the rate of population growth. The United Nations predicts that nearly half the world’s population will experience critical water shortages by the year 2025.
''Individuals can donate time on their computers for these and many other humanitarian projects'' by registering on [[www.worldcommunitygrid.org|http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org]], and installing a free, unobtrusive and secure software program on their personal computers running either Linux, Microsoft Windows or Mac OS. When idle or between keystrokes on a lightweight task, the PCs request data from World Community Grid's server, which runs Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC) software, maintained at Berkeley University and supported by the National Science Foundation. Source: [[IBM'S World Community Grid Unveils Research Projects on Three Continents to Improve Water Quality|http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/32422.wss]]
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<html><object id="flashObj" width="100%" height="405" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0"> <param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9/1886158524?isVid=1&isUI=true" /> <param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /> <param name="flashVars" value="videoId=603372389001&playerID=1886158524&domain=embed&autoStart=false&embedDate=Sun%20Sep%2012%202010&embedFromUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww-03.ibm.com%2Fpress%2Fus%2Fen%2Fpressrelease%2F32422.wss" /> <param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /> <param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never" /> <embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9/1886158524?isVid=1&isUI=true" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=603372389001&playerID=1886158524&domain=embed&autoStart=false&embedDate=Sun%20Sep%2012%202010&embedFromUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww-03.ibm.com%2Fpress%2Fus%2Fen%2Fpressrelease%2F32422.wss" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="100%" height="405" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="never" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object></html>
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~CytImmune, a clinical stage nanomedicine company focused on the development and commercialization of multifunctional, tumor-targeted therapies presented at the 43rd American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual meeting. The poster, entitled “Preliminary Results of a Phase 1 Clinical Trial of ~CYT-6091: A ~PEGylated colloidal gold-TNF nanomedicine,” announced the preliminary data of a National Cancer Institute conducted and ~CytImmune Sciences sponsored Phase 1 trial of ~CYT-6091 (Aurimune), ~CytImmune’s lead drug compound. The Phase 1 clinical trial was designed to investigate whether: (1) Aurimune will perform identically in humans as it did in preclinical studies and companion animals and (2) the fever side effect observed in preclinical studies can be easily managed and separated from hypotension – the dose limiting side effect of the active pharmaceutical ingredient.
“Presenting preliminary Phase 1 trial results to the leading body of international oncology experts helps pave the way for nanomedicines as the next generation of targeted cancer therapies and their use in improving the biodelivery of potent, but highly toxic therapeutics. We believe ~CYT-6091 has the potential to become a new, versatile therapeutic which may be used to treat a broad spectrum of solid tumors.” said Dr. Lawrence Tamarkin, CEO of ~CytImmune Sciences.
Source: [[CytImmune Presents Positive CYT-6091 Data|http://www.cytimmune.com/download/releases/CytImmune_ASCO_Release_Final6_3_061.pdf]]
This scientist use the fact that blood vessels surrounding the tumors are leaky due to their fast growth providing thus a way to passively target the tumor efficiently avoiding (or decreasing) deleterious secondary effects of antineoplastic drugs.
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/***
|Name|CalendarPlugin|
|Source|http://www.TiddlyTools.com/#CalendarPlugin|
|Version|1.5.0|
|Author|Eric Shulman|
|Original Author|SteveRumsby|
|License|unknown|
|~CoreVersion|2.1|
|Type|plugin|
|Description|display monthly and yearly calendars|
NOTE: For //enhanced// date popup display, optionally install [[DatePlugin]] and [[ReminderMacros]]
!!!Usage:
<<<
|{{{<<calendar>>}}}|full-year calendar for the current year|
|{{{<<calendar year>>}}}|full-year calendar for the specified year|
|{{{<<calendar year month>>}}}|one month calendar for the specified month and year|
|{{{<<calendar thismonth>>}}}|one month calendar for the current month|
|{{{<<calendar lastmonth>>}}}|one month calendar for last month|
|{{{<<calendar nextmonth>>}}}|one month calendar for next month|
|{{{<<calendar +n>>}}}<br>{{{<<calendar -n>>}}}|one month calendar for a month +/- 'n' months from now|
<<<
!!!Configuration:
<<<
|''First day of week:''<br>{{{config.options.txtCalFirstDay}}}|<<option txtCalFirstDay>>|(Monday = 0, Sunday = 6)|
|''First day of weekend:''<br>{{{config.options.txtCalStartOfWeekend}}}|<<option txtCalStartOfWeekend>>|(Monday = 0, Sunday = 6)|
<<option chkDisplayWeekNumbers>> Display week numbers //(note: Monday will be used as the start of the week)//
|''Week number display format:''<br>{{{config.options.txtWeekNumberDisplayFormat }}}|<<option txtWeekNumberDisplayFormat >>|
|''Week number link format:''<br>{{{config.options.txtWeekNumberLinkFormat }}}|<<option txtWeekNumberLinkFormat >>|
<<<
!!!Revisions
<<<
2009.04.31 [1.5.0] rewrote onClickCalendarDate() (popup handler) and added config.options.txtCalendarReminderTags. Partial code reduction/cleanup. Assigned true version number (1.5.0)
2008.09.10 added '+n' (and '-n') param to permit display of relative months (e.g., '+6' means 'six months from now', '-3' means 'three months ago'. Based on suggestion from Jean.
2008.06.17 added support for config.macros.calendar.todaybg
2008.02.27 in handler(), DON'T set hard-coded default date format, so that *customized* value (pre-defined in config.macros.calendar.journalDateFmt is used.
2008.02.17 in createCalendarYear(), fix next/previous year calculation (use parseInt() to convert to numeric value). Also, use journalDateFmt for date linking when NOT using [[DatePlugin]].
2008.02.16 in createCalendarDay(), week numbers now created as TiddlyLinks, allowing quick creation/navigation to 'weekly' journals (based on request from Kashgarinn)
2008.01.08 in createCalendarMonthHeader(), 'month year' heading is now created as TiddlyLink, allowing quick creation/navigation to 'month-at-a-time' journals
2007.11.30 added 'return false' to onclick handlers (prevent IE from opening blank pages)
2006.08.23 added handling for weeknumbers (code supplied by Martin Budden (see 'wn**' comment marks). Also, incorporated updated by Jeremy Sheeley to add caching for reminders (see [[ReminderMacros]], if installed)
2005.10.30 in config.macros.calendar.handler(), use 'tbody' element for IE compatibility. Also, fix year calculation for IE's getYear() function (which returns '2005' instead of '105'). Also, in createCalendarDays(), use showDate() function (see [[DatePlugin]], if installed) to render autostyled date with linked popup. Updated calendar stylesheet definition: use .calendar class-specific selectors, add text centering and margin settings
2006.05.29 added journalDateFmt handling
<<<
!!!Code
***/
//{{{
version.extensions.CalendarPlugin= { major: 1, minor: 5, revision: 0, date: new Date(2009,5,31)};
//}}}
//{{{
if(config.options.txtCalFirstDay == undefined)
config.options.txtCalFirstDay = 0;
if(config.options.txtCalStartOfWeekend == undefined)
config.options.txtCalStartOfWeekend = 5;
if(config.options.chkDisplayWeekNumbers == undefined)
config.options.chkDisplayWeekNumbers = false;
if(config.options.chkDisplayWeekNumbers)
config.options.txtCalFirstDay = 0;
if(config.options.txtWeekNumberDisplayFormat == undefined)
config.options.txtWeekNumberDisplayFormat = 'w0WW';
if(config.options.txtWeekNumberLinkFormat == undefined)
config.options.txtWeekNumberLinkFormat = 'YYYY-w0WW';
if(config.options.txtCalendarReminderTags == undefined)
config.options.txtCalendarReminderTags = 'reminder';
config.macros.calendar = {
monthnames:['Jan','Feb','Mar','Apr','May','Jun','Jul','Aug','Sep','Oct','Nov','Dec'],
daynames:['M','T','W','T','F','S','S'],
todaybg:'#ccccff',
weekendbg:'#c0c0c0',
monthbg:'#e0e0e0',
holidaybg:'#ffc0c0',
journalDateFmt:'DD MMM YYYY',
monthdays:[31,28,31,30,31,30,31,31,30,31,30,31],
holidays:[ ] // for customization see [[CalendarPluginConfig]]
};
//}}}
//{{{
function calendarIsHoliday(date)
{
var longHoliday = date.formatString('0DD/0MM/YYYY');
var shortHoliday = date.formatString('0DD/0MM');
for(var i = 0; i < config.macros.calendar.holidays.length; i++) {
if( config.macros.calendar.holidays[i]==longHoliday
|| config.macros.calendar.holidays[i]==shortHoliday)
return true;
}
return false;
}
//}}}
//{{{
config.macros.calendar.handler = function(place,macroName,params) {
var calendar = createTiddlyElement(place, 'table', null, 'calendar', null);
var tbody = createTiddlyElement(calendar, 'tbody');
var today = new Date();
var year = today.getYear();
if (year<1900) year+=1900;
// get journal format from SideBarOptions (ELS 5/29/06 - suggested by MartinBudden)
var text = store.getTiddlerText('SideBarOptions');
var re = new RegExp('<<(?:newJournal)([^>]*)>>','mg'); var fm = re.exec(text);
if (fm && fm[1]!=null) { var pa=fm[1].readMacroParams(); if (pa[0]) this.journalDateFmt = pa[0]; }
var month=-1;
if (params[0] == 'thismonth') {
var month=today.getMonth();
} else if (params[0] == 'lastmonth') {
var month = today.getMonth()-1; if (month==-1) { month=11; year--; }
} else if (params[0] == 'nextmonth') {
var month = today.getMonth()+1; if (month>11) { month=0; year++; }
} else if (params[0]&&'+-'.indexOf(params[0].substr(0,1))!=-1) {
var month = today.getMonth()+parseInt(params[0]);
if (month>11) { year+=Math.floor(month/12); month%=12; };
if (month<0) { year+=Math.floor(month/12); month=12+month%12; }
} else if (params[0]) {
year = params[0];
if(params[1]) month=parseInt(params[1])-1;
if (month>11) month=11; if (month<0) month=0;
}
if (month!=-1) {
cacheReminders(new Date(year, month, 1, 0, 0), 31);
createCalendarOneMonth(tbody, year, month);
} else {
cacheReminders(new Date(year, 0, 1, 0, 0), 366);
createCalendarYear(tbody, year);
}
window.reminderCacheForCalendar = null;
}
//}}}
//{{{
// cache used to store reminders while the calendar is being rendered
// it will be renulled after the calendar is fully rendered.
window.reminderCacheForCalendar = null;
//}}}
//{{{
function cacheReminders(date, leadtime)
{
if (window.findTiddlersWithReminders == null) return;
window.reminderCacheForCalendar = {};
var leadtimeHash = [];
leadtimeHash [0] = 0;
leadtimeHash [1] = leadtime;
var t = findTiddlersWithReminders(date, leadtimeHash, null, 1);
for(var i = 0; i < t.length; i++) {
//just tag it in the cache, so that when we're drawing days, we can bold this one.
window.reminderCacheForCalendar[t[i]['matchedDate']] = 'reminder:' + t[i]['params']['title'];
}
}
//}}}
//{{{
function createCalendarOneMonth(calendar, year, mon)
{
var row = createTiddlyElement(calendar, 'tr');
createCalendarMonthHeader(calendar, row, config.macros.calendar.monthnames[mon]+' '+year, true, year, mon);
row = createTiddlyElement(calendar, 'tr');
createCalendarDayHeader(row, 1);
createCalendarDayRowsSingle(calendar, year, mon);
}
//}}}
//{{{
function createCalendarMonth(calendar, year, mon)
{
var row = createTiddlyElement(calendar, 'tr');
createCalendarMonthHeader(calendar, row, config.macros.calendar.monthnames[mon]+' '+ year, false, year, mon);
row = createTiddlyElement(calendar, 'tr');
createCalendarDayHeader(row, 1);
createCalendarDayRowsSingle(calendar, year, mon);
}
//}}}
//{{{
function createCalendarYear(calendar, year)
{
var row;
row = createTiddlyElement(calendar, 'tr');
var back = createTiddlyElement(row, 'td');
var backHandler = function() {
removeChildren(calendar);
createCalendarYear(calendar, parseInt(year)-1);
return false; // consume click
};
createTiddlyButton(back, '<', 'Previous year', backHandler);
back.align = 'center';
var yearHeader = createTiddlyElement(row, 'td', null, 'calendarYear', year);
yearHeader.align = 'center';
yearHeader.setAttribute('colSpan',config.options.chkDisplayWeekNumbers?22:19);//wn**
var fwd = createTiddlyElement(row, 'td');
var fwdHandler = function() {
removeChildren(calendar);
createCalendarYear(calendar, parseInt(year)+1);
return false; // consume click
};
createTiddlyButton(fwd, '>', 'Next year', fwdHandler);
fwd.align = 'center';
createCalendarMonthRow(calendar, year, 0);
createCalendarMonthRow(calendar, year, 3);
createCalendarMonthRow(calendar, year, 6);
createCalendarMonthRow(calendar, year, 9);
}
//}}}
//{{{
function createCalendarMonthRow(cal, year, mon)
{
var row = createTiddlyElement(cal, 'tr');
createCalendarMonthHeader(cal, row, config.macros.calendar.monthnames[mon], false, year, mon);
createCalendarMonthHeader(cal, row, config.macros.calendar.monthnames[mon+1], false, year, mon);
createCalendarMonthHeader(cal, row, config.macros.calendar.monthnames[mon+2], false, year, mon);
row = createTiddlyElement(cal, 'tr');
createCalendarDayHeader(row, 3);
createCalendarDayRows(cal, year, mon);
}
//}}}
//{{{
function createCalendarMonthHeader(cal, row, name, nav, year, mon)
{
var month;
if (nav) {
var back = createTiddlyElement(row, 'td');
back.align = 'center';
back.style.background = config.macros.calendar.monthbg;
var backMonHandler = function() {
var newyear = year;
var newmon = mon-1;
if(newmon == -1) { newmon = 11; newyear = newyear-1;}
removeChildren(cal);
cacheReminders(new Date(newyear, newmon , 1, 0, 0), 31);
createCalendarOneMonth(cal, newyear, newmon);
return false; // consume click
};
createTiddlyButton(back, '<', 'Previous month', backMonHandler);
month = createTiddlyElement(row, 'td', null, 'calendarMonthname')
createTiddlyLink(month,name,true);
month.setAttribute('colSpan', config.options.chkDisplayWeekNumbers?6:5);//wn**
var fwd = createTiddlyElement(row, 'td');
fwd.align = 'center';
fwd.style.background = config.macros.calendar.monthbg;
var fwdMonHandler = function() {
var newyear = year;
var newmon = mon+1;
if(newmon == 12) { newmon = 0; newyear = newyear+1;}
removeChildren(cal);
cacheReminders(new Date(newyear, newmon , 1, 0, 0), 31);
createCalendarOneMonth(cal, newyear, newmon);
return false; // consume click
};
createTiddlyButton(fwd, '>', 'Next month', fwdMonHandler);
} else {
month = createTiddlyElement(row, 'td', null, 'calendarMonthname', name)
month.setAttribute('colSpan',config.options.chkDisplayWeekNumbers?8:7);//wn**
}
month.align = 'center';
month.style.background = config.macros.calendar.monthbg;
}
//}}}
//{{{
function createCalendarDayHeader(row, num)
{
var cell;
for(var i = 0; i < num; i++) {
if (config.options.chkDisplayWeekNumbers) createTiddlyElement(row, 'td');//wn**
for(var j = 0; j < 7; j++) {
var d = j + (config.options.txtCalFirstDay - 0);
if(d > 6) d = d - 7;
cell = createTiddlyElement(row, 'td', null, null, config.macros.calendar.daynames[d]);
if(d == (config.options.txtCalStartOfWeekend-0) || d == (config.options.txtCalStartOfWeekend-0+1))
cell.style.background = config.macros.calendar.weekendbg;
}
}
}
//}}}
//{{{
function createCalendarDays(row, col, first, max, year, mon) {
var i;
if (config.options.chkDisplayWeekNumbers){
if (first<=max) {
var ww = new Date(year,mon,first);
var td=createTiddlyElement(row, 'td');//wn**
var link=createTiddlyLink(td,ww.formatString(config.options.txtWeekNumberLinkFormat),false);
link.appendChild(document.createTextNode(
ww.formatString(config.options.txtWeekNumberDisplayFormat)));
}
else createTiddlyElement(row, 'td');//wn**
}
for(i = 0; i < col; i++)
createTiddlyElement(row, 'td');
var day = first;
for(i = col; i < 7; i++) {
var d = i + (config.options.txtCalFirstDay - 0);
if(d > 6) d = d - 7;
var daycell = createTiddlyElement(row, 'td');
var isaWeekend=((d==(config.options.txtCalStartOfWeekend-0)
|| d==(config.options.txtCalStartOfWeekend-0+1))?true:false);
if(day > 0 && day <= max) {
var celldate = new Date(year, mon, day);
// ELS 10/30/05 - use <<date>> macro's showDate() function to create popup
// ELS 05/29/06 - use journalDateFmt
if (window.showDate) showDate(daycell,celldate,'popup','DD',
config.macros.calendar.journalDateFmt,true, isaWeekend);
else {
if(isaWeekend) daycell.style.background = config.macros.calendar.weekendbg;
var title = celldate.formatString(config.macros.calendar.journalDateFmt);
if(calendarIsHoliday(celldate))
daycell.style.background = config.macros.calendar.holidaybg;
var now=new Date();
if ((now-celldate>=0) && (now-celldate<86400000)) // is today?
daycell.style.background = config.macros.calendar.todaybg;
if(window.findTiddlersWithReminders == null) {
var link = createTiddlyLink(daycell, title, false);
link.appendChild(document.createTextNode(day));
} else
var button = createTiddlyButton(daycell, day, title, onClickCalendarDate);
}
}
day++;
}
}
//}}}
//{{{
// Create a pop-up containing:
// * a link to a tiddler for this date
// * a 'new tiddler' link to add a reminder for this date
// * links to current reminders for this date
// NOTE: this code is only used if [[ReminderMacros]] is installed AND [[DatePlugin]] is //not// installed.
function onClickCalendarDate(ev) { ev=ev||window.event;
var d=new Date(this.getAttribute('title')); var date=d.formatString(config.macros.calendar.journalDateFmt);
var p=Popup.create(this); if (!p) return;
createTiddlyLink(createTiddlyElement(p,'li'),date,true);
var rem='\\n\\<\\<reminder day:%0 month:%1 year:%2 title: \\>\\>';
rem=rem.format([d.getDate(),d.getMonth()+1,d.getYear()+1900]);
var cmd="<<newTiddler label:[[new reminder...]] prompt:[[add a new reminder to '%0']]"
+" title:[[%0]] text:{{store.getTiddlerText('%0','')+'%1'}} tag:%2>>";
wikify(cmd.format([date,rem,config.options.txtCalendarReminderTags]),p);
createTiddlyElement(p,'hr');
var t=findTiddlersWithReminders(d,[0,31],null,1);
for(var i=0; i<t.length; i++) {
var link=createTiddlyLink(createTiddlyElement(p,'li'), t[i].tiddler, false);
link.appendChild(document.createTextNode(t[i]['params']['title']));
}
Popup.show(); ev.cancelBubble=true; if (ev.stopPropagation) ev.stopPropagation(); return false;
}
//}}}
//{{{
function calendarMaxDays(year, mon)
{
var max = config.macros.calendar.monthdays[mon];
if(mon == 1 && (year % 4) == 0 && ((year % 100) != 0 || (year % 400) == 0)) max++;
return max;
}
//}}}
//{{{
function createCalendarDayRows(cal, year, mon)
{
var row = createTiddlyElement(cal, 'tr');
var first1 = (new Date(year, mon, 1)).getDay() -1 - (config.options.txtCalFirstDay-0);
if(first1 < 0) first1 = first1 + 7;
var day1 = -first1 + 1;
var first2 = (new Date(year, mon+1, 1)).getDay() -1 - (config.options.txtCalFirstDay-0);
if(first2 < 0) first2 = first2 + 7;
var day2 = -first2 + 1;
var first3 = (new Date(year, mon+2, 1)).getDay() -1 - (config.options.txtCalFirstDay-0);
if(first3 < 0) first3 = first3 + 7;
var day3 = -first3 + 1;
var max1 = calendarMaxDays(year, mon);
var max2 = calendarMaxDays(year, mon+1);
var max3 = calendarMaxDays(year, mon+2);
while(day1 <= max1 || day2 <= max2 || day3 <= max3) {
row = createTiddlyElement(cal, 'tr');
createCalendarDays(row, 0, day1, max1, year, mon); day1 += 7;
createCalendarDays(row, 0, day2, max2, year, mon+1); day2 += 7;
createCalendarDays(row, 0, day3, max3, year, mon+2); day3 += 7;
}
}
//}}}
//{{{
function createCalendarDayRowsSingle(cal, year, mon)
{
var row = createTiddlyElement(cal, 'tr');
var first1 = (new Date(year, mon, 1)).getDay() -1 - (config.options.txtCalFirstDay-0);
if(first1 < 0) first1 = first1+ 7;
var day1 = -first1 + 1;
var max1 = calendarMaxDays(year, mon);
while(day1 <= max1) {
row = createTiddlyElement(cal, 'tr');
createCalendarDays(row, 0, day1, max1, year, mon); day1 += 7;
}
}
//}}}
//{{{
setStylesheet('.calendar, .calendar table, .calendar th, .calendar tr, .calendar td { text-align:center; } .calendar, .calendar a { margin:0px !important; padding:0px !important; }', 'calendarStyles');
//}}}
{{twocolumns{
As co chair of the IMERA Art Science program I am pleased to bring to your attention
''IMERA, the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (http://www.imera.fr), has issued a call for proposals for art science residencies with a deadline of January 31 2011.''
We seek residencies by either artists ( all disciplines) or scientists (all disciplines, soft and hard) who wish to engage in collaborative art-science projects that result in joint outcomes ( publications, artworks, Exhibitions, patents) that address ‘the human conditions of the sciences”.
For the international year of chemistry ( http://www.chemistry2011.org/ ) we are particularly interested in art science projects involving chemistry and nanoscience. Current residents include nano scientist Jim Gimzewski ( http://artsci.ucla.edu/?q=people/james_gimzewski ) co director of the UCLA Art-Sci Lab. IMERA advisors include nano scientist Guy Lelay (http://sysweb.cinam.univ-mrs.fr/cinam/spip.php?rubrique35) and chemist Denis Bertin (http://www.lc-provence.fr/)
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created art>>
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}}}
A research group led by Professor Noriaki Ohuchi, Senior Assistant Professor Kohsuke Gonda at Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University and Professor Hideo Higuchi at Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo has developed an optical system to image with a spatial precision of 9 nanometer in vivo. The optical system enables to visualize protein and drug at single molecular level in tumor-bearing mice which is implanted with human breast cancer cells. The most terrible biological property of cancer is its ability to spread to other organs. The research group labeled the metastasis-promoting protein on the cell membrane with fluorescence particle and has analyzed the protein dynamics with the newly developed optical device. In this study, they firstly discovered following cancer mechanisms using mice:
1. A change of cell morphology is important for cancer metastasis.
2. Cancer cells showed increases in migration speed (diffusion speed) of membrane protein (over 1000-fold) with progression of metastasis. The change of migration speed is important for activation of cancer metastasis.
''A cancer metastasis mechanism at molecular level has long been unknown because a spatial precision of previous in vivo imaging was at micrometer level. This study enable to visualize the mechanism of cancer metastasis at molecular level''. The results are expected to clarify an activation mechanism of cancer metastasis, evaluate malignant grade by mesuring membrane protein migration speed, and develop a new treatment with improved anticancer drug. Source: [[Visualization of a cancer metastasis mechanism at nanometer level: Discovery of dramatic changes of membrane dynamics in cancer cells during metastasis|http://www.tohoku.ac.jp/english/2010/02/eng-achieve-20100203-01.html]]. This work is detailed in the paper [[“In vivo nano-imaging of membrane dynamics in metastatic tumor cells using quantum dots”|http://www.jbc.org/content/early/2009/11/16/jbc.M109.075374.abstract]] by Kohsuke Gonda, Tomonobu M. Watanabe, Noriaki Ohuchi and Hideo Higuchi.
Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created milestone>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomedicine>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nano-oncology>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[quantum dots]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created microscope>>
{{twocolumns{
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/candle.jpg" title="Professor Wuzong Zhou seeing a candle. Credit: Courtesy of University of St Andrews" class="photo" width="95%"/></html>The flickering flame of a candle has generated comparisons with the twinkling sparkle of diamonds for centuries, but new research has discovered the likeness owes more to science than the dreams of poets.
Professor Wuzong Zhou, Professor of Chemistry at the University of St Andrews has discovered tiny diamond particles exist in candle flames.
His research has made a scientific leap towards solving a mystery which has befuddled people for thousands of years.
Since the first candle was invented in ancient China more than 2,000 years ago, many have longed to know what hidden secrets its flames contained.
Professor Zhou's investigation revealed ''around 1.5 million diamond nanoparticles are created every second in a candle flame as it burns''.
The leading academic revealed he uncovered the secret ingredient after a challenge from a fellow scientist in combustion.
Professor Zhou said: "A colleague at another university said to me: "Of course no-one knows what a candle flame is actually made of."
"I told him I believed science could explain everything eventually, so I decided to find out."
Using a new sampling technique, assisted by his student Mr Zixue Su, he invented himself, he was able to remove particles from the centre of the flame – something never successfully achieved before – and found to his surprise that ''a candle flame contains all four known forms of carbon''.
Professor Zhou said: "This was a surprise because each form is usually created under different conditions."
At the bottom of the flame, it was already known that hydro-carbon molecules existed which were converted into carbon dioxide by the top of the flame.
But the process in between remained a mystery.
Now both diamond nanoparticles and fullerenic particles have been discovered in the centre of the flame, along with graphitic and amorphous carbon.
The discovery could lead to future research into how diamonds, a key substance in industry, could be created more cheaply, and in a more environmentally friendly way.
Professor Zhou added: "Unfortunately the diamond particles are burned away in the process, and converted into carbon dioxide, but this will change the way we view a candle flame forever."
The famous scientist Michael Faraday in his celebrated 19th century lectures on "The Chemical History of a Candle" said in an 1860 address to the light: "You have the glittering beauty of gold and silver, and the still higher lustre of jewels, like the ruby and diamond; but none of these rival the brilliancy and beauty of flame. What diamond can shine like flame?"
Rosey Barnet, Artistic Director of one of Scotland’s biggest candle manufacturers, Shearer Candles, described the finding as "exciting".
She said: "We were thrilled to hear about the discovery that diamond particles exist in a candle flame.
"Although currently there is no way of extracting these particles, it is still an exciting find and one that could change the way people view candles. The research at St Andrews University will be of interest to the entire candle making industry. We always knew candles added sparkle to a room but now scientific research has provided us with more insight into why." Source: [[Candle flames contain millions of tiny diamonds|http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/news/archive/2011/Title,72748,en.html]]
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created [[nano before nanotech]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoparticles>>
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}}}
{{twocolumns{
<html><iframe class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="95%" height="350" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jZ7A51h6cwU" frameborder="0"></iframe></html>
''Imagine a car which body also serves as a rechargeable battery. A battery that stores braking energy while you drive and that also stores energy when you plug in the car overnight to recharge''. At the moment this is just a fascinating idea, but tests are currently under way to see if the vision can be transformed into reality. Volvo Cars is one out of nine participants in an international materials development project.
Among the foremost challenges in the development of hybrids and electric cars are the size, weight and cost of the current generation of batteries. In order to deliver sufficient capacity using today's technology, it is necessary to fit large batteries, which in turn increases the car's weight.
Earlier this year, a [[materials development project was launched by Imperial College|http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_5-2-2010-10-26-39]] in London that brings together nine European companies and institutes. Volvo Cars is the only car manufacturer participating in the project. With the help of 35 million SEK (approx. 3.5 million EURO) in financial support from the European Union (EU), ''a composite blend of carbon fibres and polymer resin is being developed that can store and charge more energy faster than conventional batteries can. At the same time, the material is extremely strong and pliant, which means it can be shaped for use in building the car's body panels''. According to calculations, the car's weight could be cut by as much as 15 percent if steel body panels were replaced with the new material.
The project will continue for three years. In the first stage, work focuses both on developing the composite material so it can store more energy and on studying ways of producing the material on an industrial scale. Only in the final stage will the battery be fitted to a car.
"Our role is to contribute expertise on how this technology can be integrated in the future and to input ideas about the advantages and disadvantages in terms of cost and user-friendliness," says Per-Ivar Sellergren, development engineer at the Volvo Cars Materials Centre.
Initially, the car's spare wheel recess will be converted into a composite battery. "This is a relatively large structure that is easy to replace. Not sufficiently large to power the entire car, but enough to switch the engine off and on when the car is at a standstill, for instance at traffic lights," says Per-Ivar Sellergren.
If the project is successful, there are many possible application areas. For instance, mobile phones will be able to be as slim as credit cards and laptops will manage longer without needing to be recharged. Source: From [[Tomorrow's Volvo car: body panels serve as the car battery|https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/enhanced/en-gb/media/preview.aspx?mediaid=35026]]
The researchers say that the composite material that they are developing, which is made of carbon fibres and a polymer resin, will store and discharge large amounts of energy much more quickly than conventional batteries. In addition, ''the material does not use chemical processes, making it quicker to recharge than conventional batteries. Furthermore, this recharging process causes little degradation in the composite material, because it does not involve a chemical reaction, whereas conventional batteries degrade over time''.
For the first stage of the project, the scientists are planning to further develop their composite material so that it can store more energy. The team will improve the material’s mechanical properties by growing carbon nanotubes on the surface of the carbon fibres, which should also increase the surface area of the material, which would improve its capacity to store more energy. Source: From [[Cars of the future could be powered by their bodywork thanks to new battery technology|http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_5-2-2010-10-26-39]]
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created [[carbon nanotubes]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created energy>>
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}}}
{{twocolumns{
Earth’s carbon cycle is overburdened. We emit more carbon into the atmosphere than natural processes are able to remove - an imbalance with negative consequences. Carbon Cycle 2.0 is a [[Berkeley Lab|http://www.lbl.gov/LBL-PID/LBL-Overview.html]] initiative to provide the science needed to restore this balance by integrating the Lab’s diverse research activities and delivering creative solutions toward a carbon-neutral energy future.
Carbon Cycle 2.0 means collaboration 2.0: tackling one of the greatest challenges facing the nation and world will require an urgent and more creative take on the kind of cross-disciplinary problem solving needed to bridge the gap between basic and applied research. In the spirit of what made Berkeley Lab great, the entire Lab community must take initiative and engage on CC2.0 for it to be a success. Source: [[Berkeley Lab - Carbon Cycle 2.0|http://carboncycle2.lbl.gov/]]
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created energy>><<matchTags popup sort:-created climate>>
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}}}
"With carbon, we know how to make things very small," said Ohldag. "On the other hand we know a lot about how to process and store information using magnetism. This opens up the door for future studies that will lead to improved magnetism in carbon that could one day we will be able to combine the ‘magnetic' and the ‘carbon' world."
Harnessing the magnetic properties of carbon could one day revolutionize a range of fields from nanotechnology to electronics. Carbon nanodevices could be built one atom at a time, leading to miniaturized machines and lightweight electronics. Magnetism, which forms the basis of information storage and processing in computer hard drives, could be employed in novel ways in tomorrow's electronic devices.
Source: [[Carbon Joins the Magnetic Club|http://www.physorg.com/news98111007.html]]
<<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomaterial>>
Next Alternative Inc. introduces Carbon Nanotube Technology with a car battery that has eight times the charge capacity of a regular battery and recharges in just minutes.
[[Next Alternative Inc.|http://www.next-alternative.com]] wants to steer the future of the electric car and the U.S. auto industry itself into greener, and much more distant, pastures. Destinations that were once unattainable by the most efficient battery-powered cars will be an easy road trip with one of the company's new [[Carbon Nano Tube|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_nanotube]] batteries (CNT Battery) under the hood.
With 8 times the Reserve Capacity (RC) of typical lead/acid batteries, ''CNT Battery technology allows cars to travel hundreds of miles between charges, up to an estimated 380 miles per charge. Even more impressive, CNT Batteries recharge in ten minutes from a regular electrical outlet'', about the time it takes for a highway road trip pit stop. An hour's worth of recharging could add up to a pollution-free, coast-to-coast trip through Capitol Hill. The battery can be modified to the specifications of existing batteries.
''CNT batteries provide the hybrid and electric car markets with a battery that far exceeds anything currently available to them at this time''. [[Micro Bubble Technology, Inc. (MBTI)|http://www.microbubbletech.com/CNTbattery.html]], based in South Korea, developed CNT Battery technology. Carbon Nanotubes are tiny tubular structures composed of a single layer of carbon atoms. MBTI developed a proprietary method of coating the anode, cathodes and modifying the electrolyte with Carbon Nano Tubes. The diminutive tubes hold 8 times as much energy as the lead in lead/acid batteries, and can hold a minimum of 2 times as much energy as rechargeable lithium batteries.
"CNT Batteries are superior to lead/acid batteries, lithium batteries and the silicone batteries powering electric cars today. Silicone based batteries perform better than current lead/acid batteries but do not allow electric vehicles to have a long range and require lengthy recharge times. Lithium-based batteries are expensive to produce and have lengthy recharge times. CNT technology will revolutionize the electric car industry, propelling it forward with battery that gives cars a much longer range and minimal recharge time." Next Alternative, Inc., President and CEO, Robert Ireland
As the U.S. government pushes for less dependence on fossil fuels through the development of alternative energy solutions, and leans on auto manufactures to create greener, more fuel efficient vehicles, the introduction of CNT batteries may just give the U.S. auto manufacturers the extra boost to help get their businesses back up to speed. Source: From ''[[Could Carbon Nano Tube Batteries Help Drive the Recovery of the Auto Manufacturers?|http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/08/prweb2732154.htm]]''.
Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created energy>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[carbon nanotubes]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoparticles>>
{{twocolumns{
Cables made of carbon nanotubes are inching toward electrical conductivities seen in metal wires, and that may light up interest among a range of industries, according to Rice University researchers. A Rice lab made such a cable from double-walled carbon nanotubes and powered a fluorescent light bulb at standard line voltage -- ''a true test of the novel material's ability to stake a claim in energy systems of the future''.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/cnt_wiring.jpg" title="Rice University researchers, from left, Robert Vajtai, Enrique Barrera and Yao Zhao have created a conductive cable from iodine-doped nanotubes capable of carrying household current. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>Highly conductive nanotube-based cables could be just as efficient as traditional metals at a sixth of the weight, said Enrique Barrera, a Rice professor of mechanical engineering and materials science. They may find wide use first in applications where weight is a critical factor, such as airplanes and automobiles, and in the future could even replace traditional wiring in homes.
The cables developed in the study are spun from pristine nanotubes and can be tied together without losing their conductivity. To increase conductivity of the cables, the team doped them with iodine and the cables remained stable. The conductivity-to-weight ratio (called specific conductivity) beats metals, including copper and silver, and is second only to the metal with highest specific conductivity, sodium.
Yao Zhao built the demo rig that let him toggle power through the nanocable and replace conventional copper wire in the light-bulb circuit. Zhao left the bulb burning for days on end, with no sign of degradation in the nanotube cable. He's also reasonably sure the cable is mechanically robust; tests showed the nanocable to be just as strong and tough as metals it would replace, and it worked in a wide range of temperatures. Zhao also found that tying two pieces of the cable together did not hinder their ability to conduct electricity.
The few centimeters of cable demonstrated in the present study seems short, but spinning billions of nanotubes (supplied by research partner Tsinghua University) into a cable at all is quite a feat, Barrera said. The chemical processes used to grow and then align nanotubes will ultimately be part of a larger process that begins with raw materials and ends with a steady stream of nanocable, he said. The next stage would be to make longer, thicker cables that carry higher current while keeping the wire lightweight. "We really want to go better than what copper or other metals can offer overall," he said. Source: From [[Nanocables light way to the future|http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=16123&SnID=857839210]]. Rice researchers power line-voltage light bulb with nanotube wire. This work was detailed in the paper [["Iodine doped carbon nanotube cables exceeding specific electrical conductivity of metals”|http://www.nature.com/srep/2011/110906/srep00083/full/srep00083.html]] <<slider chkSldr [[Iodine doped carbon nanotube cables exceeding specific electrical conductivity of metals]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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The [[Stanford Nanoelectronics Lab|http://nano.stanford.edu/]] presents an 8-minute educational short, funded by the National Science Foundation, on Nanotechnology and Carbon Nanotubes. The video content is completely student-created, from directing, casting, to even animation, with some technical assistance from Silicon Run Productions.
The Stanford Nanoelectronics Group was founded in September 2004 by [[H.-S. Philip Wong|http://www.stanford.edu/~hspwong/]]. The group's research interests are in nanoscale science and technology, semiconductor technology, solid state devices, and electronic imaging. The group is interested in exploring new materials, novel fabrication techniques, and novel device concepts for future nanoelectronic systems. These devices often require new concepts in circuit and system designs. The group's research also includes explorations into circuits and systems that are device-driven.
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Scientists has shown for the first time that carbon nanotubes can be broken down by an enzyme - myeloperoxidase (MPO) - found in white blood cells. ''Their discoveries contradict what was previously believed, that carbon nanotubes are not broken down in the body or in nature''. The scientists hope that this new understanding of how MPO converts carbon nanotubes into water and carbon dioxide can be of significance to medicine.
"Previous studies have shown that carbon nanotubes could be used for introducing drugs or other substances into human cells," says Bengt Fadeel, associate professor at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet. ''"The problem has been not knowing how to control the breakdown of the nanotubes, which can caused unwanted toxicity and tissue damage. Our study now shows how they can be broken down biologically into harmless components."''
Carbon nanotubes are a material consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms rolled into a tube with a diameter of only a couple of nanometres (1 nanometer = 1 billionth of a metre) and a length that can range from tens of nanometres up to several micrometers. Carbon nanotubes are lighter and stronger than steel, and have exceptional heat-conductive and electrical properties. They are manufactured on an industrial scale, mainly for engineering purposes but also for some consumer products.
Carbon nanotubes were once considered biopersistent in that they did not break down in body tissue or in nature. In recent years, research has shown that laboratory animals exposed to carbon nanotubes via inhalation or through injection into the abdominal cavity develop severe inflammation. This and the tissue changes (fibrosis) that exposure causes lead to impaired lung function and perhaps even to cancer. For example, a year or two ago, alarming reports by other scientists suggested that carbon nanotubes are very similar to asbestos fibres, which are themselves biopersistent and which can cause lung cancer (mesothelioma) in humans a considerable time after exposure.
This current study thus represents a breakthrough in nanotechnology and nanotoxicology, since it clearly shows that endogenous MPO can break down carbon nanotubes. This enzyme is expressed in certain types of white blood cell (neutrophils), which use it to neutralise harmful bacteria. Now, however, the researchers have found that the enzyme also works on carbon nanotubes, breaking them down into water and carbon dioxide. The researchers also showed that carbon nanotubes that have been broken down by MPO no longer give rise to inflammation in mice.
"This means that there might be a way to render carbon nanotubes harmless, for example in the event of an accident at a production plant," says Dr Fadeel. "But the findings are also relevant to the future use of carbon nanotubes for medical purposes."
The work was conducted as part of the [[NANOMMUNE project|http://www.nanommune.eu/]], which is coordinated by associate professor [[Bengt Fadeel|http://ki.se/ki/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=24857&a=20446&l=en]] of the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, and which comprises a total of thirteen research groups in Europe and the USA.
Source: [[New study on carbon nanotubes gives hope for medical applications|http://ki.se/ki/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=2637&a=98408&l=en&newsdep=2637]]. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Carbon nanotubes degraded by neutrophil myeloperoxidase induce less pulmonary inflammation|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nnano.2010.44.html]]'' by Valerian E. Kagan, Nagarjun V. Konduru, Weihong Feng, Brett L. Allen, Jennifer Conroy, Yuri Volkov, Irina I. Vlasova, Natalia A. Belikova, Naveena Yanamala, Alexander Kapralov, Yulia Y. Tyurina, Jingwen Shi, Elena R. Kisin, Ashley R. Murray, Jonathan Franks, Donna Stolz, Pingping Gou, Judith Klein-Seetharaman, Bengt Fadeel, Alexander Star, Anna Shvedova
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Research done by scientists in Italy and Switzerland has shown that ''carbon nanotubes may be the ideal “smart” brain material''. Their results are a promising step forward in the search to find ways to “bypass” faulty brain wiring.
The research shows that ''carbon nanotubes, which, like neurons, are highly electrically conductive, form extremely tight contacts with neuronal cell membranes''. Unlike the metal electrodes that are currently used in research and clinical applications, the nanotubes can create shortcuts between the distal and proximal compartments of the neuron, resulting in enhanced neuronal excitability.
The study was conducted in the [[Laboratory of Neural Microcircuitry|http://bmi.epfl.ch/page61216.html]] at EPFL in Switzerland and led by [[Michel Giugliano|http://www.giugliano.info/pro/]] (now an assistant professor at the University of Antwerp) and University of Trieste professor [[Laura Ballerini|http://www.neuronano.net/PeopleData.aspx?Action=Data&IdPartner=1&IdPeople=1]]. ''“This result is extremely relevant for the emerging field of neuro-engineering and neuroprosthetics,”'' explains Giugliano, who hypothesizes that the nanotubes could be used as a new building block of novel “electrical bypass” systems for treating traumatic injury of the central nervous system. Carbon nano-electrodes could also be used to replace metal parts in clinical applications such as deep brain stimulation for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease or severe depression. And they show promise as a whole new class of “smart” materials for use in a wide range of potential neuroprosthetic applications.
[[Henry Markram|http://people.epfl.ch/henry.markram]], head of the Laboratory of Neural Microcircuitry and an author on the paper, adds: “There are three fundamental obstacles to developing reliable neuroprosthetics: 1) stable interfacing of electromechanical devices with neural tissue, 2) understanding how to stimulate the neural tissue, and 3) understanding what signals to record from the neurons in order for the device to make an automatic and appropriate decision to stimulate. The new carbon nanotube-based interface technology discovered together with state of the art simulations of brain-machine interfaces is the key to developing all types of neuroprosthetics -- sight, sound, smell, motion, vetoing epileptic attacks, spinal bypasses, as well as repairing and even enhancing cognitive functions.”
Source: [[New “smart” materials for the brain|http://actualites.epfl.ch/presseinfo-com?id=693]]. This work is detailed in the paper [[Carbon nanotubes might improve neuronal performance by favouring electrical shortcuts|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nnano.2008.374.html]] by Giada Cellot, Emanuele Cilia, Sara Cipollone, Vladimir Rancic, Antonella Sucapane, Silvia Giordani, Luca Gambazzi, Henry Markram, Micaela Grandolfo, Denis Scaini, Fabrizio Gelain, Loredana Casalis, Maurizio Prato, Michele Giugliano and Laura Ballerini
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Xinghua Shi, Annette von dem Bussche, Robert H. Hurt, Agnes B. Kane & Huajian Gao. 2011. ''Nature nanotechnology. doi:10.1038/nnano.2011.151''
//Materials with high aspect ratio, such as carbon nanotubes and asbestos fibres, have been shown to cause length-dependent toxicity in certain cells because these long materials prevent complete ingestion and this frustrates the cell. Biophysical models have been proposed to explain how spheres and elliptical nanostructures enter cells but one-dimensional nanomaterials have not been examined. Here, we show experimentally and theoretically that cylindrical one-dimensional nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes enter cells through the tip first. For nanotubes with end caps or carbon shells at their tips, uptake involves tip recognition through receptor binding, rotation that is driven by asymmetric elastic strain at the tube–bilayer interface, and near-vertical entry. The precise angle of entry is governed by the relative timescales for tube rotation and receptor diffusion. Nanotubes without caps or shells on their tips show a different mode of membrane interaction, posing an interesting question as to whether modifying the tips of tubes may help avoid frustrated uptake by cells.//
Weian Zhao, Sebastian Schafer, Jonghoon Choi, Yvonne J. Yamanaka, Maria L. Lombardi, Suman Bose, Alicia L. Carlson, Joseph A. Phillips, Weisuong Teo, Ilia A. Droujinine, Cheryl H. Cui, Rakesh K. Jain, Jan Lammerding, J. Christopher Love, Charles P. Lin, Debanjan Sarkar, Rohit Karnik & Jeffrey M. Karp. 2011. ''Nature Nanotechnology doi:10.1038/nnano.2011.101''
//The ability to explore cell signalling and cell-to-cell communication is essential for understanding cell biology and developing effective therapeutics. However, it is not yet possible to monitor the interaction of cells with their environments in real time. Here, we show that a fluorescent sensor attached to a cell membrane can detect signalling molecules in the cellular environment. The sensor is an aptamer (a short length of single-stranded DNA) that binds to platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and contains a pair of fluorescent dyes. When bound to PDGF, the aptamer changes conformation and the dyes come closer to each other, producing a signal. The sensor, which is covalently attached to the membranes of mesenchymal stem cells, can quantitatively detect with high spatial and temporal resolution PDGF that is added in cell culture medium or secreted by neighbouring cells. The engineered stem cells retain their ability to find their way to the bone marrow and can be monitored in vivo at the single-cell level using intravital microscopy.//
<br>//Nanoparticles are finding utility in myriad biotechnological applications, including gene regulation, intracellular imaging, and medical diagnostics. Thus, evaluating the biocompatibility of these nanomaterials is imperative. Here we use genome-wide expression profiling to study the biological response of HeLa cells to gold nanoparticles functionalized with nucleic acids. Our study finds that the biological response to gold nanoparticles stabilized by weakly bound surface ligands is significant (cells recognize and react to the presence of the particles), yet when these same nanoparticles are stably functionalized with covalently attached nucleic acids, the cell shows no measurable response. This finding is important for researchers studying and using nanomaterials in biological settings, as it demonstrates how slight changes in surface chemistry and particle stability can lead to significant differences in cellular responses.//
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If you've ever eaten from silverware or worn copper jewelry, you've been in a perfect storm in which nanoparticles were dropped into the environment, say scientists at the University of Oregon. Since the emergence of nanotechnology, researchers, regulators and the public have been concerned that the potential toxicity of nano-sized products might threaten human health by way of environmental exposure.
Now, with the help of high-powered transmission electron microscopes, chemists captured never-before-seen views of miniscule metal nanoparticles naturally being created by silver articles such as wire, jewelry and eating utensils in contact with other surfaces. It turns out, researchers say, nanoparticles have been in contact with humans for a long, long time.
The project involved researchers in the [[UO's Materials Science Institute|http://pages.uoregon.edu/msiuo/]] and the [[Safer Nanomaterials and Nanomanufacturing Initiative (SNNI)|http://www.greennano.org/]], in collaboration with UO technology spinoff [[Dune Sciences Inc|http://www.dunesciences.com/]]. SNNI is an initiative of the [[Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI)|http://onami.us/]], a state signature research center.
The research focused on understanding the dynamic behavior of silver nanoparticles on surfaces when exposed to a variety of environmental conditions.
Using a new approach developed at UO that allows for the ''direct observation of microscopic changes in nanoparticles over time'', researchers found that silver nanoparticles deposited on the surface of their SMART Grids electron microscope slides began to transform in size, shape and particle populations within a few hours, especially when exposed to humid air, water and light. Similar dynamic behavior and new nanoparticle formation was observed when the study was extended to look at macro-sized silver objects such as wire or jewelry.
''"Our findings show that nanoparticle 'size' may not be static, especially when particles are on surfaces. For this reason, we believe that environmental health and safety concerns should not be defined -- or regulated -- based upon size,"'' said [[James E. Hutchison|http://chemistry.uoregon.edu/fac.html?hutchison]]. "In addition, the generation of nanoparticles from objects that humans have contacted for millennia suggests that humans have been exposed to these nanoparticles throughout time. Rather than raise concern, I think this suggests that we would have already linked exposure to these materials to health hazards if there were any."
Any potential federal regulatory policies, the research team concluded, should allow for the presence of background levels of nanoparticles and their dynamic behavior in the environment.
Because copper behaved similarly, the researchers theorize that their findings represent a general phenomenon for metals readily oxidized and reduced under certain environmental conditions. "These findings," they wrote, "challenge conventional thinking about nanoparticle reactivity and imply that the production of new nanoparticles is an intrinsic property of the material that is now strongly size dependent."
While not addressed directly, Hutchison said, the naturally occurring and spontaneous activity seen in the research suggests that exposure to toxic metal ions, for example, might not be reduced simply by using larger particles in the presence of living tissue or organisms. Source: From ''[[Nanoparticles and their size may not be big issues|http://uonews.uoregon.edu/archive/news-release/2011/10/nanoparticles-and-their-size-may-not-be-big-issues]]''. This work was detailed in the paper [["Generation of Metal Nanoparticles from Silver and Copper Objects: Nanoparticle Dynamics on Surfaces and Potential Sources of Nanoparticles in the Environment”|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn2031319]]
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Catalysts made of carbon nanotubes dipped in a polymer solution equal the energy output and otherwise outperform platinum catalysts in fuel cells, a team of Case Western Reserve University engineers has found. The researchers are certain that they'll be able to boost the power output and maintain the other advantages by matching the best nanotube layout and type of polymer. But already they've proved the simple technique can knock down one of the major roadblocks to fuel cell use: cost.
''Platinum, which represents at least a quarter of the cost of fuel cells, currently sells for about $65,000 per kilogram. These researchers say their activated carbon nanotubes cost about $100 per kilogram.''
"This is a breakthrough," said Liming Dai, a professor of chemical engineering and the research team leader. Dai and research associates Shuangyin Wang and Dingshan Yu found that by simply soaking carbon nanotubes in a water solution of the polymer polydiallyldimethylammoniumn chloride for a couple of hours, the polymer coats the nanotube surface and pulls an electron partially from the carbon, creating a net positive charge.
They placed the nanotubes on the cathode of an alkaline fuel cell. There, the charged material acts as a catalyst for the oxygen-reduction reaction that produces electricity while electrochemically combining hydrogen and oxygen.
In testing, the fuel cell produced as much power as an identical cell using a platinum catalyst. But the activated nanotubes last longer and are more stable, the researchers said. Unlike platinum, the carbon-based catalyst: doesn't lose catalytic activity and, therefore, efficiency, over time; isn't fouled by carbon monooxide poising; and is free from the crossover effect with methanol. Methanol, a liquid fuel that's easier to store and transport than hydrogen, reduces activity of a platinum catalyst when the fuel crosses over from the anode to the cathode in a fuel cell.
The new process builds on the Dai lab's earlier work using nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes as a catalyst. In that process, nitrogen, which was chemically bonded to the carbon, pulled electron partially from the carbon to create a charge. Testing showed the doped tubes tripled the energy output of platinum.
Dai said the new process is far simpler and cheaper than using nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes and he's confident his lab will increase the energy output as well. "We have not optimized the system yet." Source: From [[Cheap fuel cell catalyst made easy|http://blog.case.edu/think/2011/03/22/cheap_fuel_cell_catalyst_made_easy]]. CWRU researchers aim to cut cost of alternative energy. This work is detailed in the paper [[Polyelectrolyte Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes as Efficient Metal-free Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/ja1112904]] <<slider chkSldr [[Polyelectrolyte Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes as Efficient Metal-free Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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In miniaturization, mimicking the sense of smell has been a major target. The Smell is composed of thousands integrated specific receptors, in fact, the Smell occupais about a thousand of gens and such a huge analyzing library has to be schrinked to fit in a body. With nanotehcnology success is closer. Already, using carbon nanotubes these principles have been tested and verified. Now, changing the material, using gold nanoparticles.
"A highly sensitive and fast-response array of sensors based on gold nanoparticles, in combination with pattern recognition methods, can [[distinguish|http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/id12382.jpg]] between the odor prints of non-small-cell lung cancer and negative controls with 100% accuracy, with no need for preconcentration techniques. Additionally, preliminary results indicate that the same array of sensors might serve as a better tool for understanding the biochemical source of volatile organic compounds that might occur in cancer cells and appear in the exhaled breath, as compared to traditional spectrometry techniques. The reported results provide a launching pad to initiate a bedside tool that might be able to screen for early stages of lung cancer and allow higher cure rates. In addition, such a tool might be used for the immediate diagnosis of fresh (frozen) tissues of lung cancer in operating rooms, where a dichotomic diagnosis is crucial to guide surgeons." From ''[[Sniffing the Unique Odor Print of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer with Gold Nanoparticles|http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122574194/abstract]]'' by [[Orna Barash|http://lnbd.technion.ac.il/NanoChemistry/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DBID=1&TMID=139&LNGID=1&FID=502&PID=0&IID=1018]], [[Nir Peled|http://fulbright.state.gov/fulbright/regionscountries/whereare/middle-east-and-north-africa/israel/highlights/peled-story]], [[Fred R. Hirsch|http://www.uchsc.edu/sm/deptmed/oncology/faculty/hirsch.htm]], [[Hossam Haick|http://lnbd.technion.ac.il/NanoChemistry/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DBID=1&TMID=139&LNGID=1&FID=502&PID=0&IID=741]].
"Conventional diagnostic methods for lung cancer are unsuitable for widespread screening because they are expensive and occasionally miss tumours. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry studies have shown that several volatile organic compounds, which normally appear at levels of 1–20 ppb in healthy human breath, are elevated to levels between 10 and 100 ppb in lung cancer patients. Here we show that an array of sensors based on gold nanoparticles can rapidly distinguish the breath of lung cancer patients from the breath of healthy individuals in an atmosphere of high humidity. In combination with solid-phase microextraction, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry was used to identify 42 volatile organic compounds that represent lung cancer biomarkers. Four of these were used to train and optimize the sensors, demonstrating good agreement between patient and simulated breath samples. Our results show that sensors based on gold nanoparticles could form the basis of an inexpensive and non-invasive diagnostic tool for lung cancer." From ''[[Diagnosing lung cancer in exhaled breath using gold nanoparticles|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nnano.2009.235.html]]'' by Gang Peng, Ulrike Tisch, Orna Adams, Meggie Hakim, Nisrean Shehada, Yoav Y. Broza, Salem Billan, Roxolyana ~Abdah-Bortnyak, Abraham Kuten & Hossam Haick
''[[Related quotas|http://topics.treehugger.com/article/0ee9gT53XH1nJ/quotes?q=]]''. Background: [[Diagnosis through breath]]
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"The device I’m building will be significantly cheaper than the $15k a student level machine would cost, and will hopefully reach that range of performance. I’m certainly not expecting to build a device that can have the accuracy to do real research for only a few hundred dollars, but I’m hopeful that we can achieve modest results.
Right now, I’m basing the design on the work of [[John Alexander|http://www.geocities.com/spm_stm/]], but [[we|http://www.chemhacker.com/about/]] (my electrical engineering and software gurus and I) will be extending and improving this design for microprocessor control and trace capture. I’m also contacting some of the recent builders of this class of device to hear their opinions and advice. I really am standing on the shoulders of giants here, and by basing my work on that of a lot of (very) brilliant people, I hope to be able to achieve success.
My intention is to release all hardware designs as open source once the device reaches a fairly stable beta stage of completion." Source: From ''[[Project Announcement: Design/Build of an STM|http://www.chemhacker.com/2010/03/project-announcement-designbuild-of-an-stm/#more-131]]''
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<br>Choi W, Hong S, Abrahamson J, Han J, Song C, Nair N, Baik S & Strano M S.. 2011. ''Nature Materials doi:10.1038/nmat2714''
//Theoretical calculations predict that by coupling an exothermic chemical reaction with a nanotube or nanowire possessing a high axial thermal conductivity, a self-propagating reactive wave can be driven along its length. Herein, such waves are realized using a 7-nm cyclotrimethylene trinitramine annular shell around a multiwalled carbon nanotube and are amplified by more than 104 times the bulk value, propagating faster than 2 m s−1, with an effective thermal conductivity of 1.28±0.2 kW m−1 K−1 at 2,860 K. This wave produces a concomitant electrical pulse of disproportionately high specific power, as large as 7 kW kg−1, which we identify as a thermopower wave. Thermally excited carriers flow in the direction of the propagating reaction with a specific power that scales inversely with system size. The reaction also evolves an anisotropic pressure wave of high total impulse per mass (300 N s kg−1). Such waves of high power density may find uses as unique energy sources.//
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/molecular_flask.jpg" title="A scanning electron microscope image shows a new material that self-assembles into a polyhedron using the attractive interactions associated with hydrogen bonds. The shapes then further organize into a crystal lattice that resembles a porous structure called zeolite, an absorbent material with many industrial uses. Credit: Michael D. Ward, New York University" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>Chemists have created a molecular polyhedron, a ground-breaking assembly that has the potential to impact a range of industrial and consumer products, including magnetic and optical materials.
Researchers have sought to coerce molecules to form regular polyhedra—three-dimensional objects in which each side, or face, is a polygon—but without sustained success. Archimedean solids, discovered by the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes, have attracted considerable attention in this regard. These 13 solids are those in which each face is a regular polygon and in which around every vertex—the corner at which its geometric shapes meet—the same polygons appear in the same sequences. For instance, in a truncated tetrahedron, the pattern forming at every vertex is hexagon-hexagon-triangle. The synthesis of such structures from molecules is an intellectual challenge.
The work by the NYU and University of Milan chemists ''forms a quasi-truncated octahedron, which also constitutes one of the 13 Archimedean solids. Moreover, as a polyhedron, the structure has the potential to serve as a cage-like framework to trap other molecular species'', which can jointly serve as building blocks for new and enhanced materials.
“We’ve demonstrated how to coerce molecules to assemble into a polyhedron by design,” explained [[Michael Ward|http://www.nyu.edu/fas/dept/chemistry/wardgroup/]], chair of NYU’s Department of Chemistry and one of the study’s co-authors. “The next step will be to expand on the work by making other polyhedra using similar design principles, which can lead to new materials with unusual properties.”
Because the structure also serves as a molecular cage, it can house, or encapsulate, other molecular components, giving future chemists a vehicle for developing a range of new compounds. Source: [[Chemists Create Molecular Polyhedron - and Potential to Enhance Industrial and Consumer Products|http://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2011/07/21/chemists-create-molecular-polyhedronand-potential-to-enhance-industrial-and-consumer-products.html]]. This work was detailed in the paper ''[[Supramolecular Archimedean Cages Assembled with 72 Hydrogen Bonds|http://www.sciencemag.org/content/333/6041/436.abstract]]''<<slider chkSldr [[Supramolecular Archimedean Cages Assembled with 72 Hydrogen Bonds]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
The extraordinary aspect of this work, supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is the self-assembly of the molecular tiles into a polyhedron, a well-defined, three-dimensional, geometric solid. The individual polyhedra assemble themselves using the attractive interactions associated with hydrogen bonds. They then further organize into a crystal lattice that resembles a porous structure called zeolite, an absorbent material with many industrial uses. The new material differs from zeolite because it is constructed from organic building blocks rather than inorganic ones, which make it more versatile and easier to engineer. In general, inorganic compounds are considered mineral in origin, while organic compounds are considered biological in origin.
"By using geometric design principles and very simple chemical precursors, the Ward group has been able to construct relatively sturdy materials which contain many identically sized and shaped cavities," explained Michael Scott, program director in the Division of Materials Research at NSF. ''"The hollow space inside these materials offers many exciting opportunities for chemists to do things such as isolate unstable molecules, catalyze unknown reactions and separate important chemical compounds."'' Source: [[Chemists Create Molecular "Flasks"|http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=121087&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click]]. Researchers design a self-assembling material that can house other molecules
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<a class="url fn n" href="http://www.nano.sc.edu/research/societalinteractionswithnanotechnology/team.aspx"> <span class="given-name">chris</span>
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''Posts by Chris Toumey'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created [[Chris Toumey]]>>
<br>Timothy Sanchez, David Welch, Daniela Nicastro, Zvonimir Dogic. 2011. ''Science doi:10.1126/science.1203963''
//The mechanism that drives the regular beating of individual cilia and flagella, as well as dense ciliary fields, remains unclear. We describe a minimal model system, composed of microtubules and molecular motors, which self-assemble into active bundles exhibiting beating patterns reminiscent of those found in eukaryotic cilia and flagella. These observations suggest that hundreds of molecular motors, acting within an elastic microtubule bundle, spontaneously synchronize their activity to generate large-scale oscillations. Furthermore, we also demonstrate that densely packed, actively bending bundles spontaneously synchronize their beating patterns to produce collective behavior similar to metachronal waves observed in ciliary fields. The simple in vitro system described here could provide insights into beating of isolated eukaryotic cilia and flagella, as well as their synchronization in dense ciliary fields. //
Antineoplastic effects of <html><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisplatin" rel="tag">Cisplatin</a></html>, a paradigm of serendipity, were discovered when applying electric fields to C.Elegans. In that case, the Pt(II) cations released from the electrodes interferred with cellular duplication and the C.Elegans growed to gigantic sizes. First was thought that the applied electrical induced organism growth however later on was found that <html><a href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/cgi/mesh/2006/MB_cgi?mode=&term=Cisplatin" rel="tag">Cisplatin</a></html> irreversibly attaches to the N residues of the DNA impeding cell reproduction. Since then it has been one of the most used antitumoral drugs and still today is widely used in the treatment of the most prevalent tumours. In addition, <html><a href="http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/summary/summary.cgi?cid=84691" rel="tag">Cisplatin</a></html> derivates as carboplatin or oxiplatin has show also benefitial therapeutic effects, indicating that modifications of cisplatin may be of medical interest. Therefore many compunts based on Pt(II) has been produced showing biological activity, however, few of them have shown medical relevance. The loose of activity in the body can be associated with deactivation of the Pt(II) cation by sulfure containing molecules (cisteines) or by a unproper biodistribution of the drug, and others. In a recent paper, Lippard and co-workers have try to overcome this complications by conjugating platine(IV) compounds to carbon nanotubes. The carbon nanotubes should act as Longboat Delivery Systems for Platium (IV). Such nanocomposites are internalized by endocitosis into a endosome where its low pH reduces Platium (IV) to Platinum (II) delivering a large amount of cisplatin(II) to the cell increasing efficiently its killer effects. In addition, circulating Platinum (IV) compounds are non toxic (it is the valence II compound the toxic one). Now it has to be observed the compund biodistribution and side effects since generally platinum chemotherapies are interrupted due to size effects of nefro toxicity or renal toxicity.
Feazell et al. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2007, 129,8438-8439
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''A citizen-based, and collaborative website on societal issues raised by nanotechnology research and developments!'' The Citizen Alliance on the ChallEnges of Nanotechnologies (CACEN) (in French “Alliance Citoyenne sur les Enjeux des Nanotechnologies”: ACEN) has just opened a new website [[nano.acen-cacen.org|http://nano.acen-cacen.org]] where citizens can find and share information, questions, and analyses about societal issues raised by nanotechnologies.
Information on challenges raised by nanotechnologies. Private investments and public funding for nanotechnologies have been dramatically increasing in the last decade, giving rise to the presence of nanomaterials in many products on the market. Meanwhile uncertainties and controversies have arisen about the definition, the usefulness, the purposes, and the risks of nanotechnologies and nanomaterials. Many stakeholders and citizens have therefore been asking for more information on societal issues raised by nanotechnologies. In response to this need, we have created this website to:
* share information with all of you who are frustrated by the low visibility of current debates, discussions and lack of accessible information on these topics .
* develop perspectives and analyses of challenges raised by nanotechnology, be they health, environment, economical and geopolitical, ethical or democratic ones.
All of this information will be presented in a clear and understandable way.
A global and pluralistic approach. This website will be a place where we will gather questions and concerns about nanotechnologies that citizens and civil society want to raise, and collectively debate and resolve, even while some continue to argue that no regulation or control are possible -- because of lack of data (often protected by industry trade secrets) and/or scientific debates about definitions of “nanoparticle” and ”nanomaterial,” and scientific uncertainties on how to assess their toxicity, and how to adequately detect and monitor them. ''The website offers a global approach on nanotechnologies, presenting the context in which they are developed, funded, and regulated (or not), by whom, and where. It will open up the “black box” where decisions are being made, to empower civil society by offering resources on current and forthcoming actions, consultations and decision making processes''.
Overall, the pluralistic approach of this website makes it unique and original: people involved in a range of environmental, health, and human rights NGOs are [[contributing|http://nano.acen-cacen.org/ActeursACEN]].
We would like this website to be accessible not only to French speakers but also English, Spanish, Portuguese people. We would very much appreciate financial or technical support to help us complete, update, and translate this website! If you have human, financial, or technical resources that could help us, please let us know! More information: http://nano.acen-cacen.org and contact[at]acen-cacen[dot]org. Source: [[AceNano: Communique Presse Lancement Site EN|http://nano.acen-cacen.org/CommuniquePresseLancementSiteEN]]
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[<img[individual carbon atoms (yellow) on the honeycomb lattice of graphene|http://newscenter.lbl.gov/wp-content/uploads/team-05-graphene-214x300.jpg]] Hailed as the world’s most powerful [[transmission electron microscope|http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Nanotechnology/Electron_microscopy#Transmission_electron_microscopy_.28TEM.29]], TEAM 0.5 is living up to expectations. Using TEAM 0.5 ([[TEAM|http://ncem.lbl.gov/TEAM-project/index.html]] stands for Transmission Electron Aberration-corrected Microscope), researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have produced stunning images of individual carbon atoms in graphene, the two-dimensional crystalline form of carbon that is highly prized by the electronics industry.
These first time ever images were recorded at Berkeley Lab’s National Center for Electron Microscopy ([[NCEM|http://ncem.lbl.gov/]]), a DOE national user facility that is a premier center for electron microscopy and microcharacterization. TEAM 0.5, its newest instrument, is capable of //producing images with half‑angstrom resolution, which is less than the diameter of a single hydrogen atom//.
“Simply put, //TEAM 0.5 is the best transmission electron microscope in the world, representing a quantum leap forward in instrumentation//,” said physicist [[Alex Zettl|http://www.physics.berkeley.edu/research/zettl/]] who led this research. “''Having the ability to see, basically in real time, each and every individual atom in a sample'' is unbelievably useful and the images we can now see have been jaw-dropping for even the most seasoned electron microscopists. TEAM 0.5 is pushing transmission electron microscopy to a new level.”
“Theorists are currently making all kinds of predictions about the properties of [[graphene|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene]] for different local atomic configurations, but until TEAM 0.5, we did not have the ability to actually see and study these configurations in real time,” Zettl said.
Says NCEM principal investigator and collaborator on this study Kisielowski, “TEAM 0.5 allows for the detection of every single atom from the Periodic Table provided that the sample under investigation can stand the radiation damage (TEAM 0.5’s record-setting half-angstrom resolution was achieved with an electron beam that was 300 kilovolts (kV) in energy.)
Source: [[Closest Look Ever at Graphene: Stunning Images of Individual Carbon Atoms From TEAM 0.5 microscope|http://newscenter.lbl.gov/press-releases/2008/09/09/closest-look-ever-at-graphene-stunning-images-of-individual-carbon-atoms-from-team-05-microscope/]]. The paper, published in Nanoletters, is [[Direct imaging of lattice atoms and topological defects in graphene membranes|http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/asap.cgi/nalefd/asap/pdf/nl801386m.pdf]]
''Professor [[Andre Geim|http://onnes.ph.man.ac.uk/nano/]] and Dr [[Kostya Noveselov|http://onnes.ph.man.ac.uk/nano/People.html]] have been awarded the prestigious [[Europhysics Prize 2008|http://www.eps.org/news/eps-europhysics-prize-2008-1]] for discovering and isolating a single free-standing atomic layer of carbon (graphene) and elucidating its remarkable electronic properties.''
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''Nanometrology is the science of measurement at the nanoscale (1 nm to 100 nm)''. It has a crucial role in the production of nanomaterials and the manufacturing of nanoscale devices with a high degree of accuracy and reliability.
Co-Nanomet - A Co-ordination of nanometrology in Europe, has recently been published and is available to download.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/co-nanomet.jpg" title="Co-Nanomet - A Co-ordination of nanometrology in Europe" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>
''Measurements in the nanometre range should be traceable back to internationally accepted units of measurement'' (e.g. of length, angle, quantity of matter, and force). This requires common, validated measurement methods, calibrated scientific instrumentation as well as qualified reference samples. In some areas, even a common vocabulary needs to be defined.
The field of nanotechnology covers a breadth of disciplines, each of which has specific and varying metrological needs. To this end, a set of four core technology fields or priority themes (Engineered Nanoparticles, Nanobiotechnology, Thin Films and Structured Surfaces and Modelling & Simulation) are the focus of this review.
In the next decade, nanotechnology can be expected to approach maturity, as a major enabling technological discipline with widespread application. The principal drivers for its development are likely to shift from an overarching focus on the 'joy of discovery' towards the requirement to fulfil societal needs.
''This document provides a guide to the many bodies across Europe in their activities or responsibilities in the field of nanotechnology and related measurement requirements''. It will support the commercial exploitation of nanotechnology, as it transitions through this next exciting decade. Source: From the Executive Summary by Dr Theresa Burke, on behalf of the Co-Nanomet Consortium. ''[[Co-Nanomet. Co-ordination of Nanometrology in Europe|http://www.euspen.eu/content/Co-nanomet%20protected%20documents/publications%20area/European%20Nanometrology%202020%20280911.pdf]]''. European Nanometrology 2020
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/coiled_nanowire.jpg" title="Zhu's research team has created the first coils of silicon nanowire on a substrate that can be stretched to more than double their original length, moving us closer to developing stretchable electronic devices." class="photo" width="50%"/></html> Researchers have created the ''first coils of silicon nanowire on a substrate that can be stretched to more than double their original length, moving us closer to incorporating stretchable electronic devices into clothing, implantable health-monitoring devices, and a host of other applications''.
“In order to create stretchable electronics, you need to put electronics on a stretchable substrate, but electronic materials themselves tend to be rigid and fragile,” says [[Dr. Yong Zhu|http://www.mae.ncsu.edu/zhu/]], one of the researchers who created the new nanowire coils and an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University. “Our idea was to create electronic materials that can be tailored into coils to improve their stretchability without harming the electric functionality of the materials.”
Other researchers have experimented with “buckling” electronic materials into wavy shapes, which can stretch much like the bellows of an accordion. However, Zhu says, the maximum strains for wavy structures occur at localized positions – the peaks and valleys – on the waves. As soon as the failure strain is reached at one of the localized positions, the entire structure fails.
“An ideal shape to accommodate large deformation would lead to a uniform strain distribution along the entire length of the structure – a coil spring is one such ideal shape,” Zhu says. “As a result, the wavy materials cannot come close to the coils’ degree of stretchability.” Zhu notes that the coil shape is energetically favorable only for one-dimensional structures, such as wires.
Zhu’s team put a rubber substrate under strain and used very specific levels of ultraviolet radiation and ozone to change its mechanical properties, and then placed silicon nanowires on top of the substrate. The nanowires formed coils upon release of the strain. Other researchers have been able to create coils using freestanding nanowires, but have so far been unable to directly integrate those coils on a stretchable substrate.
While the new coils’ mechanical properties allow them to be stretched an additional 104 percent beyond their original length, their electric performance cannot hold reliably to such a large range, possibly due to factors like contact resistance change or electrode failure, Zhu says. “We are working to improve the reliability of the electrical performance when the coils are stretched to the limit of their mechanical stretchability, which is likely well beyond 100 percent, according to our analysis.” Source: [[Coiled nanowires may hold key to stretchable electronics|http://news.ncsu.edu/releases/wmszhunanocoils/]]. This work was detailed in the paper [[“Controlled 3D Buckling of Silicon Nanowires for Stretchable Electronics”|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn103189z]] by Feng Xu, Yong Zhu & Wei Lu <<slider chkSldr [[Controlled 3D Buckling of Silicon Nanowires for Stretchable Electronics]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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[[The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering|http://cnse.albany.edu/]] of the University at Albany-State University of New York is ''the first college in the world dedicated to research, development, education, and deployment in the emerging disciplines of nanoscience, nanoengineering, nanobioscience, and nanoeconomics''.
2001: Established as the School of Nanosciences and Nanoengineering at the University at Albany
2004: Accredited as the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering of the University at Albany
December 2004: CNSE awards the world's first Ph.D. degrees in nanoscience. Source: [[About CNSE - History|http://cnse.albany.edu/about_cnse/history.html]]
College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering
University at Albany - State University of New York
255 Fuller Road
Albany, NY, United States of America
http://cnse.albany.edu/
''Related news:'' [[Creating a common research site: Albany NanoTech, Applied Materials, IBM Announce Research Partnership|http://www.albany.edu/news/releases/2005/sep2005/sweeney_nanotech.shtml]]. Firms invest $300 million in R&D initiative. "An important milestone in establishing the IBM-Albany NanoTech Center for Semiconductor Research as ''the nation's premier facility for the study of nanotechnology''."
<br>//Hi Josep
Thanks for the post
There are other references where we confirmed the evidence for interstellar C60+ and derived an estimate of C60+ abundance of 0.3-0.9 % of cosmic carbon.
B. H. Foing, P. Ehrenfreund, Astron. Astrophys. 317, L59 (1997) (where we used dry observations from Hawaii and ESO to measure the bands)
G. A. Galazutdinov, J. Krelowski, F. A. Musaev, P. Ehrenfreund, B. H. Foing,
Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 317, 750 (2000).
where we observed in the lines of sight to 15 distant stars.
Note that we wrote an article in Science magazine recently on the subject "Fullerenes and Cosmic Carbon"
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/329/5996/1159?rss=1
Best regards,
Bernard H. Foing//
<br>//Dear Josep,
Thank you for featuring my recently published article on your website. I just wanted to make a point of clarification though. The nanoparticles that caused large-scale changes in gene expression were not functionalized with loosely bound nucleic acids, but rather they were stabilized by loosely (electrostatically) bound citrate molecules.
Thank you,
Matt//
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Teresa Gonzalo, 33, CEO in [[Ambiox Biotech|http://ambiox.com/]], awarded by MIT among the top ten spanish young innovators, as "commercial nanotechnology developer for the prevention of HIV."
Teresa has worked since 2007 at the Hospital Gregorio Marañón as a postdoctoral researcher in search of an AIDS therapy using nanotechnology-specific dendrimers (polymeric molecules versatile, three-dimensional shape defined) - for a microbicide gel may prevent HIV infection during the sexual encounter. The most promising microbicides are currently using gels containing antiretroviral drugs that have successfully reduced HIV incidence by 54% in women with greater adherence to treatment, the study shows CAPRISA in South Africa with a tenofovir-based gel. The goal is to improve data Teresa with the development of vaginal microbicides based on dendrimers, which either alone or in combination with drugs significantly reduce the infection of HIV target cells.
''"The use of nanoparticles and dendrimers for drug appears to improve vehicular protective immune response against HIV," ''says Antonio Antelo, physician, Infectious Diseases Unit, Hospital Clinico Universitario de Santiago de Compostela and former vice president of the Spanish Society Interdisciplinary of AIDS. "This makes this area a target of interest for the application of nanotechnology, where the work of Teresa is likely to make improvements and impact on the appearance of a drug with immediate applications in public health," said Antel.
MIT, through the Spanish-language version of the Technology Review, awarded the most brilliant and innovative people under 35 with the MIT’s TR35 Spain Awards. The awards look for people that take on important technological problems in a transformative way. The winners have been selected through an exhaustive selection process with the help of recognized experts that have been assembled into a judging panel. With their rankings of the candidates and the advice of the [[MIT Technology Review|http://www.techonologyreview.com/]] editors in Boston, who have been organizing the event for 12 years in the United States, the TR35 Spain winners represent an overview of how technology is changing.
Source: From [[MIT’s TR35 Spain Awards|http://www.emtechspain.com/en/emerging-talent-awards-tr35/]].
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A team of scientists have found that nanoparticles may have a higher degree of environmental toxicity than previously thought creating strategic implications for the planet and our ecosystem. The team from Dowling College, USA and Queens University, Canada ''discovered the ability of nanoparticles to deleteriously change the populations of microorganisms in the soil, potentially altering our globe’s environmental balance on a molecular level''.
“Millions of tonnes of nanoparticles are now manufactured every year, including silver nanoparticles which are popular as antibacterial agents,” says Virginia Walker, a professor in the Department of Biology. “We started to wonder what the impact of all these nanoparticles might be on the environment, particularly on soil.”
The team acquired a sample of soil from the Arctic as part of their involvement in the International Polar Year initiative. The soil was sourced from a remote Arctic site as they felt that this soil stood the greatest chance of being uncontaminated by any nanoparticles.
“Microorganisms play a major role in keeping our environment in a balanced state and the results of our study shows that nanoparticles could be toxic to these important populations of microbes found in soil,” says Dr. Vishal Shah, an associate professor in the Department of Biology at Dowling College. “Absence of a common measurable indicator of environmental toxicity has been one of the hurdles preventing us thus far from quantitatively comparing the toxicity of different nanoparticles. ''Once we developed a toxicity indicator in the study thanks to our use of arctic soil, it was clear that even nanoparticles made from relatively benign silicon dioxide (found in sand) are toxic to populations of microorganisms in soil.”''
The researchers first examined the indigenous microbe communities living in the uncontaminated soil samples before adding three different kinds of nanoparticles, including silver. The soil samples were then left for six months to see how the addition of the nanoparticles affected the microbe communities. What the researchers found was both remarkable and concerning.
The original analysis of the uncontaminated soil had identified a beneficial microbe that helps fix nitrogen to plants. As plants are unable to fix nitrogen themselves and nitrogen fixation is essential for plant nutrition, the presence of these particular microbes in soil is vital for plant growth. The analysis of the soil sample six months after the addition of the silver nanoparticles showed negligible quantities of the important nitrogen-fixing species remaining and laboratory experiments showed that they were more than a million times susceptible to silver nanoparticles than other species. Source: From [[Common nanoparticles found to be highly toxic to Arctic ecosystem|http://www.queensu.ca/news/articles/common-nanoparticles-found-be-highly-toxic-arctic-ecosystem]] and Dowling College Researcher Finds that Nanoparticles Pose Danger to Arctic Ecosystem. Dowling College, USA & Queens University, Canada Investigate Environmental Consequences. This work is detailed in the paper [[Perturbation of an arctic soil microbial community by metal nanoparticles|http://bit.ly/imgoxL]] <<slider chkSldr [[Perturbation of an arctic soil microbial community by metal nanoparticles]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanosilver>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanotoxicology>>
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''<<matchTags popup sort:-created context>>'' <<matchTags popup sort:-created dissemination>> ''Communicating Nanotechnology''
//The European Commission has been very quick to understand just how hot nanotechnology communication is. This sharp awareness has been matched by the strong interest and real concern of EU institutions, and has steadily produced a growing range of socially engaged policy documents and dedicated projects over the past few years. Engaging a public that might have been inadequately informed so far, or perhaps outright misled because of the very complexity of the issue, is the core challenge. In these policy documents the EC observed that ‘nanotechnology is poorly understood. Since it is complex and concerns a scale that is invisible, nanotechnology may be a difficult concept for the public to grasp. While the potential applications of nanotechnology can improve our quality of life, there may be some risk associated with it, as with any new technology – this should be openly acknowledged and investigated. At the same time the public’s perception of nanotechnology and its risks should be properly assessed and addressed’. Involving Europeans in appropriate communication and dialogue is a real asset to the EC, whose aim is to align nanotechnology development with the people’s expectations and concerns, and at the same time to pave the way for a level playing field in the global market. Clearly, ‘the public trust and dialogue on nanotechnology will be crucial for its long-term development and allow us to profit from its potential benefits. It is evident that the scientific community will have to improve its communication skills.’// From ''[[Communicating Nanotechnology. Why, to whom, saying what and how?|ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/nanotechnology/docs/communicating-nanotechnology_en.pdf]]'', preface by Christos Tokamanis
<br>//Multicolored imaging: A new class of molecular imaging agent has been developed based on low-molecular-weight organically soluble bismuth to detect and quantify intraluminal fibrin presented by ruptured plaque in the context of computed tomography angiograms without calcium interference.//
<br>//Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) are a phylogenetically diverse group which uses intracellular membrane-enclosed magnetite crystals called magnetosomes for navigation in their aquatic habitats. Although synthesis of these prokaryotic organelles is of broad interdisciplinary interest, its genetic analysis has been restricted to a few closely related members of the Proteobacteria, in which essential functions required for magnetosome formation are encoded within a large genomic magnetosome island. However, because of the lack of cultivated representatives from other phyla, it is unknown whether the evolutionary origin of magnetotaxis is monophyletic, and it has been questioned whether homologous mechanisms and structures are present in unrelated MTB. Here, we present the analysis of the uncultivated “Candidatus Magnetobacterium bavaricum” from the deep branching Nitrospira phylum by combining micromanipulation and whole genome amplification (WGA) with metagenomics. Target-specific sequences obtained by WGA of cells, which were magnetically collected and individually sorted from sediment samples, were used for PCR screening of metagenomic libraries. This led to the identification of a genomic cluster containing several putative magnetosome genes with homology to those in Proteobacteria. A variety of advanced electron microscopic imaging tools revealed a complex cell envelope and an intricate magnetosome architecture. The presence of magnetosome membranes as well as cytoskeletal magnetosome filaments suggests a similar mechanism of magnetosome formation in “Cand. M. bavaricum” as in Proteobacteria. Altogether, our findings suggest a monophyletic origin of magnetotaxis, and relevant genes were likely transferred horizontally between Proteobacteria and representatives of the Nitrospira phylum.//
While industrial sectors involving semiconductors, memory and storage technologies, display, optical and photonic technologies, energy, biomedical, and health sectors produce the most nanomaterial-containing products, nanotechnology is also used as an environmental technology to protect the environment through pollution prevention, treatment, and cleanup. This paper focuses on environmental cleanup and provides readers with a background and overview of current practice, research findings, societal issues, potential environment, health, and safety implications, and future directions for nanoremediation. We do not present an exhaustive review of chemistry/engineering methods of the technology but rather an introduction and summary of the application of nanotechnology in remediation. Nanoscale zero valent iron is discussed in more detail. We searched Web of Science for research studies and accessed recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other publicly available reports that addressed the applications and implications associated with nanoremediation techniques. We also conducted personal interviews with practitioners about specific site remediations. Information from 45 sites, a representative portion of the total projects underway, was aggregated to show nanomaterials used, type of pollutants cleaned up, and organization responsible for the site.
''Nanoremediation has the potential not only to reduce the overall costs of cleaning up large scale contaminated sites, but it also can reduce cleanup time, eliminate the need for treatment and disposal of contaminated soil, reduce some contaminant concentrations to near zero—all in situ''. Proper evaluation of nanoremediation, particularly full-scale ecosystem wide studies, needs to be conducted to prevent any potential adverse environmental impacts. Source: From ''[[Nanotechnology and In situ Remediation: A review of the benefits and potential risks|http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2009/0900793/abstract.html]]'' by [[Barbara Karn|http://pewnanotechproject.us/about/leadership/senior_advisors/barbara_karn/]], [[Todd Kuiken|http://pewnanotechproject.org/about/leadership/staff/todd_kuiken/]], Martha Otto. This article has been reviewed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and approved for publication.
The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies has produced a map - ''[[Nanoremediation map|http://www.nanotechproject.org/inventories/remediation_map/]]'' - showing the location of sites at which nanotechnology has been used as a remediation technology and providing some information about each site.
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<br>//Silicon (Si) nanowire (NW) coils were fabricated on elastomeric substrates by a controlled buckling process. Si NWs were first transferred onto prestrained and ultraviolet/ozone (UVO) treated poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) substrates, and buckled upon release of the prestrain. Two buckling modes (the in-plane wavy mode and the three-dimensional coiled mode) were found; a transition between them was achieved by controlling the UVO treatment of PDMS. Structural characterization revealed that the NW coils were oval-shaped. The oval-shaped NW coils exhibited very large stretchability up to the failure strain of PDMS (~104% in our study). Such a large stretchability relies on the effectiveness of the coil shape in mitigating the maximum local strain, with a mechanics that is similar to the motion of a coil spring. Single-NW devices based on coiled NWs were demonstrated with a nearly constant electrical response in a large strain range. In addition to the wavy shape, the coil shape represents an effective architecture in accommodating large tension, compression, bending and twist, which may find important applications for stretchable electronics and other stretchable technologies.//
{{twocolumns{
<html><img title="A completely new and controlled way of building up additional layers on the surface of the molecule" src="http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/News/pressreleases/2010/November/3-D-molecular-structurepr.jpg" width="95%"/>
</html>
Scientists have made ''a major breakthrough that could help shape the future of nanotechnology, by demonstrating for the first time that 3-D molecular structures can be built on a surface''.
The discovery at The University of Nottingham could prove a significant step forward towards the development of new nano devices such as cutting-edge optical and electronic technologies and even molecular computers.
The team of chemists and physicists at Nottingham have shown that by introducing a ‘guest’ molecule they can build molecules upwards from a surface rather than just 2-D formations previously achieved.
''A natural biological process known as ‘self-assembly’ meant that once the scientists introduced other molecules on to a surface their host then spontaneously arranged them into a rational 3-D structure.''
[[Professor Neil Champness|http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/chemistry/people/neil.champness#lookup-research]] said: //“It is the molecular equivalent of throwing a pile of bricks up into the air and then as they come down again they spontaneously build a house.
“Until now this has only been achievable in 2-D, so to continue the analogy the molecular ‘bricks’ would only form a path or a patio but ''our breakthrough now means that we can start to build in the third dimension. It’s a significant step forward to nanotechnology.''”//
Previously, scientists have employed a technique found in nature of using hydrogen bonds to hold DNA together to build two-dimensional molecular structure.
The new process involved introducing a guest molecule — in this case a ‘buckyball’ or C60 — on to a surface patterned by an array of tetracarboxylic acid molecules. The spherical shape of the buckyballs means they sit above the surface of the molecule and encourage other molecules to form around them. It offers scientists a completely new and controlled way of building up additional layers on the surface of the molecule.
The work is the culmination of four years’ of research led by Professors Champness and [[Peter Beton|http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~ppzstm/]] from the School of Chemistry and the School of Physics and Astronomy, which has been funded with a total of £3.5 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Source: [[World first to provide building blocks for new nano devices|http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/pressreleases/2010/november/nanodevices.aspx]]. This work is detailed in the paper [[Guest-induced growth of a surface-based supramolecular bilayer|http://www.nature.com/nchem/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nchem.901.html]] by Matthew O. Blunt, James C. Russell, Maria del Carmen Gimenez-Lopez, Nassiba Taleb, Xiang Lin, Martin Schröder, Neil R. Champness & Peter H. Beton <<slider chkSldr [[Guest-induced growth of a surface-based supramolecular bilayer]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanodevice>><<matchTags popup sort:-created fullerene>><<matchTags popup sort:-created self-assembly>>
''Share this content on Twitter:'' <html><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="nanowiki">Tweet</a></html><script src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" show></script>
}}}
{{twocolumns{
A new study led by nanotechnology and biotechnology experts is providing important details on how proteins in our bodies interact with nanomaterials. In their new study, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers developed a new tool to determine the orientation of proteins on different nanostructures. The discovery is ''a key step in the effort to control the orientation, structure, and function of proteins in the body using nanomaterials''.
“To date, very little is known about how proteins interact with a surface at the nanoscale,” said Jonathan Dordick, director of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies at Rensselaer (CBIS). “With a better understanding of how a protein interacts with a surface, we can develop custom nanoscale surfaces and design proteins that can do a variety of amazing tasks in the human body.”
Researchers seek to use nanotechnology in a variety of biological and medical applications, ranging from biosensors that can detect cancer in the body to scaffolds that help grow new tissues and organs, according to the researchers. Such technologies involve the interaction between biological cells and non-biological nanoscale materials. These interactions are controlled in part by proteins at the interface between the two materials. At such a minuscule level, the tiniest change in the structure of a material can vastly change the proteins involved and thus alter how the cells of the human body respond to the nanomaterial. In fact, proteins are among the most complex (and fickle) molecules in our bodies, rapidly changing their orientation or structure and thus their ability to interact with other molecules. Controlling their orientation and structure through their interactions with nanomaterials is essential to their reliable and safe use in new biotechnologies, according to Dordick.
“We have learned over the past decade to create nanomaterials with a wide variety of controlled structures, and we have discovered and begun to learn how these structures can positively impact cellular activity,” said Richard Siegel, the Robert W. Hunt Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Rensselaer, director of the Rensselaer Nanotechnology Center. “By learning more about the role of the nanostructure-protein interactions that cause this impact, we will be able in the future to harness this knowledge to benefit society through improved healthcare. In addition to improved healthcare, this work will also help enable the manufacture of a wide range of new hierarchical composite materials—based upon synthetic polymers, biomolecules, and nanostructures—that will revolutionize our ability to solve many critical problems facing society worldwide.”
What the researchers found in this and their previous studies was that the size and curvature of the nanosurface greatly changed the way proteins oriented themselves on the surfaces and changed their structure, and this influenced protein stability. They found that nanostructures with smaller and more curved surfaces favored protein orientations that resulted in more stable proteins than structures with larger more flat surfaces.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-bottom:10px; margin-right:10px" src="img/protein.jpg" title="Front and back face of Cytochrome C. To reach these conclusions, the researchers investigated several well-studied proteins, including cytochrome c and monitored their adsorption on different size silica nanoparticles" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>More information on Dordick’s research can be found at http://enzymes.che.rpi.edu/. Additional information on Siegel’s research can be found at http://www.rpi.edu/dept/nsec/. Source: From ''[[Controlling Protein Function With Nanotechnology|http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=2998&setappvar=page%281%29]]''. This work is detailed in the paper [["Position-Specific Chemical Modification and Quantitative Proteomics Disclose Protein Orientation Adsorbed on Silica Nanoparticles"|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl2044524]] by Siddhartha Shrivastava, Joseph H. Nuffer, Richard W. Siegel, and Jonathan S. Dordick.
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanobiotechnology>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomedicine>>
<<tiddler Twitter>>
}}}
{{twocolumns{
The [[FDA|http://www.fda.gov/ScienceResearch/SpecialTopics/Nanotechnology/default.htm]] (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) issued in June 24, 2011 a draft Guidance for Industry titled ''[[“Considering Whether an FDA-Regulated Product Involves the Application of Nanotechnology”|http://www.fda.gov/RegulatoryInformation/Guidances/ucm257698.htm]]'' and has launched a 60-day comment period on it. "This guidance is intended for manufacturers, suppliers, importers and other stakeholders. The guidance describes FDA’s current thinking on whether FDA-regulated products contain nanomaterials or otherwise involve the application of nanotechnology. FDA’s guidance documents, including this guidance, do not establish legally enforceable responsibilities. Instead, guidances describe the Agency’s current thinking on a topic and should be viewed only as recommendations, unless specific regulatory or statutory requirements are cited. The use of the word should in Agency guidances means that something is suggested or recommended, but not required."
FDA released its document in coordination with the ''[[“Policy Principles for the U.S. Decision-Making Concerning Regulation and Oversight of Applications of Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials”|http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/inforeg/for-agencies/nanotechnology-regulation-and-oversight-principles.pdf]]'' issued on June 9, 2011, jointly by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Office of Management and Budget, and the United States Trade Representative.
Prior to the FDA announcement, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency "announced it plans to obtain information on nanoscale materials in pesticide products. Under the requirements of the law, EPA will gather information on what nanoscale materials are present in pesticide products to determine whether the registration of a pesticide may cause unreasonable adverse effects on the environment and human health. The proposed policy will be open for public comment. “We want to obtain timely and accurate information on what nanoscale materials may be in pesticide products, “said Steve Owens assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “This information is needed for EPA to meet its requirement under the law to protect public health and the environment” (From [[EPA Proposes Policy on Nanoscale Materials in Pesticide Products|http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/05ff063e9205eb3c852578aa005aa0f8?OpenDocument]]). See: ''[[Regulating Pesticides that Use Nanotechnology|http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/regulating/nanotechnology.html]]''
''Context:''
[[Don’t define nanomaterials – new commentary in Nature and an early draft|http://2020science.org/2011/07/06/dont-define-nanomaterials-new-commentary-in-nature-and-an-early-draft/]] by Andrew Maynard, director of the University of Michigan Risk Science Center. July 6, 2011
[[“Principles” Issued|http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/small_steps_on_nano/]] by Gwyneth K. Shaw. New Haven Independent. Jul 1, 2011
[[EU Rejects Development of Separate Nanomaterials Regulation|http://www.chemweek.com/home/top_of_the_news/EU-Rejects-Development-of-Separate-Nanomaterials-Regulation_35693.html]] by Alex Scott. Chemical Week, part of IHS, Inc. June 28, 2011
[[Toward Nanotech Regulation|http://pubs.acs.org/cen/government/89/8926gov2.html]] by Britt E. Erickson. C&EN Chemical & Engineering News, published by the American Chemical Society. June 27, 2011
[[FDA Takes ‘First Step’ Toward Greater Regulatory Certainty Around Nanotechnology|http://www.internano.org/content/view/540/251/]] by Jessica Adamick. InterNano, a service of the National Nanomanufacturing Network. June 24, 2011
[[Nanotechnology is Entering a New Legal Frontier|http://www.seolawfirm.com/2011/06/nanotechnology-is-entering-a-new-legal-frontier/]] by Krystina Steffen. The SEO | Law Firm News. June 22, 2011
[[Nano regulatory frameworks are everywhere!|http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=3698]] by Maryse de la Giroday. FrogHeart Communications. June 22, 2011
[[FDA Tries to Address Some Concerns Over Nanotech in Biotech|http://www.genengnews.com/analysis-and-insight/fda-tries-to-address-some-concerns-over-nanotech-in-biotech/77899422/]] by Alex Philippidis. GEN, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News. June 21, 2011
[[EU: First practical guidance for assessing nano applications in food & feed]]. NanoWiki. May 11, 2011
[[EU scientific committee publishes opinion on definition of nanomaterials]]. NanoWiki. December 23, 2010
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created regulation>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[national initiatives]]>>
''Share this content on Twitter:'' <html><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="nanowiki">Tweet</a></html><script src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" show></script>
}}}
{{twocolumns{
<html>
<img src="http://www.fom.nl/live/imgnew.db?120295" title="Smoluchowski's thought experiment with the vanes on the right, the cog on the left and in the middle a pulley with a weight. Inset: the granular demonstration experiment" width="100%"/>
</html>
Researchers from the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter and University of Twente in the Netherlands, and the University of Patras in Greece have for the first time experimentally realised, almost a century later, an idea dating from 1912. In that year the physicist Smoluchowski devised a prototype for an engine at the molecular scale in which he thought he could ingeniously convert Brownian motion into work. The team of scientists have now successfully constructed this device at the much larger scale of a granular gas. Moreover, they have shown that an intriguing exchange takes place between the vanes of the engine and the granular gas: once the vanes have started rotating, they in turn induce a rotating motion in the gas, a so-called convection roll. This reinforces the movement of the device and allows for a virtually continuous rotation. Molecular motors, such as those responsible for tensing and relaxing your muscles, move in a strange manner: they propel themselves forwards despite - or thanks to - a continuous bombardment of the randomly moving molecules in their surroundings. ''This random movement is called [[Brownian motion|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownian_motion]] and a well-constructed motor at the nanoscale actually makes use of this to generate a directed movement (and therefore work). The device introduced by the physicist [[Marian Smoluchowski|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Smoluchowski]] in 1912, as a thought experiment, is a classical example of such a motor.'' Source: From ''[[Classical thought experiment brought to life in granular gas|http://www.fom.nl/live/english/news/artikel.pag?objectnumber=120223]]''. This work is detailed in the paper [[Experimental Realization of a Rotational Ratchet in a Granular Gas|http://prl.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v104/i24/e248001]] by Peter Eshuis, Ko van der Weele, Detlef Lohse, and Devaraj van der Meer. "We construct a [[ratchet of the Smoluchowski-Feynman type|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownian_ratchet]], consisting of four vanes that are allowed to rotate freely in a vibrofluidized granular gas. The necessary out-of-equilibrium environment is provided by the inelastically colliding grains, and the equally crucial symmetry breaking by applying a soft coating to one side of each vane. The onset of the ratchet effect occurs at a critical shaking strength via a smooth, continuous phase transition. For very strong shaking the vanes interact actively with the gas and a convection roll develops, sustaining the rotation of the vanes."
''Movies of the experiment'': http://stilton.tnw.utwente.nl/dryquicksand/ratchet/ratchet.html
<html>
<img src="http://www.fom.nl/live/imgnew.db?120294" title="The thought experiment is brought to life in a granular gas: the experimental setup (left) and the device in operation (right). " width="100%"/>
</html>
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanodevice>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomachinery>><<matchTags popup sort:-created energy>>
}}}
/***
|Name|CoreTweaks|
|Source|http://www.TiddlyTools.com/#CoreTweaks|
|Version|n/a|
|Author|Eric Shulman - ELS Design Studios|
|License|http://www.TiddlyTools.com/#LegalStatements <br>and [[Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License|http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/]]|
|~CoreVersion|2.2.0|
|Type|plugin|
|Requires||
|Overrides|various|
|Description|a small collection of overrides to TW core functions |
This tiddler contains changes TW core functions to provide minor changes in standard features or behavior. It is hoped that some of these tweaks may someday be added into the TW core, so that these adjustments will be available without needing these add-on definitions.
>''Note: the changes contained in this tiddler are generally applicable for version 2.4.1 of TiddlyWiki. Please view [[CoreTweaksArchive]] for tweaks that may be used with earlier versions of TiddlyWiki.''
----
***/
// // {{block{
/***
!!!824 ~WindowTitle - alternative to combined ~SiteTitle/~SiteSubtitle in window titlebar
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/824 - OPEN
This tweak allows definition of an optional [[WindowTitle]] tiddler that, when present, provides alternative text for display in the browser window's titlebar, instead of using the combined text content from [[SiteTitle]] and [[SiteSubtitle]] (which will still be displayed as usual in the TiddlyWiki document header area).
Note: this ticket replaces http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/401 (closed), which proposed using a custom [[PageTitle]] tiddler for this purpose. ''If you were using the previous '401 ~PageTitle' tweak, you will need to rename [[PageTitle]] to [[WindowTitle]] to continue to use your custom window title text''
***/
//{{{
config.shadowTiddlers.WindowTitle='<<tiddler SiteTitle>> - <<tiddler SiteSubtitle>>';
window.getPageTitle=function() { return wikifyPlain('WindowTitle'); }
store.addNotification('WindowTitle',refreshPageTitle); // so title stays in sync with tiddler changes
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!823 apply option values via paramifiers (e.g. #chk...and #txt...)
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/823 - no ticket yet
This tweak extends and ''//replaces//'' the core {{{invokeParamifier()}}} function to support use of ''option paramifiers'' that set TiddlyWiki option values on-the-fly, directly from a document URL.
If a paramifier begins with 'chk' (checkbox) or 'txt' (text field), it's value will be automatically stored in {{{config.options.*}}}, adding to or overriding any existing 'chk' or 'txt' option values that may have already been loaded from browser cookies and/or assigned by the TW core or plugin initialization functions using hard-coded default values. Note: option values that have been overriden by paramifiers are only applied during the current document session, and are not //automatically// retained. However, if you edit an overridden option value during that session, then the modified value is, of course, saved in a browser cookie, as usual.
***/
//{{{
function invokeParamifier(params,handler)
{
if(!params || params.length == undefined || params.length <= 1)
return;
for(var t=1; t<params.length; t++) {
var p = config.paramifiers[params[t].name];
if(p && p[handler] instanceof Function)
p[handler](params[t].value);
else { // not a paramifier with handler()... check for an 'option' prefix
var h=config.optionHandlers[params[t].name.substr(0,3)];
if (h && h.set instanceof Function)
h.set(params[t].name,params[t].value);
}
}
}
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!784 allow tiddler sections in TiddlyLinks to be used as anchor points for intra-tiddler scrolling.
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/784 - OPEN
You can use the tiddler section syntax within the {{{<<tiddler>>}}} macro to //transclude// a subsection of one tiddler into another (e.g., {{{<<tiddler SomeTiddler##SomeSection>>}}}). However, if this syntax is used in a TiddlyLink (e.g., {{{[[SomeTiddler##SomeSection]]}}}), the entire reference is treated as a link to a (non-existent) tiddler that includes the section reference in the tiddler title itself.
This tweak extends the TiddlyLink and displayTiddler() processing so that section references in links can be used to auto-scroll to the indicated heading within a tiddler (i.e., the same 'anchor' behavior as {{{<a name="foo">}}} and {{{<a href="#foo">...</a>}}} when using HTML syntax).
***/
//{{{
Story.prototype.scrollToSection = function(title,section) {
if (!title||!section) return; var t=this.getTiddler(title); if (!t) return null;
var elems=t.getElementsByTagName('*');
for (var i=0; i<elems.length; i++) { var e=elems[i];
if (!['H1','H2','H3','H4','H5'].contains(e.nodeName)) continue;
if (getPlainText(e).indexOf(section)!=-1) {
var delay=config.options.chkAnimate?config.animDuration+1:0; // scroll *after* tiddler animation
setTimeout('window.scrollTo(0,'+findPosY(e)+')',delay);
return e;
}
}
}
window.createTiddlyLink_sectionanchor=window.createTiddlyLink;
window.createTiddlyLink=function(place,title) {
var t=story.findContainingTiddler(place); var tid=t?t.getAttribute('tiddler'):'';
var parts=title.split(config.textPrimitives.sectionSeparator);
if (!parts[0].length) parts[0]=tid; // default to current tiddler for '##section' links
if (parts[1]) arguments[1]=parts[0]; // trim section from tiddler title
var btn=createTiddlyLink_sectionanchor.apply(this,arguments);
if (parts[1]) btn.setAttribute('section',parts[1]); // save section
return btn;
}
window.onClickTiddlerLink_sectionanchor=window.onClickTiddlerLink;
window.onClickTiddlerLink=function(ev) {
var e=ev||window.event; var target=resolveTarget(e); var title=null;
while (target!=null && title==null) {
title=target.getAttribute('tiddlyLink');
section=target.getAttribute('section');
target=target.parentNode;
}
var t=story.findContainingTiddler(target); var tid=t?t.getAttribute('tiddler'):'';
if (title!=tid||!section) onClickTiddlerLink_sectionanchor.apply(this,arguments); // avoid excess scrolling
story.scrollToSection(title,section);
return false;
}
Story.prototype.displayTiddler_sectionanchor=Story.prototype.displayTiddler;
Story.prototype.displayTiddler = function(srcElement,tiddler)
{
var title=(tiddler instanceof Tiddler)?tiddler.title:tiddler;
var parts=title.split(config.textPrimitives.sectionSeparator);
if (parts[0].length && parts[1]) arguments[1]=parts[0]; // trim section from tiddler title
this.displayTiddler_sectionanchor.apply(this,arguments);
story.scrollToSection(parts[0],parts[1]);
}
config.formatterHelpers.isExternalLink_sectionanchor=config.formatterHelpers.isExternalLink;
config.formatterHelpers.isExternalLink=function(link) {
if (link.indexOf(config.textPrimitives.sectionSeparator)!=-1) return false;
return config.formatterHelpers.isExternalLink_sectionanchor.apply(this,arguments);
}
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!757 add removeCookie() function
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/757 - OPEN
When a TW option is reset to it's hard-coded default value, the corresponding browser cookie is usually just set to that default value, which results in an accumulation of unnecessary cookies. Unfortunately, there is a browser-imposed limit on the number of cookies that are stored for any given domain and, when that limit is reached, the browser starts removing cookies on it's own, thereby unexpectedly discarding some TW settings. In order to allow core and/or plugin code to 'clean up after themselves' and remove unneeded cookies, this tweak provides a new 'core' function, removeCookie() that is the inverse of the existing saveOptionCookie(), and results in the actual deletion of the browser cookie associated with the specified TW option.
***/
//{{{
if (window.removeCookie===undefined) {
window.removeCookie=function(name) {
document.cookie = name+'=; expires=Thu, 01-Jan-1970 00:00:01 UTC; path=/;';
}
}
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!749 ieCreatePath fixup for handling / in UNC paths
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/749 - OPEN
***/
//{{{
// tweak ieCreatePath to add fallback check for / (in addition to current check for \)
var fn=window.ieCreatePath;
fn=fn.toString().replace(/function ieCreatePath\(path\)/,'window.ieCreatePath=function(path)');
fn=fn.toString().replace(/var pos = path.lastIndexOf\("\\\\"\);/,
'var pos=path.lastIndexOf("\\\\"); if(pos==-1) pos=path.lastIndexOf("/");');
eval(fn);
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!741 allow """<hr>""" directly in wiki-formatted content
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/741 - OPEN
This tweak extends the 'horizontal rule' formatter to recognize {{{<hr>}}} (or {{{<hr />}}}) directly in tiddler content without being enclosed within an HTML block (i.e., {{{<html><hr></html>}}}). This allows HR elements to be used within table cell content, bullet items and other ''line-mode'' syntax, where the required use of newlines surrounding the """----""" syntax would interfere with the enclosing line-mode formatting.
***/
//{{{
config.formatters[config.formatters.findByField('name','rule')].match+='|<hr ?/?>\\n?';
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!683 FireFox3 Import bug: 'browse' button replacement
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/683 - OPEN
The web standard 'type=file' input control that has been used as a local path/file picker for TiddlyWiki no longer works as expected in FireFox3, which has, for security reasons, limited javascript access to this control so that *no* local filesystem path information can be revealed, even when it is intentional and necessary, as it is with TiddlyWiki. This tweak provides alternative HTML source that patches the backstage import panel. It replaces the 'type=file' input control with a text+button combination of controls that invokes a system-native secure 'file-chooser' dialog box to provide TiddlyWiki with access to a complete path+filename so that TW functions properly locate user-selected local files.
>Note: ''This tweak also requires http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/604 - cross-platform askForFilename()''
***/
//{{{
if (window.Components) {
var fixhtml='<input name="txtBrowse" style="width:30em"><input type="button" value="..."'
+' onClick="window.browseForFilename(this.previousSibling,true)">';
var cmi=config.macros.importTiddlers;
cmi.step1Html=cmi.step1Html.replace(/<input type='file' size=50 name='txtBrowse'>/,fixhtml);
}
merge(config.messages,{selectFile:'Please enter or select a file'}); // ready for I18N translation
window.browseForFilename=function(target,mustExist) { // note: both params are optional
var msg=config.messages.selectFile;
if (target && target.title) msg=target.title; // use target field tooltip (if any) as dialog prompt text
// get local path for current document
var path=getLocalPath(document.location.href);
var p=path.lastIndexOf('/'); if (p==-1) p=path.lastIndexOf('\\'); // Unix or Windows
if (p!=-1) path=path.substr(0,p+1); // remove filename, leave trailing slash
var file=''
var result=window.askForFilename(msg,path,file,mustExist); // requires #604
if (target && result.length) // set target field and trigger handling
{ target.value=result; target.onchange(); }
return result;
}
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!604 cross-platform askForFilename()
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/604 - OPEN
invokes a system-native secure 'file-chooser' dialog box to provide TiddlyWiki with access to a complete path+filename so that TW functions properly locate user-selected local files.
***/
//{{{
window.askForFilename=function(msg,path,file,mustExist) {
var r = window.mozAskForFilename(msg,path,file,mustExist);
if(r===null || r===false)
r = window.ieAskForFilename(msg,path,file,mustExist);
if(r===null || r===false)
r = window.javaAskForFilename(msg,path,file,mustExist);
if(r===null || r===false)
r = prompt(msg,path+file);
return r||'';
}
window.mozAskForFilename=function(msg,path,file,mustExist) {
if(!window.Components) return false;
try {
netscape.security.PrivilegeManager.enablePrivilege('UniversalXPConnect');
var nsIFilePicker = window.Components.interfaces.nsIFilePicker;
var picker = Components.classes['@mozilla.org/filepicker;1'].createInstance(nsIFilePicker);
picker.init(window, msg, mustExist?nsIFilePicker.modeOpen:nsIFilePicker.modeSave);
var thispath = Components.classes['@mozilla.org/file/local;1'].createInstance(Components.interfaces.nsILocalFile);
thispath.initWithPath(path);
picker.displayDirectory=thispath;
picker.defaultExtension='html';
picker.defaultString=file;
picker.appendFilters(nsIFilePicker.filterAll|nsIFilePicker.filterText|nsIFilePicker.filterHTML);
if (picker.show()!=nsIFilePicker.returnCancel)
var result=picker.file.persistentDescriptor;
}
catch(ex) { displayMessage(ex.toString()); }
return result;
}
window.ieAskForFilename=function(msg,path,file,mustExist) {
if(!config.browser.isIE) return false;
try {
var s = new ActiveXObject('UserAccounts.CommonDialog');
s.Filter='All files|*.*|Text files|*.txt|HTML files|*.htm;*.html|';
s.FilterIndex=3; // default to HTML files;
s.InitialDir=path;
s.FileName=file;
return s.showOpen()?s.FileName:'';
}
catch(ex) { displayMessage(ex.toString()); }
return result;
}
window.javaAskForFilename=function(msg,path,file,mustExist) {
if(!document.applets['TiddlySaver']) return false;
// TBD: implement java-based askFile(...) function
try { return document.applets['TiddlySaver'].askFile(msg,path,file,mustExist); }
catch(ex) { displayMessage(ex.toString()); }
}
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!676 #story:... paramifier
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/676 - OPEN
extends #story:... to scan the specified 'story' tiddler content for embedded links, rather than simply parsing the content as a space-separated bracketed list. This allows links from ''any'' tiddler to be used as a story, regardless of other wiki-syntax contained in that tiddler. If specified tiddler is a shadow, fallback to using parseParams() to extract the list of links.
***/
//{{{
config.paramifiers.story = {
onstart: function(v) {
var t=store.getTiddler(v); if (t) t.changed();
var list=t?t.links:store.getTiddlerText(v,'').parseParams('open',null,false);
story.displayTiddlers(null,list);
}
};
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!664 Loose links (case-folded/space-folded wiki words)
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/664 - OPEN
This tweak matches non-WikiWord variations of mixed-case and/or added/omitted spaces within double-bracketed text with titles of //existing// tiddlers, using a 'loose' (case-folded/space-folded) comparison. This allows text that occurs in normal prose to be more easily linked to tiddler titles by using double-brackets without the full 'pretty link' syntax. For example:
{{{
[[CoreTweaks]], [[coreTweaks]], [[core tweaks]],
[[CORE TWEAKS]], [[CoRe TwEaKs]], [[coreTWEAKS]]
}}}
>[[CoreTweaks]], [[coreTweaks]], [[core tweaks]],
>[[CORE TWEAKS]], [[CoRe TwEaKs]], [[coreTWEAKS]]
Configuration:
><<option chkLooseLinks>> Allow case-folded and/or space-folded text to link to existing tiddler titles
>"""<<option chkLooseLinks>>"""
***/
//{{{
if (!config.options.chkLooseLinks)
config.options.chkLooseLinks=false; // default to standard behavior
window.caseFold_createTiddlyLink = window.createTiddlyLink;
window.createTiddlyLink = function(place,title,includeText,className) {
var btn=window.caseFold_createTiddlyLink.apply(this,arguments); // create core link
if (!config.options.chkLooseLinks) return btn;
if (store.getTiddlerText(title)) return btn; // matching tiddler (or shadow) exists
var target=title.toLowerCase().replace(/\s/g,'');
var tids=store.getTiddlers('title');
for (var t=0; t<tids.length; t++) {
if (tids[t].title.toLowerCase().replace(/\s/g,'')==target) {
var i=getTiddlyLinkInfo(tids[t].title,className);
btn.setAttribute('tiddlyLink',tids[t].title);
btn.title=i.subTitle;
btn.className=i.classes;
break;
}
}
return btn;
}
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!657 wrap tabs onto multiple lines
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/657 - OPEN
This tweak inserts an extra space element following each tab, allowing them to wrap onto multiple lines if needed.
***/
//{{{
config.macros.tabs.handler = function(place,macroName,params)
{
var cookie = params[0];
var numTabs = (params.length-1)/3;
var wrapper = createTiddlyElement(null,'div',null,'tabsetWrapper ' + cookie);
var tabset = createTiddlyElement(wrapper,'div',null,'tabset');
tabset.setAttribute('cookie',cookie);
var validTab = false;
for(var t=0; t<numTabs; t++) {
var label = params[t*3+1];
var prompt = params[t*3+2];
var content = params[t*3+3];
var tab = createTiddlyButton(tabset,label,prompt,this.onClickTab,'tab tabUnselected');
createTiddlyElement(tab,'span',null,null,' ',{style:'font-size:0pt;line-height:0px'}); // ELS
tab.setAttribute('tab',label);
tab.setAttribute('content',content);
tab.title = prompt;
if(config.options[cookie] == label)
validTab = true;
}
if(!validTab)
config.options[cookie] = params[1];
place.appendChild(wrapper);
this.switchTab(tabset,config.options[cookie]);
};
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!637 TiddlyLink tooltip - custom formatting
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/637 - OPEN
This tweak modifies the tooltip format that appears when you mouseover a link to a tiddler. It adds an option to control the date format, as well as displaying the size of the tiddler (in bytes)
Tiddler link tooltip format:
{{stretch{<<option txtTiddlerLinkTootip>>}}}
^^where: %0=title, %1=username, %2=modification date, %3=size in bytes, %4=description slice^^
Tiddler link tooltip date format:
{{stretch{<<option txtTiddlerLinkTooltipDate>>}}}
***/
//{{{
config.messages.tiddlerLinkTooltip='%0 - %1, %2 (%3 bytes) - %4';
config.messages.tiddlerLinkTooltipDate='DDD, MMM DDth YYYY 0hh12:0mm AM';
config.options.txtTiddlerLinkTootip=
config.options.txtTiddlerLinkTootip||config.messages.tiddlerLinkTooltip;
config.options.txtTiddlerLinkTooltipDate=
config.options.txtTiddlerLinkTooltipDate||config.messages.tiddlerLinkTooltipDate;
Tiddler.prototype.getSubtitle = function() {
var modifier = this.modifier;
if(!modifier) modifier = config.messages.subtitleUnknown;
var modified = this.modified;
if(modified) modified = modified.formatString(config.options.txtTiddlerLinkTooltipDate);
else modified = config.messages.subtitleUnknown;
var descr=store.getTiddlerSlice(this.title,'Description')||'';
return config.options.txtTiddlerLinkTootip.format([this.title,modifier,modified,this.text.length,descr]);
};
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!628 hide 'no such macro' errors
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/628 - OPEN
When invoking a macro that is not defined, this tweak prevents the display of the 'error in macro... no such macro' message. This is useful when rendering tiddler content or templates that reference macros that are defined by //optional// plugins that have not been installed in the current document.
<<option chkHideMissingMacros>> hide 'no such macro' error messages
***/
//{{{
if (config.options.chkHideMissingMacros===undefined)
config.options.chkHideMissingMacros=false;
window.coreTweaks_missingMacro_invokeMacro = window.invokeMacro;
window.invokeMacro = function(place,macro,params,wikifier,tiddler) {
if (!config.macros[macro] || !config.macros[macro].handler)
if (config.options.chkHideMissingMacros) return;
window.coreTweaks_missingMacro_invokeMacro.apply(this,arguments);
}
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!609/610 toolbars - separators and transclusion
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/609 - OPEN (separators)
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/610 - OPEN (wikify tiddler/slice/section content)
These tweaks extend the """<<toolbar>>""" macro to permit use of '|' as separators, as well as recognizing references to tiddlernames, slices, or sections and rendering their content inline within the toolbar
''see [[ToolbarCommands]] for examples of how these features can be used''
***/
//{{{
merge(config.macros.toolbar,{
separator: '|'
});
config.macros.toolbar.handler = function(place,macroName,params,wikifier,paramString,tiddler)
{
for(var t=0; t<params.length; t++) {
var c = params[t];
switch(c) {
case '|': // ELS - SEPARATOR
case '!': // ELS - SEPARATOR (alternative for use in tiddler slices)
createTiddlyText(place,this.separator); // ELS
break; // ELS
case '>':
var btn = createTiddlyButton(place,this.moreLabel,this.morePrompt,config.macros.toolbar.onClickMore);
addClass(btn,'moreCommand');
var e = createTiddlyElement(place,'span',null,'moreCommand');
e.style.display = 'none';
place = e;
break;
default:
var theClass = '';
switch(c.substr(0,1)) {
case '+':
theClass = 'defaultCommand';
c = c.substr(1);
break;
case '-':
theClass = 'cancelCommand';
c = c.substr(1);
break;
}
if(c in config.commands)
this.createCommand(place,c,tiddler,theClass);
else { // ELS - WIKIFY TIDDLER/SLICE/SECTION
if (c.substr(0,1)=='~') c=c.substr(1); // ignore leading ~
var txt=store.getTiddlerText(c);
if (txt) {
txt=txt.replace(/^\n*/,'').replace(/\n*$/,''); // trim any leading/trailing newlines
txt=txt.replace(/^\{\{\{\n/,'').replace(/\n\}\}\}$/,''); // trim PRE format wrapper if any
wikify(txt,createTiddlyElement(place,'span'),null,tiddler);
}
} // ELS - end WIKIFY CONTENT
break;
}
}
};
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!608 toolbar - more/less toggle
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/608 - OPEN
This tweak extends the """<<toolbar>>""" macro to make the '>' (more) a //toggle// between more/less with the additional toolbar commands displayed on a separate line.
***/
//{{{
merge(config.macros.toolbar,{
moreLabel: 'more',
morePrompt: 'Show additional commands',
lessLabel: 'less',
lessPrompt: 'Hide additional commands'
});
config.macros.toolbar.onClickMore = function(ev)
{
var e = this.nextSibling;
var showing=e.style.display=='block';
e.style.display = showing?'none':'block';
this.innerHTML=showing?config.macros.toolbar.moreLabel:config.macros.toolbar.lessLabel;
this.title=showing?config.macros.toolbar.morePrompt:config.macros.toolbar.lessPrompt;
return false;
};
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!607 add HREF link on permaview command
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/607 - OPEN
This tweak automatically sets the HREF for the 'permaview' sidebar command link so you can use the 'right click' context menu for faster, easier bookmarking. Note that this does ''not'' automatically set the permaview in the browser's current location URL... it just sets the HREF on the command link. You still have to click the link to apply the permaview.
***/
//{{{
config.macros.permaview.handler = function(place)
{
var btn=createTiddlyButton(place,this.label,this.prompt,this.onClick);
addEvent(btn,'mouseover',this.setHREF);
addEvent(btn,'focus',this.setHREF);
};
config.macros.permaview.setHREF = function(event){
var links = [];
story.forEachTiddler(function(title,element) {
links.push(String.encodeTiddlyLink(title));
});
var newURL=document.location.href;
var hashPos=newURL.indexOf('#');
if (hashPos!=-1) newURL=newURL.substr(0,hashPos);
this.href=newURL+'#'+encodeURIComponent(links.join(' '));
}
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!529 IE fixup - case-sensitive element lookup of tiddler elements
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/529 - OPEN
This tweak hijacks the standard browser function, document.getElementById(), to work-around the case-INsensitivity error in Internet Explorer (all versions up to and including IE7) //''Note: This tweak is only applied when using IE, and only for lookups of rendered tiddler elements within the containing 'tiddlerDisplay' element.''//
***/
//{{{
if (config.browser.isIE) {
document.coreTweaks_coreGetElementById=document.getElementById;
document.getElementById=function(id) {
var e=document.coreTweaks_coreGetElementById(id);
if (!e || !e.parentNode || e.parentNode.id!='tiddlerDisplay') return e;
for (var i=0; i<e.parentNode.childNodes.length; i++)
if (id==e.parentNode.childNodes[i].id) return e.parentNode.childNodes[i];
return null;
};
}
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!471 'creator' field for new tiddlers
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/471 - OPEN
This tweak HIJACKS the core's saveTiddler() function to automatically add a 'creator' field to a tiddler when it is FIRST created. You can use """<<view creator>>""" (or """<<view creator wikified>>""" if you prefer) to show this value embedded directly within the tiddler content, or {{{<span macro="view creator"></span>}}} in the ViewTemplate and/or EditTemplate to display the creator value in each tiddler.
***/
//{{{
// hijack saveTiddler()
TiddlyWiki.prototype.CoreTweaks_creatorSaveTiddler=TiddlyWiki.prototype.saveTiddler;
TiddlyWiki.prototype.saveTiddler=function(title,newTitle,newBody,modifier,modified,tags,fields)
{
var existing=store.tiddlerExists(title);
var tiddler=this.CoreTweaks_creatorSaveTiddler.apply(this,arguments);
if (!existing) store.setValue(title,'creator',config.options.txtUserName);
return tiddler;
}
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!458 add permalink-like HREFs on internal TiddlyLinks
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/458 - CLOSED: WON'T FIX
This tweak assigns a permalink-like HREF to internal Tiddler links (which normally do not have any HREF defined). This permits the link's context menu (right-click) to include 'open link in another window/tab' command. Based on a request from Dustin Spicuzza.
***/
//{{{
window.coreTweaks_createTiddlyLink=window.createTiddlyLink;
window.createTiddlyLink=function(place,title,includeText,theClass,isStatic,linkedFromTiddler,noToggle)
{
// create the core button, then add the HREF (to internal links only)
var link=window.coreTweaks_createTiddlyLink.apply(this,arguments);
if (!isStatic)
link.href=document.location.href.split('#')[0]+'#'+encodeURIComponent(String.encodeTiddlyLink(title));
return link;
}
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!444 'tiddler' and 'place' - global variables for use in computed macro parameters
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/444 - OPEN
When invoking a macro, this tweak makes the current containing tiddler object and DOM rendering location available as global variables (window.tiddler and window.place, respectively). These globals can then be used within //computed macro parameters// to retrieve tiddler-relative and/or DOM-relative values or perform tiddler-specific side-effect functionality.
***/
//{{{
window.coreTweaks_invokeMacro = window.invokeMacro;
window.invokeMacro = function(place,macro,params,wikifier,tiddler) {
var here=story.findContainingTiddler(place);
window.tiddler=here?store.getTiddler(here.getAttribute('tiddler')):tiddler;
window.place=place;
window.coreTweaks_invokeMacro.apply(this,arguments);
}
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!067 Missing links - ignore non-wiki syntax source content
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/67 - OPEN
The missing links list includes items contained within quoted text (i.e., content that will not render as wiki-syntax, and so CANNOT create any tiddler links, even if the quoted text matches valid link syntax). This tweak removes content contained between certain delimiters before scanning tiddler source for possible links.
Delimiters include:
{{{
/%...%/
{{{...}}}
"""..."""
<nowiki>...</nowiki>
<html>...</html>
<script>...</script>
}}}
***/
//{{{
Tiddler.prototype.coreTweaks_changed = Tiddler.prototype.changed;
Tiddler.prototype.changed = function()
{
var savedtext=this.text;
// remove 'quoted' text before scanning tiddler source
this.text=this.text.replace(/\/%((?:.|\n)*?)%\//g,''); // /%...%/
this.text=this.text.replace(/\{{3}((?:.|\n)*?)\}{3}/g,''); // {{{...}}}
this.text=this.text.replace(/"{3}((?:.|\n)*?)"{3}/g,''); // """..."""
this.text=this.text.replace(/\<nowiki\>((?:.|\n)*?)\<\/nowiki\>/g,''); // <nowiki>...</nowiki>
this.text=this.text.replace(/\<html\>((?:.|\n)*?)\<\/html\>/g,''); // <html>...</html>
this.text=this.text.replace(/\<script((?:.|\n)*?)\<\/script\>/g,''); // <script>...</script>
this.coreTweaks_changed.apply(this,arguments);
// restore quoted text to tiddler source
this.text=savedtext;
};
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!(no ticket) """<<matchTags popup sort:-created>>""" macro - sortby parameter
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/TBD - TBD
This tweak adds an optional 'sortby' parameter to the """<<matchTags popup sort:-created tagname label tip sortby>>""" macro, as well as the """<<allTags excludeTag sortby>>""" macro used to generate the sidebar contents 'tags' list. Specify the field on which the contents of each tag popup is to be sorted, with a '+' or '-' prefix to indicate ascending/descending order, respectively.
Example: """<<matchTags popup sort:-created systemConfig "plugins" "list plugins by date, most recent first" "-modified">>"""
Try it: <<matchTags popup sort:-created systemConfig "plugins" "list plugins by date, most recent first" "-modified">>
Similarly, to change the sort order used by the popups from all tags shown in the sidebar contents, edit the [[TagTags]] shadow tiddler and enter: """<<allTags excludeLists -modified>>"""
***/
//{{{
// hijack tag handler() to add 'sortby' attribute to tag button
config.macros.tag.CoreTweaksSortTags_handler=config.macros.tag.handler;
config.macros.tag.handler = function(place,macroName,params)
{
this.CoreTweaksSortTags_handler.apply(this,arguments);
var btn=place.lastChild;
if (params[3]) btn.setAttribute('sortby',params[3]);
}
// tweak <<allTags>> macro to add 'sortby' attribute to each tag button
var fn=config.macros.allTags.handler;
var lines=fn.toString().split('\n');
lines.splice(lines.length-2,0,['if(params[1]) btn.setAttribute("sortby",params[1]);']);
fn=lines.join('\n');
eval('config.macros.allTags.handler='+fn);
// tweak tag event handler to:
// * use tag filtering (only if '[' is present in tag value)
// * use optional 'sortby' attribute
// * save 'sortby' value in 'open all' command (for displaying tiddlers in sorted order)
var fn=onClickTag;
fn=fn.toString().replace(
/store.getTaggedTiddlers\(tag\);/g,
'(tag.indexOf("[")==-1?store.getTaggedTiddlers(tag):store.filterTiddlers(tag));'
+'var sortby=this.getAttribute("sortby");'
+'if(sortby&&sortby.length) store.sortTiddlers(tagged,sortby);'
);
fn=fn.toString().replace(
/openAll.setAttribute\("tag",\s*tag\);/g,
'openAll.setAttribute("tag",tag); openAll.setAttribute("sortby",sortby);'
);
eval(fn);
// tweak 'open all' event handler to use 'sortby' attribute
var fn=onClickTagOpenAll;
fn=fn.toString().replace(
/story.displayTiddlers\(this,\s*tiddlers\);/g,
'var sortby=this.getAttribute("sortby");'
+'if(sortby&&sortby.length) store.sortTiddlers(tiddlers,sortby);'
+'story.displayTiddlers(this,tiddlers);'
);
eval(fn);
//}}}
// // }}}}}}// // {{block{
/***
!!!(no ticket) backslash-quoting for embedding newlines in 'line-mode' formats
***/
// // {{groupbox small{
/***
http://trac.tiddlywiki.org/ticket/TBD - TBD
This tweak pre-processes source content to convert 'double-backslash-newline' into {{{<br>}}} before wikify(), so that literal newlines can be embedded in line-mode wiki syntax (e.g., tables, bullets, etc.)
***/
//{{{
window.coreWikify = wikify;
window.wikify = function(source,output,highlightRegExp,tiddler)
{
if (source) arguments[0]=source.replace(/\\\\\n/mg,'<br>');
coreWikify.apply(this,arguments);
}
//}}}
// // }}}}}}
// // <<foldHeadings>>
{{twocolumns{
U.S Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the largest ever awards of the Department's supercomputing time to 57 innovative research projects - ''using computer simulations to perform virtual experiments that in most cases would be impossible or impractical in the natural world''. Utilizing two world-leading supercomputers with a computational capacity roughly equal to 135,000 quad-core laptops, the research could, for example, help speed the development of more efficient solar cells, improvements in biofuel production, or more effective medications to help slow the progression of Parkinson's disease. Specifically, the Department is awarding time on two of the world's fastest and most powerful supercomputers -- the Cray XT5 ("Jaguar") at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the IBM Blue Gene/P ("Intrepid") at Argonne National Laboratory. Jaguar's computational capacity is roughly equivalent to 109,000 laptops all working together to solve the same problem. Intrepid is roughly equivalent to 26,000 laptops. Awarded under the Department's Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program, many of the new and continuing INCITE projects ''aim to further renewable energy solutions and understand of the environmental impacts of energy use''.
One award for improving battery technology is profiled below in brief summary.
''Understanding the Ultimate Battery Chemistry: Rechargeable Lithium/Air''
Principal Investigator: Jack Wells, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Utilizing both the Jaguar and Intrepid supercomputers, the research consortium will study and demonstrate a working prototype of a rechargeable Lithium/Air battery. The Lithium/Air battery can potentially store ten times the energy of a Lithium/Ion battery of the same weight. Realizing this enormous potential is a very challenging scientific problem. ''If successful, this will enable rechargeable batteries that compete directly with gasoline, making fully electric vehicles practical and widespread.''
Read the [[full listing of awards|http://www.energy.gov/news/documents/2011_INCITE_Fact_Sheets.pdf]] (PDF - 746 kb), with detailed technical descriptions [among others: Petascale Modeling of Nano-electronic Devices, Probing the Non-Scalable Nano Regime in Catalytic Nanoparticles with Electronic Structure Calculations, Electronic Structure Calculations for Nanostructures]. Source: [[Could 135,000 Laptops Help Solve the Energy Challenge?|http://www.energy.gov/news/9834.htm]]. Department of Energy Supercomputers to Pursue Breakthroughs in Biofuels, Nuclear Power, Medicine, Climate Change and Fundamental Research
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created energy>><<matchTags popup sort:-created climate>>
''Share this content on Twitter:'' <html><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="nanowiki">Tweet</a></html><script src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" show></script>
<html><iframe class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="100%" height="268" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5eWkTqVVRgA" frameborder="0"></iframe></html>
}}}
<data>{"video_id":"5eWkTqVVRgA"}</data>
Talk ''"Nanoscience at Work: Creating Energy from Sunlight" by [[Paul Alivisatos|http://www.cchem.berkeley.edu/pagrp/paulbio.html]]'', co-leader of Berkeley Lab's [[Helios Project|http://pbd.lbl.gov/energy/research.html#helios]]. Helios Project will use nanotechnology in the efficient capture of sunlight and its conversion to electricity to drive economical [[fuel|energy]] production processes. Alivisatos is an authority on artificial nanostructure synthesis and collaborated with [[Louis E. Brus|The 2008 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience]] in the invention of the [[quantum dot|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_dot]] technology.
<html><object width="620" height="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Jhl07psn9QA&hl=es&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Jhl07psn9QA&hl=es&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="620" height="500"></embed></object></html>
<data>{"video_id":"Jhl07psn9QA"}</data>
{{twocolumns{
Scientists have succeeded in creating light from vacuum – observing an effect first predicted over 40 years ago. In an innovative experiment, the scientists have managed to capture some of the photons that are constantly appearing and disappearing in the vacuum.
The experiment is based on one of the most counterintuitive, yet, one of the most important principles in quantum mechanics: that vacuum is by no means empty nothingness. In fact, the vacuum is full of various particles that are continuously fluctuating in and out of existence. They appear, exist for a brief moment and then disappear again. Since their existence is so fleeting, they are usually referred to as virtual particles.
Chalmers scientist, Christopher Wilson and his co-workers have succeeded in getting photons to leave their virtual state and become real photons, i.e. measurable light. The physicist Moore predicted way back in 1970 that this should happen if the virtual photons are allowed to bounce off a mirror that is moving at a speed that is almost as high as the speed of light. The phenomenon, known as ''the dynamical [[Casimir effect|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casimir_effect]], has now been observed for the first time in a brilliant experiment conducted by the Chalmers scientists''.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/light_from_vacuum.jpg" title="n the Chalmers scientists’ experiments, virtual photons bounce off a “mirror” that vibrates at a speed that is almost as high as the speed of light. The round mirror in the picture is a symbol, and under that is the quantum electronic component (referred to as a SQUID), which acts as a mirror. This makes real photons appear (in pairs) in vacuum. Illustration: Philip Krantz, Chalmers" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>“Since it’s not possible to get a mirror to move fast enough, we’ve developed another method for achieving the same effect,” explains Per Delsing, Professor of Experimental Physics at Chalmers. “Instead of varying the physical distance to a mirror, we've varied the electrical distance to an electrical short circuit that acts as a mirror for microwaves.”
''The main value of the experiment is that it increases our understanding of basic physical concepts, such as vacuum fluctuations'' – the constant appearance and disappearance of virtual particles in vacuum. It is believed that vacuum fluctuations may have a connection with “dark energy” which drives the accelerated expansion of the universe. The discovery of this acceleration was recognised this year with the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Physics. Source: From [[Chalmers scientists create light from vacuum|http://www.chalmers.se/en/news/Pages/Chalmers-scientists-create-light-from-vacuum.aspx]]. This work was detailed in the paper [[“Observation of the dynamical Casimir effect in a superconducting circuit”|http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v479/n7373/full/nature10561.html]].
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoscience>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomechanics>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanophotonics>>
<<tiddler Twitter>>
}}}
{{twocolumns{
<html>
<img src="http://pubs.acs.org/cen/_img/88/i27/8827NOTWp5_group.jpg" alt="MOF-210 and MOF-200 images" title="Made from a combination of zinc clusters and organic linkers, these materials set new records for surface area and gas uptake. MOF-210 (left): C is black, O is red, and Zn is blue. MOF-200 (right): C is purple, O is yellow, and Zn is not visible. Credit: Hiroyasu Furukawa/UCLA" width="95%"/>
</html>
Chemists from UCLA and South Korea ''report the "ultimate porosity of a nano-material," achieving world records for both porosity and carbon dioxide storage capacity'' in an important class of materials known as MOFs, or metal–organic frameworks.
MOFs, sometimes described as crystal sponges, have pores — openings on the nanoscale which can store gases that are usually difficult to store and transport. Porosity is crucial for compacting large amounts of gases into small volumes and is an essential property for capturing carbon dioxide.
The research could lead to cleaner energy and the ability to capture heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions before they reach the atmosphere and contribute to global warming, rising sea levels and the increased acidity of oceans.
"We are reporting the ultimate porosity of a nano-material; we believe this to be the upper limit or very near the upper limit for porosity in materials," said the paper's senior author, [[Omar Yaghi|http://www.cnsi.ucla.edu/institution/personnel?personnel_id=148021]], a UCLA professor of chemistry and biochemistry and a member of both the [[California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI)|http://www.cnsi.ucla.edu/]] at UCLA and the UCLA–Department of Energy Institute of Genomics and Proteomics.
With lead author Hiroyasu (Hiro) Furukawa, co-author Jaheon Kim and colleagues, Yaghi reports on two materials that not only break the porosity record, but do so by an extremely large margin. The materials are MOF-200, made at UCLA by Furukawa, a postdoctoral scholar in Yaghi's laboratory, and MOF-210, made at Seoul's Soongsil University in South Korea by Kim, a chemistry professor and former graduate student in Yaghi's laboratory, and colleagues.
''Invented by Yaghi the early 1990s, [[MOFs|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal-organic_framework]] are like scaffolds made of linked rods, with nanoscale pores that are the right size to trap carbon dioxide.'' The components of MOFs can be changed nearly at will, and Yaghi's laboratory has made several hundred MOFs, with a variety of properties and structures.
Since 1999, MOFs have held the record for having the highest porosity of any material. MOFs can be made from low-cost ingredients, such as zinc oxide, a common ingredient in sunscreen, and terephthalate, which is found in plastic soda bottles.''"If I take a gram of MOF-200 and unravel it, it will cover many football fields'', and that is the space you have for gases to assemble," Yaghi said. "It's like magic. Forty tons of MOFs is equal to the entire surface area of California."
Yaghi, Furukawa and Kim also report a record for carbon dioxide storage capacity. ''MOF-200 and MOF-210 take up the highest amount of hydrogen, methane and carbon dioxide, by weight, ever achieved''. Source: ''[[World records by UCLA chemists, Korean colleagues enhance ability to capture CO2|http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/world-records-by-ucla-chemists-163439.aspx]]'' by Stuart Wolpert. This work is detailed in the paper [[Ultra-High Porosity in Metal-Organic Frameworks|http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/sci;science.1192160v1?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Yaghi&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=date&resourcetype=HWCIT]] by Hiroyasu Furukawa, Nakeun Ko, Yong Bok Go, Naoki Aratani, Sang Beom Choi, Eunwoo Choi, A. Özgür Yazaydin, <html><a href="http://zeolites.cqe.northwestern.edu/" title="We are researching how nanoporous materials can (help to) save the world. Many of the projects in our group are aimed at solving environmental problems">Randall Q. Snurr</a></html>, Michael O’Keeffe, Jaheon Kim, Omar M. Yaghi
Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomaterial>><<matchTags popup sort:-created climate>><<matchTags popup sort:-created energy>>
}}}
{{{
// Specify your account number here!
_uacct = "UA-4519803-1";
// CustomTracker as a namespace for tracking related functions
var CustomTracker = {
// store a reference to the original displayTiddler function
displayTiddler: story.displayTiddler
};
CustomTracker.track = function() {
if (readOnly) {
urchinTracker.apply(this, arguments);
}
};
CustomTracker.trackAndDisplayTiddler = function(srcElement, titles) {
// log with the tracker
CustomTracker.track('/' + titles);
// call the original displayTiddler function
CustomTracker.displayTiddler.apply(this,arguments);
};
// replace the default displayTiddler function with a tracking version
story.displayTiddler = CustomTracker.trackAndDisplayTiddler;
// Call once for the initial page load
CustomTracker.track();
}}}
DNA origami is folding up DNA molecules, creating complex structures from a linear molecule very much like the classic crane is made of a simple flat sheet of paper.
The ability of single-stranded DNA strands to hybridize with a strand having complementary sequence can be exploited to generate more and more complex structures: DNA folds into a stiff three-dimensional double helix, and by using synthetic DNA sequences, the length and position of double strands can be "programmed", resulting in arbitrarily designed structures yieling to DNA tiles and functional "DNA machines", a truly bottom-up synthesis of objects of severals tens to 100 nm in size.
In 2003, [[Paul WK Rothemund|http://www.dna.caltech.edu/~pwkr/]] came up with the new strategy of using a very long strand of DNA with known sequence (the "scaffold strand"), which is then folded together by means of many shorter "staple strands" that hybridize according to their sequence at positions of the template strand they were designed to. As template strand, viral DNA from bacteriophage M13 was used, natural single-stranded DNA of which the sequence of its about 7000 bases is readily known. This approach allows for building large DNA structures in an economic way since only the rather short staple strands have to be made of synthetic (and therefore costly) DNA sequences.
Paul Rothemund sketches his strategy in a [[presentation available online|http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/paul_rothemund_details_dna_folding.html]], his original paper appeared 2006 in [[Nature|http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature04586]]. An animation of the assembly process in DNA origami can be found here: http://people.fas.harvard.edu/~sdouglas/080214stamp.mp4 .
Very recently a number of papers appeared using the same strategy, extending the scaffold-based DNA origami approach to truly 3-dimemsional structures. In one work, the scaffold was programmed by staple strands to form parallel double helices that were then rolled up to stiff bundles forming building blocks that were then interconnected to each other forming extended structures or cages, the building blocks reminding very much to those known from Lego or Tetris (http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl901165f).
In another work, a DNA origami was used to fold the scaffold first to a compact flat sheet, which is then in turn folded up to a hollow tetrahedron of about 54 nm edge length, entirely consisting of DNA (http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl901165f).
Another recent DNA object is a cubic box, again folded up from a flat sheet of scaffold + staple strands, with the remarkable feature of a controllable lid: Short single-stranded complementary sequences on both the lid and the bottom of the box can hybridize with each other, resulting in a box with closed lid. One of the two "lock strands" has a "sticky end", i.e. a part of its sequence not hybridized by the complementary sequence. Addition of a fully-complementary "key strand" displaces the original partner of the closed lock strands, resulting in opening of the box. This work (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature07971) combines both static DNA origami and the concept of "fuel strands" that has been used for the actuation of "DNA machines", functional units entirely based on DNA (for a review, see e.g. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2007.104). It is only a matter of time until these structures become more complex, e.g. by bringing in other functional objects such as nanoparticles, and may eventually yield to functional (opto-)electronic circuits for real-world applications.
Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created [[dna nanotechnology]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomaterial>><<matchTags popup sort:-created art>>
{{twocolumns{
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" title="Figure 1 a and b display schematics for 2D nanoforms with accompanying AFM images of the resulting structures. 1-c-e represent 3D structures of hemisphere, sphere and ellipsoid, respectively, while figure 1f shows a nanoflask, (each of the structures visualized with TEM imaging)" src="img/nanoforms.png" width="60%"/></a></html>Inspired by nature, researchers have started to use the self-assembling feature of DNA to design nanotubes and other objects that have useful electrical and mechanical properties.
As a member of the National Science Foundation’s Materials World Network, [[Hao Yan and his team|http://labs.biodesign.asu.edu/yan/]] at Arizona State University recently developed a new strategy to build nanostructures using DNA as a scaffold for assembly.
Source: [[National Science Foundation (NSF) News - DNA Origami Used to Create 3-D Nanostructures|http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=119245&org=NSF&from=news]]. Read the full story from the Biodesign Institute at the University of Arizona: [[New DNA nanoforms take shape|http://www.biodesign.asu.edu/news/new-dna-nanoforms-take-shape-]] by Richard Harth. This work is detailed in the paper [[DNA Origami with Complex Curvatures in Three-Dimensional Space|http://www.sciencemag.org/content/332/6027/342.abstract]] <<slider chkSldr [[DNA Origami with Complex Curvatures in Three-Dimensional Space]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created self-assembly>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[dna nanotechnology]]>>
''Share this content on Twitter:'' <html><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="nanowiki">Tweet</a></html><script src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" show></script>
<html><iframe class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="100%" height="268" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/22349631" frameborder="0"></iframe></html>
}}}
<br>Dongran Han, Suchetan Pal, Jeanette Nangreave, Zhengtao Deng, Yan Liu & Hao Yan. 2011. ''Science. Vol. 332 no. 6027 pp. 342-346 doi: 10.1126/science.1202998''
//We present a strategy to design and construct self-assembling DNA nanostructures that define intricate curved surfaces in three-dimensional (3D) space using the DNA origami folding technique. Double-helical DNA is bent to follow the rounded contours of the target object, and potential strand crossovers are subsequently identified. Concentric rings of DNA are used to generate in-plane curvature, constrained to 2D by rationally designed geometries and crossover networks. Out-of-plane curvature is introduced by adjusting the particular position and pattern of crossovers between adjacent DNA double helices, whose conformation often deviates from the natural, B-form twist density. A series of DNA nanostructures with high curvature—such as 2D arrangements of concentric rings and 3D spherical shells, ellipsoidal shells, and a nanoflask—were assembled.//
''Researchers give a major boost to nanorobotics: Rotaxane molecules made of genetic material''. There is fresh buzz in nanomechanics. Scientists at the University of Bonn have succeeded for the first time in making, out of DNA double stands, an interlocked molecule (rotaxane) with freely moveable components. This opens up exciting possibilities for nanorobotics and synthetic biology.
Chemists have long been tinkering with rotaxanes. The name, derived from the Greek, basically means "wheel axle" – and not without reason. For a rotaxane molecule consists essentially of an axle and a ring, or hoop, threaded over it. To prevent the hoop from slipping off the axle, bulky "stoppers" are placed at each end. These, in turn, consist of intertwined rings. The whole construction looks rather like a dumbbell with a hoop around its handle. All previous DNA rotaxanes are products of organic chemistry. They are also much smaller in size and therefore exhibit shorter margins of mechanical movement at the nanoscale. Moreover, the new DNA alternative can easily be equipped with additional functions, so that sophisticated mechanical systems can be quickly developed.
Building blocks of life as machine components
To build the new rotaxanes, the research team around Dr. Damian Ackermann and Prof. Michael Famulok from the [[Life & Medical Sciences (LIMES) Institute|http://www.limes-zentrum.uni-bonn.de/]] at the University of Bonn made use of a material that is normally known for constituting the building blocks of life itself: DNA. But the researchers are not primarily interested in DNA's function as a genetic carrier. Rather, their focus of interest lies in using the principles of base-pairing of DNA double-strands for constructing sophisticated architectures at the nanoscale. The double-helix forms a very stable scaffold. Moreover, a part of one strand can be removed at any chosen position to serve as a connecting point for other components of a nanomachine. " The specificity of individual strands makes DNA highly suitable. It offers us quite a lot of possibilities," explains Damian Ackermann. ''"DNA is like a Lego brick, It's the ideal material for nano-architecture,"'' adds Professor Famulok.
Wheels for the nanomachine
The Bonn-based biochemists have created a completely new kind of rotaxane. It forms a stable mechanical unit, with a freely moving inner hoop. A great deal can be done with this wheel. "We envisage quite a few things," says Professor Famulok. "Our initial aim is to construct systems in which movement can be controlled at the nano-level. The axle and wheels are now available, and we have some ideas for how to get the wheels turning." These nanoengines might then also be combined with other biological systems, such as proteins.
The researchers now realize that, with their DNA rotaxanes, they have laid the foundations for developing all sorts of different nano-mechanical systems based on mechanically interlocked double-stranded DNA. It remains open what will finally emerge from these efforts, but the important breakthrough has been made. "What matters is that we now have a set of novel components with which we can build things that were previously impossible," says Ackermann: "The boundaries of our imagination have, in a sense, been pushed a little further." Source: ''[[DNA construction kit for nanoengines|http://www3.uni-bonn.de/Press-releases/dna-construction-kit-for-nanoengines]]''. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[A double-stranded DNA rotaxane|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/pubmed/nnano.2010.65.html]]'' by Damian Ackermann , Thorsten L. Schmidt , Jeffrey S. Hannam , Chandra S. Purohit , Alexander Heckel & Michael Famulok
Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanodevice>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomachinery>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[dna nanotechnology]]>>
<br>Grigory Tikhomirov, Sjoerd Hoogland, P. E. Lee, Armin Fischer, Edward H. Sargent & Shana O. Kelley. 2011. ''Nature Nanotechnology doi:10.1038/nnano.2011.100''
//The electronic and optical properties of colloidal quantum dots, including the wavelengths of light that they can absorb and emit, depend on the size of the quantum dots. These properties have been exploited in a number of applications including optical detection, solar energy harvesting and biological research. Here, we report the self-assembly of quantum dot complexes using cadmium telluride nanocrystals capped with specific sequences of DNA. Quantum dots with between one and five DNA-based binding sites are synthesized and then used as building blocks to create a variety of rationally designed assemblies, including cross-shaped complexes containing three different types of dots. The structure of the complexes is confirmed with transmission electron microscopy, and photophysical studies are used to quantify energy transfer among the constituent components. Through changes in pH, the conformation of the complexes can also be reversibly switched, turning on and off the transfer of energy between the constituent quantum dots.//
{{twocolumns{
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" title="DaNa Knowledge Base Nanomaterials" src="img/logo_dana.jpg" width="40%"/></a></html>What exactly are nanoparticles? What is meant by “exposure”? When do toxicologists speak of a risk? This and many more questions are answered by the new internet knowledge base www.nanoobjects.info.
Many consumers miss reliable and understandable information on nanomaterials and nanotechnology. In an interdisciplinary approach of human toxicology, environmental toxicology, biology, physics, chemistry, and sociology ''the DaNa project team wishes to provide for more transparency and to process results of research on nanomaterials and their influence on humans and the environment in an understandable way.''
For this purpose, we process results of completed and current projects, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, analyse scientific publications, reports, and latest news on human and environmental toxicology, and wrap up the state of knowledge in the knowledge base. Journalists, NGOs, politicians or scientists will find links to further literature.
The social process of opinion formation about nanotechnology is just at the beginning. A broad public discussion about nanotechnology and risks, such as the discussion about the use of nuclear energy or the use of genetic engineering has not taken place yet. Experience from this areas of science suggest that new findings and their applications take account of the risk perception of the general public.
DaNa website ''includes links and information about [[nanotechnologies networks|http://www.nanoobjects.info/cms/lang/en/Dialog]]''. Source: From [[DaNa Knowledge Base Nanomaterials|http://www.nanoobjects.info/]]. Acquisition, evaluation and public-oriented presentation of society-relevant data and findings relating to nanomaterials.
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomaterial>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[national initiatives]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[public opinion]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created dissemination>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanotoxicology>>
''Share this content on Twitter:'' <html><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="nanowiki">Tweet</a></html><script src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" show></script>
}}}
/***
|''Name:''|DataTiddlerPlugin|
|''Version:''|1.0.6 (2006-08-26)|
|''Source:''|http://tiddlywiki.abego-software.de/#DataTiddlerPlugin|
|''Author:''|UdoBorkowski (ub [at] abego-software [dot] de)|
|''Licence:''|[[BSD open source license]]|
|''TiddlyWiki:''|1.2.38+, 2.0|
|''Browser:''|Firefox 1.0.4+; InternetExplorer 6.0|
!Description
Enhance your tiddlers with structured data (such as strings, booleans, numbers, or even arrays and compound objects) that can be easily accessed and modified through named fields (in JavaScript code).
Such tiddler data can be used in various applications. E.g. you may create tables that collect data from various tiddlers.
''//Example: "Table with all December Expenses"//''
{{{
<<forEachTiddler
where
'tiddler.tags.contains("expense") && tiddler.data("month") == "Dec"'
write
'"|[["+tiddler.title+"]]|"+tiddler.data("descr")+"| "+tiddler.data("amount")+"|\n"'
>>
}}}
//(This assumes that expenses are stored in tiddlers tagged with "expense".)//
<<forEachTiddler
where
'tiddler.tags.contains("expense") && tiddler.data("month") == "Dec"'
write
'"|[["+tiddler.title+"]]|"+tiddler.data("descr")+"| "+tiddler.data("amount")+"|\n"'
>>
For other examples see DataTiddlerExamples.
''Access and Modify Tiddler Data''
You can "attach" data to every tiddler by assigning a JavaScript value (such as a string, boolean, number, or even arrays and compound objects) to named fields.
These values can be accessed and modified through the following Tiddler methods:
|!Method|!Example|!Description|
|{{{data(field)}}}|{{{t.data("age")}}}|Returns the value of the given data field of the tiddler. When no such field is defined or its value is undefined {{{undefined}}} is returned.|
|{{{data(field,defaultValue)}}}|{{{t.data("isVIP",false)}}}|Returns the value of the given data field of the tiddler. When no such field is defined or its value is undefined the defaultValue is returned.|
|{{{data()}}}|{{{t.data()}}}|Returns the data object of the tiddler, with a property for every field. The properties of the returned data object may only be read and not be modified. To modify the data use DataTiddler.setData(...) or the corresponding Tiddler method.|
|{{{setData(field,value)}}}|{{{t.setData("age",42)}}}|Sets the value of the given data field of the tiddler to the value. When the value is {{{undefined}}} the field is removed.|
|{{{setData(field,value,defaultValue)}}}|{{{t.setData("isVIP",flag,false)}}}|Sets the value of the given data field of the tiddler to the value. When the value is equal to the defaultValue no value is set (and the field is removed).|
Alternatively you may use the following functions to access and modify the data. In this case the tiddler argument is either a tiddler or the name of a tiddler.
|!Method|!Description|
|{{{DataTiddler.getData(tiddler,field)}}}|Returns the value of the given data field of the tiddler. When no such field is defined or its value is undefined {{{undefined}}} is returned.|
|{{{DataTiddler.getData(tiddler,field,defaultValue)}}}|Returns the value of the given data field of the tiddler. When no such field is defined or its value is undefined the defaultValue is returned.|
|{{{DataTiddler.getDataObject(tiddler)}}}|Returns the data object of the tiddler, with a property for every field. The properties of the returned data object may only be read and not be modified. To modify the data use DataTiddler.setData(...) or the corresponding Tiddler method.|
|{{{DataTiddler.setData(tiddler,field,value)}}}|Sets the value of the given data field of the tiddler to the value. When the value is {{{undefined}}} the field is removed.|
|{{{DataTiddler.setData(tiddler,field,value,defaultValue)}}}|Sets the value of the given data field of the tiddler to the value. When the value is equal to the defaultValue no value is set (and the field is removed).|
//(For details on the various functions see the detailed comments in the source code.)//
''Data Representation in a Tiddler''
The data of a tiddler is stored as plain text in the tiddler's content/text, inside a "data" section that is framed by a {{{<data>...</data>}}} block. Inside the data section the information is stored in the [[JSON format|http://www.crockford.com/JSON/index.html]].
//''Data Section Example:''//
{{{
<data>{"isVIP":true,"user":"John Brown","age":34}</data>
}}}
The data section is not displayed when viewing the tiddler (see also "The showData Macro").
Beside the data section a tiddler may have all kind of other content.
Typically you will not access the data section text directly but use the methods given above. Nevertheless you may retrieve the text of the data section's content through the {{{DataTiddler.getDataText(tiddler)}}} function.
''Saving Changes''
The "setData" methods respect the "ForceMinorUpdate" and "AutoSave" configuration values. I.e. when "ForceMinorUpdate" is true changing a value using setData will not affect the "modifier" and "modified" attributes. With "AutoSave" set to true every setData will directly save the changes after a setData.
''Notifications''
No notifications are sent when a tiddler's data value is changed through the "setData" methods.
''Escape Data Section''
In case that you want to use the text {{{<data>}}} or {{{</data>}}} in a tiddler text you must prefix the text with a tilde ('~'). Otherwise it may be wrongly considered as the data section. The tiddler text {{{~<data>}}} is displayed as {{{<data>}}}.
''The showData Macro''
By default the data of a tiddler (that is stored in the {{{<data>...</data>}}} section of the tiddler) is not displayed. If you want to display this data you may used the {{{<<showData ...>>}}} macro:
''Syntax:''
|>|{{{<<}}}''showData '' [''JSON''] [//tiddlerName//] {{{>>}}}|
|''JSON''|By default the data is rendered as a table with a "Name" and "Value" column. When defining ''JSON'' the data is rendered in JSON format|
|//tiddlerName//|Defines the tiddler holding the data to be displayed. When no tiddler is given the tiddler containing the showData macro is used. When the tiddler name contains spaces you must quote the name (or use the {{{[[...]]}}} syntax.)|
|>|~~Syntax formatting: Keywords in ''bold'', optional parts in [...]. 'or' means that exactly one of the two alternatives must exist.~~|
!Revision history
* v1.0.6 (2006-08-26)
** Removed misleading comment
* v1.0.5 (2006-02-27) (Internal Release Only)
** Internal
*** Make "JSLint" conform
* v1.0.4 (2006-02-05)
** Bugfix: showData fails in TiddlyWiki 2.0
* v1.0.3 (2006-01-06)
** Support TiddlyWiki 2.0
* v1.0.2 (2005-12-22)
** Enhancements:
*** Handle texts "<data>" or "</data>" more robust when used in a tiddler text or as a field value.
*** Improved (JSON) error messages.
** Bugs fixed:
*** References are not updated when using the DataTiddler.
*** Changes to compound objects are not always saved.
*** "~</data>" is not rendered correctly (expected "</data>")
* v1.0.1 (2005-12-13)
** Features:
*** The showData macro supports an optional "tiddlername" argument to specify the tiddler containing the data to be displayed
** Bugs fixed:
*** A script immediately following a data section is deleted when the data is changed. (Thanks to GeoffS for reporting.)
* v1.0.0 (2005-12-12)
** initial version
!Code
***/
//{{{
//============================================================================
//============================================================================
// DataTiddlerPlugin
//============================================================================
//============================================================================
// Ensure that the DataTiddler Plugin is only installed once.
//
if (!version.extensions.DataTiddlerPlugin) {
version.extensions.DataTiddlerPlugin = {
major: 1, minor: 0, revision: 6,
date: new Date(2006, 7, 26),
type: 'plugin',
source: "http://tiddlywiki.abego-software.de/#DataTiddlerPlugin"
};
// For backward compatibility with v1.2.x
//
if (!window.story) window.story=window;
if (!TiddlyWiki.prototype.getTiddler) {
TiddlyWiki.prototype.getTiddler = function(title) {
var t = this.tiddlers[title];
return (t !== undefined && t instanceof Tiddler) ? t : null;
};
}
//============================================================================
// DataTiddler Class
//============================================================================
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Configurations and constants
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
function DataTiddler() {
}
DataTiddler = {
// Function to stringify a JavaScript value, producing the text for the data section content.
// (Must match the implementation of DataTiddler.parse.)
//
stringify : null,
// Function to parse the text for the data section content, producing a JavaScript value.
// (Must match the implementation of DataTiddler.stringify.)
//
parse : null
};
// Ensure access for IE
window.DataTiddler = DataTiddler;
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Data Accessor and Mutator
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Returns the value of the given data field of the tiddler.
// When no such field is defined or its value is undefined
// the defaultValue is returned.
//
// @param tiddler either a tiddler name or a tiddler
//
DataTiddler.getData = function(tiddler, field, defaultValue) {
var t = (typeof tiddler == "string") ? store.getTiddler(tiddler) : tiddler;
if (!(t instanceof Tiddler)) {
throw "Tiddler expected. Got "+tiddler;
}
return DataTiddler.getTiddlerDataValue(t, field, defaultValue);
};
// Sets the value of the given data field of the tiddler to
// the value. When the value is equal to the defaultValue
// no value is set (and the field is removed)
//
// Changing data of a tiddler will not trigger notifications.
//
// @param tiddler either a tiddler name or a tiddler
//
DataTiddler.setData = function(tiddler, field, value, defaultValue) {
var t = (typeof tiddler == "string") ? store.getTiddler(tiddler) : tiddler;
if (!(t instanceof Tiddler)) {
throw "Tiddler expected. Got "+tiddler+ "("+t+")";
}
DataTiddler.setTiddlerDataValue(t, field, value, defaultValue);
};
// Returns the data object of the tiddler, with a property for every field.
//
// The properties of the returned data object may only be read and
// not be modified. To modify the data use DataTiddler.setData(...)
// or the corresponding Tiddler method.
//
// If no data section is defined a new (empty) object is returned.
//
// @param tiddler either a tiddler name or a Tiddler
//
DataTiddler.getDataObject = function(tiddler) {
var t = (typeof tiddler == "string") ? store.getTiddler(tiddler) : tiddler;
if (!(t instanceof Tiddler)) {
throw "Tiddler expected. Got "+tiddler;
}
return DataTiddler.getTiddlerDataObject(t);
};
// Returns the text of the content of the data section of the tiddler.
//
// When no data section is defined for the tiddler null is returned
//
// @param tiddler either a tiddler name or a Tiddler
// @return [may be null]
//
DataTiddler.getDataText = function(tiddler) {
var t = (typeof tiddler == "string") ? store.getTiddler(tiddler) : tiddler;
if (!(t instanceof Tiddler)) {
throw "Tiddler expected. Got "+tiddler;
}
return DataTiddler.readDataSectionText(t);
};
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Internal helper methods (must not be used by code from outside this plugin)
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Internal.
//
// The original JSONError is not very user friendly,
// especially it does not define a toString() method
// Therefore we extend it here.
//
DataTiddler.extendJSONError = function(ex) {
if (ex.name == 'JSONError') {
ex.toString = function() {
return ex.name + ": "+ex.message+" ("+ex.text+")";
};
}
return ex;
};
// Internal.
//
// @param t a Tiddler
//
DataTiddler.getTiddlerDataObject = function(t) {
if (t.dataObject === undefined) {
var data = DataTiddler.readData(t);
t.dataObject = (data) ? data : {};
}
return t.dataObject;
};
// Internal.
//
// @param tiddler a Tiddler
//
DataTiddler.getTiddlerDataValue = function(tiddler, field, defaultValue) {
var value = DataTiddler.getTiddlerDataObject(tiddler)[field];
return (value === undefined) ? defaultValue : value;
};
// Internal.
//
// @param tiddler a Tiddler
//
DataTiddler.setTiddlerDataValue = function(tiddler, field, value, defaultValue) {
var data = DataTiddler.getTiddlerDataObject(tiddler);
var oldValue = data[field];
if (value == defaultValue) {
if (oldValue !== undefined) {
delete data[field];
DataTiddler.save(tiddler);
}
return;
}
data[field] = value;
DataTiddler.save(tiddler);
};
// Internal.
//
// Reads the data section from the tiddler's content and returns its text
// (as a String).
//
// Returns null when no data is defined.
//
// @param tiddler a Tiddler
// @return [may be null]
//
DataTiddler.readDataSectionText = function(tiddler) {
var matches = DataTiddler.getDataTiddlerMatches(tiddler);
if (matches === null || !matches[2]) {
return null;
}
return matches[2];
};
// Internal.
//
// Reads the data section from the tiddler's content and returns it
// (as an internalized object).
//
// Returns null when no data is defined.
//
// @param tiddler a Tiddler
// @return [may be null]
//
DataTiddler.readData = function(tiddler) {
var text = DataTiddler.readDataSectionText(tiddler);
try {
return text ? DataTiddler.parse(text) : null;
} catch(ex) {
throw DataTiddler.extendJSONError(ex);
}
};
// Internal.
//
// Returns the serialized text of the data of the given tiddler, as it
// should be stored in the data section.
//
// @param tiddler a Tiddler
//
DataTiddler.getDataTextOfTiddler = function(tiddler) {
var data = DataTiddler.getTiddlerDataObject(tiddler);
return DataTiddler.stringify(data);
};
// Internal.
//
DataTiddler.indexOfNonEscapedText = function(s, subString, startIndex) {
var index = s.indexOf(subString, startIndex);
while ((index > 0) && (s[index-1] == '~')) {
index = s.indexOf(subString, index+1);
}
return index;
};
// Internal.
//
DataTiddler.getDataSectionInfo = function(text) {
// Special care must be taken to handle "<data>" and "</data>" texts inside
// a data section.
// Also take care not to use an escaped <data> (i.e. "~<data>") as the start
// of a data section. (Same for </data>)
// NOTE: we are explicitly searching for a data section that contains a JSON
// string, i.e. framed with braces. This way we are little bit more robust in
// case the tiddler contains unescaped texts "<data>" or "</data>". This must
// be changed when using a different stringifier.
var startTagText = "<data>{";
var endTagText = "}</data>";
var startPos = 0;
// Find the first not escaped "<data>".
var startDataTagIndex = DataTiddler.indexOfNonEscapedText(text, startTagText, 0);
if (startDataTagIndex < 0) {
return null;
}
// Find the *last* not escaped "</data>".
var endDataTagIndex = text.indexOf(endTagText, startDataTagIndex);
if (endDataTagIndex < 0) {
return null;
}
var nextEndDataTagIndex;
while ((nextEndDataTagIndex = text.indexOf(endTagText, endDataTagIndex+1)) >= 0) {
endDataTagIndex = nextEndDataTagIndex;
}
return {
prefixEnd: startDataTagIndex,
dataStart: startDataTagIndex+(startTagText.length)-1,
dataEnd: endDataTagIndex,
suffixStart: endDataTagIndex+(endTagText.length)
};
};
// Internal.
//
// Returns the "matches" of a content of a DataTiddler on the
// "data" regular expression. Return null when no data is defined
// in the tiddler content.
//
// Group 1: text before data section (prefix)
// Group 2: content of data section
// Group 3: text behind data section (suffix)
//
// @param tiddler a Tiddler
// @return [may be null] null when the tiddler contains no data section, otherwise see above.
//
DataTiddler.getDataTiddlerMatches = function(tiddler) {
var text = tiddler.text;
var info = DataTiddler.getDataSectionInfo(text);
if (!info) {
return null;
}
var prefix = text.substr(0,info.prefixEnd);
var data = text.substr(info.dataStart, info.dataEnd-info.dataStart+1);
var suffix = text.substr(info.suffixStart);
return [text, prefix, data, suffix];
};
// Internal.
//
// Saves the data in a <data> block of the given tiddler (as a minor change).
//
// The "chkAutoSave" and "chkForceMinorUpdate" options are respected.
// I.e. the TiddlyWiki *file* is only saved when AutoSave is on.
//
// Notifications are not send.
//
// This method should only be called when the data really has changed.
//
// @param tiddler
// the tiddler to be saved.
//
DataTiddler.save = function(tiddler) {
var matches = DataTiddler.getDataTiddlerMatches(tiddler);
var prefix;
var suffix;
if (matches === null) {
prefix = tiddler.text;
suffix = "";
} else {
prefix = matches[1];
suffix = matches[3];
}
var dataText = DataTiddler.getDataTextOfTiddler(tiddler);
var newText =
(dataText !== null)
? prefix + "<data>" + dataText + "</data>" + suffix
: prefix + suffix;
if (newText != tiddler.text) {
// make the change in the tiddlers text
// ... see DataTiddler.MyTiddlerChangedFunction
tiddler.isDataTiddlerChange = true;
// ... do the action change
tiddler.set(
tiddler.title,
newText,
config.options.txtUserName,
config.options.chkForceMinorUpdate? undefined : new Date(),
tiddler.tags);
// ... see DataTiddler.MyTiddlerChangedFunction
delete tiddler.isDataTiddlerChange;
// Mark the store as dirty.
store.dirty = true;
// AutoSave if option is selected
if(config.options.chkAutoSave) {
saveChanges();
}
}
};
// Internal.
//
DataTiddler.MyTiddlerChangedFunction = function() {
// Remove the data object from the tiddler when the tiddler is changed
// by code other than DataTiddler code.
//
// This is necessary since the data object is just a "cached version"
// of the data defined in the data section of the tiddler and the
// "external" change may have changed the content of the data section.
// Thus we are not sure if the data object reflects the data section
// contents.
//
// By deleting the data object we ensure that the data object is
// reconstructed the next time it is needed, with the data defined by
// the data section in the tiddler's text.
// To indicate that a change is a "DataTiddler change" a temporary
// property "isDataTiddlerChange" is added to the tiddler.
if (this.dataObject && !this.isDataTiddlerChange) {
delete this.dataObject;
}
// call the original code.
DataTiddler.originalTiddlerChangedFunction.apply(this, arguments);
};
//============================================================================
// Formatters
//============================================================================
// This formatter ensures that "~<data>" is rendered as "<data>". This is used to
// escape the "<data>" of a data section, just in case someone really wants to use
// "<data>" as a text in a tiddler and not start a data section.
//
// Same for </data>.
//
config.formatters.push( {
name: "data-escape",
match: "~<\\/?data>",
handler: function(w) {
w.outputText(w.output,w.matchStart + 1,w.nextMatch);
}
} );
// This formatter ensures that <data>...</data> sections are not rendered.
//
config.formatters.push( {
name: "data",
match: "<data>",
handler: function(w) {
var info = DataTiddler.getDataSectionInfo(w.source);
if (info && info.prefixEnd == w.matchStart) {
w.nextMatch = info.suffixStart;
} else {
w.outputText(w.output,w.matchStart,w.nextMatch);
}
}
} );
//============================================================================
// Tiddler Class Extension
//============================================================================
// "Hijack" the changed method ---------------------------------------------------
DataTiddler.originalTiddlerChangedFunction = Tiddler.prototype.changed;
Tiddler.prototype.changed = DataTiddler.MyTiddlerChangedFunction;
// Define accessor methods -------------------------------------------------------
// Returns the value of the given data field of the tiddler. When no such field
// is defined or its value is undefined the defaultValue is returned.
//
// When field is undefined (or null) the data object is returned. (See
// DataTiddler.getDataObject.)
//
// @param field [may be null, undefined]
// @param defaultValue [may be null, undefined]
// @return [may be null, undefined]
//
Tiddler.prototype.data = function(field, defaultValue) {
return (field)
? DataTiddler.getTiddlerDataValue(this, field, defaultValue)
: DataTiddler.getTiddlerDataObject(this);
};
// Sets the value of the given data field of the tiddler to the value. When the
// value is equal to the defaultValue no value is set (and the field is removed).
//
// @param value [may be null, undefined]
// @param defaultValue [may be null, undefined]
//
Tiddler.prototype.setData = function(field, value, defaultValue) {
DataTiddler.setTiddlerDataValue(this, field, value, defaultValue);
};
//============================================================================
// showData Macro
//============================================================================
config.macros.showData = {
// Standard Properties
label: "showData",
prompt: "Display the values stored in the data section of the tiddler"
};
config.macros.showData.handler = function(place,macroName,params) {
// --- Parsing ------------------------------------------
var i = 0; // index running over the params
// Parse the optional "JSON"
var showInJSONFormat = false;
if ((i < params.length) && params[i] == "JSON") {
i++;
showInJSONFormat = true;
}
var tiddlerName = story.findContainingTiddler(place).id.substr(7);
if (i < params.length) {
tiddlerName = params[i];
i++;
}
// --- Processing ------------------------------------------
try {
if (showInJSONFormat) {
this.renderDataInJSONFormat(place, tiddlerName);
} else {
this.renderDataAsTable(place, tiddlerName);
}
} catch (e) {
this.createErrorElement(place, e);
}
};
config.macros.showData.renderDataInJSONFormat = function(place,tiddlerName) {
var text = DataTiddler.getDataText(tiddlerName);
if (text) {
createTiddlyElement(place,"pre",null,null,text);
}
};
config.macros.showData.renderDataAsTable = function(place,tiddlerName) {
var text = "|!Name|!Value|\n";
var data = DataTiddler.getDataObject(tiddlerName);
if (data) {
for (var i in data) {
var value = data[i];
text += "|"+i+"|"+DataTiddler.stringify(value)+"|\n";
}
}
wikify(text, place);
};
// Internal.
//
// Creates an element that holds an error message
//
config.macros.showData.createErrorElement = function(place, exception) {
var message = (exception.description) ? exception.description : exception.toString();
return createTiddlyElement(place,"span",null,"showDataError","<<showData ...>>: "+message);
};
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Stylesheet Extensions (may be overridden by local StyleSheet)
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
//
setStylesheet(
".showDataError{color: #ffffff;background-color: #880000;}",
"showData");
} // of "install only once"
// Used Globals (for JSLint) ==============
// ... TiddlyWiki Core
/*global createTiddlyElement, saveChanges, store, story, wikify */
// ... DataTiddler
/*global DataTiddler */
// ... JSON
/*global JSON */
/***
!JSON Code, used to serialize the data
***/
/*
Copyright (c) 2005 JSON.org
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The Software shall be used for Good, not Evil.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.
*/
/*
The global object JSON contains two methods.
JSON.stringify(value) takes a JavaScript value and produces a JSON text.
The value must not be cyclical.
JSON.parse(text) takes a JSON text and produces a JavaScript value. It will
throw a 'JSONError' exception if there is an error.
*/
var JSON = {
copyright: '(c)2005 JSON.org',
license: 'http://www.crockford.com/JSON/license.html',
/*
Stringify a JavaScript value, producing a JSON text.
*/
stringify: function (v) {
var a = [];
/*
Emit a string.
*/
function e(s) {
a[a.length] = s;
}
/*
Convert a value.
*/
function g(x) {
var c, i, l, v;
switch (typeof x) {
case 'object':
if (x) {
if (x instanceof Array) {
e('[');
l = a.length;
for (i = 0; i < x.length; i += 1) {
v = x[i];
if (typeof v != 'undefined' &&
typeof v != 'function') {
if (l < a.length) {
e(',');
}
g(v);
}
}
e(']');
return;
} else if (typeof x.toString != 'undefined') {
e('{');
l = a.length;
for (i in x) {
v = x[i];
if (x.hasOwnProperty(i) &&
typeof v != 'undefined' &&
typeof v != 'function') {
if (l < a.length) {
e(',');
}
g(i);
e(':');
g(v);
}
}
return e('}');
}
}
e('null');
return;
case 'number':
e(isFinite(x) ? +x : 'null');
return;
case 'string':
l = x.length;
e('"');
for (i = 0; i < l; i += 1) {
c = x.charAt(i);
if (c >= ' ') {
if (c == '\\' || c == '"') {
e('\\');
}
e(c);
} else {
switch (c) {
case '\b':
e('\\b');
break;
case '\f':
e('\\f');
break;
case '\n':
e('\\n');
break;
case '\r':
e('\\r');
break;
case '\t':
e('\\t');
break;
default:
c = c.charCodeAt();
e('\\u00' + Math.floor(c / 16).toString(16) +
(c % 16).toString(16));
}
}
}
e('"');
return;
case 'boolean':
e(String(x));
return;
default:
e('null');
return;
}
}
g(v);
return a.join('');
},
/*
Parse a JSON text, producing a JavaScript value.
*/
parse: function (text) {
var p = /^\s*(([,:{}\[\]])|"(\\.|[^\x00-\x1f"\\])*"|-?\d+(\.\d*)?([eE][+-]?\d+)?|true|false|null)\s*/,
token,
operator;
function error(m, t) {
throw {
name: 'JSONError',
message: m,
text: t || operator || token
};
}
function next(b) {
if (b && b != operator) {
error("Expected '" + b + "'");
}
if (text) {
var t = p.exec(text);
if (t) {
if (t[2]) {
token = null;
operator = t[2];
} else {
operator = null;
try {
token = eval(t[1]);
} catch (e) {
error("Bad token", t[1]);
}
}
text = text.substring(t[0].length);
} else {
error("Unrecognized token", text);
}
} else {
token = operator = undefined;
}
}
function val() {
var k, o;
switch (operator) {
case '{':
next('{');
o = {};
if (operator != '}') {
for (;;) {
if (operator || typeof token != 'string') {
error("Missing key");
}
k = token;
next();
next(':');
o[k] = val();
if (operator != ',') {
break;
}
next(',');
}
}
next('}');
return o;
case '[':
next('[');
o = [];
if (operator != ']') {
for (;;) {
o.push(val());
if (operator != ',') {
break;
}
next(',');
}
}
next(']');
return o;
default:
if (operator !== null) {
error("Missing value");
}
k = token;
next();
return k;
}
}
next();
return val();
}
};
/***
!Setup the data serialization
***/
DataTiddler.format = "JSON";
DataTiddler.stringify = JSON.stringify;
DataTiddler.parse = JSON.parse;
//}}}
/***
|Name|[[DatePlugin]]|
|Source|http://www.TiddlyTools.com/#DatePlugin|
|Documentation|http://www.TiddlyTools.com/#DatePluginInfo|
|Version|2.7.1|
|Author|Eric Shulman|
|License|http://www.TiddlyTools.com/#LegalStatements|
|~CoreVersion|2.1|
|Type|plugin|
|Description|formatted dates plus popup menu with 'journal' link, changes and (optional) reminders|
This plugin provides a general approach to displaying formatted dates and/or links and popups that permit easy navigation and management of tiddlers based on their creation/modification dates.
!!!!!Documentation
>see [[DatePluginInfo]]
!!!!!Configuration
<<<
<<option chkDatePopupHideCreated>> omit 'created' section from date popups
<<option chkDatePopupHideChanged>> omit 'changed' section from date popups
<<option chkDatePopupHideTagged>> omit 'tagged' section from date popups
<<option chkDatePopupHideReminders>> omit 'reminders' section from date popups
<<option chkShowJulianDate>> display Julian day number (1-365) below current date
see [[DatePluginConfig]] for additional configuration settings, for use in calendar displays, including:
*date formats
*color-coded backgrounds
*annual fixed-date holidays
*weekends
<<<
!!!!!Revisions
<<<
2009.05.31 [2.7.1] in addRemindersToPopup(), 'new reminder....' command now uses {{{<<newTiddler>>}}} macro. Also, general code reduction/cleanup.
|please see [[DatePluginInfo]] for additional revision details|
2005.10.30 [0.9.0] pre-release
<<<
!!!!!Code
***/
//{{{
version.extensions.DatePlugin= {major: 2, minor: 7, revision: 1, date: new Date(2009,5,31)};
config.macros.date = {
format: 'YYYY.0MM.0DD', // default date display format
linkformat: 'YYYY.0MM.0DD', // 'dated tiddler' link format
linkedbg: '#babb1e', // 'babble'
todaybg: '#ffab1e', // 'fable'
weekendbg: '#c0c0c0', // 'cocoa'
holidaybg: '#ffaace', // 'face'
createdbg: '#bbeeff', // 'beef'
modifiedsbg: '#bbeeff', // 'beef'
remindersbg: '#c0ffee', // 'coffee'
weekend: [ 1,0,0,0,0,0,1 ], // [ day index values: sun=0, mon=1, tue=2, wed=3, thu=4, fri=5, sat=6 ],
holidays: [ '01/01', '07/04', '07/24', '11/24' ]
// NewYearsDay, IndependenceDay(US), Eric's Birthday (hooray!), Thanksgiving(US)
};
config.macros.date.handler = function(place,macroName,params)
{
// default: display current date
var now =new Date();
var date=now;
var mode='display';
if (params[0]&&['display','popup','link'].contains(params[0].toLowerCase()))
{ mode=params[0]; params.shift(); }
if (!params[0] || params[0]=='today')
{ params.shift(); }
else if (params[0]=='filedate')
{ date=new Date(document.lastModified); params.shift(); }
else if (params[0]=='tiddler')
{ date=store.getTiddler(story.findContainingTiddler(place).id.substr(7)).modified; params.shift(); }
else if (params[0].substr(0,8)=='tiddler:')
{ var t; if ((t=store.getTiddler(params[0].substr(8)))) date=t.modified; params.shift(); }
else {
var y = eval(params.shift().replace(/Y/ig,(now.getYear()<1900)?now.getYear()+1900:now.getYear()));
var m = eval(params.shift().replace(/M/ig,now.getMonth()+1));
var d = eval(params.shift().replace(/D/ig,now.getDate()+0));
date = new Date(y,m-1,d);
}
// date format with optional custom override
var format=this.format; if (params[0]) format=params.shift();
var linkformat=this.linkformat; if (params[0]) linkformat=params.shift();
showDate(place,date,mode,format,linkformat);
}
window.showDate=showDate;
function showDate(place,date,mode,format,linkformat,autostyle,weekend)
{
mode =mode||'display';
format =format||config.macros.date.format;
linkformat=linkformat||config.macros.date.linkformat;
// format the date output
var title=date.formatString(format);
var linkto=date.formatString(linkformat);
// just show the formatted output
if (mode=='display') { place.appendChild(document.createTextNode(title)); return; }
// link to a 'dated tiddler'
var link = createTiddlyLink(place, linkto, false);
link.appendChild(document.createTextNode(title));
link.title = linkto;
link.date = date;
link.format = format;
link.linkformat = linkformat;
// if using a popup menu, replace click handler for dated tiddler link
// with handler for popup and make link text non-italic (i.e., an 'existing link' look)
if (mode=='popup') {
link.onclick = onClickDatePopup;
link.style.fontStyle='normal';
}
// format the popup link to show what kind of info it contains (for use with calendar generators)
if (autostyle) setDateStyle(place,link,weekend);
}
//}}}
//{{{
// NOTE: This function provides default logic for setting the date style when displayed in a calendar
// To customize the date style logic, please see[[DatePluginConfig]]
function setDateStyle(place,link,weekend) {
// alias variable names for code readability
var date=link.date;
var fmt=link.linkformat;
var linkto=date.formatString(fmt);
var cmd=config.macros.date;
if ((weekend!==undefined?weekend:isWeekend(date))&&(cmd.weekendbg!=''))
{ place.style.background = cmd.weekendbg; }
if (hasModifieds(date)||hasCreateds(date)||hasTagged(date,fmt))
{ link.style.fontStyle='normal'; link.style.fontWeight='bold'; }
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{{twocolumns{
Researchers report that they ''identified, isolated and grew a new type of magnetic bacteria'' that could lead to novel biotech and nanotech uses.
Nevada, the "Silver State," is well-known for mining precious metals. But scientists Dennis Bazylinski and colleagues at the University of Nevada Las Vegas do a different type of mining. They sluice through every water body they can find, looking for new forms of microbial magnetism. In a basin named Badwater on the edge of Death Valley National Park, Bazylinski and researcher Christopher Lefèvre, from the French National Center of Scientific Research, hit pay dirt.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/bw1_greigite_bacterium.jpg" title="Greigite-containing magnetotactic bacterium from Badwater Basin, Death Valley. Credit: Dennis Bazylinski and Christopher Lefèvre" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>[[Magnetotactic bacteria|How bacterial magnetosomes form]] are simple, single-celled organisms that are found in almost all bodies of water. As their name suggests, they orient and navigate along magnetic fields like miniature swimming compass needles. This is due to the nano-sized crystals of the minerals magnetite or greigite they produce. The presence of these magnetic crystals makes the bacteria and their internal crystals -- called magnetosomes -- useful in drug delivery and medical imaging.
''"The finding is significant in showing that this bacterium has specific genes to synthesize magnetite and greigite, and that the proportion of these magnetosomes varies with the chemistry of the environment,"'' said Enriqueta Barrera, program director in NSF's Division of Earth Sciences.
While many magnetite-producing bacteria can be grown and easily studied, Bazylinski and his team were the first to cultivate a greigite-producing species. Greigite is an iron sulfide mineral, the equivalent of the iron oxide magnetite. "Because greigite-producing bacteria have never been isolated, the crystals haven't been tested for the types of biomedical and other applications that currently use magnetite," said Bazylinski. "Greigite is an iron sulfide that may be superior to magnetite in some applications due to its slightly different physical and magnetic properties. Now we have the opportunity to find out."
Researchers found ''the greigite-producing bacterium, called BW-1'', in water samples collected more than 280 feet below sea level in Badwater Basin. Lefèvre and Bazylinski later isolated and grew it leading to the discovery that BW-1 produces both greigite and magnetite. A detailed look at its DNA revealed that BW-1 has two sets of magnetosome genes, unlike other such bacteria, which produce only one mineral and have only one set of magnetosome genes. This suggests that the production of magnetite and greigite in BW-1 is likely controlled by separate sets of genes. That could be important in the mass production of either mineral for specific applications. Source: ''[[Badwater Basin: Death Valley Microbe Thrives There|http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=122618&org=NSF&from=news]]''. This work was detailed in the paper [[“A Cultured Greigite-Producing Magnetotactic Bacterium in a Novel Group of Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria”|http://www.sciencemag.org/content/334/6063/1720.abstract?sid=e43b0c55-523e-4ae3-9149-11869b2511ba]] by Christopher T. Lefèvre, Nicolas Menguy, Fernanda Abreu, Ulysses Lins, Mihály Pósfai, Tanya Prozorov, David Pignol, Richard B. Frankel, Dennis A. Bazylinski.
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanobiotechnology>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomedicine>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[nano before nanotech]]>>
<<tiddler Twitter>>
}}}
"The report finds that ''the [[National Nanotechnology Initiative|http://www.nano.gov/]]—which has provided $12 billion in investments by 25 Federal agencies over the past decade—has had a “catalytic and substantial impact” on the growth of the U.S. nanotechnology industry and should be continued''. Further, the report finds that in large part as a result of the NNI the United States is today, by a wide range of measures, the global leader in this exciting and economically promising field of research and technological development. But the report also finds that ''U.S. leadership in nanotechnology is threatened'' by several aggressively investing competitors such as China, South Korea, and the European Union. In response to this threat, the report recommends a number of changes in Federal programs and policies, with the goal of assuring continued U.S. dominance in the decade ahead." From the ''[[Report to the President and Congress on the Third Assessment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative|http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/pcast-nano-report.pdf]]'', March, 2010
"To enhance the value of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), Office of Science and Technology Policy is reaching out to the nanotechnology stakeholder community for specific input for ''the next NNI Strategic Plan, which will be published December, 2010''. This effort is three-fold, consisting of a [[Request for Information|http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-16273.htm]], the [[NNI Strategic Plan Stakeholder Workshop|http://www.tvworldwide.com/events/nanotech/100713/]], and an online public comment event." From ''[[The National Nanotechnology Initiative 2010 Strategic Plan|http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ostp/NNIStrategy/]]''
"The broader issues of commercialization, safety, environmental impact, benefits and acceptance must be approached from the context of emerging technologies, and not from perspective of one technology alone. This issue is central to ''the need to rethink nanotechnology and the role of the NNI'' within a broader social, economic and political context, ''as nanoscale science and engineering move out of the laboratory and into the marketplace''." From [[Rethinking nanotechnology – responding to a request for Information on the US Nanotechnology Strategic Plan|http://2020science.org/2010/08/30/rethinking-nanotechnology-responding-to-a-request-for-information-on-the-us-nanotechnology-strategic-plan/]] by [[Andrew Maynard|http://www.sph.umich.edu/iscr/faculty/profile.cfm?uniqname=maynarda]], August, 2010
"The US National Nanotechnology Initiative has spent billions of dollars on submicroscopic science in its first 10 years. Corie Lok finds out ''where the money went and what the initiative plans to do next''." From [[Nanotechnology: Small wonders|http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100901/full/467018a.html?s=news_rss]] by [[Corie Lok|http://network.nature.com/profile/U66E7CD1A]], Nature Nanotechnology, September, 2010
"A news article in this week’s Nature discusses the origin of the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative, but the story sets some of the causality in reverse"... From [[Which came first, the Nano or the NNI?|http://metamodern.com/2010/09/05/which-came-first-the-nano-or-the-nni/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Metamodern+%28Metamodern%29]] by [[Eric Drexler|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._Eric_Drexler]], September, 2010
"Again there are people complaining that the vision of Eric Drexler was not realized after 25 years since he wrote Engines of Creation and other research papers on molecular nanotechnology. However, almost no money was spent funding the research and development of molecular nanotechnology. Significant amounts of money were devoted to mostly relabeled chemistry starting in November, 2003." [[Eric Drexler, Ralph Merkle or Robert Freitas Are not to Blame When Billions spent on Ordinary Chemistry Was called Nanotechnology Work- You Got What You Paid For|http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/09/eric-drexler-ralph-merkle-or-robert.html]] by Brian Wang, September, 2010. Nextbigfuture, the Lifeboat Foundation Technology Research News Website
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created [[national initiatives]]>>
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{{twocolumns{
"''The Food Standards Agency (FSA) of United Kingdom'' wanted to understand the consumer view of nanotechnology being used in food, the sort of safeguards they expect the Agency to enforce and the information on nanotechnology they want so that they can make informed decisions.
Despite participants' views fluctuating over the course of the workshops, participants repeatedly returned to the core questions that were raised at the initial workshop: Why are we doing this? Who will benefit? Is it worth it? This can be partly explained by the complexity and uncertainties currently associated with nanotechnology. However, it also reflects a degree of cynicism about food technology more generally. This is related to assumptions that technological advances in food are developed in the interests of business rather than consumers, and that consumers ultimately bear the costs, either through increased food prices, lower quality produce, or reduced health.
In order for consumers to feel confident about nanotechnology developments it will therefore be important to anticipate and respond to these core governance questions. Specifically, this means that regulatory processes need to be seen in a wider system of food governance. While the public interest includes safety and environmental impacts, it also includes opening up the research at an earlier stage to ensure the values of consumers help to shape the direction of travel, and that wider consequences have been thought through. This will be challenging not only for the FSA, but for a range of actors involved in the development of food nanotechnologies – not least those in research, manufacturing and retail. If government‟s role is reduced to only regulating what‟s out there, it is unlikely to be sufficient to protect the consumer interest in relation to food. Greater scope for partnership working around novel foods such as nanotechnologies could help create a space for more anticipatory and effective governance." Source: From [[FSA Citizens Forums: Nanotechnology and food. TNS-BMRB Report, April 2011|http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/publication/fsacfnanotechnologyfood.pdf]]
"The use of nanotechnology in food production, for example as an anti-bacterial agent, or to alter flavour or colour is growing and the ''European Parliament'' had called for further checks to be developed to adequately assess the safety of such foods. They also wanted food containing nanoingredients to be labelled. The failure to reach agreement on the new rules means "there will continue to be no special measures regarding nanomaterials in food," the European Parliament statement said." Source: From [[EU fail agreement no special measures regarding nanomaterials in food|http://www.europarl.europa.eu/en/headlines/content/20110324STO16430/html/EU-countries-reject-EP-call-for-labelling-of-clone-derived-food]], March 29, 2011
''Follow up:''
[[Tiny Particles with Big Benefits|http://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/articles/2011/05/tiny-particles-with-big-benefits.aspx]] by Susan Brienza. May 9, 2011
[[France issues nano-risk management method|http://www.foodqualitynews.com/Public-Concerns/France-issues-nano-risk-management-method]] by Rory Harrington. May 5, 2011
[[Yes or No on Nanoparticles in Food?|http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/04/nanoparticles-food/]] by Michael Passoff. April 12, 2011
[[EU novel food regulation review at risk. Concern over nanofoods|http://www.euractiv.com/en/cap/eu-novel-food-regulation-review-risk-news-503223]]. March 21, 2011
''Context:''
[[Risk assessment for nano-foods on European market]], June 2010
[[UK Parliament on Nanotechnologies in the Food Sector]], January 2010
''[[Nanotechnology and food|http://files.nanobio-raise.org/Downloads/Nanotechnology-and-Food-fullweb.pdf]]''. NanoBio-RAISE (Nanobiotechnology: Responsible Action on Issues in Society and Ethics) Briefing Paper, September 2008
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created food>><<matchTags popup sort:-created concerns>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[public opinion]]>>
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}}}
{{twocolumns{
<html><embed><object width="100%" height="268"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2AKUBwCWhiA&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_profilepage&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2AKUBwCWhiA&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_profilepage&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="100%" height="268"></embed></object></html>
A new report by a group of leading European academics, argues that ''decision-making on science - especially emerging technologies such as nanotechnology - must become more democratic''.
The report, [["Reconfiguring Responsibility"|http://www.geography.dur.ac.uk/projects/deepen/NewsandEvents/tabid/2903/Default.aspx]], was the result of a three-year research project funded by the European Commission as part of the [[DEEPEN (Deepening Ethical Engagement and Participation in Emerging Nanotechnologies) project|http://www.geography.dur.ac.uk/projects/deepen/Home/tabid/1871/Default.aspx]]. The authors strongly suggest that current governance activities are limiting public debate and may result in a repeat of the mistakes made in managing genetically modified foods.
[[Phil Macnaghten|http://www.dur.ac.uk/geography/research/researchclusters/?mode=staff&id=4323]], a Professor at Durham University, UK, and the Project Leader, argues while talk of 'responsible development' is a step in the right direction, it often hides outdated assumptions: "''Technologies are being driven forward with insufficient reflection on why they are being developed and on what this is likely to mean for future society''. The public is keen to be involved in deliberating the often far-reaching questions that science is addressing, and policymakers need to find new ways to ensure that public views are heard, treated with respect and used to inform science policy."
Professor [[Richard Jones FRS|http://www.shef.ac.uk/physics/contacts/richard-jones.html]], a leading nanoscientist who until recently was the Senior Advisor for Nanotechnology for the UK government's science funding agency, agrees:
"I believe that ''involving the public in decision making on science can lead to better outcomes – as well as being fascinating and rewarding for the scientists involved''. If we are to continue to make nanotechnology a more socially responsible science we need to build on research such as that discussed in the 'Reconfiguring Responsibility' report."
According to the report, the need for action on nanotechnology is even more pressing due to the fact that it has the potential to fundamentally change everyday life and thus raises profound social and ethical questions. Attention has recently focussed on the uncertainties surrounding its long-term effects on human health and the environment, but the 'Reconfiguring Responsibility' study indicates that public concern also focuses on the kind of society being created by such technologies.
Related news list by date, most recent first:
<<matchTags popup sort:-created [[public opinion]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created concerns>>
}}}
[[random suggestion]]
[[Scientists generate electricity from viruses]]
[[table of contents]]
[[4 June 2012]]
In 2005, a group of pioneering projects, from various contexts and with different motivations, set off on separate voyages into this new territory. Their mission: to explore how we might ensure that future developments in nanotechnology are governed in the interests of the many, not the few. In short, to bring democracy to these new, unchartered territories. Democratic Technologies? follows the journeys of these projects, and the scientists, citizens and civil servants who joined them.
This is the report of the [[Nanotechnologies Engagement Group (NEG)|http://www.involve.org.uk/neg]], a body convened by Involve with the support of the Office of Science and Innovation’s Sciencewise scheme, and the Universities of Cambridge and Sheffield. Our role has been to observe and support the pioneers of nanotechnology public engagement and log their experiences for the benefit of future journeys into the interface between democracy and technology.
Source: [[Democratic Technologies?|http://83.223.102.125/involvenew/mt/archives/blog_37/Democratic%20Technologies.pdf]]
{{twocolumns{
It is now possible to produce plastics without the use of petroleum, thanks to a new type of catalyst enabling efficient conversion to key components of various products including plastics, medicines and paint. The catalyst, which consists of tiny iron spheres, was developed by chemists at University Utrecht. According to Prof Krijn de Jong, ''“The products are exactly the same, only they are made of pruning waste instead of petroleum.”'' The invention has already sparked the interest of the chemical industry.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/Nanodeeltjes_web.jpg" title="The catalyst viewed through an electron microscope. The tiny iron spheres (dark areas) measure only about 20 nanometres in diameter. Gas generated from biomass is converted into substances currently produced from petroleum" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>Almost all chemical products, ranging from anti-freeze and pharmaceuticals to plastics and paint, are currently made of petroleum. However, the technology enabling the fabrication of products of the same quality largely from biomass has existed for some time. “Until recently, there were too many steps involved in the process, so the technology was not efficient or economical enough to be used on a large scale,” says University Utrecht professor [[Krijn de Jong|http://www.anorg.chem.uu.nl/people/professors/KrijndeJong/index.htm]].
It is now possible to produce components that can be used to make plastics and other substances by means of a one-step process, once the biomass has been converted at a high temperature into gas. The new catalyst was developed by Utrecht chemists in cooperation with Dow Benelux and Delft University of Technology. According to De Jong, “''The industry will be able to utilise this technology to make bioplastics, biopaints and even biopharmaceuticals''. The properties of these products are the same, despite the fact that the raw material was biomass instead of petroleum: the bioplastics are totally identical to regular plastics.”
The petroleum-free products are made using a recently developed catalyst consisting of iron nanoparticles measuring 0.00002 millimetres. The tiny particles were produced and stabilised by Utrecht PhD student Hirsa Torres, by affixing them to a special material, thereby making the catalyst more durable, and an efficient means for converting biogas into useful substances.
The Utrecht researchers will continue to develop the catalyst with the help of Dow Benelux. Hopefully, the first products made with this technology will be launched within the next few years. ''“In light of the imminent oil shortage, using sustainable raw materials is an extremely attractive option for industry,”'' says De Jong. “One major advantage of the method is that the raw materials are sustainable, but do not compete with the food supply, because they consist of wood-like biomass, such as branches, plant stalks and pruning waste.” Source: From ''Sustainable products made from pruning waste using nanoparticles. [[Science publication: Plastics made without petroleum|http://www.uu.nl/EN/Current/Pages/SciencepublicatiePlasticsmakenzonderaardolie.aspx]]''. This work is detailed in the paper [["Supported iron nanoparticles as catalysts for sustainable production of lower olefins"|http://www.sciencemag.org/content/335/6070/835.abstract]] by Hirsa M. Torres Galvis, Johannes H. Bitter, Chaitanya B. Khare, Matthijs Ruitenbeek, A. Iulian Dugulan, Krijn P. de Jong.
''Context:''
February 20, 2012. [[Nanocatalyst Improves Production of Plastic Precursors from Plant Material|http://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/semiconductors/nanotechnology/nanocatalyst-improves-production-of-plastic-precursors-from-plants]]. IEEE Spectrum, Dexter Johnson. //"Improves the yield for this plant-based process by 50%"//
February 17, 2012. [[Plastic from plants? Scientists may have found a way|http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-plants-to-plastic-20120217,0,27645.story]]. Los Angeles Times, Amina Khan. //"It's a useful scientific presentation. Whether it is economical would depend on a number of issues."//
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoparticles>><<matchTags popup sort:-created waste>><<matchTags popup sort:-created energy>>
<<tiddler Twitter>>
<html><iframe class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="100%" height="268" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gpZWPK4vcEU" frameborder="0"></iframe></html>
}}}
<data>{"video_id":"gpZWPK4vcEU"}</data>
In 2006 researchers established that dogs could detect cancer by sniffing the exhaled breath of cancer patients. Now, using nanoscale arrays of detectors, two groups of investigators have shown that a compact mechanical device also can ''sniff out lung cancer in humans''. [[Hossam Haick, Ph.D.|http://lnbd.technion.ac.il/NanoChemistry/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DBID=1&TMID=139&LNGID=1&FID=502&PID=0&IID=741]], and his colleagues at the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, used a network of 10 sets of chemically modified carbon nanotubes to create a multicomponent sensor capable of discriminating between a healthy breath and one characteristic of lung cancer patients. Meanwhile, [[Silvano Dragonieri, M.D.|http://www.biomedexperts.com/Profile.bme/340882/Silvano_Dragonieri]], University of Bari, Italy, and his colleagues used a commercial nanoarray-based electronic “nose” to discriminate between the breath of patients with non-small cell lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Source: ''[[Nanosensor Arrays "Smell" Cancer|http://nano.cancer.gov/news_center/2009/april/nanotech_news_2009-04-27a.asp]]''. The results of Dr. Haick’s team’s work appear in the paper [[Detection of nonpolar molecules by means of carrier scattering in random networks of carbon nanotubes: Toward diagnosis of diseases via breath samples|http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1021/nl8030218]]. Dr. Dragnieri and his colleagues published their work in the paper [[An electronic nose in the discrimination of patients with non-small cell cancer and COPD|http://www.lungcancerjournal.info/article/S0169-5002(08)00419-4/abstract]]
"Blood tests and urinalysis are the golden standard to identify a decline in kidney filtration, wherein high levels of creatinine and blood urea nitrogen usually reflect renal dysfunction – however, these tests tend to be highly inaccurate and may remain within the normal range even while 65-75% of kidney function is lost." Hossam Haick tells Nanowerk. "Given the difficulties in separating healthy renal function from dysfunction, it is perhaps not too surprising that precise biochemical or clinical criteria for diagnosis of acute renal failure have been elusive. Therefore, there is an unmet need for a noninvasive method for detection of renal failure of various etiologies. Furthermore, the challenge remains to diagnose renal disorders with sufficient sensitivity and specificity to provide a large-scale screening technique, feasible for clinical practice, for people at increased risk of developing renal dysfunction." Haick, Zaid Abassi and coworkers from [[Technion|http://rbni.technion.ac.il/index.html]] used an experimental model of end stage ''renal disease'' (ESRD) in rats to identify by advanced, yet simple nanotechnology-based approach to discriminate between exhaled breath of healthy states and of ESRD states. Source: ''[[Nanotechnology breath analyzer for kidney failure |http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=10495.php]]''. This work is detailed in the paper [[Sniffing Chronic Renal Failure in Rat Model by an Array of Random Networks of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes|http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1021/nn9001775]]
An unlikely multidisciplinary scientific collaboration has discovered that an electronic nose developed for air quality monitoring on Space Shuttle Endeavour can also be used to detect odour differences in normal and cancerous brain cells. The results of the pilot study open up new possibilities for neurosurgeons in the fight against ''brain cancer''. The electronic nose, which is to be installed on the International Space Station in order to automatically monitor the station's air, can detect contaminants within a range of one to approximately 10,000 parts per million. In a series of experiments, the Brain Mapping Foundation used NASA's electronic nose to sniff brain cancer cells and cells in other organs. Their data demonstrates that the electronic nose can sense differences in odour from normal versus cancerous cells. These experiments will help pave the way for more sophisticated biochemical analysis and experimentation. [[Babak Kateb|http://www.ibmisps.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=50]], Chairman and Scientific Director of the Brain Mapping Foundation, is the lead author of the paper set to be published in an [[IBMISPS-NeuroImage|http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/622925/description#description]] special issue in July. Source: ''[[NASA's Electronic Nose May Provide Neurosurgeons With A New Weapon Against Brain Cancer|http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-04/e-nen042909.php]]''
Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created detection>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomedicine>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nano-oncology>>
{{twocolumns{
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="http://news.vanderbilt.edu/files/Nanostamp3-illustration.jpg" title="Illustration of the direct imprinting of porous substrates process. Credit: Weiss Lab" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>A simple technique for stamping patterns invisible to the human eye onto a special class of nanomaterials provides ''a new, cost-effective way to produce novel devices'' in areas ranging from drug delivery to solar cells.
The new method works with materials that are riddled with tiny voids that give them unique optical, electrical, chemical and mechanical properties. Imagine a stiff, sponge-like material filled with holes that are too small to see without a special microscope.
For a number of years, scientists have been investigating the use of these materials – called porous nanomaterials – for a wide range of applications including drug delivery, chemical and biological sensors, solar cells and battery electrodes. There are nanoporous forms of gold, silicon, alumina, and titanium oxide, among others.
A major obstacle to using the materials has been the complexity and expense of the processing required to make them into devices.
Now, [[Sharon M. Weiss|http://eecs.vuse.vanderbilt.edu/research/vuphotonics/]] and her colleagues of Vanderbilt University have developed a rapid, low-cost imprinting process that can stamp out a variety of nanodevices from these intriguing materials.
“It’s amazing how easy it is. We made our first imprint using a regular tabletop vise,” Weiss said. “And the resolution is surprisingly good.”
The traditional strategies used for making devices out of nanoporous materials are based on the process used to make computer chips. This must be done in a special clean room and involves painting the surface with a special material called a resist, exposing it to ultraviolet light or scanning the surface with an electron beam to create the desired pattern and then applying a series of chemical treatments to either engrave the surface or lay down new material. The more complicated the pattern, the longer it takes to make.
About two years ago, Weiss got the idea of creating pre-mastered stamps using the complex process and then using the stamps to create the devices. Weiss calls the new approach direct imprinting of porous substrates (DIPS). DIPS can create a device in less than a minute, regardless of its complexity. So far, her group reports that it has used master stamps more than 20 times without any signs of deterioration.
The smallest pattern that Weiss and her colleagues have made to date has features of only a few tens of nanometers, which is about the size of a single fatty acid molecule. They have also succeeded in imprinting the smallest pattern yet reported in nanoporous gold, one with 70-nanometer features. Source: From ''[[Stamping out low cost nanodevices|http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2011/05/stamping-out-low-cost-nanodevices/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+vanderbilt-research+%28Vanderbilt+Research+News%29]]'' by David Salisbury. This work is detailed in the paper [[Direct Imprinting of Porous Substrates: A Rapid and Low-Cost Approach for Patterning Porous Nanomaterials|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl1028073]] <<slider chkSldr [[Direct Imprinting of Porous Substrates: A Rapid and Low-Cost Approach for Patterning Porous Nanomaterials]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
<br>''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomachinery >><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanodevice >><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomanufacturing >><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomaterial >>
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}}}
<br>Judson D. Ryckman, Marco Liscidini, J. E. Sipe, and S. M. Weiss. 2011. ''Nano Letters doi:10.1021/nl1028073''
//This work describes a technique for one-step, direct patterning of porous nanomaterials, including insulators, semiconductors, and metals without the need for intermediate polymer processing or dry etching steps. Our process, which we call “direct imprinting of porous substrates (DIPS)”, utilizes reusable stamps with micro- and nanoscale features that are applied directly to a porous material to selectively compress or crush the porous network. The stamp pattern is transferred to the porous material with high fidelity, vertical resolution below 5 nm, and lateral resolution below 100 nm. The process is performed in less than one minute at room temperature and at standard atmospheric pressure. We have demonstrated structures ranging from subwavelength optical components to microparticles and present exciting avenues for applications including surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), label-free biosensors, and drug delivery.//
{{twocolumns{
Peering through a transmission electron microscope (TEM), researchers from Germany, Spain, and the UK have observed [[graphene|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene]] sheets transforming into spherical [[fullerenes|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fullerene]], better known as buckyballs, for the first time. The experiment could shed light on the process of ''how fullerenes are formed'', which has so far remained mysterious on the atomic scale. Source: [[For the first time, researchers observe graphene sheets becoming buckyballs (w/ Video)|http://www.physorg.com/news195468858.html]] by Lisa Zyga, PhysOrg.com. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Direct transformation of graphene to fullerene|http://www.nature.com/nchem/journal/v2/n6/abs/nchem.644.html]]'' by [[Andrey Chuvilin|http://www.nanogune.eu/en/research/]], [[Ute Kaiser|http://www.uni-ulm.de/en/einrichtungen/materialwissenschaftliche-elektronenmikroskopie/members/kaiser.html]], [[Elena Bichoutskaia|http://bichoutskaia.chem.nottingham.ac.uk/]], [[Nicholas A. Besley|http://besley.chem.nottingham.ac.uk/]] & [[Andrei N. Khlobystov|http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/Chemistry/People/andrei.khlobystov]]. "Although fullerenes can be efficiently generated from graphite in high yield, the route to the formation of these symmetrical and aesthetically pleasing carbon cages from a flat graphene sheet remains a mystery. The most widely accepted mechanisms postulate that the graphene structure dissociates to very small clusters of carbon atoms such as C2, which subsequently coalesce to form fullerene cages through a series of intermediates. In this Article, aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy directly visualizes, in real time, a process of fullerene formation from a graphene sheet. Quantum chemical modelling explains four critical steps in a top-down mechanism of fullerene formation: (i) loss of carbon atoms at the edge of graphene, leading to (ii) the formation of pentagons, which (iii) triggers the curving of graphene into a bowl-shaped structure and which (iv) subsequently zips up its open edges to form a closed fullerene structure."
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created graphene>><<matchTags popup sort:-created fullerene>><<matchTags popup sort:-created images>><<matchTags popup sort:-created microscope>>
}}}
<html>
<img src="/img/graphene2fullerene.jpg" alt="Images from a transmission electron microscope show the formation of fullerene from graphene" title="These images from a transmission electron microscope show the formation of fullerene from graphene. In (a), the edges of the graphene sheet continuously change shape when exposed to the e-beam. (b) shows the final product, while (c)-(h) show close-ups of the sequence of a graphene flake transforming into a fullerene. Image credit: Andrey Chuvilin, et al." width="100%"/>
</html>
{{twocolumns{
UCLA researchers are now able to peer deep within the world's tiniest structures to create three-dimensional images of individual atoms and their positions. Their research presents a new method for directly measuring the atomic structure of nanomaterials. ''"This is the first experiment where we can directly see local structures in three dimensions at atomic-scale resolution — that's never been done before,"'' said [[Jianwei (John) Miao|http://www1.cnsi.ucla.edu/institution/personnel?personnel%5fid=113666]], a professor of physics and astronomy and a researcher with the [[California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI)|http://www1.cnsi.ucla.edu/index]] at UCLA.
<html><img style="float:right; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/inside_gold_nanoparticle.jpg" title="Inside a gold nanoparticle" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>Miao and his colleagues used a scanning transmission electron microscope to sweep a narrow beam of high-energy electrons over a tiny gold particle only 10 nanometers in diameter (almost 1,000 times smaller than a red blood cell). The nanoparticle contained tens of thousands of individual gold atoms, each about a million times smaller than the width of a human hair. These atoms interact with the electrons passing through the sample, casting shadows that hold information about the nanoparticle's interior structure onto a detector below the microscope.
Miao's team discovered that by taking measurements at 69 different angles, they could combine the data gleaned from each individual shadow into a 3-D reconstruction of the interior of the nanoparticle. Using this method, which is known as electron tomography, Miao's team was able to directly see individual atoms and how they were positioned inside the specific gold nanoparticle.
"Our current technology is mainly based on crystal structures because we have ways to analyze them," Miao said. "But for non-crystalline structures, no direct experiments have seen atomic structures in three dimensions before. ''The three-dimensional atomic resolution of non-crystalline structures remains a major unresolved problem in the physical sciences''," he said.
Miao and his colleagues haven't quite cracked the non-crystalline conundrum, but they have shown they can image a structure that isn't perfectly crystalline at a resolution of 2.4 angstroms (the average size of a gold atom is 2.8 angstroms). The gold nanoparticle they measured for their paper turned out to be composed of several different crystal grains, each forming a puzzle piece with atoms aligned in subtly different patterns. A nanostructure with hidden crystalline segments and boundaries inside will behave differently from one made of a single continuous crystal — but other techniques would have been unable to visualize them in three dimensions, Miao said.
Miao's team also found that the small golden blob they studied was in fact shaped like a multi-faceted gem, though slightly squashed on one side from resting on a flat stage inside the gigantic microscope — another small detail that might have been averaged away when using more traditional methods.
This project was inspired by Miao's earlier research, which involved finding ways to minimize the radiation dose administered to patients during CT scans. During a scan, patients must be X-rayed at a variety of angles, and those measurements are combined to give doctors a picture of what's inside the body. Miao found a mathematically more efficient way to obtain similar high-resolution images while taking scans at fewer angles. He later realized that this discovery could benefit scientists probing the insides of nanostructures, not just doctors on the lookout for tumors or fractures.
Nanostructures, like patients, can be damaged if too many scans are administered. A constant bombardment of high-energy electrons can cause the atoms in nanoparticles to be rearranged and the particle itself to change shape. By bringing his medical discovery to his work in materials science and nanoscience, Miao was able to invent a new way to peer inside the field's tiniest structures.
The discovery made by Miao's team may lead to improvements in resolution and image quality for tomography research across many fields, including the study of biological samples. Source: From [[New technique lets scientists peer within nanoparticles, see atomic structure in 3-D|http://www1.cnsi.ucla.edu/news/item?item_id=2045547]]. This work is detailed in the paper ''[["Electron tomography at 2.4-ångström resolution"|http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v483/n7390/full/nature10934.html]]'' by M. C. Scott, Chien-Chun Chen, Matthew Mecklenburg, Chun Zhu, Rui Xu, Peter Ercius, Ulrich Dahmen, [[B. C. Regan|http://www1.cnsi.ucla.edu/institution/personnel?personnel%5fid=131073]] & Jianwei Miao.
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created milestone>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoparticles>><<matchTags popup sort:-created microscope>>
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}}}
/***
|Name|DisableWikiLinksPlugin|
|Source|http://www.TiddlyTools.com/#DisableWikiLinksPlugin|
|Version|1.6.0|
|Author|Eric Shulman|
|License|http://www.TiddlyTools.com/#LegalStatements|
|~CoreVersion|2.1|
|Type|plugin|
|Description|selectively disable TiddlyWiki's automatic ~WikiWord linking behavior|
This plugin allows you to disable TiddlyWiki's automatic ~WikiWord linking behavior, so that WikiWords embedded in tiddler content will be rendered as regular text, instead of being automatically converted to tiddler links. To create a tiddler link when automatic linking is disabled, you must enclose the link text within {{{[[...]]}}}.
!!!!!Usage
<<<
You can block automatic WikiWord linking behavior for any specific tiddler by ''tagging it with<<matchTags popup sort:-created excludeWikiWords>>'' (see configuration below) or, check a plugin option to disable automatic WikiWord links to non-existing tiddler titles, while still linking WikiWords that correspond to existing tiddlers titles or shadow tiddler titles. You can also block specific selected WikiWords from being automatically linked by listing them in [[DisableWikiLinksList]] (see configuration below), separated by whitespace. This tiddler is optional and, when present, causes the listed words to always be excluded, even if automatic linking of other WikiWords is being permitted.
Note: WikiWords contained in default ''shadow'' tiddlers will be automatically linked unless you select an additional checkbox option lets you disable these automatic links as well, though this is not recommended, since it can make it more difficult to access some TiddlyWiki standard default content (such as AdvancedOptions or SideBarTabs)
<<<
!!!!!Configuration
<<<
<<option chkDisableWikiLinks>> Disable ALL automatic WikiWord tiddler links
<<option chkAllowLinksFromShadowTiddlers>> ... except for WikiWords //contained in// shadow tiddlers
<<option chkDisableNonExistingWikiLinks>> Disable automatic WikiWord links for non-existing tiddlers
Disable automatic WikiWord links for words listed in: <<option txtDisableWikiLinksList>>
Disable automatic WikiWord links for tiddlers tagged with: <<option txtDisableWikiLinksTag>>
<<<
!!!!!Revisions
<<<
2008.07.22 [1.6.0] hijack tiddler changed() method to filter disabled wiki words from internal links[] array (so they won't appear in the missing tiddlers list)
2007.06.09 [1.5.0] added configurable txtDisableWikiLinksTag (default value: "excludeWikiWords") to allows selective disabling of automatic WikiWord links for any tiddler tagged with that value.
2006.12.31 [1.4.0] in formatter, test for chkDisableNonExistingWikiLinks
2006.12.09 [1.3.0] in formatter, test for excluded wiki words specified in DisableWikiLinksList
2006.12.09 [1.2.2] fix logic in autoLinkWikiWords() (was allowing links TO shadow tiddlers, even when chkDisableWikiLinks is TRUE).
2006.12.09 [1.2.1] revised logic for handling links in shadow content
2006.12.08 [1.2.0] added hijack of Tiddler.prototype.autoLinkWikiWords so regular (non-bracketed) WikiWords won't be added to the missing list
2006.05.24 [1.1.0] added option to NOT bypass automatic wikiword links when displaying default shadow content (default is to auto-link shadow content)
2006.02.05 [1.0.1] wrapped wikifier hijack in init function to eliminate globals and avoid FireFox 1.5.0.1 crash bug when referencing globals
2005.12.09 [1.0.0] initial release
<<<
!!!!!Code
***/
//{{{
version.extensions.DisableWikiLinksPlugin= {major: 1, minor: 6, revision: 0, date: new Date(2008,7,22)};
if (config.options.chkDisableNonExistingWikiLinks==undefined) config.options.chkDisableNonExistingWikiLinks= false;
if (config.options.chkDisableWikiLinks==undefined) config.options.chkDisableWikiLinks=false;
if (config.options.txtDisableWikiLinksList==undefined) config.options.txtDisableWikiLinksList="DisableWikiLinksList";
if (config.options.chkAllowLinksFromShadowTiddlers==undefined) config.options.chkAllowLinksFromShadowTiddlers=true;
if (config.options.txtDisableWikiLinksTag==undefined) config.options.txtDisableWikiLinksTag="excludeWikiWords";
// find the formatter for wikiLink and replace handler with 'pass-thru' rendering
initDisableWikiLinksFormatter();
function initDisableWikiLinksFormatter() {
for (var i=0; i<config.formatters.length && config.formatters[i].name!="wikiLink"; i++);
config.formatters[i].coreHandler=config.formatters[i].handler;
config.formatters[i].handler=function(w) {
// supress any leading "~" (if present)
var skip=(w.matchText.substr(0,1)==config.textPrimitives.unWikiLink)?1:0;
var title=w.matchText.substr(skip);
var exists=store.tiddlerExists(title);
var inShadow=w.tiddler && store.isShadowTiddler(w.tiddler.title);
// check for excluded Tiddler
if (w.tiddler && w.tiddler.isTagged(config.options.txtDisableWikiLinksTag))
{ w.outputText(w.output,w.matchStart+skip,w.nextMatch); return; }
// check for specific excluded wiki words
var t=store.getTiddlerText(config.options.txtDisableWikiLinksList);
if (t && t.length && t.indexOf(w.matchText)!=-1)
{ w.outputText(w.output,w.matchStart+skip,w.nextMatch); return; }
// if not disabling links from shadows (default setting)
if (config.options.chkAllowLinksFromShadowTiddlers && inShadow)
return this.coreHandler(w);
// check for non-existing non-shadow tiddler
if (config.options.chkDisableNonExistingWikiLinks && !exists)
{ w.outputText(w.output,w.matchStart+skip,w.nextMatch); return; }
// if not enabled, just do standard WikiWord link formatting
if (!config.options.chkDisableWikiLinks)
return this.coreHandler(w);
// just return text without linking
w.outputText(w.output,w.matchStart+skip,w.nextMatch)
}
}
Tiddler.prototype.coreAutoLinkWikiWords = Tiddler.prototype.autoLinkWikiWords;
Tiddler.prototype.autoLinkWikiWords = function()
{
// if all automatic links are not disabled, just return results from core function
if (!config.options.chkDisableWikiLinks)
return this.coreAutoLinkWikiWords.apply(this,arguments);
return false;
}
Tiddler.prototype.disableWikiLinks_changed = Tiddler.prototype.changed;
Tiddler.prototype.changed = function()
{
this.disableWikiLinks_changed.apply(this,arguments);
// remove excluded wiki words from links array
var t=store.getTiddlerText(config.options.txtDisableWikiLinksList,"").readBracketedList();
if (t.length) for (var i=0; i<t.length; i++)
if (this.links.contains(t[i]))
this.links.splice(this.links.indexOf(t[i]),1);
};
//}}}
{{twocolumns{
Astronomers using data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have, for the first time, discovered buckyballs in a solid form in space. Prior to this discovery, the microscopic carbon spheres had been found only in gas form in the cosmos.
Formally named [[buckminsterfullerene|C60: Buckminsterfullerene]], buckyballs are named after their resemblance to the late architect Buckminster Fuller's geodesic domes. They are made up of 60 carbon atoms arranged into a hollow sphere, like a soccer ball. Their unusual structure makes them ideal candidates for electrical and chemical applications on Earth, including superconducting materials, medicines, water purification and armor.
In the latest discovery, scientists using Spitzer detected tiny specks of matter, or particles, consisting of stacked buckyballs. They found the particles around a pair of stars called "XX Ophiuchi," 6,500 light-years from Earth, and detected enough to fill the equivalent in volume to 10,000 Mount Everests.
"These buckyballs are stacked together to form a solid, like oranges in a crate," said Nye Evans of Keele University in England. "The particles we detected are minuscule, far smaller than the width of a hair, but each one would contain stacks of millions of buckyballs."
[[Buckyballs were detected definitively in space for the first time by Spitzer in 2010|NASA telescope finds elusive buckyballs]]. Spitzer later identified the molecules in a host of different cosmic environments. It even found them in staggering quantities, the equivalent in mass to 15 Earth moons, in a nearby galaxy called the Small Magellanic Cloud.
In all of those cases, the molecules were in the form of gas. The recent discovery of buckyballs particles means that large quantities of these molecules must be present in some stellar environments in order to link up and form solid particles. The research team was able to identify the solid form of buckyballs in the Spitzer data because they emit light in a unique way that differs from the gaseous form.
"This exciting result suggests that buckyballs are even more widespread in space than the earlier Spitzer results showed," said Mike Werner, project scientist for Spitzer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. ''"They may be an important form of carbon, [[an essential building block for life|Buckyballs from outer space provided seeds for life on Earth?]], throughout the cosmos."''
Buckyballs have been found on Earth in various forms. They form as a gas from burning candles and exist as solids in certain types of rock, such as the mineral shungite found in Russia, and fulgurite, a glassy rock from Colorado that forms when lightning strikes the ground. In a test tube, the solids take on the form of dark, brown "goo."
"The window Spitzer provides into the infrared universe has revealed beautiful structure on a cosmic scale," said Bill Danchi, Spitzer program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "In yet another surprise discovery from the mission, we're lucky enough to see elegant structure at one of the smallest scales, teaching us about the internal architecture of existence." Source: From ''[[NASA's Spitzer Finds Solid Buckyballs in Space|http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/news/1374-ssc2012-03-NASA-s-Spitzer-Finds-Solid-Buckyballs-in-Space]]''. This work is detailed in the paper [["Solid-phase C60 in the peculiar binary XX Oph?"|http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1745-3933.2012.01213.x/abstract]] by A. Evans, J. Th. van Loon, C. E. Woodward, R. D. Gehrz, G. C. Clayton, L. A. Helton, M. T. Rushton, S. P. S. Eyres, J. Krautter, S. Starrfield, R. M. Wagner.
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created astronomy>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[nano before nanotech]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created fullerene>>
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}}}
<br>Islam Hamad, Othman Al-Hanbali, A. Christy Hunter, Kenneth J. Rutt, Thomas L. Andresen, and S. Moein Moghimi. ''ACS Nano 4 (11), pp 6629–6638 (2010). doi:10.1021/nn101990a''
//Nanoparticles with surface projected polyethyleneoxide (PEO) chains in “mushroom−brush” and “brush” configurations display stealth properties in systemic circulation and have numerous applications in site-specific targeting for controlled drug delivery and release as well as diagnostic imaging. We report on the “structure−activity” relationship pertaining to surface-immobilized PEO of various configurations on model nanoparticles, and the initiation of complement cascade, which is the most ancient component of innate human immunity, and its activation may induce clinically significant adverse reactions in some individuals. Conformational states of surface-projected PEO chains, arising from the block copolymer poloxamine 908 adsorption, on polystyrene nanoparticles trigger complement activation differently. Alteration of copolymer architecture on nanospheres from mushroom to brush configuration not only switches complement activation from C1q-dependent classical to lectin pathway but also reduces the level of generated complement activation products C4d, Bb, C5a, and SC5b-9. Also, changes in adsorbed polymer configuration trigger alternative pathway activation differently and through different initiators. Notably, the role for properdin-mediated activation of alternative pathway was only restricted to particles displaying PEO chains in a transition mushroom−brush configuration. Since nanoparticle-mediated complement activation is of clinical concern, our findings provide a rational basis for improved surface engineering and design of immunologically safer stealth and targetable nanosystems with polymers for use in clinical medicine.//
{{twocolumns{
''Scientific advances often provoke deep concern on the part of the public, especially when these advances challenge strongly held political or moral perspectives''. An American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ project on //[[Improving the Scientific Community’s Understanding of Public Concerns about Science and Technology|http://www.amacad.org/projects/sciUnderstand.aspx]]// examined the ways in which scientists engage with the public, and how their mutual understanding could be improved. Several common themes emerged:
* ''Scientists and the public both share a responsibility for the divide. Scientists and technical experts sometimes take for granted that their work will be viewed as ultimately serving the public good. Members of the public can react viscerally and along ideological lines, but they can also raise important issues that deserve consideration.''
* ''Scientific issues require an “anticipatory approach.”'' A diverse group of stakeholders — research scientists, social scientists, public engagement experts, and skilled communicators — should collaborate early to identify potential scientific controversies and the best method to address resulting public concerns.
* ''Communications solutions differ significantly'' depending on whether a scientific issue has been around for a long time (e.g., how to dispose of nuclear waste) or is relatively new (e.g., the spread of personal genetic information). In the case of longstanding controversies, social scientists may have had the opportunity to conduct research on public views that can inform communication strategies. For emerging technologies, there will be less reliable analysis available of public attitudes.
In //[[Do Scientists Understand the Public?|http://www.amacad.org/publications/scientistsUnderstand.aspx]]//, a new paper based on the Academy study, science journalist Chris Mooney reviews the workshop findings and recommendations. According to Mooney, Scientists and the public often have “very different perceptions of risk, and very different ways of bestowing their trust and judging the credibility of information sources. Perhaps scientists are misunderstanding the public…due to their own quirks, assumptions, and patterns of behavior,” says Mooney. Laypeople, meanwhile, tend to “strain their responses to scientific controversies through their ethical or value systems, as well as through their political or ideological outlooks.”
Complimenting this study, the American Academy will soon release a new volume, Science and the Media. The collection of essays will discuss the roles of scientists, journalists, and public information officers in communicating about science and technology. Source: [[Do Scientists and Engineers Understand the Public?|http://www.amacad.org/news/scientistsPublic.aspx]]
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This video on Science Alberta’s Wonderville.ca site won the 2011 Webby Award for Animation in the Online Film & Video Category. The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. Established in 1996 during the Web's infancy, the Webbys are presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences
"An animated video explaining how small “nano” is to children has surprised everyone by being shortlisted for a huge award from the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.
“Do You Know What Nano Means?” is a short animated video produced by the Science Alberta Foundation and is available on the organization’s website at http://www.wonderville.ca. The online video was designed by an Alberta artist, produced by the Foundation and funded by the Provincial Government’s Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures program.
“This really puts us on the world stage and creates an opportunity to talk about the important ''work we are doing to promote science literacy'',” says Science Alberta CEO, Arlene Ponting, PhD, who is a two-time winner of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada award". Source: [[Alberta not-for-profit is one of five finalists for international Webby Awards for internet excellence|http://www.sciencealberta.org/res/SAF_Webby_Release_Apr2011_FINAL.pdf]]. Homegrown video explaining “nano” to kids competes with Oscar-winners
"Science Alberta Foundation (SAF) is a non-profit organization that is committed to providing quality science learning experiences, to encouraging youth to enter science based careers and to enhancing science awareness and literacy. Since 1990, SAF has been providing engaging resources across Alberta and beyond. Our programs motivate children, youth and families to embrace lifelong science and technology learning. We are helping to create tomorrow’s knowledge workers and instill an appreciation of science in a new generation of Albertans." Source: [[Science Alberta Foundation. About Us|http://www.sciencealberta.org/about/]]
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A new educational video "Does Every Silver Lining Have a Cloud?" featuring the Duke led [[Center for the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology (CEINT)|http://ceint.duke.edu/about-ceint]]. This video focuses on CEINT researchers (among them [[Mark Wiesner|Prize to Mark Wiesner, Pioneer In Environmental Nanotechnology]]) discussing their ''integrated research initiatives which are designed to link fundamental physical and chemical properties of nano-scale materials with their observed biological and ecosystem effects''. This video was filmed by Brad Herring, Director of [[Nanoscale Informal Science Education|http://vimeo.com/nisenet]], Museum of Life and Science, Durham NC. It will be included this year as a DVD in the 2012 [[NanoDays|26 March 2011]] Kits sponsored by the NSF funded Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net), the largest network of museums, informal science educators and researchers in the US, dedicated to fostering public awareness, engagement, and understanding of nanoscale science engineering, and technology. Source: [[Does Every Silver Lining Have a Cloud?|http://ceint.duke.edu/content/does-every-silver-lining-have-cloud]].
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''<<matchTags popup sort:-created context>>'' <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoscience>> ''Don Eigler - Moving Atoms, one-by-one''
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//"[[Feynman|Richard Feynman and Nanotechnology]] set forth his vision of “a new field of physics” on 1959. After that, the talk slipped into relative obscurity. The fame of “Room at the Bottom” did not really take off until the 1990s. Nanoscience was well under way by then, spurred by inventions such as scanning tunneling microscopy and by the constant pressure in computing to get more and more processing and storage capacity out of less and less space. But if Feynman did not start this revolution, he foretold it in remarkably accurate detail. “Without a doubt, Feynman is regarded as not just a demigod but a fully-blown god of physics,” says [[Don Eigler|Positioning single atoms with a scanning tunnelling microscope]], the IBM researcher who in 1989 realized a key element of Feynman’s vision by spelling out the letters “IBM” with individual xenon atoms. Eigler met Feynman just once. But he says he felt a “tremendous affinity” with the physicist “as a result of going back and reading ‘There’s Plenty of Room’ at a point in my career where I could recognize that what I had done in my research was to achieve what he had laid out in goals”// From Symposium ''[[Feynman's Vision: The Next 50 Years|http://www.kavlifoundation.org/science-spotlights/caltech/kavli-futures-symp-nanoscience-sidebr]]''.
<br>//In this work graphene sheets grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) with controlled numbers of layers were used as transparent electrodes in organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices. It was found that for devices with pristine graphene electrodes, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) is comparable to their counterparts with indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes. Nevertheless, the chances for failure in OPVs with pristine graphene electrodes are higher than for those with ITO electrodes, due to the surface wetting challenge between the hole-transporting layer and the graphene electrodes. Various alternative routes were investigated and it was found that AuCl3 doping on graphene can alter the graphene surface wetting properties such that a uniform coating of the hole-transporting layer can be achieved and device success rate can be increased. Furthermore, the doping both improves the conductivity and shifts the work function of the graphene electrode, resulting in improved overall PCE performance of the OPV devices. This work brings us one step further toward the future use of graphene transparent electrodes as a replacement for ITO. //
In 1964, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (1910-1994) became only the second woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The award was made for her pioneering work on two of the most important complex molecular structures solved up to that time using X-ray crystallographic methods: penicillin and vitamin B~~12~~.
While Hodgkin traced her love of chemistry to growing sparkling crystals in school when she was 10 [1], she had a wide range of talents and a broad, eclectic and idiosyncratic education that could have led her into many other professions, including archaeology or the arts. The
child of archaeologists, Hodgkin was home schooled by her mother, Molly Crowfoot, when the family was in Africa and the Middle East. Crowfoot was a talented amateur artist and botanist who became a world authority on Sudanese flowers, ancient textiles and weaving techniques [2]. Hodgkin and her younger sisters were taught to sew, weave, draw, paint and act, activities they pursued into adulthood. They learned botany, archaeology and geology in the field with their parents, and recorded their lessons in reports with pen and watercolor illustrations that show astonishing competence for 10- and 12-year-olds [3]. They learned history similarly by writing their own illustrated books [4], and Hodgkin also wrote and illustrated stories for her sisters.
Hodgkin missed out on the usual foundations in mathematics and languages that her intellectual peers in preparatory schools received, and she only partially made up for it in her teenage years at school in England. The result was a mind later described by her coworkers as neither mathematical nor symbolic, but unusually strong in three-dimensional pattern recognition, imaging and mapping [5]. Hodgkin's talents in these areas were developed further by the technical illustrations she did for her father in her late teen years. Her specialty appears to have been mosaics, whose depictions required her to analyze and accurately record the underlying repetitions within their patterns. From this activity, Hodgkin learned the fundamental principles of two-dimensional symmetries. In a year in Jerusalem (1929) between leaving school and entering Oxford, these insights about structure began to crystallize into formal knowledge: "I began to think of the restraints imposed by two-dimensional order in a plane" [6]. The drawings she began for her father that summer were eventually completed and published (see Article Frontispiece) [7] during her years as a chemistry major at Oxford, where she began to think about the restraints imposed by 3D orders in space as well. She pursued these interests by drawing, photographing and analyzing other forms of art as well, including Celtic knots she observed at the British Museum, Byzantine decoration in Ravenna and church architecture in Spain [8].
Art remained an important, if subsidiary, avocation throughout Hodgkin's life. She learned new techniques for accurately recording crystal structures [9], and took joy in transforming X-ray data into structural pictures. In one letter to her parents written during her years as a graduate student at Cambridge, she remarked, "It really is a relief to have the chemical work mixed up with so much drawing" [10]. During this period, she also went on weekend painting expeditions with the biologists C.H. Waddington and Robin Hill [11]. Her son, Luke Hodgkin, reports that she continued to draw and paint on holiday throughout her life, but rarely finished anything [12]. A severe case of rheumatoid arthritis [13] undoubtedly interfered. What she finished instead were stunning images of natural structures too small for the naked eye to perceive - surely a form of art as creative and inspiring as the mosaics, Celtic knots and architectural innovations she recorded in her earlier years.
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''References''
^^1. E. Ferry, //Dorothy Hodgkin: A Life// (Cold Spring Harbor, NY: Cold Spring Harbor Press, 1998) p. 8.
2. Ferry [1] pp. 15-35.
3. Hodgkin supplementary material, shelfmarks A16-18, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.
4. Hodgkin [3] shelfmarks A12-15.
5. Ferry [1] pp. 244, 254, 310, 312.
6. Ferry [1] p. 39.
7. J.W. Crowfoot, //Churches at Jerash//
(London: British School of Archeology in Jerusalem, Supplementary Papers 3, 1931).
8. Ferry [1] pp. 69, 80, 118.
9. Ferry [1] p. 68.
10. Ferry [1] p. 66.
11. Ferry [1] pp. 98-99.
12. Luke Hodgkin, personal communication, 23 November 2005.
13. Ferry [1] pp. 177-179.
14. Crowfoot [7]^^
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ROBERT ROOT-BERNSTEIN
Department of Physiology
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
U.S.A.
E-mail: <rootbern@msu.edu>
''Source:'' [[DOROTHY CROWFOOT HODGKIN: STRUCTURE AS ART|http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/leon.2007.40.3.259?prevSearch=allfield%253A%2528nano%2529&searchHistoryKey=]]. June 2007, Vol. 40, No. 3, Pages 259-261 © 2007 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Post by permision of Roger Malina
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[[DragonflyTV|http://www.pbs.org/parents/dragonflytv/about_program.html?anchor=1]] is a PBS science series for children, broadcast nationwide and on the internet.
[[DragonflyTV|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DragonflyTV]] models authentic science inquiry through its unique approach: In each episode, ordinary kids conduct their own inquiry-based investigations, modeling the inquiry process and communicating the infectious enthusiasm that comes with making their own discoveries. The new season of six half hours focused entirely on nanoscience and nanotechnology.
''[[“DragonflyTV Nano”|http://pbskids.org/dragonflytv/nano/]] is the first television science series to explore this challenging subject area''. Based in recent research into how to teach basic concepts in nanoscience at the middle-school level, the series follows a designed scope and sequence.
The seminar present previews of the new series and describe the production process, as well as the companion educational materials.
Presenters include Dr. Richard Hudson, Executive Producer; Dr. Lisa Regalla, Science Editor, and Joan Freese, Editor of Publications. More information, including a list of partners and the subjects covered in the series, can be found at: http://www.dftvpress.org.
[[A selection of videos can be viewed online|http://www.tpt.org/dragonflytv/nano/nano_video_promo.php]]. Source: ''[[DragonflyTV Nano – Using the Power of Television to Introduce Middle School Children to Nanotechnology|http://nanohub.org/resources/6123]]''
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/nanopodium.png" title="Screenshot of Nanopodium" width="95%" class="photo"/></html>The Committee Societal Dialogue Nanotechnology (CieMDN) recently offered its final report: “Responsibly onwards with nanotechnology; findings March 2009-January 2011,” to the Dutch government. State secretary Atsma (Infrastructure and Environment) promised to discuss it with the Second Chamber of Parliament on 17 February and that the government would give a public reaction in due course.
Thematic conclusions are:
1) For the application domains of nanotechnology that interest Dutch citizens – health, food, personal care, security and privacy, it is important that citizens remain well-informed about the latest state of the art. Citizens are more in favour of sound information than avoiding risks.
2) Openness about the risks of nanotechnology is an important element of holding a sensible dialogue on nanotechnology, whether or not it is inspired by certain events or interest groups. The better the process of information, the more confident citizens are.
3) In the dialogue the potential contribution of nanotechnology to realising the UN millennium goals has not been discussed sufficiently and needs more attention.
4) Developing educational packages made by experienced organisations and teachers is suitable for informing groups of young people about nanotechnology.
Conclusions regarding the types of activities: informing, awareness raising and dialogue:
1) Up-to-date information on nanotechnology should continue to get attention. Complex issues can also be treated in this information supply (a.o. by Kennislink www.kennislink.nl ). Young people are eager to learn about nanotechnology.
2) Information supply on nanotechnology should be combined with activities for forming and exchanging opinions.
3) Art projects are suitable for stimulating awareness on nanotechnology, but especially to stimulate thinking about nanotechnology in a broad audience.
4) Dialogues should be held in small scale meetings like focus groups or workshops and not in internet forums or panels.
Preconditions for a successful dialogue:
1) In the dialogue discussion of concrete nanoproducts should be highlighted (rather than nanotechnology in general). Concrete products give best rise to personal and societal questions among participants.
2) “Vignetten” (short scenarios) are a good means for raising “soft impacts” of nanotechnology.
3) It is important that groups with different value-orientations are engaged in the dialogue. These different backgrounds enrich the dialogue in views and opinions and contribute to more nuanced formation of opinions.
4) It is important that all stakeholders are engaged in the development of and dialogue on nanotechnology. The different interests should be balanced to ensure exchange and further deepening of views and opinions. Source: [[Nanoforum - Dutch Nanodialogue concluded|http://www.nanoforum.org/nf06~modul~showmore~folder~99999~scc~news~scid~4190~.html?action=longview]]. More information: http://www.nanopodium.nl
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''The purpose of this review was to determine how effectively the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is managing the human health and environmental risks of nanomaterials.''
Nanomaterials are currently used in a wide variety of applications, including consumer products, health care, transportation, energy, and agriculture. The Agency considers nanomaterials as chemical substances that are controlled at the scale of approximately one-billionth of a meter. EPA has the authority, through several environmental statutes, to regulate nanomaterials. Although the development of nanomaterials and nanomaterial-enhanced products is expanding rapidly, the health implications of nanomaterials have not yet been determined.
''We found that EPA does not currently have sufficient information or processes to effectively manage the human health and environmental risks of nanomaterials''. EPA has the statutory authority to regulate nanomaterials but currently lacks the environmental and human health exposure and toxicological data to do so effectively. [[The Agency proposed a policy|Controversial regulation?]] under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to identify new pesticides being registered with nanoscale materials. After minimal industry participation in a voluntary data collection program, the Agency has proposed mandatory reporting rules for nanomaterials under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, and is also developing proposed rules under the Toxic Substances Control Act.
However, even if mandatory reporting rules are approved, the effectiveness of EPA’s management of nanomaterials remains in question for a number of reasons:
* Program offices do not have a formal process to coordinate the dissemination and utilization of the potentially mandated information.
* EPA is not communicating an overall message to external stakeholders regarding policy changes and the risks of nanomaterials.
* EPA proposes to regulate nanomaterials as chemicals and its success in managing nanomaterials will be linked to the existing limitations of those applicable statutes.
* EPA’s management of nanomaterials is limited by lack of risk information and reliance on industry-submitted data.
These issues present significant barriers to effective nanomaterial management when combined with existing resource challenges. If EPA does not improve its internal processes and develop a clear and consistent stakeholder communication process, the Agency will not be able to assure that it is effectively managing nanomaterial risks.
''What We Recommend:'' We recommend that the Assistant Administrator for Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention develop a process to assure effective dissemination and coordination of nanomaterial information across relevant program offices. The Agency agreed with our recommendation and provided a corrective action plan with milestone dates. This recommendation is open with agreed-to actions pending. Source: [[EPA Needs to Manage Nanomaterial Risks More Effectively|http://www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2012/20121229-12-P-0162_glance.pdf]]. At a Glance. The review is detailed in the report [[EPA Needs to Manage Nanomaterials More Effectively|http://www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2012/20121229-12-P-0162.pdf]] by the Office of Inspector General, December 29, 2011
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With the expected increase in the applications of nanotechnology, there is an urgent need to identify what can be considered as a nanomaterial by clear unequivocal descriptions. This need to identify a nanomaterial comes from the uncertainty regarding safety evaluation and the risk assessment of nanomaterials. As a result, the SCENIHR (Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks) was invited to provide advice on the essential scientific elements of an overarching working definition for the term “nanomaterial” for regulatory purposes. The scientific opinion concluded that:
- Whereas physical and chemical properties of materials may change with size, there is no scientific justification for a single upper and lower size limit associated with these changes that can be applied to adequately define all nanomaterials.
- There is scientific evidence that no single methodology (or group of tests) can be applied to all nanomaterials.
- Size is universally applicable to define all nanomaterials and is the most suitable measurand. Moreover, an understanding of the size distribution of a nanomaterial is essential and the number size distribution is the most relevant consideration.
In order to define an enforceable definition of “nanomaterial” for regulatory use it is proposed to set an upper limit for nanomaterial size and to add to the proposed limit additional guidance (requirements) specific for the intended regulation. Crucial in the guidance that needs to be provided is the extended description of relevant criteria to characterise the nanoscale. Merely defining single upper and lower cut-off limits is not sufficient in view of the size distributions occurring in manufactured nanomaterials. Alternatively, a tiered approach may be required depending on the amount of information known for any specifically manufactured nanomaterial and its proposed use.
The scientific opinion recognises however that specific circumstances regarding risk assessment for regulatory purposes for certain areas and applications may require the adaptation of any overarching definition.
It should be stressed that '''nanomaterial' is a categorization of a material by the size of its constituent parts''. It neither implies a specific risk, nor does it necessarily mean that this material actually has new hazard properties compared to its constituent parts or larger sized counterparts. Source: From [[Opinion on the scientific basis for the definition of the term “nanomaterial”|http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/emerging/docs/scenihr_o_032.pdf]]. SCENIHR
See also [[About the definition of nanomaterials]]
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The European Food Safety Authority has published a guidance document for the risk assessment of engineered nanomaterial (ENM) applications in food and feed. The guidance is the work of the Authority’s Scientific Committee and is the first of its kind ''to give practical guidance for addressing potential risks arising from applications of nanoscience and nanotechnologies in the food and feed chain''. The guidance covers risk assessments for food and feed applications including food additives, enzymes, flavourings, food contact materials, novel foods, feed additives and pesticides.
The EFSA guidance, prepared in response to a request from the European Commission, sets out the considerations for risk assessment of ENM that may arise from their specific characteristics and properties. Importantly, the ENM guidance complements existing guidance documents for substances and products submitted for risk assessment in view of their possible authorisation in food and feed. It stipulates the additional data needed for the physical and chemical characterisation of ENM in comparison with conventional applications and outlines different toxicity testing approaches to be followed by applicants.
Commenting on the publication of the EFSA guidance, Professor Vittorio Silano, Chair of EFSA’s Scientific Committee explained, “A thorough characterisation of the engineered nanomaterials followed by adequate toxicity testing is essential for the risk assessment of these applications. Yet we recognise uncertainties related to the suitability of certain existing test methodologies and the availability of data for ENM applications in food and feed. The guidance makes recommendations about how risk assessments should reflect these uncertainties for food and feed applications.”
To assist with the practical use of the guidance, six scenarios are presented which outline different toxicity testing approaches. For each scenario, the guidance indicates the type of testing required.
EFSA conducted a public consultation on its preparatory work, acknowledging the importance of developing risk assessment methodologies in this field to support innovation whilst ensuring the safety of food and feed. In total 256 comments were received from 36 organisations spanning from academia, NGOs, industry to Member State and international authorities. All of these contributions were considered and incorporated into the guidance document where appropriate.
''Risk assessment of engineered nanomaterials is under fast development'' and consequently, in keeping with EFSA’s commitment to review its guidance for risk assessment on an ongoing basis, this work will be revised as appropriate.
- ''[[Guidance on the risk assessment of the application of nanoscience and nanotechnologies in the food and feed chain|http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/2140.htm]]''
- [[Outcome of the public consultation on the draft scientific opinion on Guidance on risk assessment concerning potential risks arising from applications of nanoscience and nanotechnologies to food and feed|http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/supporting/pub/126e.htm]]
Source: [[EFSA publishes first practical guidance for assessing nano applications in food & feed|http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/sc110510.htm]]
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[[Early Warning|http://www.earlywarninginc.com]] displayed its Biohazard Water Analyzer which offers the ''next generation in microbial testing''. Using a unique combination of advanced technologies, the Analyzer ''goes beyond lab culturing of indicator coliforms and directly measures individual species of pathogenic bacteria, protozoa and viruses in the same test.''
The Analyzer employs a revolutionary nanotechnology-based biosensor exclusively [[licensed from NASA|http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2008/08_45AR.html]]'s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., and an on-board concentrator that processes a 10-liter water sample. The sample-to-report time is between 2 and 3 hours, and it allows rapid prevention measures to be enacted. There is no need for time-intensive processes like transporting a water sample to the lab or Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The Analyzer can be used as a transportable testing device or as a sensor node in a fully automated field sensor network.
"Biohazard outbreaks from pathogens and infectious diseases are responsible for the bulk of the 18.4 million deaths worldwide from communicable diseases estimated by the World Health Organization," said [[Neil Gordon, Early Warning's CEO|http://www.earlywarninginc.com/management.php]]. "Outbreaks occur every day in the U.S. and throughout the world from E.coli bacteria, Giardia and Cryptosporidium protozoan parasites, Vibrio cholerae bacteria (cholera), Plasmodium parasites (malaria), Salmonella bacteria, Avian Influenza virus, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis viruses, Norovirus (Norwalk virus), Mycobacterim tubercolosis bacteria, MRSA superbugs, and hundreds of other microorganisms that can take days, weeks or months to properly identify and find the source. The key to preventing major outbreaks is frequent and comprehensive testing for each suspected pathogen, as most occurrences of pathogens are not detected until after people get sick or die."
[[Early Warning's Biohazard Water Analyzer|http://www.earlywarninginc.com/technologies.php]] was designed to meet the needs of water security professionals. An ultrafiltration concentrator condenses pathogens for each test from a 10-liter water sample instead of using a conventional 100-milliliter grab sample. Not only will a bigger sample size provide a better composite of pathogens in the water, it also has a much greater chance of capturing highly infectious protozoa and viruses typically found in very low concentrations. Magnetic beads coated with antibodies are used to separate target pathogens from harmless heterotrophic bacteria that can interfere with detection.
The concentrate is divided into two parts with the first sample being lysed and prepared to feed single strand of RNA to the biosensors for detection. The biosensors contain probes of single strands of nucleic acid for each pathogen type to be detected. If an exact match exists, double helixes are formed and give off electrical signals when voltage is applied to indicate the presence specific pathogens. The second sample is fed nutrients and heat to allow viable cells to begin reproducing. This allows the Analyzer to also detect increased signals from the presence of viable cells. The test results are then transmitted to operators through wired or wireless communications systems.
"NASA initially developed the [[biosensor technology|http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/20860/]] to find a better way to detect specific bacteria and viruses in space missions without using a full scale laboratory and time-consuming amplification techniques," said [[Dr. Meyya Meyyappan|http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/research/2009/Meyya_Meyyappan.html]], chief scientist for exploration technology and former director of the [[Center for Nanotechnology|http://www.ipt.arc.nasa.gov/]] at Ames. "I am very impressed with the fully automated detection system that Early Warning has built around NASA's carbon nanotube-based technology, by employing a concentrator, microfluidics and other technologies that delivery a complete solution ready to be used by industry. "Our continued work with Early Warning has transitioned into a new generation of low cost biosensors to form a front line of defense against the transmission of deadly pathogens to safeguard our citizens in the U.S. and others around the world," added Meyyappan.
The Biohazard Water Analyzer will be released in the second half of 2009. Pre-release Beta systems are currently undergoing field testing in various sites and water systems. Early Warning and NASA have also entered into a Space Act Agreement to develop sensor applications for food and human safety. Source: [[Early Warning's Biohazard Water Analyzer Employs NASA's Nanotechnology-based Biosensor|http://eworldwire.com/pressreleases/19504]]. Transportable testing device cuts sample-to-report time to less than a handful of hours
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Atherosclerosis is characterized by hardening and thickening of artery walls, with serious health consequences. Researchers at TU/e have ''imaged the stages in the calcification at a nanometer scale. The growth of hardening follows almost the same process as bone or tooth formation.''
The images made by researcher [[Nico Sommerdijk|http://w3.chem.tue.nl/nl/people_pages/?script=showemp.php&pid=2826]] (Laboratory of Materials and Interface Chemistry, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry) and his team resolve a long-standing dispute. As long ago as 1965, Aaron S. Posner suggested how the calcification - the formation of calcium phosphate – in a biological environment takes place, although this met with considerable resistance at the time, Sommerdijk explains.
However, his observations now confirm Posner’s 45-year-old idea. Calcium and phosphate ions dissolved in the blood are not deposited directly as crystalline material on the artery wall, but first pass through an intermediate phase. In this phase they first form prenucleation clusters, followed by amorphous nanoparticles measuring approximately 50 nanometers (1 nanometer is a millionth of a millimeter). Only then does crystallization occur, causing hardening of the artery wall. The researchers hope that this understanding will be used to develop new forms of treatment for atherosclerosis.
Sommerdijk has already showed that the process of shell growth and bone formation takes place in the same way as atherosclerosis. //“It seems that all mineralization systems in living beings take place in the same way. And there are increasing indications that it works similarly everywhere”//, says Sommerdijk. Source: [[Early phase of atherosclerosis imaged|http://w3.tue.nl/en/news/news_article/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=10159&tx_ttnews[backPid]=361&cHash=227b254dc7]]. This work is detailed in the paper [[The role of prenucleation clusters in surface-induced calcium phosphate crystallization|http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nmat2900.html#a1]] by Archan Dey, Paul H. H. Bomans, Frank A. Müller, Julia Will, Peter M. Frederik, Gijsbertus de With & Nico A. J. M. Sommerdijk<<slider chkSldr [[The role of prenucleation clusters in surface-induced calcium phosphate crystallization]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
See also: [[Human-derived nanoparticles are causal to arterial disease processes]]
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<br>//We describe monocrystalline graphitic films, which are a few atoms thick but are nonetheless stable under ambient conditions, metallic, and of remarkably high quality. The films are found to be a two-dimensional semimetal with a tiny overlap between valence and conductance bands, and they exhibit a strong ambipolar electric field effect such that electrons and holes in concentrations up to 1013 per square centimeter and with room-temperature mobilities of 10,000 square centimeters per volt-second can be induced by applying gate voltage.//
<br>Q. He, Y. -H. Chu, J. T. Heron, S. Y. Yang, W. I. Liang, C.Y. Kuo, H. J. Lin, P. Yu, C. W. Liang, R. J. Zeches, W. C. Kuo, J. Y. Juang, C. T. Chen, E. Arenholz, A. Scholl & R. Ramesh. ''Nature Communications (2011) Volume: 2, Article number: 225 doi:10.1038/ncomms1221''
//Magnetoelectrics and multiferroics present exciting opportunities for electric-field control of magnetism. However, there are few room-temperature ferromagnetic-ferroelectrics. Among the various types of multiferroics the bismuth ferrite system has received much attention primarily because both the ferroelectric and the antiferromagnetic orders are quite robust at room temperature. Here we demonstrate the emergence of an enhanced spontaneous magnetization in a strain-driven rhombohedral and super-tetragonal mixed phase of BiFeO3. Using X-ray magnetic circular dichroism-based photoemission electron microscopy coupled with macroscopic magnetic measurements, we find that the spontaneous magnetization of the rhombohedral phase is significantly enhanced above the canted antiferromagnetic moment in the bulk phase, as a consequence of a piezomagnetic coupling to the adjacent tetragonal-like phase and the epitaxial constraint. Reversible electric-field control and manipulation of this magnetic moment at room temperature is also shown.//
Bombarding DNA nucleotides and mammalian meat with ‘femto-neutrons’ has opened up the path to femtomedicine, an entirely new cancer diagnostics, it was reported at [[First Global Congress on NanoEngineering for Medicine and Biology|http://www.asmeconferences.org/nemb2010/]]. ''Femto-neutrons or ‘femtons’ are fast neutrons of femto-meter wave-length, a million times shorter than the current nanotechnology medical diagnostic probes that operate on nanometer scale''. In the first experiment of the kind, a collaboration of California Science & Engineering Corp. ([[CALSEC|http://www.calseco.com/]]) and University of California, Irvine ([[UCI|http://www.uci.edu/]]) College of Medicine, was able to detect oxygen differences as tiny as 1 atom of oxygen per molecule, one foot away, it is claimed. Since ‘hypoxic’ cancerous tumors contain 50% to 90% less oxygen than healthy tissue, if you find an oxygen difference between a tumor and the adjacent healthy tissue – you have diagnosed cancer! The principle is named ‘Differential Femto Oximetry’ or DFO, and the patented diagnostic probe ‘Oncosensor’. “We are ready to test DFO in vivo using double blind animal trials at our center”, said co-author [[Orhan Nalcioglu|http://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=2082]], Professor and Director of the Center for Functional Onco Imaging of the UCI College of Medicine, which specializes in evaluation of diagnostic devices.
''“Oncosensor’s mission is to provide needleless biopsy with negligible ‘ false negatives’ that is a quantum leap over the current technologies''. It should facilitate an early warning, walk-in, painless, instant cancer diagnosis from outside the body, without intravenous fluid” - says Dr. Bogdan Maglich, CALSEC’s Chief Technology Officer and the developer of the core technology that was originally used for defense, one of “50 Champions of Innovation” elected by Fast Company Magazine. The Oncosensor is not an imager. It will be used in tandem with any one of the imaging systems that have achieved very high sensitivity, almost 98%, in detecting tumors; but have a low ‘specificity’, about 70%, in differentiating healthy from malignant ones, thus missing an unacceptably large number of malignancies. CALSEC scientists predict Oncosensor’s specificity will reach 98%, which is equal to or better than the surgical biopsy. This will be accomplished by making patients inhale ‘carbogen’, an oxygen enriched gas, the authors claim. Dr. Nisar Syed, Chancellor of American College of Radiation Oncology emphasized:”Oncosensor has the potential to significantly improve the eradication of malignant tumors by hyperthermia, the heat treatment by pointing to the least oxygenated tissue.”
“The method has also the potential for the forewarning of stroke, Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular diseases which, too, are marked by oxygen change,” says co-author Dr. Anna Radovic, a molecular biologist. Source: [[EMERGENCE OF “FEMTOMEDICINE”- NEW FRONTIER OF BIOMED SCIENCES - REPORTED AT FIRST GLOBAL CONGRESS ON NANO MEDICINE|http://www.calseco.com/]]. More information in the [[presentation|http://www.calseco.com/index_files/DrMaglich_Presentation.pdf]] by [[Dr. Bogdan C. Maglich|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdan_Maglich]]
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Biophotons, or ultraweak photon emissions of biological systems, are weak electromagnetic waves in the optical range of the spectrum (i.e. light). All living cells of plants, animals and humans emit biophotons which cannot be seen by the naked eye but can be measured by special equipment. Living cells spontaneously emit ultraweak light during the process of metabolic reactions associated with their physiological states. Neural cells also continuously emit biophotons during their natural metabolism.
In this paper, we argue that, ''in addition to electrical and chemical signals propagating in the neurons of the brain, signal propagation takes place in the form of biophoton production. This statement is supported by recent experimental confirmation of photon guiding properties of a single neuron''. We have reviewed the mechanism of biophoton production in the neurons and investigated the interaction of biophotons with biomolecules from a quantum mechanical point of view. It appears that the role of biophotons in the neurons of the brain is very important. A significant relationship between the fluctuation function of biomolecules (due to the emission and absorption of biophotons) and alpha-EEG diagrams is elaborated on in this paper. Source: [[Emission of Biophotons and Neural Activity of the Brain|http://arxiv.org/abs/1012.3371]] by Majid Rahnama, Istvan Bokkon, Jack Tuszynski, Michal Cifra, Peyman Sardar, Vahid Salari. arXiv:1012.3371v1
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/nanospider.jpg" title="This nanospider machine is used to spin the fiber that deliver antibiotics to disable disease-producing bacteria and fungi. Credit: Elmarco s.r.o." class="photo" width="30%"/></html>''Encapsulating antibiotics inside nanofibers, like a mummy inside a sarcophagus, gives them the amazing ability to destroy drug-resistant bacteria'' so completely that scientists described the remains as mere “ghosts,” according to a report at the meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).
Mohamed H. El-Newehy, Ph.D., leader of the nanofibers research team, said the new technology has potentially important applications in the on-going battle against antibiotic-resistant infections. Estimates suggest that more than 100,000 people in the United States alone develop such infections each year, with nearly 20,000 deaths. Health care costs from those infections may exceed $20 billion annually.
''“The rapid emergence of bacteria resistant to commonly used antibiotics has become a serious public health problem,” said El-Newehy''. “There is an urgent need to identify new antibiotics that work in different ways that can overcome resistance. ''Our approach is not a new antibiotic, but a new way of delivering existing antibiotics.”''
That approach, El-Newehy explained, could make new treatments available to patients much faster than trying to discover and develop brand-new medicines, a process that typically takes 10-12 years and costs $800 million to almost $2 billion. It could be used against a broad range of bacteria to fight disease, prevent bacterial and fungal contamination in the food industry, inhibit the growth of microorganisms in drinking water and enhance the effects of chemotherapy, he added.
It involves putting common antibiotics inside nanofibers made of polyvinyl alcohol and polyethylene oxide — wisps of plastic-like material so small that peach hair or a strand of spider silk are gigantic by comparison. Nanofibers can’t even be seen under a regular microscope, and almost a billion could be lined up side-by-side along the length of a yard stick.
El-Newehy’s group knew that nanofibers have special properties due to their high surface area to weight ratio. Those properties have kindled research on multiple biomedical applications nanofibers, including wound dressings, medical textiles, antibacterial materials to control post-operative inflammation, and new ways of delivering drugs. They decided to test the effects of nanofibers with multiple antibiotics encapsulated directly into fiber, using laboratory cultures of various microbes. Antibiotics wrapped inside nanofibers were highly effective in killing a variety of disease causing bacteria and fungi, including E. coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, two increasingly drug-resistant microbes.
“When treated with antibiotics wrapped in nanofibers, the microbes were severely damaged and many cells were enlarged, elongated, fragmented, or left as just empty ghosts,” El-Newehy said. “The fibers by themselves, without antibiotic did not affect the bacteria. They seem to work by boosting the power of the antibiotics. By wrapping the anti-microbial agents in the fibers, it makes the drug action more focused and the agents are effective for longer period of time than with conventional delivery techniques.”
El-Newehy, with the Petrochemical Research Chair, Department of Chemistry College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, said that besides drug delivery, nanofibers are being used for tissue engineering, wound dressing, medical textiles and antimicrobial materials that can be used to control post-operative inflammation, promote wound healing and dressing, especially for diabetic ulcers.
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<html><img title="From photosynthesis to artificial photosynthesis" src="http://solarfuelshub.org/_media/phototoart.png" width="95%"/>
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As part of a broad effort to achieve breakthrough innovations in energy production, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy [[Daniel Poneman|http://www.energy.gov/organization/daniel_poneman.htm]] announced an award of up to $122 million over five years to a multidisciplinary team of top scientists to ''establish an Energy Innovation Hub aimed at developing revolutionary methods to generate fuels directly from sunlight''.
The [[Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP)|http://solarfuelshub.org/]], to be led by the [[California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech)|http://www.caltech.edu/]] in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy's [[Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)|http://www.lbl.gov/]], will bring together leading researchers in an ''ambitious effort aimed at simulating nature's photosynthetic apparatus for practical energy production''. The goal of the Hub is to develop an integrated solar energy-to-chemical fuel conversion system and move this system from the bench-top discovery phase to a scale where it can be commercialized.
JCAP research will be directed at the discovery of the functional components necessary to assemble a complete artificial photosynthetic system: light absorbers, catalysts, molecular linkers, and separation membranes. The Hub will then integrate those components into an operational solar fuel system and develop scale-up strategies to ''move from the laboratory toward commercial viability''. The ultimate objective is to drive the field of solar fuels from fundamental research, where it has resided for decades, into applied research and technology development, thereby setting the stage for the creation of a direct solar fuels industry.
The Hub will be directed by [[Nathan S. Lewis|http://nsl.caltech.edu/nslewis]], Cal Tech. Other members of the Hub leadership team include: [[Bruce Brunschwig|http://mmrc.caltech.edu/BB/Bruce%20S.%20Brunschwig%20page.html]] (Cal Tech), [[Peidong Yang|http://chem.berkeley.edu/faculty/yang/index.php]] (UC Berkeley/Berkeley Lab), and [[Harry Atwater|http://www.aph.caltech.edu/people/atwater_h.html]] (Cal Tech). In addition to the major partners, Cal Tech and Berkeley Lab, other participating institutions include [[SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory|http://www.slac.stanford.edu/]], Stanford, California; the [[University of California, Berkeley|http://www.berkeley.edu/]]; the [[University of California, Santa Barbara|http://www.ucsb.edu/]]; the [[University of California, Irvine|http://www.uci.edu/]]; and the [[University of California, San Diego|http://www.ucsd.edu/]].
Learn more information on the [[Hubs|http://www.energy.gov/hubs/index.htm]]. Source: From ''[[Caltech-led Team Gets up to $122 Million for Energy Innovation Hub|http://media.caltech.edu/press_releases/13365]]''. Caltech will partner with Lawrence Berkeley Nat. Lab. and other CA institutions to develop method to produce fuels from sunlight
In response to the announcement, Berkeley Lab director [[Paul Alivisatos|http://www.cchem.berkeley.edu/pagrp/paulbio.html]], an authority on nanocrystals for solar energy applications and founder of the [[Helios: Solar Energy Research Center|http://www.lbl.gov/LBL-Programs/helios-serc/index.html]], said, “In order to replace fossil fuels, we need to get a lot more proficient at harvesting sunlight and converting it into forms of energy that can be used for transportation and other human needs. [[Nature provides a model solution to this problem through photosynthesis|Creating Energy from Sunlight]]. We want to emulate this process but do it with artificial materials that could be much more efficient and use much less land. The ultimate goal would be to deploy an artificial photosynthetic system across a large geographical area, at a level of efficiency that could provide the United States with a significant alternative fuel source.” Source: From ''[[Berkeley Lab Part of California Team to Receive up to $122 million for Energy Innovation Hub to Develop Method to Produce Fuels from Sunlight|http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2010/07/22/energy-innovation-hub/]]''
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Researchers from companies and institutions around the world converge on PNNL's campus to discuss the newest battery technology and breakthroughs that could make electric vehicles more affordable and reliable.
At the 4th Symposium on Energy Storage: Beyond Lithium Ion, researchers present their findings and discuss their importance to batteries of the future.
"Our goal as researchers is to develop batteries that use materials that are more common and affordable, for the next generation of vehicles," said Jason Zhang, PNNL scientist and conference co-chair. ''"Today's hybrid and plug-in vehicles use lithium ion batteries that perform well, but are still heavy and expensive,"'' he said. Zhang will present research on ''a new kind of battery technology, called lithium-air, which uses air as one of the electrodes''. Source: From ''4th Symposium on Energy Storage: Beyond Lithium Ion''. [[International experts converge at PNNL to go beyond lithium ion battery technology|http://www.pnnl.gov/news/release.aspx?id=868]]
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<html><object width="100%" height="268"><param name="movie" value="http://www.scivee.tv/flash/embedCast.swf" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="flashvars" value="id=27419&type=2" /><embed src="http://www.scivee.tv/flash/embedCast.swf" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="always" width="100%" height="268" flashvars="id=27419&type=2"></embed></object></html>How PNNL scientists made better materials for batteries with metal oxide and graphene, components that assemble on their own into durable nanocomposites. The video is based on a PNNL paper published in ACS Nano that became one of the top cited articles of 2010.
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''Another set of experiments show the promise of nanoparticles and carbon nanostructures as efficient vehicles for cancer treatment''. Cisplatin was incorporated inside single-wall carbon nanohorns with holes opened by a nanoprecipitation method that involved dispersion of cisplatine and the nanostructures in a solvent followed by the solvent evaporation. The incorporated cisplatin quantity increased from the previously reported value of 15 to 46%, and the total released quantity of cisplatine also increased from 60 to 100% by changing the solvent from dimethylformamide to water. Concurrently, in vitro anticancer efficiency increased to 46 times greater than that of the free cisplatine.
In vivo, cisplatine vehiculized by the carbon nanohorn intratumorally injected to transplanted tumors of mice suppressed the tumor growth more than the intact cisplatin. Adhesion of the nanostructure to the the cell surfaces in vitro and within the tumor tissues in vivo is probably the key in the observed effects.
[img[http://pubs.acs.org/isubscribe/journals/ancac3/asap/thumb/nn-2008-00395t_t0008.jpg]] However, the carbon nanohorns show also cytotoxicity, what may on one side increase the toxicity of the conjugated drug but also result in undesired toxic side effects due to the inherent toxicity of carbon nanotubes, fullerenes and their derivates.
Source: [[Enhancement of In Vivo Anticancer Effects of Cisplatin by Incorporation Inside Single-Wall Carbon Nanohorns|http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/ancac3/asap/abs/nn800395t.html]] by Kumiko Ajima, Tatsuya Murakami, Yoshikazu Mizoguchi, Kunihiro Tsuchida, Toshinari Ichihashi, Sumio Iijima, and Masako Yudasaka. See also [[Cisplatin and Carbon Nanotubes]]
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<br>Xanthe Spindler, Oliver Hofstetter, Andrew M. McDonagh, Claude Roux and Chris Lennard. 2011. ''Chemical Communications doi:10.1039/C0CC05748G''
//Enantioselective anti-L-amino acid antibodies conjugated to gold nanoparticles are shown to facilitate the detection of latent fingermarks by interacting with amino acids present in friction ridge secretions. This antibody-based system is particularly effective for the enhancement of aged and dried fingermarks on non-porous surfaces, an area unexploited by current techniques.//
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" title="In this atomic force microscopy topography image of a special mixed phase bismuth ferrite sample, red and green shaded areas indicate two sets of mixed phase regions oriented at 90 degrees to each other. (Image from Ramesh group)" src="img/bismuth_ferrite_sample.jpg" width="50%"/></a></html>“The nation that controls magnetism will control the universe,” famed fictional detective Dick Tracy predicted back in 1935. Probably an overstatement, but there’s little doubt the nation that leads the development of advanced magnetoelectronic or “spintronic” devices is going to have a serious leg-up on its Information Age competition. A smaller, faster and cheaper way to store and transfer information is the spintronic grand prize and a key to winning this prize is understanding and controlling a multiferroic property known as “spontaneous magnetization.”
Now, researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have been able to enhance spontaneous magnetization in special versions of the popular multiferroic material bismuth ferrite. What’s more, they can turn this magnetization “on/off” through the application of an external electric field, a critical ability for the advancement of spintronic technology.
“Taking a novel approach, we’ve created a new magnetic state in bismuth ferrite along with the ability to electrically control this magnetism at room temperature,” says [[Ramamoorthy Ramesh|http://www.lbl.gov/msd/investigators/investigators_all/ramesh_investigator.html]], a materials scientist with Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division, who led this research. Source: From [[Enhancing the Magnetism: Berkeley Researchers Find Enhanced and Controllable Magnetization in Unique Bismuth Ferrite Films|http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2011/03/18/enhancing-the-magnetism-in-bismuth-ferrite/]]. This work is detailed in the paper [[Electrically controllable spontaneous magnetism in nanoscale mixed phase multiferroics|http://www.nature.com/ncomms/journal/v2/n3/full/ncomms1221.html]] <<slider chkSldr [[Electrically controllable spontaneous magnetism in nanoscale mixed phase multiferroics]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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Nano scientists have discovered that ''a eucalyptus plant native to south west Western Australia has unique self-cleaning and water-repellent properties which could make it a gold mine for new nanotechnology applications''.
The [[Mottlecah|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptus_macrocarpa]], which is also known as The Rose of the West for its large spectacular flowers, has silvery leaves which are covered in a wax which produces nano-sized bumps and pillars. This causes water to form droplets that roll over the surface of the leaves and fall towards the root system of the plant, picking up any dirt along the way.
These properties, which are known as superhydrophobic and self-cleaning, ''are similar to the [[lotus plant|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelumbo_nucifera]]’s'' which has inspired a range of self-cleaning and anti-bacterial technologies currently being developed.
[[Dr Gerrard Eddy Jai Poinern|http://www.see.murdoch.edu.au/share/staff/personal/10947.html]] and his team at the [[Murdoch Applied Nanotechnology Research Group|http://www.see.murdoch.edu.au/areas/nanoscience/research.html]] say their discovery has the potential to be applied in a variety of ways, from so-called lab-on-a-chip settings in medical research, to the treatment of ships’ hulls to help prevent the build up of harmful microorganisms, plants and animals.
“I had noticed these incredible plants on the Murdoch campus because of the unusual appearance of their leaves,” said Dr Poinern, who is based at the School of Engineering and Energy. “They made me wonder whether the plant had superhydrophobic properties and so began our research investigation.
“One of the experiments we carried out was to coat the leaf with carbon black toner from a laser printer cartridge and then observe how the rolling drops of water were able to completely clean the surface of the leaf.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/colour-drops-square.jpg" title="Coloured drops of dye on a mottlecah leaf" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>“This was because the surface features formed by this Eucalyptus’ waxes gave the leaves remarkable wetting and self-cleaning properties. We believe this enhances the plant’s survival in an arid climate because it is able to source and effectively manage its water usage through channelling any water to its roots.
“In this way the Mottlecah is unusual because most superhydrophobic plants are usually found in aquatic settings.”
Dr Poinern and his team also extracted waxes from the leaves and found that they were capable of self-reassembly. When coated on laboratory glass slides, the wax formed features which mimicked the complex three-dimensional geometry of the nano-sized bumps and pillars found on the original leaf surface, making the slide superhydrophobic.
“It was fairly easy and inexpensive to extract the wax from the leaves and yet the wax still had these remarkable qualities,” said Dr Poinern. “When the tested glass slides were placed horizontally onto a water surface, the added buoyancy support of the wax meant that it was able to carry a greater load than the uncoated slides.
“In microfluidic devices used in advanced medical research and disease testing, such coatings could help to maintain the sterility of devices which need to be used over and over again.
“In fact there are a number of potential applications and we are sure there are other WA native plants which have similar properties. We hope to continue our research to find out more about these properties and how they can be fully utilised.” Source: From [[Researchers reveal Eucalypt’s nano properties|http://media.murdoch.edu.au/researchers-reveal-eucalypt%e2%80%99s-nano-properties]].
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<a class="url fn n" href="http://www.nanocat.org/index.php/en/component/icn/staff/eudald-casals"> <span class="given-name">eudald</span>
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<div class="org">institut català de nanotecnologia</div>
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A key expert group set up by the European Commission today set out guidelines on giving European industry a competitive edge in deploying ''the industrial technologies of the future (Key Enabling Technologies)''. The main conclusions call on decision-makers to adopt radical policy objectives to retain critical capability and capacity in Europe through a single and comprehensive approach to KETs. In particular, the group recommends that the vital importance of KETs should be reflected in the structure and funding balance in the upcoming framework for research and innovation and in the priorities of the EU's future regional policy. European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani warned that Europe’s industry "would suffer losses in competitiveness", if it fails to successfully exploit the six following important KETs (micro- and ''nanoelectronics'', advanced materials, industrial biotechnology, photonics, ''nanotechnology'' and advanced manufacturing systems). Source: From [[Key Enabling Technologies to spur Europe's technological leadership|http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/11/796&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en]]. European Commission Press Release
Nanotechnology is a very diverse, naturally multidisciplinary cross-cutting concept that covers a wide range of developments from novel approaches for the development of new materials to structures with tailor- made unique properties. The emergence of nanotechnology has potential implications for the creation or refinement of a wide range materials and devices with applications across society from medicine and electronics to materials and energy related topics (storage, efficiency and transportation). Many of these applications allowing improvements of products and processes may be ''ready for market trials and deployment within the next 5-10 years''. Source: From [[High Level Group on Key Enabling Technologies Nanotechnology Report|http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/ict/files/kets/3_nano_final_report_en.pdf]]
“Semiconductors are for the digital society what grain was for the agrarian society and iron & steel were for the Industrial society.” In all aspects of our connected lives, from the digital world to the green economy, micro and ''nanoelectronics act as the building blocks of products and services'', which perform breakthrough functions in the home, in the office and in society in general. The complex technology behind micro and nanoelectronics and its incredible pace of innovation and development represents ''a key factor in the evolution of industrial competitiveness worldwide''. Source: From [[High Level Group on Key Enabling Technologies. Interim Thematic Report by the Micro/Nanoelectronics Sherpa Team|http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/ict/files/kets/1_micro_and_nano_thematic_report_nov_15_final_final_en.pdf]]
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"Europe is in the vanguard of the emerging field of nanosciences and nanotechnologies (N&N), a developing field of science with the potential for major positive impact economically, socially and environmentally. Nevertheless, knowledge gaps remain about the impact of these technologies on human health and the environment, as well as issues relating to ethics and the respect of fundamental rights. This is why the Commission is recommending to the Member States to adopt a Code of Conduct to govern research in this field. Based around 7 general principles covering issues such as sustainability, precaution, inclusiveness and accountability, the Code of Conduct invites Member States to take concrete action, involving universities, research institutes and companies, for the safe development and use of nanotechnologies."
Source: [[European Commission adopts Code of Conduct for Responsible Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies Research|ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/nanotechnology/docs/ip-08-193_en1.doc]]
See also [[EU nanotechnology R&D in the field of health and environmental impact of nanoparticles|ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/nanotechnology/docs/final-version.pdf]] (pdf download, 400 KB), released on January 28, 2008
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"Nanomaterials" are materials whose main constituents have a dimension of between 1 and 100 billionth of a metre, according to a recommendation adopted by the European Commission today. The announcement marks an important step towards greater protection for citizens, clearly defining which materials need special treatment in specific legislation.
European Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik said: "I am happy to say that the EU is the first to come forward with a cross-cutting designation of nanomaterials to be used for all regulatory purposes. We have come up with a solid definition based on scientific input and a broad consultation. Industry needs a clear coherent regulatory framework in this important economic sector, and consumers deserve accurate information about these substances. It is an important step towards addressing any possible risks for the environment and human health, while ensuring that this new technology can live up to its potential."
Nanomaterials are already being used in hundreds of applications and consumer products ranging from toothpaste to batteries, paints and clothing. Developing these innovative substances is an important driver for European competitiveness, and they have significant potential for progress in areas like medicine, environmental protection and energy efficiency. But as uncertainties remain about the risks they pose, a clear definition is needed to ensure that the appropriate chemical safety rules apply. The definition will help all stakeholders including industry associations, as it brings coherence to the variety of definitions that are currently in use in different sectors. ''The definition will be reviewed in 2014 in the light of technical and scientific progress''.
The recommendation also delivers on a commitment made in 2009 to the European Parliament to issue a single definition that is broadly applicable to all EU legislation concerned by nanomaterials.
The definition adopted today is based on an approach considering the size of the constituent particles of a material, rather than hazard or risk. The wording describes a nanomaterial as //''"a natural, incidental or manufactured material containing particles, in an unbound state or as an aggregate or as an agglomerate and where, for 50% or more of the particles in the number size distribution, one or more external dimensions is in the size range 1 nm – 100 nm."''//
The definition is based on scientific advice from the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC). [[A draft version of the definition was subject to a public consultation|How much nano do we buy?]].
''Background''
Nanomaterials are currently governed by a variety of legislative instruments at EU and national level. However, definitions have been developed on a case-by-case basis and vary across sectors, creating unnecessary burdens for industry and hampering public debate about risks and benefits of these substances. This recommendation gives EU legislators a legal reference for nanomaterials, when adopting new or implementing existing legislation.
The experience of the first registration deadline (30 November 2010) under REACH, the EU's overarching chemicals policy, showed that companies needed more clarity about their obligations with regard to nanomaterials. REACH has a key role to play in generating information about the properties of nanomaterials as chemical substances. With the adopted definition it will be easier for companies to assess their registration dossiers and determine exactly when they should consider their products as nanomaterials.
''Further information:''
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/nanotech/index.htm
[[MEMO/11/704|http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/11/704&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en]]
Source: [[What is a "nanomaterial"? European Commission breaks new ground with a common definition|http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/11/1202&format=HTML&aged=0&language=en&guiLanguage=en]], October 18, 2011
''Context:''
[[EU scientific committee publishes opinion on definition of nanomaterials]]. December 23, 2010
[[About the definition of nanomaterials]]. November 28, 2010
''Follow up:''
[[First reactions and analyses|http://veillenanos.fr/wakka.php?wiki=EuropeanCommissionNanomaterialsDefinition]]. //"Avicenn offers a first insight into the politics hidden behind this supposedly neutral and "scientific" definition, the next obstacles and important meetings, and then concludes on the suspense surrounding the definition that France will finally adopt for the annual mandatory declaration of nanomaterials it is implementing"//. VeilleNanos, une veille citoyenne pour permettre aux citoyens de prendre une part active aux débats et décisions concernant les nanosciences ou les nanotechnologies. October 19, 2011
[[European nanomaterials definition not good enough|http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=4885]] by Maryse de la Giroday. October 19, 2011
[[The EC Defines a Nanomaterial: Now What?|http://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/semiconductors/nanotechnology/the-ec-defines-a-nanomaterial-now-what]] by Dexter Johnson. October 19, 2011
[[EC adopts cross-cutting definition of nanomaterials to be used for all regulatory purposes|http://2020science.org/2011/10/18/ec-adopts-cross-cutting-defintion-of-nanomaterials-to-be-used-for-all-regulatory-purposes/]] by Andrew Maynard. October 18, 2011
CEFIC, The European Chemical Industry Council: [[Practical nanomaterials definition needed to push forward next great innovation breakthroughs|http://www.cefic.org/Media-Centre/top-story/2011/Practical-nanomaterials-definition-needed-to-push-forward-next-great-innovation-breakthroughs/]]. //"Concerned that the Commission’s recommendation released today is too broad in scope and therefore difficult to integrate into existing legislation in a meaningful way"//
European Environmental Bureau: [[Nano definition too narrow|http://www.eeb.org/EEB/index.cfm/news-events/news/nano-definition-too-narrow-says-eeb/]]. //"EEB is deeply disappointed by the EC’s decision to use a narrow definition for the term “nanomaterial”, indicating that industry lobbying has won over the Commission’s own scientific advisors"//. October 18, 2011
[[Safety of Nanomaterials: Joint Research Centre and European Academies Science Advisory Council present state-of-the-art report|http://ihcp.jrc.ec.europa.eu/our_activities/nanotechnology/safety-of-nanomaterials-jrc-easac-present-state-of-the-art-report]]. October 18, 2011
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<div class="vevent"i d="hcalendar-NanoDays 2012"> <a class="url" href="http://www.nisenet.org/nanodays/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20120324">March 24th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20120401">April 1th, 2012</abbr> <span class="summary">NanoDays 2012</span>— at <span class="location">U.S.A.</span></a><div class="description">NanoDays is part of a nationwide festival of educational programs about nanoscale science and engineering. NanoDays is organized by the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net). This community event is the largest public outreach effort in nanoscale informal science education and involves science museums, research centers, and universities from Puerto Rico to Alaska.
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[img[Nanometer scale organisation of molecular components on a copper surface|http://www.mpg.de/bilderBerichteDokumente/multimedial/bilderWissenschaft/2007/10/Tait0701/Web_Pressebild.jpeg]]
Scientists publish images resolving molecules which have organized themselves into patterns according to size. The automatic molecular assembly and selection steps exhibited by the molecules, which start as random mixtures, demonstrates a fundamental step in the evolution of life. The organization is activated by instructions which are built-in to the molecules. During assembly, molecules exhibit active selection: those in incorrect positions move to make room for others which fit properly. The molecular-level observation of such self-selection gives, ''for the first time, direct insight into fundamental steps of the biological evolution from inanimate molecules to living entities''. The resulting nanostructures also hold great promise as an efficient avenue to new catalysts, nanotechnologies, and surface applications.
Source: [[Max Planck Society - Press Release|http://www.mpg.de/english/illustrationsDocumentation/documentation/pressReleases/2007/pressRelease200710292/index.html]]
Recently, discussing with colleagues we have reached the conclusion that the amount of work that fitted in a decent paper now gives enough for three or more. While until the early nineties, for example, a paper, in my domain, would include the synthesis, characterization and applications of a new material, today, the same work would feed a paper on the synthesis, another the characterization and another the exploration into the potential application. Even more, the same work can now appear under different formats in different places to reach broader audiences. As a consequence, scientific literature production has exploded, and as all papers cite papers, cites have also dramatically increased and therefore the impact factors. A silly though would be that this steams from competence to publish more papers than your fellows, because, finally, all papers are shorter and all scientific productions have similarly increased maintaining the structural and essential differences between high impact science and the rest. I have even asked to split papers into two to sharpen the focus. In fact, the information is the same in one or different pieces, the difference is that the smaller pieces are more modulable and manipulable. More papers entails more titles and abstracts and introductions, helping to semantisize the information. The dissertation paper is evolving into a sort of linked capsules, tiddlers, where the information can be easily exchanged between scientist of a broader spectrum of disciplines with a larger pool of interests. This reduction in the format of the scientific communications, the proliferation of short commumications and letters, pushes us forward into a knowledge-information grid were the information is easily exchangeable in real time. If this is so, and I think it is, we should pay special attention and care of all the new communication tools which are appearing and will take us from the infancy to the maturity of the information age.
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Heather L. Tierney, Colin J. Murphy, April D. Jewell, Ashleigh E. Baber, Erin V. Iski, Harout Y. Khodaverdian, Allister F. McGuire, Nikolai Klebanov & E. Charles H. Sykes. 2011. ''Nature Nanotechnology. doi: 10.1038/nnano.2011.142''
//For molecules to be used as components in molecular machines, methods that couple individual molecules to external energy sources and that selectively excite motion in a given direction are required. Significant progress has been made in the construction of molecular motors powered by light and by chemical reactions, but electrically driven motors have not yet been built, despite several theoretical proposals for such motors. Here we report that a butyl methyl sulphide molecule adsorbed on a copper surface can be operated as a single-molecule electric motor. Electrons from a scanning tunnelling microscope are used to drive the directional motion of the molecule in a two-terminal setup. Moreover, the temperature and electron flux can be adjusted to allow each rotational event to be monitored at the molecular scale in real time. The direction and rate of the rotation are related to the chiralities of both the molecule and the tip of the microscope (which serves as the electrode), illustrating the importance of the symmetry of the metal contacts in atomic-scale electrical devices.//
Dena L. Cologgia, Sanela Lampa-Pastirka, Allison M. Speersa, Shelly D. Kellyb, and Gemma Reguera. 2011. ''PNAS. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1108616108''
//The in situ stimulation of Fe(III) oxide reduction by Geobacter bacteria leads to the concomitant precipitation of hexavalent uranium [U(VI)] from groundwater. Despite its promise for the bioremediation of uranium contaminants, the biological mechanism behind this reaction remains elusive. Because Fe(III) oxide reduction requires the expression of Geobacter's conductive pili, we evaluated their contribution to uranium reduction in Geobacter sulfurreducens grown under pili-inducing or noninducing conditions. A pilin-deficient mutant and a genetically complemented strain with reduced outer membrane c-cytochrome content were used as controls. Pili expression significantly enhanced the rate and extent of uranium immobilization per cell and prevented periplasmic mineralization. As a result, pili expression also preserved the vital respiratory activities of the cell envelope and the cell's viability. Uranium preferentially precipitated along the pili and, to a lesser extent, on outer membrane redox-active foci. In contrast, the pilus-defective strains had different degrees of periplasmic mineralization matching well with their outer membrane c-cytochrome content. X-ray absorption spectroscopy analyses demonstrated the extracellular reduction of U(VI) by the pili to mononuclear tetravalent uranium U(IV) complexed by carbon-containing ligands, consistent with a biological reduction. In contrast, the U(IV) in the pilin-deficient mutant cells also required an additional phosphorous ligand, in agreement with the predominantly periplasmic mineralization of uranium observed in this strain. These findings demonstrate a previously unrecognized role for Geobacter conductive pili in the extracellular reduction of uranium, and highlight its essential function as a catalytic and protective cellular mechanism that is of interest for the bioremediation of uranium-contaminated groundwater.//
//"A friend of mine (Albert R. Hibbs) suggests a very interesting possibility for relatively small machines. He says that, although it is a very wild idea, it would be interesting in surgery if you could swallow the surgeon. You put the mechanical surgeon inside the blood vessel and it goes into the heart and "looks" around. (Of course the information has to be fed out.) It finds out which valve is the faulty one and takes a little knife and slices it out. Other small machines might be permanently incorporated in the body to assist some inadequately-functioning organ"//. From ''[[Plenty of Room at the Bottom|http://www.its.caltech.edu/~feynman/plenty.html]] by Richard P. Feynman'', the introducer of the concept of nanotechnology. December 1959
[[Fantastic Voyage|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Voyage]] is 1960s classic movie where a crew of scientists are miniaturized and injected into the bloodstream. Directed by Richard Fleischer, 20th Century Fox, 1966. Richard also directed "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" for Walt Disney.
Theme: Scientist Jan Benes, who knows the secret to keeping soldiers shrunken for an indefinite period, escapes from behind the Iron Curtain with the help of CIA agent Grant. While being transferred, their motorcade is attacked. Benes strikes his head, causing a blood clot to form in his brain. Grant is ordered to accompany a group of scientists as they are miniaturized. The crew has one hour to get in Benes’s brain, remove the clot and get out.
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More about Fantastic Voyage science fiction film=
[[Screenplay by Harry Kleiner|http://www.scifiscripts.com/scripts/fantasticvoyager.txt]]
[[Filmtrack by Leonard Roseman|http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/fantastic_voyage.html]]
[[Proteus vessel by designed by Harper Goeff|http://www.lunadude.com/pet_proj/proteus/]]. Harper is also known for the design of Disney's Nautilus
Google Insights for Search aims to provide insights into broad search patterns:
[[Fantastic Voyage|http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=fantastic%20voyage&cmpt=q]]
[[nanotechnology|http://www.google.com/insights/search/#cat=&q=nanotechnology&geo=&date=&clp=&cmpt=q]]
Television commercial for 20th Century Fox:
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See [[World first in medical robotics]] and the video documental on their work, [[Sous-marin à résonance magnétique|http://wiki.polymtl.ca/nano/index.php/Decouverte_2007-12]]
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Experiments on animals have been the subject of criticism for decades, but there is no prospect of a move away from them any time soon. The number of tests involving laboratory animals has in fact gone up. Now, ''researchers have found an alternative approach: they hope sensor nanoparticles will reduce the need for animal testing''.
Countless mice, rats and rabbits die every year in the name of science – and the situation is getting worse. While German laboratories used some 2.41 million animals for scientific research in 2005, by 2009 this number had grown to 2.79 million. One third were destined for fundamental biology research, and the majority were used for researching diseases and developing medical compounds and devices. People demand medicines that are safe and therapies that are tolerable, but hardly anyone is happy to accept the need for animal testing. This is why scientists have spent years looking for methods that can replace them. Now researchers at the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Modular Solid State Technologies EMFT in Munich have found an alternative: they hope to use novel nanosensors to reduce the number of experiments that are carried out on animals. “We’re basically using a test tube to study the effects of chemicals and their potential risks. What we do is take living cells, which were isolated from human and animal tissue and grown in cell cultures, and expose them to the substance under investigation,” explains Dr. Jennifer Schmidt of the EMFT. If a given concentration of the substance is poisonous to the cell, it will die. This change in “well-being” can be rendered visible by the sensor nanoparticles developed by Dr. Schmidt and her team.
Cells – the tiniest living things – that are healthy store energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). High levels of ATP are indicative of high levels of metabolic activity in cells. If a cell is severely damaged, it becomes less active, storing less energy and consequently producing less ATP. ''“Our nanosensors allow us to detect adenosine triphosphate and determine the state of health of cells. This makes it possible to assess the cell-damaging effects of medical compounds or chemicals,”'' says Schmidt.
The EMFT researchers’ nanoparticles are extremely well suited to the task at hand: they are not poisonous to cells, they can easily pass through cell membranes, and they can even be directed to particular points where the effect of the test substance is of most interest. But before this procedure can be applied, it must first be approved by the regulatory authorities – so the EMFT experts have a long journey ahead of them to gain approvals from various official bodies. This prospect has not, however, stopped the researchers from refining the technology and coming up with new applications for it – for instance to test the quality of packaged meat and its fitness for consumption. To this end they have developed nanosensors that can determine concentrations of oxygen and toxic amines. Source: From [[Fewer animal experiments thanks to nanosensors|http://www.fraunhofer.de/en/press/research-news/2012/january/fewer_animal_experimentsthankstonanosensors-researchnewsjanuary2.html]].
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<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-Feynman Anniversary Symposium"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20100212">February 12th</abbr>— <abbr class="dtend" title="20100213">13th, 2010</abbr> — <span class="summary">Feynman Anniversary Symposium</span>— at <span class="location">University of South Carolina</span> </a> <div class="description">The University of South Carolina will convene a symposium to consider the talk, the man, and the field of nanotechnology during the past fifty years.</div>
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''Context:'' [[Richard Feynman and Nanotechnology]]
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The [[Foresight Institute|http://www.foresight.org/about/index.html]], a nanotechnology education and public policy think tank based in Palo Alto, has announced the winners of the prestigious 2010 Foresight Institute Feynman Prizes in Nanotechnology.
Established in 1993 in honor of Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman, two $5,000 prizes are awarded in two categories, theory and experiment, ''to recognize researchers whose recent work has most advanced the field toward the achievement of Feynman’s vision for nanotechnology: molecular manufacturing, the construction of atomically-precise products through the use of molecular machine systems.''
The winner of the ''2010 Feynman Prize for Experimental work is [[Masakazu Aono|http://www.nims.go.jp/mana/members/personal/Aono/]]'' (MANA Center, National Institute for Materials Science, Japan) in recognition of his pioneering and continuing work, including research into the manipulation of atoms, the multiprobe STM and AFM, the atomic switch, and single-molecule-level chemical control including ultradense molecular data storage and molecular wiring; and his inspiration of an entire generation of researchers who have made their own ground-breaking contributions to nanotechnology.
The winner of the ''2010 Feynman Prize for Theory is [[Gustavo E. Scuseria|http://scuseria.rice.edu/]]'' (Rice University) for his development of quantum mechanical methods and computational programs that make it possible to carry out accurate theoretical predictions of molecules and solids, and their application to the chemical and electronic properties of carbon nanostructures.
''“The answer to [[Feynman’s 1959 question|http://www.zyvex.com/nanotech/feynman.html]] ‘What would happen if we could arrange the atoms one by one the way we want them…’ has come a step closer to reality,”'' said Ralph C. Merkle, Chairman of the Foresight Institute Feynman Prize Committee. “Our ability to simulate and manipulate atoms will enable us to design and build engineered molecular machinery. This coming nanotechnology revolution will transform our world and our lives for the better.”
The annual Feynman Prizes are leading to the eventual awarding of the $250,000 [[Feynman Grand Prize|http://www.foresight.org/GrandPrize.1.html]], an incentive prize for making a nanometer-scale robotic arm and a nanometer-scale computing device, the most critical components in future molecular manufacturing systems.
For more information about the Feynman Prizes in Nanotechnology, visit http://www.foresight.org/about/fi_spons.html or contact Christine Peterson, peterson@foresight.org, tel +1 (650) 289-0860, ext 255. Source: [[Feynman Prizes in Nanotechnology|http://www.foresight.org/nanodot/?p=4324]]
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" title="FigShare logo" src="img/FigShare.jpg" width="50%"/></a></html>//A new way to share open scientific data created by [[Mark Hahnel|http://www1.imperial.ac.uk/medicine/people/m.hahnel07/]], founder of the [[Science 3.0|http://www.science3point0.com/about-2/]] network and member of the [[Open Knowledge Foundation|http://okfn.org/about/]]’s Working Group on Open Data in Science.//
What is FigShare? FigShare is a permanent, citable scientific figure/data sharing platform for researchers around the world. Our aim is to get all researchers to: Publish All Your Data
Why? Scientific publishing as it stands is an inefficient way to do science on a global scale. A lot of time and money is being wasted by groups around the world duplicating research that has already been carried out. We are a data sharing platform where you can add figures that might otherwise go unpublished – complete with the raw data tables. In doing this, other researchers will not duplicate the work, but instead may publish with your previously wasted figure. Thus making research more efficient and releasing hidden, raw data.
How? FigShare allows you to share all of your data, negative results and unpublished figures. FigShare also allows you to tag your data, making it more searchable and allows you to search all other data.
FigShare is the first online repository for storing and sharing all of your preliminary findings in the form of individual figures or datasets. Post preprint figures on FigShare to claim priority and receive feedback on your findings prior to formal publication. Source: [[FAQs : FigShare|http://figshare.com/faqs/]]
"What percentage of the figures that went into your undergrad, masters or doctorate thesis were ever published? The ones that you didn’t publish were probably good basic science, or figures that didn’t tell a complete story. As a PhD student, I became very aware of the fact that a large amount of my data, although good, would never be published as it did not show significant differences. I then began wondering how many times experiments had been repeated globally unnecessarily. And so FigShare started life as an idea for researchers to publish all of their data that would otherwise never leave their lab books. By categorising and tagging the research, it becomes very searchable and other scientists should not reproduce experiments and waste money when they have been conducted several times by other labs." Source: [[FigShare: Publish All Your Data. The PostDocs Forum|http://www.postdocsforum.com/2011/03/10/figshare-publish-all-your-data/]] by Mark Hahnel
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<html><a href="http://www.magforce.de/english/company/about-us.html" title="two decades of research and five years of clinical experience">MagForce Nanotechnologies AG</a></html>, the Berlin-based medical technology company majority owned by Nanostart AG, announce the successful completion of final trials demonstrating the efficacy of its [[Nano-Cancer® therapy|http://www.nanostart.de/magforce2/en/dienano-krebs-therapie2/index.html]] in patients with recurrent glioblastoma, a frequent form of brain tumor which is highly malignant. The actual study results significantly exceeded the study objective.
According to a previous study among a large patient population, the median survival time following diagnosis of a glioblastoma recurrence and treatment with conventional therapy (surgery, chemotherapy and radiation) is 6.2 months. The primary objective for the <html><a href="http://www.magforce.de/english/clinical-trials/publications/" title="scientific publications about Nano-Cancer® therapy">Nano-Cancer® therapy</a></html> study was to demonstrate an extension of the median survival time in the recruited patient group by three months compared to this historical control group.
In fact, the median survival time of the 59 patients participating in the final trials was 13.4 months following treatment with ~Nano-Cancer® therapy in conjunction with radiation. The median survival time was thus significantly greater, more than double that of the control population.
The results were even more remarkable in that ~Nano-Cancer® therapy was tested not on newly diagnosed patients with primary tumors but rather as a study involving patients who had already endured treatment with conventional therapies, as well as the unpleasant effects generally associated with these. Following regulatory approval of the new therapy, it is expected that it will also be available for use in treating other types of localized tumors, as these are generally responsive to the same principle of using warmth to destroy or degrade cancer cells.
~MagForce founder and chief scientific officer [[Dr. Andreas Jordan|http://www.nanotech.net/speaker/andreas-jordan]] commented, “The results demonstrate the potential of ~Nano-Cancer® therapy, which at the same time has minimal patient side effects. ''Our vision is to establish this new technology alongside surgery, chemotherapy and radiation as an additional pillar of cancer therapy''.”
Marco Beckmann, CEO of Nanostart AG, went on to add, “We enthusiastically congratulate Dr. Jordan and his team on the superb study results. It is my belief that ''we may thank nanotechnology for a historical advance in medical science''.”
In addition to its high efficacy of which has now been conclusively demonstrated, ~Nano-Cancer® therapy offers an additional and very significant advantage compared to the existing conventional therapy alternatives of surgical intervention, chemotherapy and radiation: ~Nano-Cancer® therapy is tolerated extremely well by patients and, despite its high efficacy, has no serious or unpleasant side effects.
The results of these clinical trials will now form the basis of application for EU regulatory approval for the new therapy, which will be submitted before the end of this year. Once EU regulatory approval has been obtained, ~MagForce will be able to market its <html><a href="http://www.magforce.de/english/clinical-trials/physicians-information.html" title="physicians information">Nano-Cancer® therapy</a></html> throughout the European Union. The detailed study results will be published shortly in a medical journal.
~Nano-Cancer® therapy represents a completely new way to fight cancer and is world’s first approach to use magnetic nanoparticles to treat tumors with virtually no side effects. This is done by injecting specially coated iron oxide nanoparticles directly and precisely into the tumor so that they remain concentrated in the tumor and do not diffuse into the surrounding healthy tissue. The nanoparticles within the tumor are then heated to an exact temperature by externally applying an external magnetic field. In this way, tumor temperatures of up to 70°C (158°F) can be precisely attained within a fraction of a degree. This heat damages the tumor or destroys it completely. During the treatment procedure, patients feel only a moderate warming sensation. Source: ''[[Nanostart majority-owned MagForce announces successful completion of final clinical trials for Nano-Cancer® therapy|http://www.nanostart.de/en/presscenter/pressreleases/2009/2506.November__.html]]''
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<html><a href="http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2001/suppl-4/609-612castranova/castranova-full.html"><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" title="Effect of Exposure to Diesel Exhaust Particles (DEP) on the Susceptibility of the Lung to Infections. Effect of in vivo exposure to DEPs on the surface activity of Alveolar Macrophages (AMs). Rats were exposed by inhalation to filtered air or DEPs (2 mg/m3, 7 hr/day, 5 days/week, for 2 years). (A) Filtered air. (B) DEPs. Arrows indicate the presence or absence of surface ruffling" src="img/effect_diesel.jpg" width="95%"/></a></html>Researchers from Duke University Medical Center have identified ''how nanoparticles from diesel exhaust damage lung airway cells'', a finding which could lead to new therapies for people susceptible to airway disease. The scientists also discovered that the severity of the injury depends on the genetic make-up of the affected individual.
Diesel exhaust particles, a major part of urban smog, consist of a carbon core coated with organic chemicals and metals. The Duke team showed that the particle core delivers these organic chemicals onto the brush-like surfaces called cilia which clear mucus from the lining of the airways. Contact with these chemicals then triggers a "signaling cascade," as the cells respond. Source: [[Findings on Pollution Damage to Human Airways Could Yield Novel Therapies|http://www.dukehealth.org/health_library/news/findings-on-pollution-damage-to-human-airways-could-yield-novel-therapies?utm_source=dukehealth.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS_news]]. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[TRPV4-Mediated Calcium-influx into Human Bronchial Epithelia upon Exposure to Diesel Exhaust Particles|http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.1002807]]'' <<slider chkSldr [[TRPV4-Mediated Calcium-influx into Human Bronchial Epithelia upon Exposure to Diesel Exhaust Particles]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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Unwanted side effects of effective drugs and lack of (intense) discovery of new pharmacological principles focus the attention of research and industry in delivery vehicles, to spare non targeted organs and improve local dosing to improve efficiency. In this context, nanotechnology is specially well placed to contribute to this goal by designing multifunctional capsules and vehicles to control biodistribution and release. Liposomes are already in the clinic as Doxil, a formulation that carries and solubilise the poorly soluble doxorubicin, for example. And there are many other interesting approaches, however, the complete biodistribution and release profile is not yet controlled, as the needed solubility to travel to and through distant organs before reaching their target. A. Neel and coworkers shows how small modifications on size and surface nature, what has an indirect effect on the conformation of the final object via interaction with serum proteins, have a significant impact on carrier and drug fate. A key challenge, as authors comment, for improving the efficacy of passive drug delivery to tumor sites by a nanocarrier is to limit reticuloendothelial system uptake and to maximize the enhanced permeability and retention effect. Observing that size reduction is key to improve both, circulating times and accumulation.
They demonstrate that size reduction and surface functionalization of mesoporous silica nanoparticles with a polyethyleneimine–polyethylene glycol copolymer reduces particle opsonization while enhancing the passive delivery of monodispersed, 50 nm doxorubicin-laden particles to a human squamous carcinoma xenograft in nude mice after intravenous injection. Using near-infrared fluorescence imaging and elemental Si analysis, they demonstrate passive accumulation of 12% of the tail vein-injected particle load at the tumor site, where there is effective cellular uptake and the delivery of doxorubicin to KB-31 cells. This was accompanied by the induction of apoptosis and an enhanced rate of tumor shrinking compared to free doxorubicin. The improved drug delivery was accompanied by a significant reduction in systemic side effects such as animal weight loss as well as reduced liver and renal injury. Engineered delivery of antitumoral drugs is of particular importance due to the high cytotoxicity of those drugs.
These observations, the susceptibility of biodistribution in front to modest modifications of the nanoscale object reveals the complexity of the trip the bullet has to undergo before becoming magic. These also recall proteins, nanoobjects of sizes below 30- 40 nm, that with small structural changes perform radically different tasks. This fine tuning and control might correspond to the technology part of nanotechnology.
''Paper cited:'' [[Use of Size and a Copolymer Design Feature To Improve the Biodistribution and the Enhanced Permeability and Retention Effect of Doxorubicin-Loaded Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles in a Murine Xenograft Tumor Model|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn200809t]] by Huan Meng, Min Xue, Tian Xia, Zhaoxia Ji, Derrick Y. Tarn, Jeffrey I. Zink, and Andre E. Nel.
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/mars_phoenix.jpg" title="Unprecedented image taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captures Phoenix probe's descent to Mars (NASA, May 25, 2008)" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>Nanosurf, the University of Neuchatel, and the University of Basel were part of a [[Swiss consortium|http://www-samlab.unine.ch/activities/famars.htm]] challenged to equip the [[Phoenix’ Mars Probe|http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/]] with ''the first atomic force microscope in space''. This atomic force microscope was designed to be part of the [[Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and a Conductivity Analyzer (MECA)|http://instrumentsystems.jpl.nasa.gov/insitu/meca/index.cfm]] unit built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It will be a key component of the Phoenix probe’s rich ensemble of on-board scientific instruments.
[[Nanosurf’s atomic force microscope|http://www.nanosurf.com/content/event/download/100597_mars_scanner.jpg]] design was selected because of its outstanding lightweight of just 320 Gram (0.7 lb.), its low voltage requirements, and its varied robust features. The Mars-bound AFM is designed to achieve a resolution of 10 nanometers in an image range of 10 micrometers. For redundancy, it is equipped with 8 addressable sensors and cantilevers on a single chip. The AFM can be operated in static or dynamic mode, enabling it to image loose Martian soil particles without disturbing them. ''Phoenix will first locate water ice contained within Martian soil and send a sample to the AFM. The AFM will then image the sample and its micro computer system, backed-up by the Lander computer, will send results back to earth''. The special tasks addressed by the Swiss consortium were diverse: to secure the AFM against shock waves during rocket launch and touchdown on Mars (expected end of May 2008), the prevention of atmospheric electrical discharges through AFM’s limited voltage, cold resistance, and shielding against all kinds of radiation on the Martian surface.
Source: [[Nanosurf AFM on its way to Mars|http://www.nanosurf.com/module/search/search_index/index.cfm?action=dsp_content&content_action=act_sel_active&curr_navi=s_03&curr_content=s_03&curr_page=1&searchstring1=Phoenix&CFID=13217753&CFTOKEN=49886528]]
For the first time, scientists have directly imaged carbon nanotubes entering and migrating within human cells, determining as a result that whether the nanotubes cause cell death depends on the dose and exposure time.
Source: [[First Direct Images of Carbon Nanotubes Entering Cells|http://physorg.com/news114348754.html]]
[<img[Carbon nanotubes (dark areas) within a cell nucleus|http://www.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/Figure_lmg_435.jpg]]
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Molybdenite, a new and very promising material, can surpass the physical limits of silicon. EPFL scientists have proven this by making the first molybdenite microchip, with smaller and more energy efficient transistors.
After having revealed the electronic advantages of molybdenite, EPFL researchers have now taken the next definitive step. The Laboratory of Nanoscale Electronics and Structures (LANES) has made ''a chip, or integrated circuit, confirming that molybdenite can surpass the physical limits of silicon in terms of miniaturization, electricity consumption, and mechanical flexibility''.
“We have built an initial prototype, putting from two to six serial transistors in place, and shown that basic binary logic operations were possible, which proves that we can make a larger chip,” explains LANES director Andras Kis.
In early 2011, the lab unveiled the potential of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), a relatively abundant, naturally occurring mineral. Its structure and semi-conducting properties make it an ideal material for use in transistors. It can thus compete directly with silicon, the most highly used component in electronics, and on several points it also rivals graphene.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/molybdenite_microchip.jpg" title="Molybdenite, or MoS2, is a very effective semiconductor.. Credit: Laboratory of Nanoscale Electronics and Structures, EPFL" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>“The main advantage of MoS2 is that it allows us to reduce the size of transistors, and thus to further miniaturize them,” explains Kis. It has not been possible up to this point to make layers of silicon less than two nanometers thick, because of the risk of initiating a chemical reaction that would oxidize the surface and compromise its electronic properties. Molybdenite, on the other hand, can be worked in layers only three atoms thick, making it possible to build chips that are at least three times smaller. At this scale, the material is still very stable and conduction is easy to control.
MoS2 transistors are also more efficient. “They can be turned on and off much more quickly, and can be put into a more complete standby mode,” Kis explains. Molybdenite is on a par with silicon in terms of its ability to amplify electronic signals, with an output signal that is four times stronger than the incoming signal. This proves that there is “considerable potential for creating more complex chips,” Kis says. “With graphene, for example, this amplitude is about 1. Below this threshold, the output voltage would not be sufficient to feed a second, similar chip.”
Molybdenite also has mechanical properties that make it interesting as a possible material for use in flexible electronics, such as eventually in the design of flexible sheets of chips. These could, for example, be used to manufacture computers that could be rolled up or devices that could be affixed to the skin. Source: From [[First Molybdenite Microchip|http://actu.epfl.ch/news/first-molybdenite-microchip/]]. This work is detailed in the paper [["Integrated Circuits and Logic Operations Based on Single-Layer MoS2"|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn203715c]] by Branimir Radisavljevic, Michael Brian Whitwick, and Andras Kis.
''Context:''
June, 2011. [[World's first graphene-based integrated circuit]]
February, 2011. [[Nanosheet breakthrough]]. "Graphene has been getting all the attention but in fact there are hundreds of other layered materials that could enable us to create powerful new technologies."
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/nanomedTV.jpg" title="NanomedTV logo" alt="NanomedTV logo" class="photo"/></html>Nanomed TV foresees to become the main hub for Nanomedicine thanks to its initiators, two major European players in nanomedicine: the European Technology Platform on Nanomedicine ([[ETPN|http://www.etp-nanomedicine.eu/public]]) and [[Nanobiotix|http://www.nanobiotix.com/]]. Nanomed TV will make information accessible, aiming at answering what people need and wish to know about Nanomedicine.
This project is driven by Nanobiotix, a leading company in Nanomedicine focused on cancer treatment and the ETPN, an initiative led by the industry and set up together with the European Commission to address the application of nanotechnology to achieve breakthroughs in healthcare.
[[NanomedTV|http://www.dailymotion.com/nanomedTV]] is supported by renowned experts that bring together scientific, medical, regulatory, industrial and financial expertise.
According to Laurent Levy, co-founder and CEO of Nanobiotix, a 15 years long veteran in nanotechnologies : “People are looking for experts to advise them, not to ignore them. Thus, Nanomedicine experts need to inform in a trustful and comprehensive way on discoveries and new knowledge in order to speed up the adoption of Nanomedicine to the benefit of patients and the healthcare system.”
Bertrand Loubaton, chairman of the ETPN, claims that “NanomedTV will contribute to the dissemination of novel medical approaches and will help to bring the interested communities - industry, academia, research bodies and public authorities as well as the individual patients - together and by that to create a transparent and reliable information channel.”
Nanotechnologies represent a historical break that gives clinicians new tools in the fight against disease, trauma and other medical problems. Diagnoses can be made earlier and more quickly; medicines and other treatments can be better targeted and lead to fewer side effects. More importantly, nanomedicine can bring new options for treatment through new modes of action that are not based on biological interaction.
Nanomed TV will be reviewed by a group of experts before publishing. It will host qualified videos, podcasts, with medical, scientific, technical, industrial points of view. The content will show some shorts movies (from 1 to 15 minutes), podcasts, etc. Source: ''[[Launch of the NanomedTV|http://www.nanobiotix.com/news/release/launch-of-the-nanomedtv/]]''
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Exposure to nanoparticles, a threat to the health of workers, is a problem all the developed countries are very concerned about. Now the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, a unit of the Council of Labor Affairs, and [[Professor Tsai Chuen-Jinn|http://gmlab.chem.nthu.edu.tw/Prof.Chuen-Jinn%20Tsai.htm]] from National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan) have successfully developed ''a personal nanoparticle sampler that can be carried on the worker’s body and immediately measure the exposure to nanoparticles at work'', and serve as a reference for the management of the risk of exposure to nanoparticles.
<html><img style="float:right; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/sampler.jpg" title="Actual shape of the mini-sized personal nanoparticle sampler. This 10-cm-long sampler can be worn to track workers’ exposure to micro- and nanoparticles. It consists of three parts that capture progressively smaller particles: the cyclone, the micro-orifice impactor, and the filter cassette. " class="photo" width="50%"/></html>Recent research points out that nanoparticles, in comparison with larger suspended particles, are not so easy to destroy by the macrophages of the lungs and have a larger surface, which means that nanoparticles entering the human body will more easily interact with the epithelium cells of the lungs. Besides, depending on the shape, size and amount of suspended particles, inhaled nanoparticles might sediment in various organs of the body, and thus lead to damage of the respiratory tracts, the cardiovascular system, the central nervous system and the immune system.
In its “Current Intelligence Bulletin (CIB)”, the American National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) pointed out that ''the recommended exposure limit (REL) of respirable TiO2 particles and nanoparticles is 1.5 resp. 0.1 mg/m3'', but right now there is no appropriate personal nanoparticle sampler on the market which would be able to assess whether the concentration of nanoparticles in the workplace exceeds the REL value.
Although there has been a lot of concern about the risks nanoparticles pose to the human body, until recently there was no personal sampling device for measuring nanoparticle concentration. Measuring nanoparticle concentration at a fixed point at the workplace is an indirect method to calculate the degree of exposure for workers, however, there used to be no method to measure the individual exposure of a worker immediately at any given spot. In order to assess the exposure of workers to nanoparticles in their working environment, the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has successfully developed a personal nanoparticle sampler for the workplace, a device that can be carried on the worker’s body in order to measure the exposure to nanoparticles. ''The sampled amount of nanoparticles can further be analyzed by weight and chemical composition to collect data that can be useful for future nanoparticle risk management''.
<html><img style="float:right; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/sampler_1.jpg" title="The device when carried in action" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>The sampler contains a cyclone body and a micro-orifice impactor that serve to separate respirable particles and nanoparticles. The micro-orifice impactor is equipped with a rotary aluminum matrix and blow bars laminated with silicone oil which distribute the particles evenly on the matrix and lessen the leaping of particles. After tests with various particle loads, it was found that the sampler is not affected by the pressure of a high particle concentration load, and thus can be used as a nanoparticle measuring device by the individual worker in the working environment. Patents for the sampler have already been applied for in the Republic of China and in the United States. The personal mini-sized nanoparticle sampler can not only assess the exposure of workers more precisely, but also help to improve the overall safety of working environments with a high nanoparticle concentration by collecting valuable data for a reference. Source: From [[Introducing the World’s First Personal Nanoparticle Sampler|http://www.iosh.gov.tw/english/Publish.aspx?cnid=125&p=2070]]. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[A Novel Active Personal Nanoparticle Sampler (PENS) for the Exposure Assessment of Nanoparticles in Workplaces|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es204580f]]'' by Chuen-Jinn Tsai, Chun-Nan Liu, Shao-Ming Hung, Sheng-Chieh Chen, Shi-Nian Uang, Y S Cheng, and Yue Zhou.
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BIND Biosciences, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of highly selective targeted and programmable therapeutics called AccurinsTM, that are capable of up to a ten-fold increase in drug concentration at tumor sites, has published preclinical and clinical data showing promising effects in solid tumors and successful clinical translation of BIND-014, the first targeted and programmed nanomedicine to enter human clinical studies. In the paper BIND scientists describe BIND-014’s ability to concentrate in tumors and provide preclinical and clinical data demonstrating efficacy, safety and pharmacological properties that are superior to and highly differentiated from the parent chemotherapeutic drug, docetaxel. BIND-014 is the first clinical-stage targeted therapeutic nanoparticle with programmable pharmacological properties, including particle circulation time, pharmacokinetic profile, biodistribution and release profile. BIND-014 has been shown to effectively target a receptor expressed in tumors to achieve high drug concentrations at the site of disease.
“These seminal data on BIND’s first clinical stage Accurin, BIND-014, demonstrates for the first time that it is possible to generate medicines with both targeted and programmable properties that can concentrate the therapeutic effect directly at the site of disease, potentially revolutionizing how complex diseases such as cancer are treated,” commented Omid Farokhzad, M.D, BIND Founder and Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School. “BIND’s data are a giant leap forward in achieving the true promise of nanomedicine by enabling the design of therapeutics with highly-differentiated efficacy and safety that go above and beyond the capabilities of traditional drug design through medicinal chemistry.”
“Previous attempts to develop targeted nanoparticles have not translated into clinical success because of the inherent difficulty of designing and scaling up a particle capable of targeting, long-circulation via immune-response evasion, and controlled drug release,” commented Robert Langer, Sc.D., BIND Founder and David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT.
BIND-014 is ''the first therapeutic of its kind to reach clinical evaluation and has demonstrated an increases of up to ten fold in drug concentration in tumors, which lead to substantially better efficacy and safety''. This represents a major advance in cancer therapy and a significant milestone for science, technology and medicine.
Study coauthors included scientific and clinical advisors from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College, the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne State University. Source: From [[BIND Biosciences Publishes Data on BIND-014, the First Targeted and Programmable Nanomedicine to Show Clinical Anti-Tumor Effects|http://www.bioportfolio.com/news/article/1003482/Bind-Biosciences-Publishes-Data-On-Bind-014-The-First-Targeted-And-Programmable.html]]. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[“Preclinical Development and Clinical Translation of a PSMA-Targeted Docetaxel Nanoparticle with a Differentiated Pharmacological Profile”|http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/4/128/128ra39.short?rss=1]]''
''Context:''
November, 2011. [[A realistic look at the promises and perils of nanomedicine]]
July 2011. [[First synthetic organ transplant]]
July 2010. [[World's first nanoparticle-based cancer treatment to come to market]]
December 2008. [[Nano in Onco, getting closer]] by Victor Puntes
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Arizona State University’s [[Flexible Display Center (FDC)|http://flexdisplay.asu.edu/]] announced a breakthrough in flexible display technology by demonstrating the ''world’s first ‘touchscreen’ active matrix display on a flexible, glass-free substrate''. Achieved through a collaborative effort between the FDC and its partners [[E Ink Corporation|http://www.eink.com]] and ~DuPont Teijin Films, this revolutionary display is ''the first demonstration of a flexible electronic display that enables real-time user input''.
The breakthrough comes as a result of combining the Flexible Display Center’s low-temperature thin film transistor technology, ~DuPont Teijin Films’ high-performance Teonex® polyethylene napthalate (PEN) films and [[E Ink’s ~VizplexTM|http://www.eink.com/products/matrix/imaging_film.html]] –ink laminate to form active matrix electrophoretic (electronic paper) displays. The touchscreen capability is enabled by integrating a low-power display controller that was co-developed by E Ink and Epson and demonstrated as part of E Ink’s developer’s kit.
The flexible touchscreen display supports real-time user input by stylus pen using inductive Wacom touchscreen technology, and consumes power only when the electronic paper is activated. Once sketched on the display, information can be stored or sent wirelessly before erasing.
“Touchscreen technology has become an important user interface in many portable electronic devices,” said Dr. Michael ~McCreary, VP of Research and Advanced Development at E Ink. “The ability to incorporate touchscreen capability into flexible E Ink Vizplex displays will enable a host of new applications that require shatter-proof displays.”
Source: [[ASU’s Flexible Display Center Creates First Touchscreen Flexible Display|http://flexdisplay.asu.edu/files/News_Items/20090224_FDC_FlexibleTouchscreen-EInk-FINAL%20-Website-Revised2_20090225.pdf]]
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A global database of government documents on nanotechnology is being launched by three law professors at Arizona State University who, with their colleagues of the [[Centre of Regulatory Studies at Monash University Law School|http://www.law.monash.edu.au/regstudies/]] in Australia and the [[Institute of Environmental and Energy Law at K.U. Leuven|http://www.law.kuleuven.be/imer/english/pages/index%20english-1.html]] in Belgium, have corralled and organized a massive number of regulatory documents dealing with the rapidly advancing technology.
''[[The Nanotech Regulatory Document Archive|http://nanotech.law.asu.edu]]'' is a free resource built and maintained by the [[Center for the Study of Law, Science, & Technology at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law|http://www.law.asu.edu/?id=389]]. Over the past year, [[Gary Marchant|http://www.law.asu.edu/apps/faculty/faculty.aspx?individual_id=6]], the center's executive director, and center Faculty Fellows [[Douglas Sylvester|http://www.law.asu.edu/Apps/Faculty/Faculty.aspx?individual_id=4637]] and [[Kenneth Abbott|http://www.law.asu.edu/apps/faculty/faculty.aspx?individual_id=45983]], developed the database as part of a multiyear grant from the U.S. Department of Energy's Genomic Science Program.
''The archive will enable government regulators, industry officials, public-interest groups, educators, students and the public to search for a variety of documents from every country in the world, and from every level of government''. Its creation comes at a time when the worldwide regulation of nanotechnology is expected to ramp up considerably, in an attempt to keep pace with the science
In the database, each entry provides a direct link and/or an attached copy of a specific document, an abstract of that document prepared for the database, and a listing of other pertinent information including author, date and document type. Documents for a specific jurisdiction can be accessed by clicking on a map or on a region, nation or entity.
"The Web site is intended to operate as an edited wiki, and we urge users from around the globe to edit, add, delete and comment on the Web site," Sylvester said. Source: From ''[[LST builds first global regulation database|http://asunews.asu.edu/2009122_LSTNanotechnology]]'' by Janie Magruder.
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<img title="The different shape and appearance of these individual cobalt atoms is caused by the different spin directions. (Image courtesy Saw-Wai Hla, Ohio University" src="http://www.ohio.edu/research/communications/images/spin_1.jpg" width="95%"/>
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Though scientists argue that the emerging technology of spintronics may trump conventional electronics for building the next generation of faster, smaller, more efficient computers and high-tech devices, no one has actually seen the spin—a quantum mechanical property of electrons—in individual atoms until now.
Physicists presented the first images of spin in action. The researchers used a custom-built microscope with an iron-coated tip to manipulate cobalt atoms on a plate of manganese. Through scanning tunneling microscopy, the team repositioned individual cobalt atoms on a surface that changed the direction of the electrons’ spin. Images captured by the scientists showed that the atoms appeared as a single protrusion if the spin direction was upward, and as double protrusions with equal heights when the spin direction was downward.
The study suggests that scientists can observe and manipulate spin, a finding that may impact future development of nanoscale magnetic storage, quantum computers and spintronic devices.
“Different directions in spin can mean different states for data storage,” said Saw-Wai Hla, an associate professor of physics and astronomy in [[Ohio University’s Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute|http://www.ounqpi.org/]] and one of the primary investigators on the study. “The memory devices of current computers involve tens of thousands of atoms. In the future, we may be able to use one atom and change the power of the computer by the thousands.”
Unlike electronic devices, which give off heat, spintronic-based devices are expected to experience less power dissipation.
The experiments were conducted in an ultra-high vacuum at the low temperature of 10 Kelvin, with the use of liquid helium. Researchers will need to observe the phenomenon at room temperature before it can be used in computer hard drives.
But the new study suggests a path to that application, said study lead author [[Andre Kubetzka|http://www.nanoscience.de/group_r/stm-spstm/team/]] of the University of Hamburg. To image spin direction, the team not only used a new technique but also a manganese surface with a spin that, in turn, allowed the scientists to manipulate the spin of the cobalt atoms under study.
“The combination of atom manipulation and spin sensitivity gives a new perspective of constructing atomic-scale structures and investigating their magnetic properties,” Kubetzka said.
The research is the result of a collaboration among three research teams: a spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy group of [[Professor Roland Wiesendanger|http://www.nanoscience.de/group_r/index.shtml]] led by Kubetzka at the University of Hamburg, Germany; Hla, an expert in atom manipulation at Ohio University; and two theorists, Professor Stefan Heinze and Paolo Ferriani, now at the [[Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel|http://www.theo-physik.uni-kiel.de/]], in Germany. Source: From ''[[Physicists capture first images of atomic spin|http://www.ohio.edu/research/communications/spin.cfm]]''. Discovery supports development of nanoscale magnetic storage devices. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Imaging and manipulating the spin direction of individual atoms|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nnano.2010.64.html]]'' by [[David Serrate|http://ina.unizar.es/]], Paolo Ferriani, Yasuo Yoshida, Saw-Wai Hla, Matthias Menzel, Kirsten von Bergmann, Stefan Heinze, Andre Kubetzka & Roland Wiesendanger
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{{twocolumns{
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" title="A nanogenerator, which scientists used to energize an LED light and an LCD display, could power portable electronics in the future using electricity generated by body movement. Credit: Zhong Lin Wang, Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology" src="img/nanogenerator.jpg" width="50%"/></a></html>[[After six years of intensive effort|Self-Powered Nanosensors]], ''scientists are reporting development of the first commercially viable nanogenerator'', a flexible chip that can use body movements — a finger pinch now en route to a pulse beat in the future — to generate electricity. Speaking at the Meeting of the American Chemical Society, they described boosting the device's power output by thousands times and its voltage by 150 times to finally move it out of the lab and toward everyday life.
"This development represents a milestone toward producing portable electronics that can be powered by body movements without the use of batteries or electrical outlets," said lead scientist Zhong Lin Wang, Ph.D. "Our nanogenerators are poised to change lives in the future. Their potential is only limited by one's imagination."
The latest improvements have resulted in a nanogenerator powerful enough to drive commercial liquid-crystal displays, light-emitting diodes and laser diodes. By storing the generated charges using a capacitor, the output power is capable to periodically drive a sensor and transmit the signal wirelessly.
"If we can sustain the rate of improvement, the nanogenerator may find a broad range of other applications that require more power," he added. Wang cited, for example, personal electronic devices powered by footsteps activating nanogenerators inside the sole of a shoe; implanted insulin pumps powered by a heart beat; and environmental sensors powered by nanogenerators flapping in the breeze.
Wang and colleagues demonstrated commercial feasibility of the latest nanogenerator by using it to power an LED light and a liquid crystal display like those widely used in many electronic devices, such as calculators and computers. The power came from squeezing the nanogenerator between two fingers.
''The key to the technology is zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires. ZnO nanowires are piezoelectric — they can generate an electric current when strained or flexed''. That movement can be virtually any body movement, such as walking, a heartbeat, or blood flowing through the body. The nanowires can also generate electricity in response to wind, rolling tires, or many other kinds of movement.
''Wang's group found a way to capture and combine the electrical charges from millions of the nanoscale zinc oxide wires''. They also developed an efficient way to deposit the nanowires onto flexible polymer chips, each about a quarter the size of a postage stamp. Five nanogenerators stacked together produce about 1 micro Ampere output current at 3 volts — about the same voltage generated by two regular AA batteries (about 1.5 volts each).
"While a few volts may not seem like much, it has grown by leaps and bounds over previous versions of the nanogenerator," said Wang, a scientist at Georgia Institute of Technology. "Additional nanowires and more nanogenerators, stacked together, could produce enough energy for powering larger electronics, such as an iPod or charging a cell phone."
Wang said the next step is to further improve the output power of the nanogenerator and find a company to produce the nanogenerator. It could hit the market in three to five years, he estimated. The device's first application is likely to be as a power source for tiny environmental sensors and sensors for infrastructure monitoring. Source: [[First practical nanogenerator produces electricity with pinch of fingers|http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=222&content_id=CNBP_026949&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=835507ad-386a-47f9-a00c-74016d45dd85]]
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created energy>><<matchTags popup sort:-created milestone>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanowire>>
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}}}
{{twocolumns{
Researchers finds evidence for the extra-terrestrial origin of world’s only known natural example of a quasicrystal.
Researchers report that a rock fragment containing a previously undescribed natural quasi-crystal might be a remnant of a 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite. Unlike crystalline solids, [[quasi-crystals|Nobel "for the discovery of quasicrystals"]] contain a quasi-periodic arrangement of atoms and symmetries not normally found in crystals.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-left:10px" src="img/quasicrystal_meteorite.jpg" title="It came from outer space (Image: Luca Bindi and Paul Steinhardt)" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>[[Paul J. Steinhardt|http://wwwphy.princeton.edu/~steinh/]] and colleagues performed mass spectrometry and oxygen isotope analysis on quasi-crystalline grains of iron, aluminum, and copper arranged in a pattern with icosahedral symmetry (six separate axes of five-fold symmetry) and embedded in a fragment of rock previously unearthed in the Koryak Mountains of Russia.
The quasi-crystals, the authors report, were intermeshed with silicates and crystalline metals. In addition, the rock fragment contained a quasi-crystalline grain encased in stishovite, a mineral with the chemical composition of silica that forms only under extremely high pressures typical of the Earth's deep mantle and of meteoritic impacts. According to the authors' dating analysis, the fragment's oxygen isotope signature, which resembles that of certain carbonaceous meteorites, suggests an extra-terrestrial origin, possibly a meteorite that originated in the early solar system around 4.5 billion years ago. The events that led to the extraordinary assemblage of minerals found in the rock fragment remain a mystery, but the findings suggest that ''quasi-crystals — until recently represented exclusively by man-made materials — can form in nature and remain stable over cosmic time scales'', according to the authors. Source: [[An extra-terrestrial quasi-crystal|http://chinese.eurekalert.org/en/pub_releases/2012-01/aaft-aeq123011.php]]. This work was detailed in the paper ''[[“Evidence for the extra-terrestrial origin of a natural quasicrystal”|http://www.pnas.org/lookup/doi/10.1073/pnas.1111115109]]'' by L. Bindi, J. Eiler, Y. Guan, L. Hollister, G. Macpherson and N. Yao.
''Follow up:''
[[The quasicrystal from outer space|http://www.nature.com/news/the-quasicrystal-from-outer-space-1.9728]] by Richard Van Noorden, Nature. //"Hundreds of synthetic quasicrystals have now been created in controlled conditions in laboratories. Steinhardt started a search to find a quasicrystal in nature"//
[[Nobel prizewinning quasicrystal fell from space|http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21325-nobel-prizewinning-quasicrystal-gets-alien-status.html]] by David Shiga, New Scientist. //It is still not clear exactly how quasicrystals form in nature. Laboratory specimens are made by depositing metallic vapour of a carefully controlled composition in a vacuum chamber. The new discovery that that they can form in space too, where the environment is more variable, suggests the crystals can be produced in a wider variety of conditions//
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created quasicrystals>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[nano before nanotech]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created astronomy>>
<<tiddler Twitter>>
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On September 2010, the [[European Medicines Agency (EMA)|http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index.jsp?curl=pages/about_us/general/general_content_000235.jsp&murl=menus/about_us/about_us.jsp&mid=]] hosted the first international scientific workshop on nanomedicines. Some 200 European and international participants from 27 countries including Australia, Canada, India, Japan and the United States discussed ''benefits and challenges arising from the application of nanotechnologies to medicines''. Participants included representatives from patients’ organisations, health care professionals’ organisations, academia, regulatory authorities and pharmaceutical industry.
The participants of the workshop shared experience, reviewed existing and emerging nanomedicines and discussed a number of specific aspects, including characterisation, biodistribution and interactions of nanomedicines with biological systems, to identify gaps in scientific knowledge and to prepare for the evaluation of future nanomedicines.
“Preparedness is essential for enabling timely introduction of safe and efficacious nanomedicines of a high quality, as ''nanotechnologies bring not only opportunities to improve current treatments but also the potential to change the way we approach healthcare and diseases''”, said Patrick Le Courtois, Head of Unit Human Medicines and Development at the EMA.
Nanotechnologies have a wide and still only partially exploited potential in the development of medicines. They provide scope for engineered nano-systems that could lead to a spectrum of useful functions such as refined drug delivery, advanced combined diagnostics/therapeutic functions, matrices and support structures for regenerative medicines.
''Some eighteen marketing authorisation applications for nanomedicines have been reviewed by the EMA so far''. These include liposomal formulations, nanoparticles and polymers/conjugates, mainly related to anti-infectives, anti-neoplastic and immuno-modulating agents. The applications were assessed under the existing regulatory framework using established principles of benefit/risk analysis with the scientific flexibility of accepting new development models and testing methods in the evaluation of such products. The following are examples of nanomedicines that have been centrally authorised: the anti-neoplastic agent [[Caelyx|http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index.jsp?curl=pages/medicines/human/medicines/000089/human_med_000683.jsp&murl=menus/medicines/medicines.jsp&mid=WC0b01ac058001d124&jsenabled=true]] includes stealth liposomes of doxorubicine hydrochloride; the antineoplastic agent [[Mepact|http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index.jsp?curl=pages/medicines/human/medicines/000802/human_med_000899.jsp&murl=menus/medicines/medicines.jsp&mid=WC0b01ac058001d124]] contains mifamurtide in multilamellar liposomes; the antineoplastic agent [[Abraxane|http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index.jsp?curl=pages/medicines/human/medicines/000778/human_med_000620.jsp&murl=menus/medicines/medicines.jsp&mid=WC0b01ac058001d124]] contains paclitaxel nanoparticles bound to human serum albumin; the immunosuppressant [[Rapamune|http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index.jsp?curl=pages/medicines/human/medicines/000273/human_med_001010.jsp&murl=menus/medicines/medicines.jsp&mid=WC0b01ac058001d124]] contains sirolimus particles in nanocrystal colloidal dispersion.
Emerging therapies give rise to questions on the appropriateness of current regulatory frameworks, the relevance and adequacy of existing requirements and guidelines, and on the availability of adequate expertise to regulators. The assessment of existing nanomedicines has provided valuable experience in examining certain aspects of emerging nanomedicines. Scientific challenges arise from the limitations of current testing methods and the reliability of novel ones, because of the ‘nanosize’ and the unique behaviour of such nano-systems in biological structures. Further scientific research will be needed to provide a sound scientific basis for an adequate evaluation of the quality, safety and efficacy of emerging nanomedicines, supported by a continued dialogue between scientists and regulators.
The participants of the workshop agreed that the application of nanotechnologies to emerging therapies requires the pooling of knowledge and expertise at a global level and across society. The EMA will extend existing platforms for further dialogue on emerging science, needs of patients, and expectations from all stakeholders, to keep abreast with the scientific progress and to provide a regulatory environment adequate for innovation based on science centred around patients’ needs. Source: ''[[European Medicines Agency holds first scientific workshop on nanomedicines|http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index.jsp?curl=pages/news_and_events/news/2010/09/news_detail_001108.jsp&murl=menus/news_and_events/news_and_events.jsp&mid=WC0b01ac058004d5c1]]''. European and international experts prepare for the evaluation of future nanomedicines
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomedicine>>
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{{twocolumns{
For the first time in history, a patient has been given a new trachea made from a synthetic scaffold seeded with his own stem cells. The operation was performed at Karolinska University Hospital (Stockholm, Sweden), by professor Paolo Macchiarini and colleagues. Professor Macchiarini led an international team including professor Alexander Seifalian from the UCL (University College London, UK) who designed and built the nanocomposite tracheal scaffold and Harvard Bioscience (Boston, USA) who produced a specifically designed bioreactor used to seed the scaffold with the patient´s own stem cells.
The successful transplantation of tissue engineered synthetic organs, referred to as regenerative medicine, could open new and very promising therapeutic possibilities for the thousands of patients who suffer from tracheal cancer or other conditions that destroy, block or constrict the airway. Professor Macchiarini has [[previously performed successful transplants of tissue engineered tracheas|http://www.harvardbioscience.com/common/download/download.cfm?companyid=HBIO&fileid=448959&filekey=48349181-36a9-4a3a-95bb-ea8209fa8000&filename=Macchiarini_et_al_2008.pdf]], but on those occasions the tracheas used were taken from organ donors and then reseeded with the patient's own stem cells. Transplantations of tissue engineered windpipes with synthetic scaffolds in combination with the patient's own stem cells as a standard procedure, means that patients will not have to wait for a suitable donor organ. Source: From ''[[First Successful Transplantation of a Synthetic Tissue Engineered Windpipe|http://ki.se/ki/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=130&a=125055&l=en&newsdep=130]]''
Harvard Bioscience, a global developer, manufacturer and marketer of a broad range of tools to advance life science research and regenerative medicine, announces that its "InBreath" bioreactor was used for the world's first successful transplantation of a synthetic tissue engineered windpipe. For first time in history, a patient has been given a new trachea made from a synthetic scaffold seeded with his own stem cells in Harvard Bioscience's bioreactor. The patient, a 36-year old man who had been suffering from late stage tracheal cancer, that before this surgery would have been inoperable, is well on the way to a full recovery and was discharged from the hospital.
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David Green, President of Harvard Bioscience, commented, "We congratulate Professor Macchiarini and the entire scientific and surgical team on achieving this landmark in the history of regenerative medicine." Source: From ''[[Harvard Bioscience's Bioreactor Grows a Synthetic Tissue-Engineered Trachea Used in World's First Successful Human Transplantation|http://www.harvardbioscience.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=589734]]''
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''The windpipe (trachea) implanted in this patient was developed using nanocomposite materials'' which were developed and patented by [[Alexander Seifalian|http://www.ucl.ac.uk/stemcells/researchers/as]], professor of nanotechnology and regenerative medicine at University College London, whose labs are based at the Royal Free Hospital. Together with Professor Paolo Macchiarini at Karolinska, who also holds an Honorary appointment at UCL, Professor Seifalian designed and developed the trachea scaffold using a material known as [[a novel nanocomposite polymer|http://uclb.technologypublisher.com/technology/5523]].
Professor Seifalian has worked closely with UCL Business ([[UCLB|http://www.uclb.com/]]), responsible for technology development and commercial transactions at UCL, to patent these materials and develop their use in medical devices. As well as being used for tissue scaffolds, the materials have other potential uses such as coronary stents and grafts.
A full size ‘y-shaped’ trachea scaffold was manufactured in Professor Seifalian’s labs. This was accomplished using a Computerised Tomography scan of the patient as a guide, to create the exact shape and dimension needed. A mould was then made using glass.
Professor Seifalian said: “What makes this procedure different is it’s the first time that a wholly tissue engineered synthetic windpipe has been made and successfully transplanted, making it an important milestone for regenerative medicine. We expect there to be many more exciting applications for the novel polymers we have developed.” Source: From ''[[UCL technology used in windpipe transplant|http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/1107/11070701]]''
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created milestone>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomaterial>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomedicine>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nano-oncology>>
}}}
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A team led by Yale University researchers has ''used nanosensors to measure cancer biomarkers in whole blood for the first time''. Their findings could dramatically simplify the way physicians test for biomarkers of cancer and other diseases.
The team—led by [[Mark Reed|http://www.seas.yale.edu/faculty-detail.php?id=93]], Yale’s Harold Hodgkinson Professor of Engineering & Applied Science, and [[Tarek Fahmy|http://www.seas.yale.edu/faculty-detail.php?id=34]], an associate professor of biomedical and chemical engineering—used nanowire sensors to detect and measure concentrations of two specific biomarkers: one for prostate cancer and the other for breast cancer.
''“Nanosensors have been around for the past decade, but they only worked in controlled, laboratory settings,” Reed said. “This is the first time we’ve been able to use them with whole blood, which is a complicated solution containing proteins and ions and other things that affect detection.”''
To overcome the challenge of whole blood detection, the researchers developed a novel device that acts as a filter, catching the biomarkers—in this case, antigens specific to prostate and breast cancer—on a chip while washing away the rest of the blood. Creating a buildup of the antigens on the chip allows for detection down to extremely small concentrations, on the order of picograms per milliliter, to within an accuracy of plus or minus 10 percent. This is the equivalent of being able to detect the concentration of a single grain of salt dissolved in a large swimming pool.
Until now, detection methods have only been able to determine whether or not a certain biomarker is present in the blood at sufficiently high concentrations for the detection equipment to give reliable estimates of its presence. “This new method is much more precise in reading out concentrations, and is much less dependent on the individual operator’s interpretation,” Fahmy said.
In addition to relying on somewhat subjective interpretations, current tests are also labor intensive. They involve taking a blood sample, sending it to a lab, using a centrifuge to separate the different components, isolating the plasma and putting it through an hours-long chemical analysis. The whole process takes several days. In comparison, the new device is able to read out biomarker concentrations in just a few minutes.
''“Doctors could have these small, portable devices in their offices and get nearly instant readings,” Fahmy said. “They could also carry them into the field and test patients on site.”''
The new device could also be used to test for a wide range of biomarkers at the same time, from ovarian cancer to cardiovascular disease, Reed said. “The advantage of this technology is that it takes the same effort to make a million devices as it does to make just one. We’ve brought the power of modern microelectronics to cancer detection.” Source: From ''[[Scientists Use Nanosensors for First Time to Measure Cancer Biomarkers in Blood|http://opa.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=7160]]''. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Label-free biomarker detection from whole blood|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nnano.2009.353.html]]'' by Eric Stern, Aleksandar Vacic, Nitin Rajan, Jason Criscione, Jason Park, Mark Reed and Tarek Fahmy (all of Yale University); Bojan Ilic (Cornell University); David Mooney (Harvard University).
Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomedicine>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nano-oncology>><<matchTags popup sort:-created detection>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoelectronics>>
"We show that a combination of various types of nanorobots will prove to be more important as we attend to enhance targeting in the smallest blood vessels found in the human microvasculature. As such, various interdependent concepts for the implementation of these different types of ''medical bio-nanorobots'' including nanorobots propelled in the microvasculature by flagellated bacteria to target deep regions in the human body are presented. Through experimental results and theoretical formulations, we also showed the advantages of integrating biological components and more specifically [[Magnetotactic Bacteria (MTB)|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetotactic_bacteria]] for the development of hybrid (made of synthetic and biological components) nanorobots adapted to operate in the human microvasculature. We also show a method capable to track using MRI as imaging modality, steerable microbeads and MTB that could be integrated in the implementation of future sophisticated bionanorobots operating inside the complex vascular network. As such, we show that these nanorobots including the ones propelled by a single flagellated bacterium could be guided or controlled directly towards specific locations deep inside the human body. We also show experimentally that flagellated bacterial nanorobots could be propelled and steered in vivo through the interstitial region of a tumor for enhanced therapeutic results."
Source: [[Flagellated Bacterial Nanorobots for Medical Interventions in the Human Body|http://www.ieee-biorob.org/assets/pdf/BioRob2008_min_size.pdf]] by [[Sylvain Martel|http://www.polymtl.ca/recherche/en/chercheur/sylvainMartel.php]], [[Ouajdi Felfoul, and Mahmood Mohammadi|http://wiki.polymtl.ca/nano/index.php/People]], École Polytechnique de Montréal. The researchers' latest work, was presented at the [[IEEE 2008 Biorobotics Conference|http://www.ieee-biorob.org/]], in the Symposium "Microrobotic Systems For Biomedical Applications". See also [[World first in medical robotics]] and the video documental on their work, [[Sous-marin à résonance magnétique|http://wiki.polymtl.ca/nano/index.php/Decouverte_2007-12]]
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|''Version:''|1.0.8 (2007-04-12)|
|''Source:''|http://tiddlywiki.abego-software.de/#ForEachTiddlerPlugin|
|''Author:''|UdoBorkowski (ub [at] abego-software [dot] de)|
|''Licence:''|[[BSD open source license (abego Software)|http://www.abego-software.de/legal/apl-v10.html]]|
|''Copyright:''|© 2005-2007 [[abego Software|http://www.abego-software.de]]|
|''TiddlyWiki:''|1.2.38+, 2.0|
|''Browser:''|Firefox 1.0.4+; Firefox 1.5; InternetExplorer 6.0|
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Create customizable lists, tables etc. for your selections of tiddlers. Specify the tiddlers to include and their order through a powerful language.
''Syntax:''
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* v1.0.8 (2007-04-12)
** Adapted to latest TiddlyWiki 2.2 Beta importTiddlyWiki API (introduced with changeset 2004). TiddlyWiki 2.2 Beta builds prior to changeset 2004 are no longer supported (but TiddlyWiki 2.1 and earlier, of cause)
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* v1.0.6 (2006-09-16)
** Context provides "viewerTiddler", i.e. the tiddler used to view the macro. Most times this is equal to the "inTiddler", but when using the "tiddler" macro both may be different.
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** Pass tiddler containing the macro with wikify, context object also holds reference to tiddler containing the macro ("inTiddler"). Thanks to SimonBaird.
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* v1.0.4 (2006-01-06)
** Support TiddlyWiki 2.0
* v1.0.3 (2005-12-22)
** Features:
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* v1.0.2 (2005-12-10)
** Features:
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*** Access tiddlers stored in separated TiddlyWikis through the "in" option. I.e. you are no longer limited to only work on the "current TiddlyWiki".
*** Write output to an external file using the "toFile" option of the "write" action. With this option you may write your customized tiddler exports.
*** Use the "script" section to define "helper" JavaScript functions etc. to be used in the various JavaScript expressions (whereClause, sortClause, action arguments,...).
*** Access and store context information for the current forEachTiddler invocation (through the build-in "context" object) .
*** Improved script evaluation (for where/sort clause and write scripts).
* v1.0.0 (2005-11-20)
** initial version
!Code
***/
//{{{
//============================================================================
//============================================================================
// ForEachTiddlerPlugin
//============================================================================
//============================================================================
// Only install once
if (!version.extensions.ForEachTiddlerPlugin) {
if (!window.abego) window.abego = {};
version.extensions.ForEachTiddlerPlugin = {
major: 1, minor: 0, revision: 8,
date: new Date(2007,3,12),
source: "http://tiddlywiki.abego-software.de/#ForEachTiddlerPlugin",
licence: "[[BSD open source license (abego Software)|http://www.abego-software.de/legal/apl-v10.html]]",
copyright: "Copyright (c) abego Software GmbH, 2005-2007 (www.abego-software.de)"
};
// For backward compatibility with TW 1.2.x
//
if (!TiddlyWiki.prototype.forEachTiddler) {
TiddlyWiki.prototype.forEachTiddler = function(callback) {
for(var t in this.tiddlers) {
callback.call(this,t,this.tiddlers[t]);
}
};
}
//============================================================================
// forEachTiddler Macro
//============================================================================
version.extensions.forEachTiddler = {
major: 1, minor: 0, revision: 8, date: new Date(2007,3,12), provider: "http://tiddlywiki.abego-software.de"};
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Configurations and constants
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
config.macros.forEachTiddler = {
// Standard Properties
label: "forEachTiddler",
prompt: "Perform actions on a (sorted) selection of tiddlers",
// actions
actions: {
addToList: {},
write: {}
}
};
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
// The forEachTiddler Macro Handler
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
config.macros.forEachTiddler.getContainingTiddler = function(e) {
while(e && !hasClass(e,"tiddler"))
e = e.parentNode;
var title = e ? e.getAttribute("tiddler") : null;
return title ? store.getTiddler(title) : null;
};
config.macros.forEachTiddler.handler = function(place,macroName,params,wikifier,paramString,tiddler) {
// config.macros.forEachTiddler.traceMacroCall(place,macroName,params,wikifier,paramString,tiddler);
if (!tiddler) tiddler = config.macros.forEachTiddler.getContainingTiddler(place);
// --- Parsing ------------------------------------------
var i = 0; // index running over the params
// Parse the "in" clause
var tiddlyWikiPath = undefined;
if ((i < params.length) && params[i] == "in") {
i++;
if (i >= params.length) {
this.handleError(place, "TiddlyWiki path expected behind 'in'.");
return;
}
tiddlyWikiPath = this.paramEncode((i < params.length) ? params[i] : "");
i++;
}
// Parse the where clause
var whereClause ="true";
if ((i < params.length) && params[i] == "where") {
i++;
whereClause = this.paramEncode((i < params.length) ? params[i] : "");
i++;
}
// Parse the sort stuff
var sortClause = null;
var sortAscending = true;
if ((i < params.length) && params[i] == "sortBy") {
i++;
if (i >= params.length) {
this.handleError(place, "sortClause missing behind 'sortBy'.");
return;
}
sortClause = this.paramEncode(params[i]);
i++;
if ((i < params.length) && (params[i] == "ascending" || params[i] == "descending")) {
sortAscending = params[i] == "ascending";
i++;
}
}
// Parse the script
var scriptText = null;
if ((i < params.length) && params[i] == "script") {
i++;
scriptText = this.paramEncode((i < params.length) ? params[i] : "");
i++;
}
// Parse the action.
// When we are already at the end use the default action
var actionName = "addToList";
if (i < params.length) {
if (!config.macros.forEachTiddler.actions[params[i]]) {
this.handleError(place, "Unknown action '"+params[i]+"'.");
return;
} else {
actionName = params[i];
i++;
}
}
// Get the action parameter
// (the parsing is done inside the individual action implementation.)
var actionParameter = params.slice(i);
// --- Processing ------------------------------------------
try {
this.performMacro({
place: place,
inTiddler: tiddler,
whereClause: whereClause,
sortClause: sortClause,
sortAscending: sortAscending,
actionName: actionName,
actionParameter: actionParameter,
scriptText: scriptText,
tiddlyWikiPath: tiddlyWikiPath});
} catch (e) {
this.handleError(place, e);
}
};
// Returns an object with properties "tiddlers" and "context".
// tiddlers holds the (sorted) tiddlers selected by the parameter,
// context the context of the execution of the macro.
//
// The action is not yet performed.
//
// @parameter see performMacro
//
config.macros.forEachTiddler.getTiddlersAndContext = function(parameter) {
var context = config.macros.forEachTiddler.createContext(parameter.place, parameter.whereClause, parameter.sortClause, parameter.sortAscending, parameter.actionName, parameter.actionParameter, parameter.scriptText, parameter.tiddlyWikiPath, parameter.inTiddler);
var tiddlyWiki = parameter.tiddlyWikiPath ? this.loadTiddlyWiki(parameter.tiddlyWikiPath) : store;
context["tiddlyWiki"] = tiddlyWiki;
// Get the tiddlers, as defined by the whereClause
var tiddlers = this.findTiddlers(parameter.whereClause, context, tiddlyWiki);
context["tiddlers"] = tiddlers;
// Sort the tiddlers, when sorting is required.
if (parameter.sortClause) {
this.sortTiddlers(tiddlers, parameter.sortClause, parameter.sortAscending, context);
}
return {tiddlers: tiddlers, context: context};
};
// Returns the (sorted) tiddlers selected by the parameter.
//
// The action is not yet performed.
//
// @parameter see performMacro
//
config.macros.forEachTiddler.getTiddlers = function(parameter) {
return this.getTiddlersAndContext(parameter).tiddlers;
};
// Performs the macros with the given parameter.
//
// @param parameter holds the parameter of the macro as separate properties.
// The following properties are supported:
//
// place
// whereClause
// sortClause
// sortAscending
// actionName
// actionParameter
// scriptText
// tiddlyWikiPath
//
// All properties are optional.
// For most actions the place property must be defined.
//
config.macros.forEachTiddler.performMacro = function(parameter) {
var tiddlersAndContext = this.getTiddlersAndContext(parameter);
// Perform the action
var actionName = parameter.actionName ? parameter.actionName : "addToList";
var action = config.macros.forEachTiddler.actions[actionName];
if (!action) {
this.handleError(parameter.place, "Unknown action '"+actionName+"'.");
return;
}
var actionHandler = action.handler;
actionHandler(parameter.place, tiddlersAndContext.tiddlers, parameter.actionParameter, tiddlersAndContext.context);
};
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
// The actions
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Internal.
//
// --- The addToList Action -----------------------------------------------
//
config.macros.forEachTiddler.actions.addToList.handler = function(place, tiddlers, parameter, context) {
// Parse the parameter
var p = 0;
// Check for extra parameters
if (parameter.length > p) {
config.macros.forEachTiddler.createExtraParameterErrorElement(place, "addToList", parameter, p);
return;
}
// Perform the action.
var list = document.createElement("ul");
place.appendChild(list);
for (var i = 0; i < tiddlers.length; i++) {
var tiddler = tiddlers[i];
var listItem = document.createElement("li");
list.appendChild(listItem);
createTiddlyLink(listItem, tiddler.title, true);
}
};
abego.parseNamedParameter = function(name, parameter, i) {
var beginExpression = null;
if ((i < parameter.length) && parameter[i] == name) {
i++;
if (i >= parameter.length) {
throw "Missing text behind '%0'".format([name]);
}
return config.macros.forEachTiddler.paramEncode(parameter[i]);
}
return null;
}
// Internal.
//
// --- The write Action ---------------------------------------------------
//
config.macros.forEachTiddler.actions.write.handler = function(place, tiddlers, parameter, context) {
// Parse the parameter
var p = 0;
if (p >= parameter.length) {
this.handleError(place, "Missing expression behind 'write'.");
return;
}
var textExpression = config.macros.forEachTiddler.paramEncode(parameter[p]);
p++;
// Parse the "begin" option
var beginExpression = abego.parseNamedParameter("begin", parameter, p);
if (beginExpression !== null)
p += 2;
var endExpression = abego.parseNamedParameter("end", parameter, p);
if (endExpression !== null)
p += 2;
var noneExpression = abego.parseNamedParameter("none", parameter, p);
if (noneExpression !== null)
p += 2;
// Parse the "toFile" option
var filename = null;
var lineSeparator = undefined;
if ((p < parameter.length) && parameter[p] == "toFile") {
p++;
if (p >= parameter.length) {
this.handleError(place, "Filename expected behind 'toFile' of 'write' action.");
return;
}
filename = config.macros.forEachTiddler.getLocalPath(config.macros.forEachTiddler.paramEncode(parameter[p]));
p++;
if ((p < parameter.length) && parameter[p] == "withLineSeparator") {
p++;
if (p >= parameter.length) {
this.handleError(place, "Line separator text expected behind 'withLineSeparator' of 'write' action.");
return;
}
lineSeparator = config.macros.forEachTiddler.paramEncode(parameter[p]);
p++;
}
}
// Check for extra parameters
if (parameter.length > p) {
config.macros.forEachTiddler.createExtraParameterErrorElement(place, "write", parameter, p);
return;
}
// Perform the action.
var func = config.macros.forEachTiddler.getEvalTiddlerFunction(textExpression, context);
var count = tiddlers.length;
var text = "";
if (count > 0 && beginExpression)
text += config.macros.forEachTiddler.getEvalTiddlerFunction(beginExpression, context)(undefined, context, count, undefined);
for (var i = 0; i < count; i++) {
var tiddler = tiddlers[i];
text += func(tiddler, context, count, i);
}
if (count > 0 && endExpression)
text += config.macros.forEachTiddler.getEvalTiddlerFunction(endExpression, context)(undefined, context, count, undefined);
if (count == 0 && noneExpression)
text += config.macros.forEachTiddler.getEvalTiddlerFunction(noneExpression, context)(undefined, context, count, undefined);
if (filename) {
if (lineSeparator !== undefined) {
lineSeparator = lineSeparator.replace(/\\n/mg, "\n").replace(/\\r/mg, "\r");
text = text.replace(/\n/mg,lineSeparator);
}
saveFile(filename, convertUnicodeToUTF8(text));
} else {
var wrapper = createTiddlyElement(place, "span");
wikify(text, wrapper, null/* highlightRegExp */, context.inTiddler);
}
};
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Helpers
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Internal.
//
config.macros.forEachTiddler.createContext = function(placeParam, whereClauseParam, sortClauseParam, sortAscendingParam, actionNameParam, actionParameterParam, scriptText, tiddlyWikiPathParam, inTiddlerParam) {
return {
place : placeParam,
whereClause : whereClauseParam,
sortClause : sortClauseParam,
sortAscending : sortAscendingParam,
script : scriptText,
actionName : actionNameParam,
actionParameter : actionParameterParam,
tiddlyWikiPath : tiddlyWikiPathParam,
inTiddler : inTiddlerParam, // the tiddler containing the <<forEachTiddler ...>> macro call.
viewerTiddler : config.macros.forEachTiddler.getContainingTiddler(placeParam) // the tiddler showing the forEachTiddler result
};
};
// Internal.
//
// Returns a TiddlyWiki with the tiddlers loaded from the TiddlyWiki of
// the given path.
//
config.macros.forEachTiddler.loadTiddlyWiki = function(path, idPrefix) {
if (!idPrefix) {
idPrefix = "store";
}
var lenPrefix = idPrefix.length;
// Read the content of the given file
var content = loadFile(this.getLocalPath(path));
if(content === null) {
throw "TiddlyWiki '"+path+"' not found.";
}
var tiddlyWiki = new TiddlyWiki();
// Starting with TW 2.2 there is a helper function to import the tiddlers
if (tiddlyWiki.importTiddlyWiki) {
if (!tiddlyWiki.importTiddlyWiki(content))
throw "File '"+path+"' is not a TiddlyWiki.";
tiddlyWiki.dirty = false;
return tiddlyWiki;
}
// The legacy code, for TW < 2.2
// Locate the storeArea div's
var posOpeningDiv = content.indexOf(startSaveArea);
var posClosingDiv = content.lastIndexOf(endSaveArea);
if((posOpeningDiv == -1) || (posClosingDiv == -1)) {
throw "File '"+path+"' is not a TiddlyWiki.";
}
var storageText = content.substr(posOpeningDiv + startSaveArea.length, posClosingDiv);
// Create a "div" element that contains the storage text
var myStorageDiv = document.createElement("div");
myStorageDiv.innerHTML = storageText;
myStorageDiv.normalize();
// Create all tiddlers in a new TiddlyWiki
// (following code is modified copy of TiddlyWiki.prototype.loadFromDiv)
var store = myStorageDiv.childNodes;
for(var t = 0; t < store.length; t++) {
var e = store[t];
var title = null;
if(e.getAttribute)
title = e.getAttribute("tiddler");
if(!title && e.id && e.id.substr(0,lenPrefix) == idPrefix)
title = e.id.substr(lenPrefix);
if(title && title !== "") {
var tiddler = tiddlyWiki.createTiddler(title);
tiddler.loadFromDiv(e,title);
}
}
tiddlyWiki.dirty = false;
return tiddlyWiki;
};
// Internal.
//
// Returns a function that has a function body returning the given javaScriptExpression.
// The function has the parameters:
//
// (tiddler, context, count, index)
//
config.macros.forEachTiddler.getEvalTiddlerFunction = function (javaScriptExpression, context) {
var script = context["script"];
var functionText = "var theFunction = function(tiddler, context, count, index) { return "+javaScriptExpression+"}";
var fullText = (script ? script+";" : "")+functionText+";theFunction;";
return eval(fullText);
};
// Internal.
//
config.macros.forEachTiddler.findTiddlers = function(whereClause, context, tiddlyWiki) {
var result = [];
var func = config.macros.forEachTiddler.getEvalTiddlerFunction(whereClause, context);
tiddlyWiki.forEachTiddler(function(title,tiddler) {
if (func(tiddler, context, undefined, undefined)) {
result.push(tiddler);
}
});
return result;
};
// Internal.
//
config.macros.forEachTiddler.createExtraParameterErrorElement = function(place, actionName, parameter, firstUnusedIndex) {
var message = "Extra parameter behind '"+actionName+"':";
for (var i = firstUnusedIndex; i < parameter.length; i++) {
message += " "+parameter[i];
}
this.handleError(place, message);
};
// Internal.
//
config.macros.forEachTiddler.sortAscending = function(tiddlerA, tiddlerB) {
var result =
(tiddlerA.forEachTiddlerSortValue == tiddlerB.forEachTiddlerSortValue)
? 0
: (tiddlerA.forEachTiddlerSortValue < tiddlerB.forEachTiddlerSortValue)
? -1
: +1;
return result;
};
// Internal.
//
config.macros.forEachTiddler.sortDescending = function(tiddlerA, tiddlerB) {
var result =
(tiddlerA.forEachTiddlerSortValue == tiddlerB.forEachTiddlerSortValue)
? 0
: (tiddlerA.forEachTiddlerSortValue < tiddlerB.forEachTiddlerSortValue)
? +1
: -1;
return result;
};
// Internal.
//
config.macros.forEachTiddler.sortTiddlers = function(tiddlers, sortClause, ascending, context) {
// To avoid evaluating the sortClause whenever two items are compared
// we pre-calculate the sortValue for every item in the array and store it in a
// temporary property ("forEachTiddlerSortValue") of the tiddlers.
var func = config.macros.forEachTiddler.getEvalTiddlerFunction(sortClause, context);
var count = tiddlers.length;
var i;
for (i = 0; i < count; i++) {
var tiddler = tiddlers[i];
tiddler.forEachTiddlerSortValue = func(tiddler,context, undefined, undefined);
}
// Do the sorting
tiddlers.sort(ascending ? this.sortAscending : this.sortDescending);
// Delete the temporary property that holds the sortValue.
for (i = 0; i < tiddlers.length; i++) {
delete tiddlers[i].forEachTiddlerSortValue;
}
};
// Internal.
//
config.macros.forEachTiddler.trace = function(message) {
displayMessage(message);
};
// Internal.
//
config.macros.forEachTiddler.traceMacroCall = function(place,macroName,params) {
var message ="<<"+macroName;
for (var i = 0; i < params.length; i++) {
message += " "+params[i];
}
message += ">>";
displayMessage(message);
};
// Internal.
//
// Creates an element that holds an error message
//
config.macros.forEachTiddler.createErrorElement = function(place, exception) {
var message = (exception.description) ? exception.description : exception.toString();
return createTiddlyElement(place,"span",null,"forEachTiddlerError","<<forEachTiddler ...>>: "+message);
};
// Internal.
//
// @param place [may be null]
//
config.macros.forEachTiddler.handleError = function(place, exception) {
if (place) {
this.createErrorElement(place, exception);
} else {
throw exception;
}
};
// Internal.
//
// Encodes the given string.
//
// Replaces
// "$))" to ">>"
// "$)" to ">"
//
config.macros.forEachTiddler.paramEncode = function(s) {
var reGTGT = new RegExp("\\$\\)\\)","mg");
var reGT = new RegExp("\\$\\)","mg");
return s.replace(reGTGT, ">>").replace(reGT, ">");
};
// Internal.
//
// Returns the given original path (that is a file path, starting with "file:")
// as a path to a local file, in the systems native file format.
//
// Location information in the originalPath (i.e. the "#" and stuff following)
// is stripped.
//
config.macros.forEachTiddler.getLocalPath = function(originalPath) {
// Remove any location part of the URL
var hashPos = originalPath.indexOf("#");
if(hashPos != -1)
originalPath = originalPath.substr(0,hashPos);
// Convert to a native file format assuming
// "file:///x:/path/path/path..." - pc local file --> "x:\path\path\path..."
// "file://///server/share/path/path/path..." - FireFox pc network file --> "\\server\share\path\path\path..."
// "file:///path/path/path..." - mac/unix local file --> "/path/path/path..."
// "file://server/share/path/path/path..." - pc network file --> "\\server\share\path\path\path..."
var localPath;
if(originalPath.charAt(9) == ":") // pc local file
localPath = unescape(originalPath.substr(8)).replace(new RegExp("/","g"),"\\");
else if(originalPath.indexOf("file://///") === 0) // FireFox pc network file
localPath = "\\\\" + unescape(originalPath.substr(10)).replace(new RegExp("/","g"),"\\");
else if(originalPath.indexOf("file:///") === 0) // mac/unix local file
localPath = unescape(originalPath.substr(7));
else if(originalPath.indexOf("file:/") === 0) // mac/unix local file
localPath = unescape(originalPath.substr(5));
else // pc network file
localPath = "\\\\" + unescape(originalPath.substr(7)).replace(new RegExp("/","g"),"\\");
return localPath;
};
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Stylesheet Extensions (may be overridden by local StyleSheet)
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
//
setStylesheet(
".forEachTiddlerError{color: #ffffff;background-color: #880000;}",
"forEachTiddler");
//============================================================================
// End of forEachTiddler Macro
//============================================================================
//============================================================================
// String.startsWith Function
//============================================================================
//
// Returns true if the string starts with the given prefix, false otherwise.
//
version.extensions["String.startsWith"] = {major: 1, minor: 0, revision: 0, date: new Date(2005,11,20), provider: "http://tiddlywiki.abego-software.de"};
//
String.prototype.startsWith = function(prefix) {
var n = prefix.length;
return (this.length >= n) && (this.slice(0, n) == prefix);
};
//============================================================================
// String.endsWith Function
//============================================================================
//
// Returns true if the string ends with the given suffix, false otherwise.
//
version.extensions["String.endsWith"] = {major: 1, minor: 0, revision: 0, date: new Date(2005,11,20), provider: "http://tiddlywiki.abego-software.de"};
//
String.prototype.endsWith = function(suffix) {
var n = suffix.length;
return (this.length >= n) && (this.right(n) == suffix);
};
//============================================================================
// String.contains Function
//============================================================================
//
// Returns true when the string contains the given substring, false otherwise.
//
version.extensions["String.contains"] = {major: 1, minor: 0, revision: 0, date: new Date(2005,11,20), provider: "http://tiddlywiki.abego-software.de"};
//
String.prototype.contains = function(substring) {
return this.indexOf(substring) >= 0;
};
//============================================================================
// Array.indexOf Function
//============================================================================
//
// Returns the index of the first occurance of the given item in the array or
// -1 when no such item exists.
//
// @param item [may be null]
//
version.extensions["Array.indexOf"] = {major: 1, minor: 0, revision: 0, date: new Date(2005,11,20), provider: "http://tiddlywiki.abego-software.de"};
//
Array.prototype.indexOf = function(item) {
for (var i = 0; i < this.length; i++) {
if (this[i] == item) {
return i;
}
}
return -1;
};
//============================================================================
// Array.contains Function
//============================================================================
//
// Returns true when the array contains the given item, otherwise false.
//
// @param item [may be null]
//
version.extensions["Array.contains"] = {major: 1, minor: 0, revision: 0, date: new Date(2005,11,20), provider: "http://tiddlywiki.abego-software.de"};
//
Array.prototype.contains = function(item) {
return (this.indexOf(item) >= 0);
};
//============================================================================
// Array.containsAny Function
//============================================================================
//
// Returns true when the array contains at least one of the elements
// of the item. Otherwise (or when items contains no elements) false is returned.
//
version.extensions["Array.containsAny"] = {major: 1, minor: 0, revision: 0, date: new Date(2005,11,20), provider: "http://tiddlywiki.abego-software.de"};
//
Array.prototype.containsAny = function(items) {
for(var i = 0; i < items.length; i++) {
if (this.contains(items[i])) {
return true;
}
}
return false;
};
//============================================================================
// Array.containsAll Function
//============================================================================
//
// Returns true when the array contains all the items, otherwise false.
//
// When items is null false is returned (even if the array contains a null).
//
// @param items [may be null]
//
version.extensions["Array.containsAll"] = {major: 1, minor: 0, revision: 0, date: new Date(2005,11,20), provider: "http://tiddlywiki.abego-software.de"};
//
Array.prototype.containsAll = function(items) {
for(var i = 0; i < items.length; i++) {
if (!this.contains(items[i])) {
return false;
}
}
return true;
};
} // of "install only once"
// Used Globals (for JSLint) ==============
// ... DOM
/*global document */
// ... TiddlyWiki Core
/*global convertUnicodeToUTF8, createTiddlyElement, createTiddlyLink,
displayMessage, endSaveArea, hasClass, loadFile, saveFile,
startSaveArea, store, wikify */
//}}}
/***
!Licence and Copyright
Copyright (c) abego Software ~GmbH, 2005 ([[www.abego-software.de|http://www.abego-software.de]])
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification,
are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this
list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this
list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other
materials provided with the distribution.
Neither the name of abego Software nor the names of its contributors may be
used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific
prior written permission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES
OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT
SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR
BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN
ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
***/
{{twocolumns{
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="http://newsroom.uts.edu.au/sites/all/files/images/article_feature/xanthe-m7-wash-stitched-2.jpg" title="Latent fingermarks from a male donor developed on aluminium foil. Image provided by Xanthe Spindler" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>Despite fingerprinting being essentially the foundation technique of modern forensic science, ''only a fraction of all the fingermarks at a crime scene are actually detected''.
Now the work of UTS forensic science researcher [[Dr Xanthe Spindler|http://datasearch2.uts.edu.au/science/staff/details.cfm?StaffId=6648]] has made an important step towards recovering usable fingerprints from old evidence and surfaces long considered too difficult by crime scene investigators.
The collaboration between the [[UTS Centre for Forensic Science|http://www.forensics.uts.edu.au/]], the University of Canberra, the Australian Federal Police and Northern Illinois University has resulted in ''a forensic science world first with the preliminary development of a novel immunogenic method to detect latent fingermarks''.
The new method developed by Dr Spindler as part of her PhD work uses antibodies designed to target amino acids and can detect aged, dry and weak fingerprints that can't be captured using traditional fingerprinting methods.
"We've been able to successfully target amino acids on non-porous surfaces for the first time, with promising results in enhancing aged and degraded fingermarks that typically give poor results with traditional powdering and cyanoacrylate fuming," Dr Spindler said. "The potential is there to go back to old cases to see what might now be recovered."
The work is also a step in pursuit of the "Holy Grail" as Dr Spindler calls it, a reliable method for recovering fingerprints from human skin. "Current techniques of powdering and fuming have never worked well on skin, with the ability to only enhance fingermarks less than three hours old," Dr Spindler said. "The use of immunogenic reagents targeted at specific markers in body fluids will improve the ability to enhance fingermarks on problematical surfaces such as human skin.
"On other surfaces existing methods are most effective recovering fresh fingermarks that contain a reasonable level of moisture. That has meant that people with dry skin are weak donors and evidence is rapidly degraded in dry conditions or after long storage.
"The targeting of amino acids in fingerprint detection has been around since the mid-'50s, but its use has been limited largely to porous surfaces like paper because of the fragility of amino acid secretions on non-porous surfaces.
"Our work has been a proof-of-concept for a reagent that links amino acid-binding antibodies to gold nanoparticles, with the nanoparticles giving sharper detail in developed fingerprints."
With the support of the Australian Federal Police it is hoped to build on the results to develop a reliable and cost-effective technique with the potential to deliver "transformational outcomes for law enforcement."
In addition to Dr Spindler, chief investigators and key personnel have included the Director of the UTS Centre for Forensic Science Professor Claude Roux, Professor Chris Lennard from the University of Canberra, Professor Oliver Hofstetter from Northern Illinois University and Dr Andrew McDonagh from UTS. Source: [[A step towards a revolution in law enforcement|http://newsroom.uts.edu.au/news/2011/06/a-step-towards-a-revolution-in-law-enforcement]]. This work was detailed in the paper [[“Enhancement of latent fingermarks on non-porous surfaces using anti-L-amino acid antibodies conjugated to gold nanoparticles”|http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2011/CC/c0cc05748g]]<<slider chkSldr [[Enhancement of latent fingermarks on non-porous surfaces using anti-L-amino acid antibodies conjugated to gold nanoparticles]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoparticles >><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[forensic medicine]] >>
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<br>//Hydrogen depleted environments are considered an essential requirement for the formation of fullerenes. The recent detection of C~~60~~ and C~~70~~ fullerenes in what was interpreted as the hydrogen-poor inner region of a post-final helium shell flash planetary nebula (PN) seemed to confirm this picture. Here, we present strong evidence that challenges the current paradigm regarding fullerene formation, showing that it can take place in circumstellar environments containing hydrogen. We report the simultaneous detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and fullerenes toward C-rich and H-containing PNe belonging to environments with very different chemical histories such as our own Galaxy and the Small Magellanic Cloud. We suggest that PAHs and fullerenes may be formed by the photochemical processing of hydrogenated amorphous carbon. These observations suggest that modifications may be needed to our current understanding of the chemistry of large organic molecules as well as the chemical processing in space.//
In an industry typically dominated by corporations and capitalistic ventures, the Nanotechnology Research Foundation (NRF) has emerged as ''the first volunteer-based nonprofit organization specifically focused on supporting the acceleration of nanotechnology awareness, education, recognition, funding, research and innovation''.
Serving as a catalyst for nanotechnologies, the foundation will be funded by a diverse group of stakeholders from the private sector, foundations, government agencies, high net worth individuals and those individuals that want ''to support an effort that can dramatically improve American output from energy to medical diagnosis and treatment''. Between China and India alone, graduating engineers are out pacing America by more than 10 to 1 and there are billions of dollars spent on government funded research programs coming from other countries including the European Union and Japan. "Not only does this have an economic impact on America, but we might lose the intellectual race as well," said Michael Terlaak, the Executive Director and Founder of the NRF. "If we lose that, our last stronghold as a global leader, we will be dependent on other counties to create the new technological breakthroughs that will give us the next generation of innovative products and medical advancements. True, America still leads in innovation, the same way we once did in manufacturing, electronics and automobiles years ago. Without taking bold steps today, we are in jeopardy of letting our global leadership gradually erode like it has in other industries."
The Nanotechnology Research Foundation mission is to attract capital and talent from across the country to stimulate creativity and advance the adoption of nanotechnologies with sustainable industry practices for economic, environmental and social benefits. The NRF’s [[The Nano Plan|http://nanotechnologyresearchfoundation.org/nanoplan.html]] will ''focus on education programs and scholarships to help attract students into the field of nano-engineering and other scientific studies using nanotechnology'' to create the next generation of products and solutions. The Nano Plan includes broad education initiatives and public service programs to create awareness about the opportunities using nano-scale science.
Source: [[Foundation Seeks to Advance Education and Research in Nanotechnology|http://www.nanotechnologyresearchfoundation.org/news.html]]
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If we look at the atomic composition of a life form in earth, it is rather poor, C,H,O,N and few more at very low concentrations. Irrelevant market price. If we look at it from the chemical point of view, the vista is not improving radically: from the geranium to the elephant every thing is built up with 20 building blocks which have two chemical functions (amino group and carboxylic acid) and some of the 20 are not very abundant. However, from the biological point of view, the richness of life forms is vast. Thus, they can fly, emit light, glow discharges and be latent for hundreds of years before blossom again. In addition, life can reproduce and evolve and compute much more than today’s computers. How does it go from chemistry to biology? At which moment the redundant and flat chemical composition of life forms is transformed into amazing structures? At the nanometer level. Is the molecular organization at the nanometric scale what confers biological entity to chemical compounds. /Ist est/, life emerges at the nanolevel.
Following these ideas, two papers recently showed how short peptides which had no biological relevance become strongly immunogenic when they were arranged on top of a gold nanoparticle. And the degree of immune activation dependend on the topological order of the peptide array, the more ordered the more bio-active, while the random peptidic coating of a gold nanoparticle does not elicit any biological response.
Murine bone marrow macrophages were able to recognize gold nanoparticle peptide conjugates, while peptides or nanoparticles alone were not recognized. Consequently, in the presence of conjugates, macrophage proliferation was stopped and pro-inflammatory cytokines such as ~TNF-a, ~IL-1b and ~IL-6, as well as nitric oxide synthase (~NOS2) were induced. Furthermore, macrophage activation by gold nanoparticles conjugated to different peptides appeared to be rather independent of peptide length and polarity, but strongly dependent on peptide pattern at the nanoparticle surface. Correspondingly, the biochemical type of response also depended on the type of conjugated peptide and could be correlated with the degree of ordering in the peptide coating. These findings help to illustrate the basic requirements involved in medical nanoparticle conjugate design to either activate the immune system or hide from it in order to reach their targets before being removed by phagocytes, which must distinguish between self and non-self molecules to protect the host from succumbing to infections.
''Related papers'': ''[[Homogeneous Conjugation of Peptides onto Gold Nanoparticles Enhances Macrophage Response|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn8008273]]'' by Neus G. Bastús, Ester ~Sánchez-Tilló, Silvia Pujals, Consol Farrera, Carmen López, Ernest Giralt, Antonio Celada, Jorge Lloberas and Victor Puntes. ''[[Peptides conjugated to gold nanoparticles induce macrophage activation|http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18996597]]'' by Bastús NG, ~Sánchez-Tilló E, Pujals S, Farrera C, Kogan MJ, Giralt E, Celada A, Lloberas J, Puntes V.
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoparticles>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanobiotechnology>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomedicine>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoimmunology >><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[Victor Puntes]]>>
“Our understanding of the //biologic effects (including toxicity) of nanomaterials// is incomplete. In vivo animal studies remain the gold standard; however, widespread testing remains impractical, and the development of in vitro assays that correlate with in vivo activity has proven challenging. In this work Authors make a suggestive proposition, they assessed nanoparticle effects in a multidimensional manner, using multiple cell types and multiple assays that reflect different aspects of cellular physiology. Hierarchical clustering of these data identified nanomaterials with similar patterns of biologic activity across a broad sampling of cellular contexts, as opposed to extrapolating from results of a single in vitro assay. Authors showed that this approach yielded robust and detailed //structure–activity relationships//. Consequently, nanoparticles with similar activity profiles in vitro exert similar effects on monocytes in vivo. These data suggest ''a strategy of multidimensional characterization of nanomaterials in vitro that can inform the design of novel nanomaterials and guide studies of in vivo activity''.”
Source: [[Perturbational profiling of nanomaterial biologic activity|http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/105/21/7387.pdf]]
“Recent advances and progress in nanobiotechnology have demonstrated many nanoparticles (~NPs) as potential and novel drug delivery vehicles, therapeutic agents, and contrast agents and luminescent biological labels for bioimaging. //The emergence of new biomedical applications based on nanoparticles signifies the need to understand, compare, and manage their cytotoxicity//. In this study, ''we demonstrated the use of high-content screening screening (HCS) technology as a universal tool to probe the cytotoxicity of nanoparticles''. HCS is a recent advance in the integration and automation of quantitative fluorescence microscopy and image analysis, and it has already started to generate impact in pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The cytotoxicity profiles generated from the multiplexed cytotoxicity assay can be regarded as the “fingerprints” of the corresponding nanomaterials. The multiparametric nature of these profiles will allow cytotoxicity analyses to be conducted at much higher throughput and accuracy in the future. The application of HCS technology in the study of nanomaterials is not limited to colloidal ~NPs and cytotoxicity studies”
Source: [[High-Content Screening as a Universal Tool for Fingerprinting of Cytotoxicity of Nanoparticles|http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/ancac3/2008/2/i05/abs/nn7004393.html]]
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created [[animal testing]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanobiotechnology>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomedicine>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoparticles>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomaterial>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanotoxicology>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[Victor Puntes]]>>
High temperature controlled oxidation rends solid iron nanoparticles into hollow maghemite ones
Since the burst of NC colloidal synthesis at the end of the XX century powered by advances in semiconductor nanoparticles (quantum dots) scientist are finding ways to present more and more complex particles, in composition, structure and shape.
Recently monodisperse iron particles have been transformed into monodisperse magnetic iron oxide shells of less than 10 nm in diameter by forcing the iron to meet the oxygen on the surface of the particle instead of allowing the oxygen penetrate into the iron core. The intermediary species consist on a iron core surrounded by a void crossed by bridges with an outer iron oxide layer.
Such particles rises the question in how the magnetic distribution of spins will be in the absence of a metallic core and opens the possibility for double functionalization (in and out) together with the advantages of magnetic nanoparticles, which can be manipulated and detected with external magnetic fields.
From ''Vacancy Coalescence during Oxidation of Iron Nanoparticles''
Andreu Cabot, Victor F. Puntes, Elena Shevchenko, Yadong Yin, Lluís Balcells, Matthew A. Marcus, Steven M. Hughes, and A. Paul Alivisatos
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2007, 129, (34), pp 10358–10360.
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Researchers report a new solar cell that may pave the way to inexpensive coatings that efficiently convert the sun’s rays to electricity.
The U of T Engineers, led by Professor Ted Sargent, report ''the first efficient tandem solar cell based on colloidal quantum dots (CQD)''. “The U of T device is a stack of two light-absorbing layers – one tuned to capture the sun’s visible rays, the other engineered to harvest the half of the sun’s power that lies in the infrared,” said lead coauthor Dr. Xihua Wang.
“We needed a breakthrough in architecting the interface between the visible and infrared junction,” said Sargent, who is also the Canada Research Chair in Nanotechnology. “The team engineered a cascade – really a waterfall – of nanometers-thick materials to shuttle electrons between the visible and infrared layers.”
According to doctoral student and lead coauthor Ghada Koleilat, ''“We needed a new strategy – which we call the Graded Recombination Layer – so that our visible and infrared light-harvesters could be linked together efficiently, without any compromise to either layer.”''
The team pioneered solar cells made using CQDs, nanoscale materials that can readily be tuned to respond to specific wavelengths of the visible and invisible spectrum. By capturing such a broad range of light waves – wider than normal solar cells – tandem CQD solar cells can in principle reach up to 42% efficiencies. ''The best single-junction solar cells are constrained to a maximum of 31% efficiency. In reality, solar cells that are on the roofs of houses and in consumer products have 14 to 18% efficiency.''
“Building efficient, cost-effective solar cells is a grand global challenge. The University of Toronto is extremely proud of its world-class leadership in the field,” said Professor Farid Najm. “The solar community – and the world – needs a solar cell that is over 10 per cent efficient, and that dramatically improves on today’s photovoltaic module price points.” Source: [[U of T Engineers Crack Solar Challenge|http://www.engineering.utoronto.ca/About/Engineering_in_the_News/U_of_T_Engineers_Crack_Solar_Challenge.htm]]. This work was detailed in the paper ''[[“Tandem colloidal quantum dot solar cells employing a graded recombination layer”|http://www.nature.com/nphoton/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nphoton.2011.123.html]]''<<slider chkSldr [[Tandem colloidal quantum dot solar cells employing a graded recombination layer]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created energy >><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[quantum dots]] >>
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Watch Professor Ted Sargent describe the first efficient tandem solar cell based on colloidal quantum dots (CQD):
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Researchers at the University of Paris and colleagues fed the molecule [[fullerene]] ([[C60 or “buckyballs”|C60: Buckminsterfullerene]]) dissolved in olive oil to rats and found it almost doubles their lifespan, with no chronic toxicity.
"Countless studies showed that [60]fullerene (C60) and derivatives could have many potential biomedical applications. However, while several independent research groups showed that C60 has no acute or subacute toxicity in various experimental models, more than 25 years after its discovery the in vivo fate and the chronic effects of this fullerene remain unknown. If the potential of C60 and derivatives in the biomedical field have to be fulfilled these issues must be addressed. Here we show that ''oral administration of C60 dissolved in olive oil (0.8 mg/ml) at reiterated doses (1.7 mg/kg of body weight) to rats not only does not entail chronic toxicity but it almost doubles their lifespan''. The effects of C60-olive oil solutions in an experimental model of CCl4 intoxication in rat strongly suggest that the effect on lifespan is mainly due to the attenuation of age-associated increases in oxidative stress. Pharmacokinetic studies show that dissolved C60 is absorbed by the gastro-intestinal tract and eliminated in a few tens of hours. These results of importance in the fields of medicine and toxicology should open the way for the many possible -and waited for- biomedical applications of C60 including cancer therapy, neurodegenerative disorders, and ageing." Source: From ''[[The prolongation of the lifespan of rats by repeated oral administration of [60] fullerene|http://extremelongevity.net/wp-content/uploads/C60-Fullerene.pdf]]'' by Tarek Baati, Fanchon Bourasset, Najla Gharbi, Leila Njim, Manef Abderrabba, Abdelhamid Kerkeni, Henri Szwarc, Fathi Moussa.
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created ageing>><<matchTags popup sort:-created fullerene>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomedicine>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanotoxicology>>
<<tiddler Twitter>>
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In their most recent experiments with Geobacter, the sediment-loving microbe whose hairlike filaments help it to produce electric current from mud and wastewater, <html><a href="http://www.notablebiographies.com/newsmakers2/2005-La-Pr/Lovley-Derek.html" title="He believed that microbiology could be more than just medical-related and disease-related research as many scientists believed. Lovley realized that microbiology included microscopic life that also helped the ecosystem and the planet">Derek Lovley</a></html> and colleagues at the [[University of Massachusetts Amherst|http://www.geobacter.org/]] supervised the evolution of a new strain that dramatically increases power output per cell and overall bulk power. It also works with a thinner biofilm than earlier strains, cutting the time to reach electricity-producing concentrations on the electrode. “This new study shows that output can be boosted and it gives us good insights into what it will take to genetically select a higher-power organism.”
Geobacter’s hairlike pili are extremely fine, only 3 to 5 nanometers in diameter or about 20,000 times finer than a human hair, and more than a thousand times longer than they are wide. Nevertheless, they are strong. Nicknamed nanowires for their role in moving electrons, ''[[pili are the secret to this particular microbe’s ability to produce electric current from organic waste and sediment|http://www.geobacter.org/research/nanowires/]]''.
Lovley’s first experiments with the anaerobic microbe,Geobacter, which he and colleagues discovered in sediment under the Potomac River in 1987, explored its use in decontaminating soil due to its ability to respire iron and other metals the way we breathe oxygen. Geobacter showed promise for a variety of bioremediation tasks, but the microbiologists further [[discovered in 2002 that it could produce electricity from the organic matter found in soils, sediments and wastewater|http://straddle3.net/context/02/blog_0201.en.html#22]]. This ability appeared to be a feature of [[the electrically conductive pili, discovered in 2005|http://www.geobacter.org/research/nanowires/UMASS_Nanowires_Press_Release.d.pdf]]. Together, these discoveries have led to intense research on how to harness the microbes for ''producing electricity in microbial fuel cells''. Microbial fuel cells, which convert fuel to electricity without combustion, consist of an electrode known as an anode that accepts electrons from the microorganisms, and another electrode known as a cathode, which transfers electrons onto oxygen. Electrons flow between the anode and the cathode to provide the current that can be harvested to power electronic devices. Source: From ''[[New Geobacter Microbe Strain to Produce More Electricity and Open New Applications|http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/newsreleases/articles/90975.php]]''. This work is detailed in the paper [[Selection of a variant of Geobacter sulfurreducens with enhanced capacity for current production in microbial fuel cells|http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19487117?dopt=Abstract]] by [[Yi H|http://geobacter.org/wiki/pmwiki.php/LabMembers/HanaYi]], [[Nevin KP|http://geobacter.org/wiki/pmwiki.php/LabMembers/KellyNevin]], [[Kim BC|http://geobacter.org/wiki/pmwiki.php/LabMembers/Byoung-ChanKim]], [[Franks AE|http://geobacter.org/wiki/pmwiki.php/LabMembers/AshleyFranks]], [[Klimes A|http://geobacter.org/wiki/pmwiki.php/LabMembers/AnnaKlimes?action=browse]], Tender LM, [[Lovley DR|http://www.bio.umass.edu/micro/faculty/lovley.html]].
Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created energy>><<matchTags popup sort:-created waste>><<matchTags popup sort:-created water>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoremediation>><<matchTags popup sort:-created video>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[nano before nanotech]]>>
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</object></html>~DOE-sponsored research at Stanford University under the direction of [[Dr. Roland Horne|http://pangea.stanford.edu/~horne/horne.html]] [and doctoral candidate Mohammad ~Al-Askar] is advancing the ''application of nanotechnology in determining fluid flow through enhanced geothermal system reservoirs at depth''. The Stanford team successfully forced silicon-based nanospheres under pressure through rock fractures in the laboratory. This technology has the potential for mapping fracture systems in detail and aid in determining reservoir characteristics. This research was the subject of a recent report by ~ABC7News, ~KGO-TV San Francisco. Source: ''[[Scientists Pass Solid Particles Through Rock in DOE-Sponsored Research at Stanford University|http://www1.eere.energy.gov/geothermal/news_detail.html?news_id=12608]]''. The primary objective of the [[Stanford Geothermal Program|http://pangea.stanford.edu/ERE/research/geoth/overview/index.html]] is the development of reservoir engineering techniques to allow for the production of the [[nation's geothermal resources|hhttp://geothermal.inel.gov/publications/future_of_geothermal_energy.pdf]] in the most efficient manner possible. Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanogeoscience>><<matchTags popup sort:-created energy>><<matchTags popup sort:-created video>>
}}}
<br>//Nanowires made of materials with noncentrosymmetric crystal structure are under investigation for their piezoelectric properties and suitability as building blocks for next-generation self-powered nanodevices. In this work, we investigate the size dependence of piezoelectric coefficients in nanowires of two such materials − zinc oxide and gallium nitride. Nanowires, oriented along their polar axis, ranging from 0.6 to 2.4 nm in diameter were modeled quantum mechanically. A giant piezoelectric size effect is identified for both GaN and ZnO nanowires. However, GaN exhibits a larger and more extended size dependence than ZnO. The observed size effect is discussed in the context of charge redistribution near the free surfaces leading to changes in local polarization. The study reveals that local changes in polarization and reduction of unit cell volume with respect to bulk values lead to the observed size effect. These results have strong implication in the field of energy harvesting, as piezoelectric voltage output scales with the piezoelectric coefficient.//
<br>Stefan Schmaus, Alexei Bagrets, Yasmine Nahas, Toyo K. Yamada, Annika Bork, Martin Bowen, Eric Beaurepaire, Ferdinand Evers & Wulf Wulfhekel. ''Nature Nanotechnology (2011) doi:10.1038/nnano.2011.11''
//Magnetoresistance is a change in the resistance of a material system caused by an applied magnetic field. Giant magnetoresistance occurs in structures containing ferromagnetic contacts separated by a metallic non-magnetic spacer, and is now the basis of read heads for hard drives and for new forms of random access memory. Using an insulator (for example, a molecular thin film) rather than a metal as the spacer gives rise to tunnelling magnetoresistance, which typically produces a larger change in resistance for a given magnetic field strength, but also yields higher resistances, which are a disadvantage for real device operation. Here, we demonstrate giant magnetoresistance across a single, non-magnetic hydrogen phthalocyanine molecule contacted by the ferromagnetic tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope. We measure the magnetoresistance to be 60% and the conductance to be 0.26G0, where G0 is the quantum of conductance. Theoretical analysis identifies spin-dependent hybridization of molecular and electrode orbitals as the cause of the large magnetoresistance.//
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Some 30 activists representing 14 environmental, technology assessment and consumer organisations from Europe, the United States, Canada and Latin America met for the 4th International Nanotechnology Activist Summit in Berlin on October 6 and 7.
Nanotechnology uses a powerful new set of technologies to change substances at the very smallest scale so that have new properties that they do not have at a larger scale. Nanomaterials are being used in a variety of products. In the last five years, chemical companies have been introducing more and more consumer products containing nanoparticles. The Wilson Center in the US has found [[more than 1000 nano-consumer products in the US market|Nanotech-enabled Consumer Products Top the 1,000 Mark]], the [[BEUC/ANEC inventory|How much nano do we buy?]] and the BUND inventory found that more than 800 nano consumer products are being sold in Europe.
Jurek Vengels of Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND), Germany declared: “The challenge is that none of these products have been tested to assure consumers that they are safe. Product manufacturers and distributors bear the burden of proof to demonstrate the safety of their products. If there is no independent health and safety review of each product as it is formulated, then the products should be taken off the market.”
Jaydee Hanson from the International Center for Technology Assessment, which has filed legal challenges to the US Environmental Policy Agency and the Food and Drug Administration, called “for the protection of workers and the public from exposure to nanomaterials that have not been proven safe.”
Paolo Martins, Coordinator of the Brazilian Research Network in Nanotechnology, Society and the Environment called for review of nanotechnologies that will have wide-ranging effects on workers and consumers in the developing world. He noted that there must be, “full consideration of the ethical and social impacts of these technologies.”
Claudia Neubauer of Fondation Sciences Citoyennes (France) called for “full and meaningful public participation in decisions about research and innovations related to nanotechnologies.”
Ian Illuminato of Friends of the Earth-US demanded that “a full lifecycle analysis must be completed prior to any commercialization of nano-products.”
Dorothée Browaeys, Director General of VivAgora (France) noted that “nanomaterials must be classified as new substances and subject to nano-specific regulation. France has initiated mandatory declaration for producers and importers, this should be expanded to include all formulators and retailers of products containing nanomaterials. Other countries should do likewise.”
Louise Duprez from the European Environmental Bureau in Brussels called upon the European Commission to “rapidly agree on a definition for nanomaterials and propose long-awaited legislation to ensure that their applications are safe for people’s health and the environment”.
Pat Mooney, Executive Director of the ETC Group, with offices in Canada, the Philippines, Mexico, and the US called for a moratorium on the commercialization of nano-products, but noted that all “Nano-industries must be fully accountable for liabilities caused by their products if they come on the market.” Source: [[Global activist summit on nanotech calls on governments to protect people & environment|http://www.eeb.org/EEB/index.cfm/news-events/news/global-activist-summit-on-nanotech-calls-on-governments-to-protect-people-environment/]].
''Follow up:''
- [[Sort of secret summit for international nanotechnology activists|http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=4713]] by Maryse de la Giroday. October 7, 2011
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Gold Nanoparticles were strongly supported as a drug-payload delivery system during [[2008 NSTI meeting|http://www.nsti.org/Nanotech2008/]] celebrated in Boston this June.
Dr. Piotr Grodzinski is Director of Nanotechnology for Cancer programs at [[Nanotechnology Alliance of National Cancer Institute|http://nano.cancer.gov]] (NCI) in Bethesda, Maryland. The NCI, part of the National Institutes of Health, is engaged in efforts to harness the power of nanotechnology to radically change the way we diagnose, treat and prevent cancer.
In his keynote lecture “Clinical translation of Nanotechnology for Cancer: The NCI Alliance’s Perspective”, he reviewed the most relevant NCI current initiatives and Gold Nanoparticles applications were introduced as a major area of focus:
For example, Dr. Grodzinski introduced [[CytImmune|http://www.cytimmune.com]]’s lead drug candidate. Aurimune consists of recombinant human tumor necrosis factor alpha (a known tumor-killing agent) bound to the surface of Gold Nanoparticles (Phase I).
Also, Dr. Grodzinski presented ~AuroLase Cancer Therapy, a novel cancer treatment that combines the unique physical and optical properties of Gold Nanoparticles with a near infrared laser source to thermally destroy cancer cells without significant damage to surrounding tissue. This technology is developed by [[Nanospectra Bioscience|http://www.nanospectra.com]] and FDA just approved to commence a human trial in patients with head and neck cancer.
A growing body of research has demonstrated that gold nanorods can serve as extremely bright imaging agents. Now, by linking gold nanorods to an antibody that binds to tumor cells, researchers have found that gold nanorods will align themselves in an ordered fashion on the surface of cancer cells, further intensifying the optical signal the nanorods produce and providing a unique optical signature for tumor cells.
The work by Mostafa ~El-Sayed and colleagues is detailed in the paper, //Cancer cells assemble and align gold nanorods conjugated to antibodies to produce highly enhanced, sharp, and polarized surface Raman spectra: a potential cancer diagnostic marker// [[View abstract|http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=17474783&ordinalpos=6&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum]]
The work by Paras Prasad and colleagues is detailed in the paper, //Gold nanorods coated with multilayer polyelectrolyte as contrast agents for multimodal imaging// [[View abstract|http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/jpccck/2007/111/i34/abs/jp0733419.html]]
Source: [[Nano News - Gold Nanorods Image Tumors|http://nano.cancer.gov/news_center/2007/sept/nanotech_news_2007-09-26b.asp]]
Interaction of noise with nonlinear electrochemical kinetics involving the etching of porous silicon is studied experimentally. It is realized that by monotonically increasing the level of internal noise, one can tune the regularity of the spatial distribution of pores in silicon nanostructures. This regularity of the noise provoked quantified structures. The experimental results indicate the emergence of intrinsic coherence resonance. Consequently, there exists an optimal value of internal noise for which the spatial distribution of nanopores attain maximal regularity. This regularity of the pores can be useful for enhancing the optical response of porous silicon based devices. Source: [[Noise mediated regularity of porous silicon nanostructures|http://link.aip.org/link/?APPLAB/94/133103/1]] by J. ~Escorcia-Garcia, V. Agarwal, and P. Parmananda
Mechanical vibrations at a molecular level have implications in the structure of mater at the molecular/nanometric dimension. If at short length scales, the involved forces are weak (and intensively cooperative) low power waves may have a high impact on the structure of the material. The resonant frequencies may vary broadly and the interesting nodes also. The mechanical vibrations can be produced by light using a wave length that excites some molecular state and the oscillation of the electromagnetic field is transduced into mechanical vibration as in the case of water and microwaves. And such vibrations which may create order may also destroy hybrids structures which respond differently to the vibration, as metallic nanoparticles attached to proteins as has been observed in gold ~NPs attached to beta-amyloid deposits. Source: [[Nanoparticle-Mediated Local and Remote Manipulation of Protein Aggregation|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl0516862]] by Marcelo J. Kogan, Neus G. Bastus, Roger Amigo, Dolors ~Grillo-Bosch, Eyleen Araya, Antonio Turiel, Amilcar Labarta, Ernest Giralt, and Victor F. Puntes
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The Rice University-based International Council on Nanotechnology (ICON) introduced the ''~GoodNanoGuide, an online, community-driven wiki for information about the safe handling of nanomaterials.'' The beta version of the ~GoodNanoGuide can be found at http://www.GoodNanoGuide.org.
Fostered by ICON, the ~GoodNanoGuide is a highly collaborative, interactive ''resource by and for the occupational safety and nanotechnology communities, law and industry.'' The ~GoodNanoGuide is a practical tool for people who handle nanomaterials as well as an online repository of safety protocols. It has been developed by experts from the worlds of nanotechnology, occupational safety and business and is governed by an implementation committee from North America and Europe. All ~GoodNanoGuide content is freely available via the Internet. Visitors may add
their comments by becoming "Community Members," and experts may contribute and edit protocols by becoming "Expert Providers."
[[More than two years in development|Nano Good Practices Wiki]], the ~GoodNanoGuide was inspired by a challenge set forth at the International Conference on Nanotechnology, Occupational and Environmental, Health and Safety: Research and Practice, in Cincinnati in December 2006. That same year, an [[ICON survey|first survey of nanotechnology practices]] of occupational practices for handling nanomaterials revealed a great need for improved communication about best practices. "Progress in addressing the occupational health implications of engineered nanomaterials requires the open sharing of information and the development and dissemination of good guidance," said Charles L. Geraci, chief of the Document
Development Branch in the Education and Information Division of the [[National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)|http://www.cdc.gov/NIOSH/]], and coordinator of NIOSH's nanotechnology cross-sector program under the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA). "We are pleased to see international forums of the sort offered by the ~ICON-sponsored ~GoodNanoGuide and the opportunity they provide in particular for helping to disseminate NIOSH's research and recommendations, and to make users aware of our resources."
''The international nature of the ~GoodNanoGuide is important to its success'', said Steve Hankin, director of operations for [[SAFENANO|http://www.safenano.org/]], the United Kingdom's premier independent resource on nanotechnology hazard and risk. "SAFENANO is delighted to be involved with establishing and sustaining the ~GoodNanoGuide," Hankin said. "The initiative complements related nanotechnology risk activities in the U.K., Europe and North America. SAFENANO sees the ~GoodNanoGuide as an exciting means of capturing, appraising and cascading good practice -- on an international basis -- to contribute to the knowledge base of nanotechnology safety."
Financial support for the development of the ~GoodNanoGuide beta site was provided by [[International Council on Nanotechnology (ICON)|http://icon.rice.edu/]], [[nanoAlberta|http://aet.alberta.ca/technology/industry/nano.aspx]], [[British Columbia Nanotechnology Alliance- Nanotech BC|http://www.nanotechbc.ca/]], Industry Canada, Institut de recherche ~Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail and [[NanoQuebec|http://www.nanoquebec.ca/]]. Source: [[GoodNanoGuide shares best practices|http://cohesion.rice.edu/centersandinst/icon/emplibrary/2009-06-01_GNG%20press%20release.pdf]]. International Council on Nanotechnology launches open-source wiki
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''<<matchTags popup sort:-created context>>'' <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoelectronics>> ''Graphene Will Replace Silicon in Electronics?''
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/walt_de_heer.jpeg" title="Walt de Heer, pioneer of the development of graphene for high-performance electronics" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>//"Move over silicon. There's a new electronic material in town, and it goes fast. That material, the focus of the 2010 Nobel Prize in physics, is [[graphene|Nobel "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene"]]. With silicon device fabrication approaching its physical limits, many researchers believe graphene can provide a new platform material that would allow the semiconductor industry to continue its march toward ever-smaller and faster electronic devices -- progress described in Moore's Law. Though graphene will likely never replace silicon for everyday electronic applications, it could take over as the material of choice for high-performance devices. And graphene could ultimately spawn a new generation of devices designed to take advantage of its unique properties. Since 2001, Georgia Tech has become a world leader in developing expitaxial graphene, a specific type of graphene that can be grown on large wafers and patterned for use in electronics manufacturing. In a recent paper published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, Georgia Tech researchers reported fabricating an array of 10,000 top-gated transistors on a 0.24 square centimeter chip, an achievement believed to be the highest density reported so far in graphene devices. In creating that array, they also demonstrated a clever new approach for growing complex graphene patterns on templates etched into silicon carbide. The new technique offered the solution to one of the most difficult issues that had been facing graphene electronics. "This is a significant step toward electronics manufacturing with graphene," said Walt de Heer, a professor in Georgia Tech's School of Physics who pioneered the development of graphene for high-performance electronics. "This is another step showing that our method of working with epitaxial graphene grown on silicon carbide is the right approach and the one that will probably be used for making graphene electronics."// Read full article at ''[[Expitaxial Graphene Shows Promise for Replacing Silicon in Electronics|http://www.gatech.edu/newsroom/release.html?nid=63409]]''.
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In October 2010, the [[Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded to two researchers from Manchester University for their work on Graphene|Nobel "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene"]]. But if, like much of the world, you are left wondering just what graphene is, and why it deserves a Nobel Prize, then help is at hand.
With the aid of science video communication charity, [[The Vega Science Trust|http://www.vega.org.uk/]] , [[COST Action MP0901 “NanoTP”|http://www.cost.esf.org/domains_actions/mpns/Actions/MP0901-Designing-Novel-Materials-for-Nanodevices-from-Theory-to-Practice-NanoTP-End-date-May-2013]] has produced two short videos explaining graphene and its amazing properties. The videos are written and presented by [[Jonathan Hare|http://www.creative-science.org.uk/]], and show how amazingly graphene can be produced using just a pencil and some sticky tape. Jonathan has previously appeared in BBC Science programmes such as “Rough Science” and now runs the Creative Science Centre in Sussex.
“The Nobel prize was a surprise that couldn’t be more timely for us – Graphene is a wonderful material that has been on the ‘wish list’ of theoretical science for a long time before it actually existed”, says [[Carla Bittencourt, Chair of NanoTP|http://www.nanotp.org/users/63/38/nanoTP_nologin/carla-bittencourt-umh-ac-be.html]]. “It’s a great playground for the scientists in our project. Tools that we have developed to study other forms of carbon like nanotubes are all in place, it means graphene will rapidly make the transition from basic science to real-world applications. I hope that awarding the prize to Graphene will call the attention of funding agencies to the importance of ‘scientific curiosity’ in the centre of research projects”.
[[NanoTP|http://www.nanotp.org/]] involves more than 150 scientists from 24 different countries working in the field of nanotechnology. “NanoTP brings together scientists from across Europe, America and Asia, to pool resources and ideas, and cross geographical and scientific borders”, says [[Chris Ewels, vice-chair of NanoTP|http://www.ewels.info/]]. ''“For us it’s important to communicate with the public. People want to know about nanoscience and its implications for the future, and as scientists working in this area we have a responsibility to get involved in the public debate.”'' Source: ''[[COST: New YouTube videos explain Graphene for the baffled|http://www.cost.esf.org/library/newsroom/graphene]]''
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S. Garaj, W. Hubbard, A. Reina, J. Kong, D. Branton & J. A. Golovchenko. 2011. Graphene as a subnanometre trans-electrode membrane. ''Nature 467, pp 190–193 (2010) doi:10.1038/nature09379''
//Isolated, atomically thin conducting membranes of graphite, called graphene, have recently been the subject of intense research with the hope that practical applications in fields ranging from electronics to energy science will emerge1. The atomic thinness, stability and electrical sensitivity of graphene motivated us to investigate the potential use of graphene membranes and graphene nanopores to characterize single molecules of DNA in ionic solution. Here we show that when immersed in an ionic solution, a layer of graphene becomes a new electrochemical structure that we call a trans-electrode. The trans-electrode’s unique properties are the consequence of the atomic-scale proximity of its two opposing liquid–solid interfaces together with graphene’s well known in-plane conductivity. We show that several trans-electrode properties are revealed by ionic conductance measurements on a graphene membrane that separates two aqueous ionic solutions. Although our membranes are only one to two atomic layers2, 3 thick, we find they are remarkable ionic insulators with a very small stable conductance that depends on the ion species in solution. Electrical measurements on graphene membranes in which a single nanopore has been drilled show that the membrane’s effective insulating thickness is less than one nanometre. This small effective thickness makes graphene an ideal substrate for very high resolution, high throughput nanopore-based single-molecule detectors. The sensitivity of graphene’s in-plane electronic conductivity to its immediate surface environment and trans-membrane solution potentials will offer new insights into atomic surface processes and sensor development opportunities.//
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" title="A nanopore is created in graphene to form a trans-electrode, measuring variations in current as a single DNA molecule passes through the pore. Credit: iemedia solutions/ONT" src="img/nanopore_in_graphene_with_dna.jpg" width="50%"/></a></html>"Graphene is emerging as a wonder material for the 21st century and recent research has shown that it has transformative potential in DNA sequencing," said Dr Gordon Sanghera, CEO of Oxford Nanopore Technologies. "The groundbreaking research at Harvard lays the foundation for the development of a novel solid-state DNA sequencing device. We are proud to partner with the research team that pioneered early nanopore discoveries and continues to break boundaries with new materials and techniques."
Graphene is a robust, single atom thick 'honeycomb' lattice of carbon with high electrical conductivity. These properties make it an ideal material for high resolution, [[nanopore-based sequencing of single DNA molecules|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanopore_sequencing]].
In a landmark 2010 Nature publication the Harvard team and collaborators used graphene to separate two chambers containing ionic solutions, and created a hole - a nanopore – in the graphene. The group demonstrated that the graphene nanopore could be used as a trans-electrode, measuring a current flowing through the nanopore between two chambers. The trans-electrode was used to measure variations in the current as a single molecule of DNA was passed through the nanopore. This resulted in a characteristic electrical signal that reflected the size and conformation of the DNA molecule. At one atom thick, graphene is believed to be the thinnest membrane able to separate two liquid compartments from each other. This is an important characteristic for DNA sequencing; a trans-electrode of this thickness would be suitable for the accurate analysis of individual bases on a DNA polymer as it passes through the graphene. From [[Oxford Nanopore announces licence agreement with Harvard University for graphene DNA sequencing|http://www.nanoporetech.com/press_releases/detail/116]]. The landmark 2010 Nature paper: [[Graphene as a subnanometre trans-electrode membrane|http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v467/n7312/abs/nature09379.html]] <<slider chkSldr [[Graphene as a subnanometre trans-electrode membrane]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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Long Ju, Baisong Geng, Jason Horng, Caglar Girit, Michael Martin, Zhao Hao, Hans A. Bechtel, Xiaogan Liang, Alex Zettl, Y. Ron Shen, and Feng Wang. 2011. ''Nature Nanotechnology. doi:10.1038/nnano.2011.146''
//Plasmons describe collective oscillations of electrons. They have a fundamental role in the dynamic responses of electron systems and form the basis of research into optical metamaterials. Plasmons of two-dimensional massless electrons, as present in graphene, show unusual behaviour that enables new tunable plasmonic metamaterials and, potentially, optoelectronic applications in the terahertz frequency range. Here we explore plasmon excitations in engineered graphene micro-ribbon arrays. We demonstrate that graphene plasmon resonances can be tuned over a broad terahertz frequency range by changing micro-ribbon width and in situ electrostatic doping. The ribbon width and carrier doping dependences of graphene plasmon frequency demonstrate power-law behaviour characteristic of two-dimensional massless Dirac electrons. The plasmon resonances have remarkably large oscillator strengths, resulting in prominent room-temperature optical absorption peaks. In comparison, plasmon absorption in a conventional two-dimensional electron gas was observed only at 4.2 K. The results represent a first look at light–plasmon coupling in graphene and point to potential graphene-based terahertz metamaterials.//
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(with homage and apologies to J. J. Cale and Eric Clapton)
[[Prof. Paul Neitzel|http://www.me.gatech.edu/faculty/neitzel.shtml]], Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Tech -- Vocals, bass line & electronic percussion
Mike Duffee -- Guitars
[[Prof. Andy Zangwill|https://www.physics.gatech.edu/user/andrew-zangwill]], Physics, Georgia Tech -- Lyrics
Conceived & recorded for Inside the Black Box
Profs. [[Bill Hunt|http://www.ece.gatech.edu/personnel/bio.php?id=51]] & [[Pete Ludovice|http://www.chbe.gatech.edu/fac_staff/faculty/ludovice.php]], Georgia Tech
WREK Radio, Georgia Tech. Source: [[Graphene - She goes fast, she goes fast, she goes fast|http://www.mrsec.gatech.edu/graphene-she-goes-fast]]
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Sheets of single-layer carbon with a variety of bonding patterns may have properties similar to the wonder material [[graphene]], according to new computer simulations made by [[Andreas Görling|http://www.chemie.uni-erlangen.de/goerling/]] team of the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany.
This work is detailed in the paper ''[["Competition for Graphene: Graphynes with Direction-Dependent Dirac Cones"|http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.086804]]'' by Daniel Malko, Christian Neiss, Francesc Viñes, and Andreas Görling.
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''Context:''
March 5, 2012. [[Computer simulations suggest graphynes may be even more useful than graphene|http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-03-simulations-graphynes-graphene.html]]. Bob Yirka , PhysOrg.
March 4, 2012. [[Graphene 2010-2025+, Graphyne 2020-2050|http://www.graphiteblog.com/2012/03/graphene-2010-2025-graphyne-2020-2050.html]]. //The very first test for graphyne, however, will be to manufacture it.// GraphiteBlog.
March 1, 2012. [[Graphyne Could Be Better Than Graphene?|http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/03/graphyne-could-be-better-than-gr.html]]. Belle Dumé, physicsworld.
March 1, 2012. [[Graphyne Could Be Better Than Graphene|http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/03/graphyne-could-be-better-than-gr.html]]. Jon Cartwright , Science.
February 24, 2012. [[Focus: Graphyne May Be Better than Graphene|http://physics.aps.org/articles/v5/24]]. Michael Schirber, Pysics APS.
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Rice University has created a [[Green Carbon Center|http://greencarbon.rice.edu/]] to bring the benefits offered by oil, gas, coal, wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and other energy sources together in a way that will not only help ensure the world's energy future but also provide a means to recycle carbon dioxide into useful products.
Whether or not one believes in anthropogenic climate change, the fact is humans are throwing away a potentially valuable resource with every ton of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, said [[James Tour|http://greencarbon.rice.edu/tour.html]], Rice's T.T. and W.F. Chao Chair in Chemistry as well as a professor of mechanical engineering and materials science and of computer science. Far from being a villain in the global warming debate, carbon will be a boon if the world can learn to use it well, he said. "The key is to turn carbon dioxide into a useful material so it's no longer waste," he said. "We want the center to partner with energy companies -- including oil, natural gas and coal -- to make carbon a profitable resource."
A number of strategies are detailed in a paper. Tour said the paper presents a taste of what Rice's new center intends to be: ''a think tank for ideas about the future of energy with a focus on green carbon and the technological know-how to back it up''. As part of [[Rice's Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology|Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology]], the Green Carbon Center will draw upon the combined knowledge of the university's nanotechnology experts, for whom the development of clean and plentiful energy is a priority.
"Eighty-five percent of our country's energy comes from fossil fuels, and Houston is the world capital of the industry that makes and produces and transports those fossil fuels to all of us," Colvin said. "So we are in a unique position as the leading university in Texas to transform that industry, to develop it in a green way, to make it sustainable and to teach people that just because it's carbon doesn't mean it has an environmental consequence, but it can in fact help us transition to a renewable energy economy of the future."Source: From [[Green Carbon Center takes all-inclusive view of energy|http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=14946]]. Rice University think tank will strategize on environmentally sound policies on oil, gas, coal by Mike Williams. A number of strategies are detailed in the paper ''[["Green carbon as a bridge to renewable energy"|http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1038/nmat2887]]'' by James M. Tour, Carter Kittrell & [[Vicki L. Colvin|http://greencarbon.rice.edu/colvin.html]]. <<slider chkSldr [[Green carbon as a bridge to renewable energy]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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Nanotechnology is an emerging field. It is an interdisciplinary science whose potential has been widely touted for well over a decade. Despite significant private and public investment, progress moving nanomaterials from the laboratory to industrial production has been slow and difficult. ''Two challenges that have slowed development have been the poor understanding of the new hazards introduced by nanotechnology and lack of appropriate policies to manage any new risks''. Scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs, however, continue to move forward, grappling with challenges that range from the technical to the regulatory and everywhere in between. Just as the concepts of nanoscale invention have required new insights from scientists, they are also demanding new approaches to managing, producing, funding and deploying novel technologies into the larger chemical sector. In this case, //there is an unusual opportunity to use science, engineering and policy knowledge to design novel products that are benign as possible to human and environment health//. Recognition of this opportunity has led to the development of the “green nanoscience” concept.
Green nanotechnology has drawn on the field of green chemistry, and the framework of the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry features significantly in work to design new nanotechnologies for joint economic, social, and health/environmental benefit. These efforts have been aided by awareness throughout the nanotech community that they need to address the potential negative impacts of nano from the outset. That has not meant, however, that green nanotechnology has gained widespread and popular acceptance in the scientific and business communities. Awareness is still limited in many sectors, and green nanoscience, along with nanoscience more broadly, still faces significant challenges in transitioning from concept to reality.
As part of its mission to advance the implementation of green chemistry throughout the chemical enterprise, the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute® (ACS GCI) has begun a process to engage in yearly “summits” on major issues in the fields of green chemistry and green engineering. Source: [[Green Nanotechnology Challenges And Opportunities|http://portal.acs.org/portal/PublicWebSite/greenchemistry/CNBP_027847]]. ACS Green Chemistry Institute.
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<br>//A green use of carbon-based resources that minimizes the environmental impact of carbon fuels could allow a smooth transition from fossil fuels to a sustainable energy economy.
Carbon-based resources (coal, natural gas and oil) give us most of the world's energy today, but the energy economy of the future must necessarily be far more diverse. Energy generation through solar, wind and geothermal means is developing now, but not fast enough to meet our expanding global energy needs.//
//"Grey goo is a hypothetical end-of-the-world scenario involving molecular nanotechnology in which out-of-control self-replicating robots consume all matter on Earth while building more of themselves—a scenario known as ecophagy ("eating the environment"). The term grey goo is usually used in a science fiction or popular-press context. In the worst postulated scenarios (requiring large, space-capable machines), matter beyond Earth would also be turned into goo (with ''goo meaning a large mass of replicating nanomachines'')."// From the Wikipedia definition of [[Grey Goo|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_goo]]
From ''[[Nanotechnology pioneer slays “grey goo” myths|http://www.iop.org/EJ/news/-topic=763/journal/0957-4484]]'': "[[Eric Drexler|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Drexler]], known as the father of nanotechnology, publishes a paper that admits that self-replicating machines are not vital for large-scale molecular manufacture, and that nanotechnology-based fabrication can be thoroughly non-biological and inherently safe. Talk of runaway self-replicating machines, or “grey goo”, which he first cautioned against in his book [[Engines of Creation|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engines_of_Creation]] in 1986, ''has spurred fears that have long hampered rational public debate about nanotechnology'' (...) The paper, [[Safe Exponential Manufacturing|http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0957-4484/15/8/001/]] by Chris Phoenix, Director of Research of the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology, (CRN) and Dr. K. Eric Drexler, also warns that scaremongering over ''remote scenarios such as “grey goo” is taking attention away from serious safety concerns, such as a deliberate abuse of the technology''. (...) In 1986, Drexler described a powerful manufacturing system. This “assembler” would use robots the size of bacteria to join individual molecules into products. Assemblers would be highly productive, because small things can move quickly. The products would be precise and strong because molecules are small and uniform, and form strong bonds. For all these reasons, this idea was attractive. However, Drexler also described a danger scenario. A robotic molecular manufacturing system could be directed to build a copy of itself. If someone built a tiny, self-contained manufacturing system that had all the directions for building a copy of itself, and had all the equipment needed to use biomass as raw materials, and could move around, then the system could self-replicate and spread. If it had no built-in limits, then this complex system could, in theory, lead to a worst-case scenario of runaway replicators, popularly called grey goo.’ Science fiction writers focused on this idea, and ‘grey goo’ became closely associated with nanotechnology, spreading a serious misconception about molecular manufacturing systems and diverting attention from more pressing concerns. This new paper shows why that focus is wrong."
Coming Soon to a Theater Near You: ''[[Singularity is near, A True Story about the Future|http://singularity.com/themovie/]]'', based on [[Ray Kurzweil|http://www.kurzweilai.net/]]’s book, will be a full-length motion picture slated for theatrical release in early 2009. The movie intertwines a fast-paced A-line documentary with a B-line narrative story. The A-line documentary will feature Ray Kurzweil interacting with a panoply of thinkers (like [[Bill McKibben|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_McKibben]], K. Eric Drexler or [[John Storrs Hall|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Storrs_Hall]]) on the impact of exponentially expanding technologies on the nature of human life in the next half century . The intertwined B-line is the story of Ramona, a computer avatar, who goes into the future where she becomes more and more humanlike and independent - a Pinocchio story. She detects a "gray goo" attack, an attack of self-replicating nanobots. The Department of Homeland Security is oblivious to this, and won't listen to her, so she gets her other avatar friends to work on this. But she breaks some homeland security protocols in the process. She's arrested -- and there's a discussion about how you can arrest a virtual person. She hires (civil rights attorney) Alan Dershowitz to defend her, and also to establish her rights as a legal person. She feels she's human enough to have human rights. There's a whole courtroom scene, and finally the judge says, "OK, I'll grant your legal rights if you can pass the Turing Test," in which she must appear indistinguishable from an actual human in a text conversation.
[[Ray Kurzweil speaks on Singularity|http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/news/2007/11/kurzweil_qa]]. Ray Kurzweil interview by Wired News:
Wired News: So you're trying to make people understand how the exponential advances in technology will abruptly and unexpectedly solve many of the world's problems?
Kurzweil: Think how different the world was 10 years ago -- 10 years ago, most people didn't use search engines. That sounds like ancient history now. Generally, people think linearly. I think it's critical that people understand that linear thinking no longer applies. If we capture one part out of 10,000 of sunlight that falls on the earth, we can solve our energy problems. And nanotech will give us the capacity to store (that solar energy).
WN: It's certainly true that linear thinking runs through everything we do.
Kurzweil: For thousands of years, it actually served our needs to think linearly. If you think about our genes and our brains, they obviously evolved into their modern forms before advanced technology. If you saw something in the trees coming towards you, and you made a linear projection about where it would be in 15 seconds, and where you needed to not be, that actually worked very well. But these days we have different kinds of problems, and we need a different kind of thinking.
[<img[Award for Technical and Scientific Research|http://www.fundacionprincipedeasturias.org/ing/01/fotos/normal/foto747_1.jpg]] Five scientists, worldwide leaders in the creation of new materials for the benefit of mankind: the physicist, Sumio Iijima; the engineers, Shuji Nakamura and Robert Langer; and the chemists, George M. Whitesides and Tobin Marks, have been bestowed with the 2008 Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research, as made public today in Oviedo by the Jury responsible for conferring said Award.
Groundbreakers in the field of Nanotechnology worldwide, these scientists have created new, revolutionary materials and transcendental techniques for fighting diseases, such as those related to the brain and cancer, and for producing artificial tissues and organs. Their work also stands out for its contribution to the protection of the environment and energy saving via the use of new sources of clean energy that may be produced at a low cost.
All these technological innovations and scientific discoveries are of special importance in the fight against poverty, such as the inexpensive purification of drinking water in the planet´s more underprivileged areas. The possibility of using reduced-cost, low-energy consumption sources of light in this fight is likewise worthy of mention.
Source: [[Five Scientists, Worldwide Leaders In The Creation Of New Materials For The Benefit Of Mankind, Prince Of Asturias Award For Technical And Scientific Research|http://www.fundacionprincipedeasturias.org/ing/01/noticia747.html]]
<br>Gedeng Ruan, Zhengzong Sun, Zhiwei Peng, and James M. Tour. 2011. ''ACS Nano. doi: 10.1021/nn202625c''
//In its monolayer form, graphene is a one-atom-thick two-dimensional material with excellent electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties. Large-scale production of high-quality graphene is attracting an increasing amount of attention. Chemical vapor and solid deposition methods have been developed to grow graphene from organic gases or solid carbon sources. Most of the carbon sources used were purified chemicals that could be expensive for mass production. In this work, we have developed a less expensive approach using six easily obtained, low or negatively valued raw carbon-containing materials used without prepurification (cookies, chocolate, grass, plastics, roaches, and dog feces) to grow graphene directly on the backside of a Cu foil at 1050 °C under H2/Ar flow. The nonvolatile pyrolyzed species were easily removed by etching away the frontside of the Cu. Analysis by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy indicates that the monolayer graphene derived from these carbon sources is of high quality.//
<br>//Self-assembly of planar molecules on a surface can result in the formation of a wide variety of close-packed or porous structures. Two-dimensional porous arrays provide host sites for trapping guest species of suitable size. Here we show that a non-planar guest species (C60) can play a more complex role by promoting the growth of a second layer of host molecules (p-terphenyl-3,5,3″,5″-tetracarboxylic acid) above and parallel to the surface so that self-assembly is extended into the third dimension. The addition of guest molecules and the formation of the second layer are co-dependent. Adding a planar guest (coronene) can displace the C60 and cause reversion to a monolayer arrangement. The system provides an example of a reversible transformation between a planar and a non-planar supramolecular network, an important step towards the controlled self-assembly of functional, three-dimensional, surface-based supramolecular architectures.//
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="/img/cover_intro_nano.jpeg" title="Introduction to Nanoscience book cover" alt="Introduction to Nanoscience" class="photo"/></html>Stuart Lindsay, Arizona State University Regents' professor and director of the Biodesign Institute's Center for Single Molecule Biophysics, released the first comprehensive guide to a tiny world a million times smaller than a single grain of sand. ''[[Introduction to Nanoscience|http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Physics/MesoscopicPhysicsNanotechnology/?view=usa&ci=9780199544219]]'' (published by Oxford University Press) provides readers with an overview of an emerging discipline which has in recent years, produced remarkable achievements in areas as varied as DNA sequencing, molecular machinery, nanocrystals and microscopy.
In discussing the impetus for the book, Lindsay notes that his far-flung research has always been coupled with a passion for teaching biophysical concepts to talented students. ''Introduction to Nanoscience'' also offers researchers worldwide a first-of-its kind, all-inclusive treatment of nanoscience. The book integrates several disciplines and spans basic quantum phenomena, tools of the trade, and nanoscale applications. In the course of this overview, Lindsay returns again and again to the theme of emergent behavior—how minute fluctuations at the nanoscale level can result in the appearance of striking, often unanticipated new phenomena.
"What is so striking," Lindsay insists, "is that events occurring at the nanoscale have implications for chemistry, biology, physics, materials science, engineering, you name it." Nonetheless, the nanorealm lacked a textbook that could draw together the field's disparate elements. "It's sort of remarkable that the knowledge was not there in a collected way. I put together a course that was very comprehensive, starting with physics and ending with biology," he says.
Given the breakneck pace of scientific advance, particularly in nanoscience, Lindsay faced a daunting challenge. "I knew that some current issues in the field would become obsolete by the time my fingers left the keyboard." ''Hoping to produce a work that could remain relevant, Lindsay chose to include a wealth of fundamental principles that would be broadly applicable, regardless of the novel conditions students were likely to encounter in the future.''
Life in the nanoworld can be disconcerting to the uninitiated, so distinct are its workings compared with conditions of everyday experience. A nanometer is roughly 10,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. Chance fluctuations dominate the scene and, as Lindsay stresses, provide vital raw material on which Darwinian selective processes operate. "The more I study the components of biology, the more I would say that fluctuations aren't just a nuisance to be lived with—they actually are the story of biology." This leitmotif runs throughout the book, uniting many distinct areas of nanoscience.
Introduction to Nanoscience is a vital contribution to one of the most dynamic fields, ''geared toward inspiring a new type of young investigator—one steeped in a multidisciplinary scientific culture''. "This differently trained and diverse group of talented young people are not only going to produce scientific breakthroughs in their own rights," Lindsay says, "they're also the people who are going to start the next generation of companies that generate wealth and drive the national economy and they're going to create new things with their brains because they've learned new ways to think." Source: From [[It's a small world, after all|http://asunews.asu.edu/20100204_nanosciencetext]] by Richard Harth
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<html><object width="100%" height="222"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9170675&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9170675&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="100%" height="222"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/9170675">Introduction to Nanoscience</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/biodesign">Biodesign Institute at ASU</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p></html>
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''The world’s first prototype of a hand-held fingerprint drug testing device''. The unique device detects drugs and other substances from the sweat contained in fingerprints and will enable mobile testing with instant results. The device has been created by University of East Anglia spin-out company Intelligent Fingerprinting. The company developed the prototype with eg technology – a product design, development and engineering consultancy based in Cambridge.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/drug_testing_prototype.jpg" title="The world’s first prototype of a hand-held fingerprint drug testing device has been created by University of East Anglia spin-out company Intelligent Fingerprinting" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>
Paul Yates, business development manager at [[Intelligent Fingerprinting|http://www.intelligentfingerprinting.com/]], said: “The launch of this prototype is a significant milestone. There has already been considerable worldwide interest in the use of the technology for testing within a wide range of applications, including criminal justice forensic science, homeland security, and institutional testing such as prisons and workplaces. But the ability of a hand-held device to carry out testing in-situ brings a whole new range of benefits and opportunities.”
The prototype is scheduled to go into full production in 2012 and the team will work with customers to develop new applications.
Danny Godfrey, director of eg technology, said: “Intelligent Fingerprinting’s core intellectual property is fascinating, offering a unique, robust way of linking a test result to the individual. Designing a device to automate their well-defined laboratory process has required input from all of our skill groups – microfluidics, optics, electronics, software, industrial and mechanical design. The release of the prototype is a major milestone towards the unveiling of the production device next year and we’re delighted to be part of such an exciting development.” Source: From [[Hand-held drug testing prototype launched|http://www.uea.ac.uk/mac/comm/media/press/2011/November/ifpprototype]]
''The key to the success of the Intelligent Fingerprinting process is the use of antibody coated nanoparticles''. Source: From [[The Intelligent Fingerprinting Process|http://www.intelligentfingerprinting.com/technology.html]]
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A team of astronomers, using the Spitzer Space Telescope, have reported the first extragalactic detection of the C70 fullerene molecule, and the possible detection of planar C24 (“a piece of graphene”) in space. Letizia Stanghellini and Richard Shaw, members of the team at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Arizona describe how collisional shocks powered by the winds from old stars in planetary nebulae could be responsible for the formation of [[fullerenes|NASA telescope finds elusive buckyballs]] (C60 and C70) and graphene (planar C24). The team is led by Domingo Aníbal García-Hernández of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias in Spain and includes international astronomers and biochemists.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/graphene_in_space.jpg" title="Artist’s impression of the graphenes (C24) and fullerenes found in a Planetary Nebula. The detection of graphenes and fullerenes around old stars as common as our Sun suggests that these molecules and other allotropic forms of carbon may be widespread in space. Credits: IAC; original image of the Helix Nebula (NASA, NOAO, ESA, the Hubble Helix Nebula Team, M. Meixner, STScI, & T.A. Rector, NRAO.)" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>Planetary nebulae originate from stars similar to our sun that have reached the end of their lives and are shedding shells of gas into space. In this case, the planetary nebulae are located in the Magellanic Clouds, two satellite galaxies to our own Milky Way, that are best seen from the Southern Hemisphere. At the distance of the Magellanic Clouds, planetary nebula appear as small fuzzy blobs. However, unlike planetaries in our own Milky Way Galaxy whose distances are very uncertain, the distance to planetaries in the Magellanic Clouds can be determined to better than 5%. With such accurate distances, the research team determined the true luminosity of the stars and confirmed that the objects are indeed planetary nebulae and not some other object in the astrophysical zoo.
[[Fullerenes, or Buckyballs|C60: Buckminsterfullerene]], are known from laboratory work on earth, and have many interesting and important properties. Fullerenes consist of carbon atoms arranged in a three dimensional sphere similar to the geodesic domes popularized by Buckminster Fuller. The C70 fullerene can be compared with a rugby ball, while C60 is compared to a soccer ball. Both of these molecules have been detected in the sample. Graphene (planar C24) is a flat sheet of carbon atoms, one atom thick, that has extraordinary strength, conductivity, elasticity and thinness. Cited as the thinnest substance known, graphene was first synthesized in the lab in 2004 by Geim and Novoselov for which they received the [[2010 Nobel Prize in physics|Nobel "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene"]]. “If confirmed with laboratory spectroscopy – something that is almost impossible with the present techniques – this would be the first detection of graphene in space” said team member García-Hernández.
The team has proposed that fullerenes and graphene are formed from the shock-induced (i.e., grain-grain collisions) destruction of hydrogenated amorphous carbon grains (HACs). Such collisions are expected in the stellar winds emanating from planetary nebulae, and this team sees evidence for strong stellar winds in the ultraviolet spectra of these stars. “What is particularly surprising is that the existence of these molecules does not depend on the stellar temperature, but on the strength of the wind shocks” says Stanghellini.
The Small Magellanic cloud is particularly poor in metals (any element besides hydrogen and helium, in astronomers’ parlance) but this sort of environment favors the evolution of carbon rich-planetary nebulae, which turns out to be a favorable place for complex carbon molecules. The challenge has been to extract the evidence for graphene (planar C24) from Spitzer data. “The Spitzer Space Telescope has been amazingly important for studying complex organic molecules in stellar environments” says Stanghellini. “We are now at the stage of not only detecting fullerenes and other molecules, but starting to understand how they form and evolve in stars.” Shaw adds “We are planning ground-based follow up through the NOAO system of telescopes. We hope to find other molecules in planetary nebulae where fullerene has been detected to test some ''physical processes that might help us understand the biochemistry of life''.”Source: [[Has graphene been detected in space?|http://www.noao.edu/news/2011/pr1103.php]]
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According to industry and trade sources, ''nanoscale silver is the nanomaterial most often used in products intended for consumers''. However, consumers are frequently not told which products actually contain [[nanosilver|120 Years of Nanosilver History]]. In Europe, nanosilver is predominantly used as an antimicrobial substance in functional and clothing textiles, for biocidal surface coatings and in some spray products. Little research has to date been done on the health effects of nanoscale silver. From 8 to 9 February 2012, experts from Europe and the USA exchanged knowledge at the [["Conference on Nanosilver"|8 February 2012]] organised by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment. Apart from toxicological aspects, the discussions covered the possible development of silver resistances in pathogenic germs as well as analytical procedures for the detection of nanosilver in various matrices such as foods, sprays and consumer products and its release from such matrices. "We still don’t know enough about potential detrimental health effects of nanosilver. For this reason, we cannot currently evaluate scientifically the health risks it poses to consumers," says Professor Dr. Dr. Andreas Hensel, President of the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment. "The conference at the BfR was ''an important step on the road to better safety for consumers''. It revealed where the risks of using nanosilver may currently be, in what areas we still know too little and, most importantly, where we have already made early progress," the President summarised the findings of conference. Source: From ''[[Nanosilver: progress in the sphere of analysis, gaps in toxicology and exposure|http://www.bfr.bund.de/en/press_information/2012/08/nanosilver__progress_in_the_sphere_of_analysis__gaps_in_toxicology_and_exposure-128942.html]]''. BfR conference on the state of knowledge about the health risks of nanosilver
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''Context:''
February 27, 2012. [[Be rational about responsibilities for nanotechnologies|http://www.observatorynano.eu/project/document/3713/]]. Current trends in Communicating Nanoethics. ObservatoryNANO, Interview with Dr Nayla Farouki, adviser to CEA, France. //"[[Nanoparticles in pollution from car combustion|Findings on Pollution Damage]] represent a far bigger actual risk to human health than nanoparticles that are currently produced in industry."//
February 16, 2012. [[Oral exposure to polystyrene nanoparticles affects iron absorption|http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Feb12/nanoparticlesHarmful.html]]. //"Large doses of polystyrene nanoparticles -- a common, FDA-approved material found in substances from food additives to vitamins -- affected how well chickens absorbed iron."//
January 18, 2012. [[Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles in Food and Personal Care Products|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es204168d]]. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles becoming ubiquitous in consumer products. //"Millions of tons of titanium-based white pigment used annually."//
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<br>Quan Gan, Yann Ferrand, Chunyan Bao, Brice Kauffmann, Axelle Grélard, Hua Jiang & Ivan Huc ''Science 4 March 2011: Vol. 331 no. 6021 pp. 1172-1175 DOI: 10.1126/science.1200143''
//Dynamic assembly is a powerful fabrication method of complex, functionally diverse molecular architectures, but its use in synthetic nanomachines has been hampered by the difficulty of avoiding reversible attachments that result in the premature breaking apart of loosely held moving parts. We show that molecular motion can be controlled in dynamically assembled systems through segregation of the disassembly process and internal translation to time scales that differ by four orders of magnitude. Helical molecular tapes were designed to slowly wind around rod-like guests and then to rapidly slide along them. The winding process requires helix unfolding and refolding, as well as a strict match between helix length and anchor points on the rods. This modular design and dynamic assembly open up promising capabilities in molecular machinery.//
A new analysis of by-products discharged to the environment during production of carbon nanotubes (~CNTs) — expected to become the basis of multibillion-dollar industries in the 21st Century — has identified cancer-causing compounds, air pollutants, and other substances of concern, researchers reported at the 234th national meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Study co-author Desirée L. Plata and colleagues described their work as “totally new,” noting that past analyses of the environmental impact of the emerging nanomaterials industry have been based on the toxicity of ingredients used in the recipes, rather than the actual pollutants formed during CNT manufacture. While expressing concern about the possible health and environmental effects of nanotechnology by-products, Plata said the new data may be crucial as the nanotechnology industry seeks to avoid the kind of unanticipated health and environmental problems that have accompanied emergence of other new technology.
Source: [[Helping the carbon nanotube industry avoid mega-mistakes of the past|http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-08/acs-htc081007.php]]
<br>//The aqueous self-assembly of a sequence-specific bioinspired peptoid diblock copolymer into monodisperse superhelices is demonstrated to be the result of a hierarchical process, strongly dependent on the charging level of the molecule. The partially charged amphiphilic diblock copolypeptoid 30-mer, [N-(2-phenethyl)glycine]15-[N-(2-carboxyethyl)glycine]15, forms superhelices in high yields, with diameters of 624 ± 69 nm and lengths ranging from 2 to 20 μm. Chemical analogs coupled with X-ray scattering and crystallography of a model compound have been used to develop a hierarchical model of self-assembly. Lamellar stacks roll up to form a supramolecular double helical structure with the internal ordering of the stacks being mediated by crystalline aromatic side chain−side chain interactions within the hydrophobic block. The role of electrostatic and hydrogen bonding interactions in the hydrophilic block is also investigated and found to be important in the self-assembly process.//
<br>//There is great interest in developing rechargeable lithium batteries with higher energy capacity and longer cycle life for applications in portable electronic devices, electric vehicles and implantable medical devices. Silicon is an attractive anode material for lithium batteries because it has a low discharge potential and the highest known theoretical charge capacity (4,200 mAh g-1). Although this is more than ten times higher than existing graphite anodes and much larger than various nitride and oxide materials, silicon anodes have limited applications because silicon's volume changes by 400% upon insertion and extraction of lithium which results in pulverization and capacity fading. Here, we show that silicon nanowire battery electrodes circumvent these issues as they can accommodate large strain without pulverization, provide good electronic contact and conduction, and display short lithium insertion distances. We achieved the theoretical charge capacity for silicon anodes and maintained a discharge capacity close to 75% of this maximum, with little fading during cycling.//
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One of the promises of art science collaboration is that as a result both compelling art can be created but also that new scientific questioning can be triggered.
Here is a promising example from artist [[Kate Nichols|http://www.katenicholsstudio.com/]] who has been working in the lab of nano scientist Paul Alivisatos at UC Berkeley
http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/cms/?pid=1000832
"After that I don’t know," Nichols says. And neither do many scientists, because no one has bothered to keep solutions like these around for very long. Scientists who study these types of nanoparticles generally manufacture them in quantities small enough, and on time scales short enough, to take measurements and images, with little regard for preservation.
Nichols is obsessed by the idea of using nanotechnologies to create colors at will, a passion that has motivated artists over the millenia.
The most famous example of colour theory as an area of art science interaction is of course Goethe
http://arxiv.org/ftp/physics/papers/0511/0511130.pdf
Kentsis in his text, notes:
Goethe’s colour theory was thus a phenomenology of colour, rather than an explanatory mechanism per se. Nevertheless, Goethe considered mechanics to be an intrinsic part of scientific inquiry. Consistent with such a view, he distinguished four types of cognitions, with their associated types of metaphysical organizations of human experience. Among the four were the knowledge seekers and the intuitively perceptive.
Indeed the art science domain has some long lasting questions that nano science can provide new ideas for.
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''[[How Kate uses the phenomenon known as "structural color" to transform nanotechnology into creativity|http://newton.ex.ac.uk/research/emag/butterflies/]]''
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''<<matchTags popup sort:-created context>>'' <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanotoxicology>> ''How Safe Is Nano? Nanotoxicology: An interdisciplinary challenge''
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/nanotoxicology.gif" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>//"The rapid development of nanotechnology has increased fears about the health risks of nano-objects. Are these fears justified? Do we need a new discipline, nanotoxicology, to evaluate the risks? “Research into the safety of nanotechnology combines biology, chemistry, and physics with workplace hygiene, materials science, and engineering to create a truly interdisciplinary research field”. “There are several factors to take into account in the interaction of nano-objects with organisms,” they add. The term nanotoxicology is fully justified. “Nanoscale particles can enter into cells by other means of transport than larger particles.” This Review seeks to cast light on the phenomena that may occur as nanoobjects interact with cells, tissues, and organisms. Furthermore, we will demonstrate that the many data made available on the biological effects of nanomaterials do not always come from studies that can be considered reliable. We will point out the aspect of reliability with specific examples from the literature and will not address specific (nano)materials. In particular, inadequate methods will be described together with recommendations how to avoid this in the future, thereby contributing to a sustainable improvement of the available data."// Harald F. Krug and Peter Wick of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology discuss these questions in the journal Angewandte Chemie: ''[[Nanotoxicology: An Interdisciplinary Challenge|http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-01-safe-nano-nanotoxicology-interdisciplinary.html]]''.
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Scientists can make [[graphene|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene]] out of just about anything with carbon -- even Girl Scout Cookies. Graduate students in the Rice University lab of chemist James Tour proved it when they invited a troop of Houston Girl Scouts to their lab to show them how it's done. Rice scientists described how graphene -- a single-atom-thick sheet of the same material in pencil lead -- can be made from just about any carbon source, including food, insects and waste.
The cookie gambit started on a dare when Tour mentioned at a meeting that his lab had [[produced graphene from table sugar|http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=15053]]. "I said we could grow it from any carbon source -- for example, a Girl Scout cookie, because Girl Scout Cookies were being served at the time," Tour recalled. "So one of the people in the room said, 'Yes, please do it. ... Let's see that happen.'"
Members of Girl Scouts of America Troop 25080 came to [[Rice's Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology|http://cnst.rice.edu/]] to see the process. Rice graduate students Gedeng Ruan and Zhengzong Sun calculated that at the then-commercial rate for pristine graphene -- $250 for a two-inch square -- a box of traditional Girl Scout shortbread cookies could turn a $15 billion profit. "That's a lot of cash!" said an amazed Sydney Shanahan, a member of the troop. A sheet of graphene made from one box of shortbread cookies would cover nearly 30 football fields, Sun said.
The experiment was a whimsical way to make a serious point: that graphene -- touted as a miracle material for its toughness and conductivity since its discovery by Nobel Prize-winning scientists [[Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov|http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2010/]] in 2004 -- can be drawn from many sources.
To demonstrate, the researchers subsequently tested a range of materials including chocolate, grass, polystyrene plastic, insects (a cockroach leg) and even dog feces (compliments of lab manager Dustin James' miniature dachshund, Sid Vicious).
In every case, the researchers were able to make high-quality graphene via carbon deposition on copper foil. In this process, the graphene forms on the opposite side of the foil as solid carbon sources decompose; the other residues are left on the original side. Typically, this happens in about 15 minutes in a furnace flowing with argon and hydrogen gas and turned up to 1,050 degrees Celsius.
Tour expects the cost of graphene to drop quickly as commercial interests develop methods to manufacture it in bulk. [[Another new paper|http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=16006&SnID=957154300]] by Tour and his Rice colleagues described a long-sought way to make graphene-based transparent electrodes by combining graphene with a fine aluminum mesh. The material may replace expensive [[indium tin oxide|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indium_tin_oxide]] as a basic element in flat-panel and touch-screen displays, solar cells and LED lighting.
The experiment the Girl Scouts witnessed "has a lot to do with current research topics in academia and in industry," said Tour, Rice's T.T. and W.F. Chao Chair in Chemistry as well as a professor of mechanical engineering and materials science and of computer science. "They learned that carbon -- or any element -- in one form can be inexpensive and in another form can be very expensive."
Diamonds are a good example, he said. "You could probably get a very large diamond out of a box of Girl Scout Cookies." Source: [[One box of Girl Scout Cookies worth $15 billion|http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=16013&SnID=9216059]]. Rice University lab shows troop how any carbon source can become valuable graphene. This work was detailed in the paper ''[[Growth of Graphene from Food, Insects, and Waste|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn202625c]]''<<slider chkSldr [[Growth of Graphene from Food, Insects, and Waste]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="http://biogeomagnetism.geophysik.uni-muenchen.de/images/biogeomagnetism.jpg" title="Magnetobacterium bavaricum. Photo: Marianne Hanzlik" class="photo" width="50%"/></html> Magnetotactic bacteria found in the muddy bottoms of ponds and lakes use the Earth’s magnetic field to distinguish up from down, allowing them to seek out optimal conditions for growth and survival ([[Biomagnetism|http://www.geophysik.uni-muenchen.de/research/magnetism/biomagnetism]]). The sensors are called magnetosomes, each comprising an ordered microscopic crystal of an iron oxide (magnetite) or sulfide (greigite) enclosed in a specialized pocket formed by a fold in the cell membrane. Magnetosomes are arranged in linear chains, so that the nanomagnets they contain act as compass needles that enable the cells to follow geomagnetic field lines
Only a few of these [[magnetotactic bacteria|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetotactic_bacteria]] species grow readily in laboratory cultures. A research team led by LMU microbiologists Dr. [[Christian Jogler|http://gasp.med.harvard.edu/members_research/cjogler.html]] and Professor [[Dirk Schüler|http://magnetolab.bio.lmu.de/de/info_dirk/index.html]], in cooperation with the Max Planck Institutes for Molecular Genetics (Berlin) and Marine Microbiology (Bremen), has now used a magnetic trap to isolate one such species, Magnetobacterium bavaricum, directly from sediments dredged from the Chiemsee (a lake in Southern Bavaria). M. bavaricum is of special interest because it is unusually large and contains very many minimagnets. The investigators then compared selected DNA sequences from M. bavaricum with those of other known magnetic bacteria. The results show, for the first time, that the genes required for the assembly of bacterial compasses derive from a single source, although they are now found in widely divergent groups. “The genes were most probably transmitted between otherwise unrelated groups by horizontal gene transfer,” says Schüler. ''In many respects the properties of the biomagnets in magnetosomes make them more suitable for many applications in medical diagnostics and therapy than chemically synthesized nanomagnets''. The mechanism of magnetosome formation is therefore of considerable biotechnological interest. Source: ''[[A trend-setting direction finder. The bacterial minicompass was invented only once|http://www.en.uni-muenchen.de/news/research/2010-schueler.html]]''. This work was detailed in the paper [[“Conservation of proteobacterial magnetosome genes and structures in an uncultivated member of the deep-branching Nitrospira phylum”|http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/12/28/1012694108.abstract]] by Christian Jogler, Gerhard Wanner, Sebastian Kolinko, Martina Niebler, Rudolf Amann, Nikolai Petersen, Michael Kube, Richard Reinhardt, and Dirk Schüler <<slider chkSldr [[Conservation of proteobacterial magnetosome genes and structures in an uncultivated member of the deep-branching Nitrospira phylum]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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Carbon nanotubes and other long nanomaterials can spell trouble for cells. The reason: Cells mistake them for spheres and try to engulf them. Once they start, cells cannot reverse course, and complete ingestion never occurs. Researchers at Brown University detail for the first time how cells interact with carbon nanotubes, gold nanowires and asbestos fibers.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/cell_cnt.jpg" title="Cells ingest things by engulfing them. When a long perpendicular fiber comes near, the cell senses only its tip, mistakes it for a sphere, and begins engulfing something too long to handle. Credit: Gao Lab/Brown University" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>It’s been long known that asbestos spells trouble for human cells. Scientists have seen cells stabbed with spiky, long asbestos fibers, and the image is gory: Part of the fiber is protruding from the cell, like a quivering arrow that’s found its mark.
But scientists had been unable to understand why cells would be interested in asbestos fibers and other materials at the nanoscale that are too long to be fully ingested. Now a group of researchers at Brown University explains what happens. Through molecular simulations and experiments, the team reports in Nature Nanotechnology that certain nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes, enter cells tip-first and almost always at a 90-degree angle. The orientation ends up fooling the cell; by taking in the rounded tip first, the cell mistakes the particle for a sphere, rather than a long cylinder. By the time the cell realizes the material is too long to be fully ingested, it’s too late. “It’s as if we would eat a lollipop that’s longer than us,” said Huajian Gao, professor of engineering at Brown. “It would get stuck.”
The research is important because nanomaterials like carbon nanotubes have promise in medicine, such as acting as vehicles to transport drugs to specific cells or to specific locations in the human body. If scientists can fully understand how nanomaterials interact with cells, then they can conceivably design products that help cells rather than harm them. ''“If we can fully understand (nanomaterial-cell dynamics), we can make other tubes that can control how cells interact with nanomaterials and not be toxic,”'' Gao said. “We ultimately want to stop the attraction between the nanotip and the cell.” Source: From [[Why carbon nanotubes spell trouble for cells|http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2011/09/nanotips]]. Rice researchers power line-voltage light bulb with nanotube wire. This work was detailed in the paper ''[["Cell entry of one-dimensional nanomaterials occurs by tip recognition and rotation”|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nnano.2011.151.html]]'' <<slider chkSldr [[Cell entry of one-dimensional nanomaterials occurs by tip recognition and rotation]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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//“Catalytic Clothing is an innovative biomedical and environmental project that spans the art/science domain. The possibility that innovative pollution degrading materials can be incorporated into the fabric of our cities and even our clothes to help provide a solution to urban air pollution is simply fantastic.”
Professor Frank Kelly, Environmental Health, King’s College London//
//"Titanium particles applied to clothes purify the air around us. 500k people wearing catalytic clothing can purify 1t of NO2/yr" [[@LCFLondon|https://twitter.com/#!/NOTJUSTALABEL/status/88528979518164992]] (London College of Fashion is one of the leading centres of fashion education in the world)//
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''A unique collaboration between the worlds of fashion and science'', led by the University of Sheffield and London College of Fashion, has seen pioneers explore how clothing and textiles can purify the air we breathe.
The venture, entitled [[Catalytic Clothing|https://twitter.com/#!/ProfHelenStorey]], is asking the public to join the campaign for clean air; giving them the opportunity, at this early stage, to shape the technology that has the potential to transform our lives.
Employing existing technology in a new way, ''Catalytic Clothing seeks to explore how clothing and textiles can be used as a catalytic surface to purify the air''. An exclusive film about the project starring Erin O'Connor with soundtrack by Radiohead is already going viral.
The project is the creation of unlikely collaborators Professor [[Helen Storey|http://helenstoreyfoundation.org/bio_phs.htm]] MBE, a practising artist and designer at London College of Fashion, and Professor [[Tony Ryan|http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/chemistry/staff/profiles/ryan]] OBE, a scientist at the University of Sheffield. It is hoped the fusion of fashion and science will produce extraordinary results.
With the shared purpose of tackling some of the world's most pressing environmental problems and the desire to improve the quality of our lives and those of future generations, the radical idea for Catalytic Clothing emerged.
The need for this campaign has never been so vital and so apparent. In parallel with many countries around the world levels of air pollution in the UK have reached dangerously high levels. National estimates suggest air quality is a contributory factor in approximately 50,000 premature deaths. Whilst much is being done to tackle air quality at source, it was clear a radical solution was needed and Catalytic Clothing was born. Source: [[Future Fashion: Pioneers discover a way for clothing to purify air|http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/mediacentre/2011/catalytic-clothing-purify-breathe-science-fashion.html]]
[[Science background and FAQ''s|http://www.catalytic-clothing.org/faq.html]]
via [[frogheart|http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=3927]]
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/protein_folding.png" title="Illustration of the process of protein folding. Protein before and after folding (Wikipedia)" width="50%" class="photo"/></html>"The famous Arrhenius relationship states that things happen faster as they got hotter. In chemistry, that's generally true but there's an important exception: the speed at which proteins fold into their functional shape. It's easy to think that proteins ought to fold more quickly as they cool down and then unfold more quickly as they heat up. But the actual relationship is both nonlinear and asymmetric, meaning that unfolding is not the reverse of folding. Molecular biologists have put forward various mechanisms to explain this, such as the nonlinear interaction between water and hydrophobic parts of proteins. But none of these are very convincing.
That looks set to change with the work of Liaofu Luo at the Inner Mongolia University and Jun Lu at the Inner Mongolia University of Technology, both in China. They say that the way folding depends on temperature all becomes clear as soon as you take quantum mechanics into account (...) That's a significant breakthrough. ''Luo and Lo's equations amount to the first universal laws of protein folding. That's the equivalent in biology to something like the thermodynamic laws in physics''. Impressive stuff. And don't expect it to end here. Various groups are finding evidence of quantum processes at work in everything from photosynthesis to bird navigation." Source: From ''[[Physicists Discover Quantum Law of Protein Folding|http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/26421/]]'' by KFC, Technology Review. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Temperature Dependence of Protein Folding Deduced from Quantum Transition|http://arxiv.org/abs/1102.3748v1]]'' <<slider chkSldr [[Temperature Dependence of Protein Folding Deduced from Quantum Transition]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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//“Nano whitening”, “Using the newest Nanotechnological ingredients”, “Uses the Nano Silver technology which protects the baby’s skin”//... Products claiming to contain nanomaterials are already widely available on the European market and these are just some of the boasts that can be found in shops or online.
Nanotechnologies use materials on an incredibly small scale. One nanometre is a millionth of a millimetre. Materials on this scale present different properties compared with ‘bigger’ particles (e.g. greater reactivity and mobility in the body) and are increasingly being used to create new products.
As consumers know very little about [[products containing nanomaterials|Nanotech-enabled Consumer Products Top the 1,000 Mark]], in 2009 Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs, the European Consumers' Organisation, and ANEC, The European Consumer Voice in Standardisation, started to monitor the availability of such products and their evolution. The results are very clear: ''while our 2009 inventory listed 151 products, this year we found 475''. We selected product categories representing those most often consumed in everyday life such as child products, food & drink, cosmetics, products for cars and electronic devices. Worryingly, some nano-claims relating to a specific product can be found in an online shop, but not on the website of the brand itself.
//“In the absence of independent safety assessment, and given the unconfirmed nature of the claims, we believe action needs to be taken urgently”//, commented Stephen Russell, [[ANEC|http://www.anec.eu]] Secretary-General. //“Legislation relevant to nanotechnologies must be adapted to safeguard consumer health and safety. Public awareness must be raised through the creation of a public inventory where it would be mandatory for manufacturers to register products on the European market claiming to contain nanomaterials. We also want to see a legal requirement introduced for the labelling of some nano- products.”//
Monique Goyens, [[BEUC|http://www.beuc.eu]] Director-General, added: //“Our inventory shows that hundreds of products are on sale today to European consumers without assessment of their claims or the risks these nanomaterials may pose to public health. This game of health and safety roulette must end. That is why we support the Belgian Presidency’s initiative [[on mandatory traceability of nanomaterials|http://www.euractiv.com/en/food/reach-register-ensure-traceability-nanomaterials-news-497781]] and presented our inventory to the European Commissioner for Health & Consumer Policy, John Dalli”//. Source: ''[[ANEC/BEUC inventory exposes a game of roulette|http://www.anec.org/attachments/ANEC-PR-2010-PRL-012.pdf]]''
''Europe seeking public comments on nanotechnology''
Proposal ''[[for a definition of the term "nanomaterial"|http://ec.europa.eu/environment/consultations/nanomaterials.htm]]'' that the European Commission intends to use as an overarching, broadly applicable reference term for any European Union communication or legislation addressing nanomaterials. All citizens and organisations are welcome to contribute to this consultation. Contributions are particularly sought from market participants, consumer and non-governmental organisations, academia, national governments and national competent authorities. This consultation seeks to collect stakeholders’ views on the envisaged definition. The definition of the term "nanomaterial" should be based on available scientific knowledge and should be used for regulatory purposes. The definition should determine when a material should be considered as a nanomaterial for legislative and policy purposes in the European Union. From 21.10.2010 to 19.11.2010. The draft proposal follows [[a 2009 European Parliament resolution|http://www.euractiv.com/en/science/meps-back-tougher-rules-nanotechnology/article-181695]] which called for the introduction of a comprehensive science-based definition of nanomaterials in Community legislation, to allow for nano-specific amendments to relevant rules and regulations.
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At IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting, IBM scientists unveiled several exploratory research breakthroughs that could lead to major advancements in delivering dramatically smaller, faster and more powerful computer chips.
For more than 50 years, computer processors have increased in power and shrunk in size at a tremendous rate. However, today’s chip designers are hitting physical limitations with Moore’s Law, halting the pace of product innovation from scaling alone.
With virtually all electronic equipment today built on complementary-symmetry metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) technology, there is an urgent need for new materials and circuit architecture designs compatible with this engineering process as ''[[the technology industry nears physical scalability limits of the silicon transistor|Graphene Will Replace Silicon in Electronics?]]''.
Following years of key physics advances previously only achieved in a laboratory, IBM scientists successfully integrated the development and application of new materials and logic architectures on 200mm (eight inch) diameter wafers. These ''breakthroughs'' could potentially provide a new technological basis for the convergence of computing, communication, and consumer electronics.
''Racetrack Memory''
* [[Racetrack memory|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racetrack_memory]] combines the benefits of magnetic hard drives and solid-state memory to overcome challenges of growing memory demands and shrinking devices (...) This breakthrough could lead to a new type of data-centric computing that allows massive amounts of stored information to be accessed in less than a billionth of a second.
''Graphene''
* This ''first-ever CMOS-compatible graphene device'' can advance wireless communications, and enable new, high frequency devices, which can operate under adverse temperature and radiation conditions in areas such as security and medical applications.
* The [[graphene integrated circuit|World's first graphene-based integrated circuit]], a frequency multiplier, is operational up to 5 GHz and stable up to 200 degrees Celcius. While detailed thermal stability still needs to be evaluated, these results are promising for graphene circuits to be used in high temperature environments.
* New architecture flips the current graphene transistor structure on its head. Instead of trying to deposit gate dielectric on an inert graphene surface, the researchers developed a novel embedded gate structure that enables high device yield on a 200mm wafer.
''Carbon Nanotubes''
* IBM researchers today demonstrated the ''first transistor with sub-10 nm channel lengths, outperforming the best competing silicon-based devices at these length scales''.
* While already being considered in varied applications ranging from solar cells to displays, it is expected that computers with in the next decade will use transistors with a channel length below 10 nm, a length scale at which conventional silicon technology will have extreme difficulty performing even with new advanced device architectures. The scaled carbon nanotube devices below 10nm gate length are a significant breakthrough for future applications in computing technology.
* While often associated with improving switching speed (on-state), this breakthrough demonstrates for the first time that carbon nanotubes can provide excellent off-state behavior in extremely scaled devices-- better than what some theoretical estimates of tunneling current suggested. Source: From [[Made in IBM Labs: Researchers Demonstrate Future of Computing with Graphene, Racetrack and Carbon Nanotube Breakthroughs|http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/36135.wss]]. Prototypes developed for first time in real-world manufacturing environments are critical step towards transferring research into commercial devices.
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<<tiddler Twitter>>
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[[Gold nanoparticles are everywhere|http://www.utilisegold.com/uses_applications/nanotechnology/overview/]]. They are used in [[cancer treatments|Gold Nanoparticles: A potential platform for target-specific therapies in Cancer ]], automobile sensors, cell phones, blood sugar monitors and hydrogen gas production. However, ''until recently, scientists couldn’t create the nanoparticles without producing synthetic chemicals that had negative impacts on the environment''. A new method, created by a University of Missouri research team, not only eliminates any negative environmental impact, but also has resulted in national and international recognition for the lead scientist. The research was published recently in the journal Small.
''“I have always believed that nature is smarter and stronger than humankind,”'' said [[Kattesh Katti|http://web.missouri.edu/~kattik/katti/katti.htm]], professor of radiology and physics in MU’s School of Medicine and College of Arts and Science, senior research scientist at the MU Research Reactor, and director of the MU Cancer Nanotechnology Platform. “This new procedure to create nanoparticles is wonderfully simple, yet it will help create very complex components. ''There is so much to learn from energy generation, chemical and photochemical reactions of plants.”''
Katti, who was recently recognized by rt Image magazine as one of [[the 25 most influential people in radiology|http://rt-image.com/Most_Influential_in_Radiology_Recognizing_the_movers_and_shakers_in_the_imaging_/content=8504J05E48B69694405698744488A0441]], and his research team have formed Greennano Company, a company that is in the beginning stages of producing environmentally friendly gold nanoparticles. The company will focus on the development, commercialization and worldwide supply of gold nanoparticles for medical and technological applications. Katti believes that because of this new process to produce the nanoparticles, researchers are developing other ways to use them.
The MU research team, which was led by Katti, Raghuraman Kannan and Kavita Katti, ''found that by submersing gold salts in water and then adding soybeans, gold nanoparticles were generated''. The water pulls a phytochemical out of the soybean that is effective in reducing the gold to nanoparticles. A second phytochemical from the soybean, also pulled out by the water, interacts with the nanoparticles to stabilize them and keep them from fusing with the particles nearby. ''This process creates nanoparticles that are uniform in size in a 100-percent green process. No toxic waste is generated.''
“I’m very proud to be one among the list of ‘25 Most Influential Scientists’ in the world, especially in the company of all time greats and former awardees including: Elias Zerhouni, director of National Institutes of Health (2003); Henry N. Wagner Jr., recognized as the Father of Nuclear Medicine (2004); Henry D. Royal, Peter S. Conti, past presidents of the Society of Nuclear Medicine; and Barry B. Goldberg, pioneer of ultrasound (2007),” Katti said.
Katti’s research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute in the National Institutes of Health.
Source: [[Missouri University Scientists Go Green with Gold, Forms Company to Distribute Environmentally Friendly Nanoparticles|http://munews.missouri.edu/news-releases/2008/0926-mu-scientists-go-green.php]]
''Self-calcifying, self-replicating nanoparticles have been isolated from calcified human tissues. However, it is unclear if these nanoparticles participate in disease processes.'' Therefore, this study was designed to preliminarily test the hypothesis that human-derived nanoparticles are causal to arterial disease processes.
This study offers the ''first evidence that there may be a causal relationship between human-derived nanoparticles and response to injury'' including calcification in arteries with damaged endothelium.
Source: [[Human-derived nanoparticles and vascular response to injury in rabbit carotid arteries: Proof of principle|http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2527666/]]. See also [[Evidence of Nanoparticles Found in Plaque-Filled Arteries|http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-technology/Evidence-of-Nanoparticles-Found-in-Plaque-Filled-Arteries-847-1/]]
<br>Nelson Akaighe, Robert I. MacCuspie, Divina A. Navarro, Diana S. Aga, Sarbajit Banerjee, Mary Sohn, and Virender K. Sharma. 2011. ''Environmental Science & Technology doi:10.1021/es103946g''
//The formation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) via reduction of silver ions (Ag+) in the presence of humic acids (HAs) under various environmentally relevant conditions is described. HAs tested originated from the Suwannee River (SUW), and included samples of three sedimentary HAs (SHAs), and five soils obtained across the state of Florida. The time required to form AgNPs varied depending upon the type and concentration of HA, as well as temperature. SUW and all three SHAs reduced Ag+ at 22 °C. However, none of the soil HAs formed absorbance-detectable AgNPs at room temperature when allowed to react for a period of 25 days, at which time experiments were halted. The appearance of the characteristic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of AgNPs was observed by ultraviolet−visible spectroscopy in as few as 2−4 days at 22 °C for SHAs and SUW. An elevated temperature of 90 °C resulted in the accelerated appearance of the SPR within 90 min for SUW and all SHAs. The formation of AgNPs at 90 °C was usually complete within 3 h. Transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy images showed that the AgNPs formed were typically spherical and had a broad size distribution. Dynamic light scattering also revealed polydisperse particle size distributions. HAs appeared to colloidally stabilize AgNPs based on lack of any significant change in the spectral characteristics over a period of two months. The results suggest the potential for direct formation of AgNPs under environmental conditions from Ag+ sources, implying that not all AgNPs observed in natural waters today may be of anthropogenic origin.//
Already one of the largest global centers for nanotechnology, ''IBM’s Zurich Research Lab'' has a long-standing tradition of scientific collaboration and is ''the birthplace of nanotechnology''. [[Two milestone IBM inventions|Positioning single atoms with a scanning tunnelling microscope]] —the Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) in 1981 and the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) in 1986—provided researchers around the world with the specialized tools they needed to explore the nano-cosmos and manipulate materials at the atomic level for the first time. Nanotechnology started with the development of the scanning tunneling microscope at the IBM Zurich Research Lab, for which Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986. This instrument allowed the first look into the world of atoms. Shortly afterwards, an IBM researcher used this invention to become the first person to manipulate individual atoms. Source: [[IBM Research - Zurich|http://www.zurich.ibm.com/news/08/nanotech.html]]
"The European branch of IBM Research in Zurich is one of nine institutes spread across the world. The first two laboratories were founded within the US close to New York and in San Jose in 1945 and 1952, respectively, whereas the institute in Switzerland was established as the third of its kind in 1956." [[IBM Research – Zurich: A 1-Day Visit|http://www.imaging-git.com/news/applied-nanoscience-europe]]. Applied Nanoscience in Europe
The ''Nanoscale Exploratory Technology Laboratory (NETL)'' will be a unique facility for exploratory research. NETL will not be a production or a pilot line with fixed processes or wafer sizes. Rather, it will be a state-of-the-art exploratory cleanroom fabrication facility combined with "noise-free" labs shielded against external vibrations, acoustic noise, electromagnetic fields and temperature fluctuations.
With the construction of this exciting new laboratory, IBM is leveraging its presence in Europe to attract and foster leading talent in nanotechnology. Bolstered in part by major ongoing initiatives of various government agencies, Europe is where at least one-third of worldwide investments are being made in nanotechnology in the next five years. NETL is at the leading edge of this exploratory research. Source: [[IBM Research - Zurich : Nanoscale Exploratory Technology Lab (NETL)|http://www.zurich.ibm.com/netl/]]
IBM Research GmbH
Säumerstrasse 4
8803 Rüschlikon, Switzerland
http://www.zurich.ibm.com
''Related news:'' [[Creating a common research site: Albany NanoTech, Applied Materials, IBM Announce Research Partnership|http://www.albany.edu/news/releases/2005/sep2005/sweeney_nanotech.shtml]]. Firms invest $300 million in R&D initiative. "An important milestone in establishing the IBM-Albany NanoTech Center for Semiconductor Research as ''the nation's premier facility for the study of nanotechnology''."
<br>//It has been proposed that single molecules of DNA could be sequenced by measuring the physical properties of the bases as they pass through a nanopore. Theoretical calculations suggest that electron tunnelling can identify bases in single-stranded DNA without enzymatic processing and it was recently experimentally shown that tunnelling can sense individual nucleotides and nucleosides. Here, we report that tunnelling electrodes functionalized with recognition reagents can identify a single base flanked by other bases in short DNA oligomers. The residence time of a single base in a recognition junction is on the order of a second, but pulling the DNA through the junction with a force of tens of piconewtons would yield reading speeds of tens of bases per second.//
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Researchers are able to produce medicine encapsulated in nanoparticles the size of viruses, but new research has shown another great challenge in nanomedicine – the immune system – and the importance of the coating polymers on the nanoparticle surface.
Researchers have over time been able to show that medicine designed at nanoscale offers unprecedented opportunities for targeted treatment of serious diseases such as cancer. However, now research also shows that the body’s immune system plays a significant part in the drug delivery process.
“Researchers today are able encapsulate medicine in nanoparticles the size of viruses. The nanoparticles are effective for drug delivery – the delivery of the medicine to the body – because they can very precisely find diseased cells and carry the medicine to them. This means that you can suffice with less dosage and thereby fewer side effects,” explains Professor Moein Moghimi from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen. Professor Moghimi’s main focus is nanotoxicology – and the possible consequences of drug delivery with nanoparticles.
The new research has shown that ''the coating of the nanoparticle surface has great influence on the activation of the immune system'' – the particle’s polymer coating can be designed in various ways, and the form can drastically change the body’s immune response.
“Drug delivery with nanoparticles camouflaged as water soluble polymers has proven very effective. One way of delivering drugs safely to diseased sites in the body is to encapsulate them in small polymeric particles in similar size to viruses. However, when injected into the blood these particles are intercepted by the body’s defence system. This can be overcome by camouflaging the surface of these nanocarriers with water soluble polymers. This makes the surface ‘water-like’ and less visible to the immune system,” says Professor Moghimi.
“Our newest research indicates that we should be very cautious when designing the surface of the nanoparticles. Remarkably, changing the conformation of the coating polymers on nanoparticle surface from a ‘mushroom-type’ to a ‘brush-type’ appearance can switch complement activation from one pathway to another,” explains Professor Moghimi.
The research demonstrates difficulty in design and surface engineering of polymeric nanoparticles such that it is hydrophilic enough to be compatible with biological fluids and yet prevent complement activation. This is also very important from clinical perspectives since complement activation may induce adverse reactions in some patients. Source: From ''[[Research provides new findings on drug delivery with nanoparticles|http://news.ku.dk/all_news/2011/2011.3/researchprovidesnewfindingsondrugdelivery/]]''. This work is detailed in the paper [[Distinct Polymer Architecture Mediates Switching of Complement Activation Pathways at the Nanosphere−Serum Interface: Implications for Stealth Nanoparticle Engineering|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn101990a?prevSearch=%2528moghimi%2529%2BNOT%2B%255Batype%253A%2Bad%255D%2BNOT%2B%255Batype%253A%2Bacs-toc%255D&searchHistoryKey=]] <<slider chkSldr [[Distinct Polymer Architecture Mediates Switching of Complement Activation Pathways at the Nanosphere−Serum Interface: Implications for Stealth Nanoparticle Engineering]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
<br>''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoparticles>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomedicine>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanotoxicology>>
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Most research on the toxicology of nanomaterials has focused on the effects of NanoParticles that enter the body accidentally. There has been much less research on the toxicology of NanoParticles that are used for biomedical applications, such as drug delivery or imaging, in which the NanoParticles are deliberately placed in the body. Moreover, there are no harmonized standards for assessing the toxicity of NanoParticles to the immune system (immunotoxicity). Here we review recent research on immunotoxicity, along with data on a range of nanotechnology-based drugs that are at different stages in the approval process. Research shows that NanoParticles can stimulate and/or suppress the immune responses, and that their compatibility with the immune system is largely determined by their surface chemistry. Modifying these factors can significantly reduce the immunotoxicity of NanoParticles and make them useful platforms for drug delivery.
Source: [[Immunological properties of engineered Nanomaterials|http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=2312.php]]
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomedicine>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoimmunology>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[Victor Puntes]]>>
<br>//We report the creation of a nanoscale electrochemical device inside a transmission electron microscope—consisting of a single tin dioxide (SnO2) nanowire anode, an ionic liquid electrolyte, and a bulk lithium cobalt dioxide (LiCoO2) cathode—and the in situ observation of the lithiation of the SnO2 nanowire during electrochemical charging. Upon charging, a reaction front propagated progressively along the nanowire, causing the nanowire to swell, elongate, and spiral. The reaction front is a “Medusa zone” containing a high density of mobile dislocations, which are continuously nucleated and absorbed at the moving front. This dislocation cloud indicates large in-plane misfit stresses and is a structural precursor to electrochemically driven solid-state amorphization. Because lithiation-induced volume expansion, plasticity, and pulverization of electrode materials are the major mechanical effects that plague the performance and lifetime of high-capacity anodes in lithium-ion batteries, our observations provide important mechanistic insight for the design of advanced batteries.//
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''Researcher Says Simple Polymer based Filter Successfully Cleans Water, Recovers Oil in Gulf of Mexico Tests''. Developed by University of Pittsburgh engineering professor Di Gao in response to the [["Deepwater Horizon" oil leak|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill]], the technique combines an ordinary cotton filter with a solution that repels oil while allowing water to pass through. The researcher reports that the filter was successfully tested off the coast of Louisiana and shown to simultaneously clean water and preserve the oil.
Gao's filter hinges on a polymer that is both hydrophilic -it bonds with the hydrogen molecules in water- and oleophobic, meaning that it repels oil. When the polymer is applied to an ordinary cotton filter, it allows water to pass through but not oil. The filter is produced by submerging the cotton in a liquid solution containing the polymer then drying it in an oven or in open air, Gao explained.
For the massive slick off the U.S. Gulf Coast, Gao envisions large, trough-shaped filters that could be dragged through the water to capture surface oil. The oil could be recovered and stored and the filter reused. Current cleanup methods range from giant containment booms and absorbent skimmers to controlled fires and chemical dispersants with questionable effects on human health and the environment.
[[Di Gao|http://www.gao.pitt.edu/]] focuses his research in the development and application of chemical nanostructures, including liquid-resistant coatings. In 2009, Gao reported his demonstration of [[a nanoparticle-based solution that can prevent the formation of ice on solid surfaces|http://www.chronicle.pitt.edu/?p=4206]], from power lines to airport runways and roads. Source: From [[Pitt Researcher Says Simple Polymer-based Filter Successfully Cleans Water, Recovers Oil in Gulf of Mexico Tests|http://www.news.pitt.edu/news/pitt-researcher-says-simple-polymer-based-filter-successfully-cleans-water-recovers-oil-gulf-me]] by Morgan Kelly.
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One of the driving forces in nanotechnology has been Hard Drive Industry. Thus, in 1999 IBM presented and patented the idea of using one 10 nm magnetic NP per bit, what in a dense self-assembled monolayer would lead to the extreme recoding density of 100 Terabit/in2. However, interaction among NP and random anisotropy chilled that dream.
Recently, in January 2007, Fujitsu announced one Terabit/in2 technology, a breakthrough for future HDD capacity expansion. At that time, one-dimensionally aligned alumina nanohole patterns with 25nm pitch were produced to support one Terabit/in2 bit recording density.
Now for the first time, Fujitsu has successfully created ideally “ordered” alumina nanohole patterns for isolated bit-by-bit recording on a large disk area by establishing an innovative fabrication process, and confirmed the basic read/write capability in each individual nanohole of the patterned media using a flying head on a rotating disk.
Using Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR) processes, the patterned alumina nanohole media was fabricated using nano-imprint lithography, anodic oxidation, and cobalt electrodeposition at a density of 100nm pitch nanoholes that was suitable to currently available head technology.
Source: [[Ideally Ordered Nanohole Patterned Media Enables Capacity Potential to 1.2TB for 2.5'' HDD|http://www.physorg.com/news105896139.html]]
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoelectronics>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[Victor Puntes]]>>
Envision ALR, an emerging technology investment & operating company announced that it is commercialising a new form of nanotechnology based infectious disease detection system with the capability to distinguish between different flu strains within seconds. The technology has already been shown to be effective in lab tests and the company is now accelerating the commercialisation program.“With current disease identification technologies requiring blood samples to be shipped to a laboratory for testing, distinguishing between pandemic strains and common ones can take up to twenty-four hours. Our technology has the potential to reduce this to under a minute, requires either a pin prick of blood or a salvia sample and will deliver the result of the diagnoses on the spot.” The technology is based on printed electronics, making use of the unique properties of a number of nanoparticle based inks and is rapid, accurate, and the hand held device is easily portable for use in doctors surgeries, hospitals or airports. The system works for both bacterial and viral pathogens. Source: [[Envision ALR Announces Rapid Screening For Swine Flu And Other Pathogens Using Novel Nanotechnology Based Plastic Electronics|http://envisionalr.co.uk/Envision_ALR/News.html]]
~CombiMatrix's ~Influenza-Detection System provides very-high-resolution genotype information on any given flu strain, as well as information on novel strains of flu produced by rapid mutation or recombination between multiple strains. The current ''[[Swine Flu|http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html]]'' is a novel strain of influenza A, subtype ~H1N1. Other strains of influenza A include pathogenic Bird Flu (~H5N1); the 1918 influenza pandemic (~H1N1), which killed an estimated 50 million people; the 1968 Hong Kong Flu (~H3N2), which caused a pandemic; and the 1976 Swine Flu (~H1N1). ~CombiMatrix's Influenza Microarray can detect and distinguish each of these strains, as well as all other circulating subtypes and strains of Influenza A. Most importantly, as demonstrated by news, the array can be updated almost instantaneously. Source: [[CombiMatrix Updates its Influenza-Detection Microarray to Include Swine Flu|http://investor.combimatrix.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=380376]]
Liquidia Technologies presented data at the ''[[National Foundation of Infectious Disease|http://www.nfid.org/]]'' (NFID) which supports new insight into a technology that could provide more safe and effective vaccines for a wide variety of diseases. Results of the study show that the desired immune response elicited by a vaccine can be enhanced up to 10-fold when the vaccine protein is linked to nano-particles of a particular size and shape. Particles mimicking the size and shape of pathogens may improve the safety and efficacy of vaccines. The discovery may lead to a new generation of vaccines that could provide faster immunity to disease and potentially minimize the need for multiple vaccinations or “booster shots.” Source: [[Novel technology may pave way for next generation vaccines|http://www.liquidia.com/press/NFID_Vaccine_Release__v_05_final.pdf]]
~NanoViricides announced that it is developing ~FluCide, its flagship anti-influenza drug candidate, to work against all influenza types and subtypes. ~FluCide has been shown to be effective against both common influenza subtype ~H1N1, as well as two different variants of bird flu subtype ~H5N1. The Company has previously announced excellent results in both animal studies and cell culture studies against widely different influenza subtypes and strains. If these results are confirmed in further animal and human studies, then ~FluCide would likely be considered the best ever drug effective against all influenzas. The Company is communicating its capabilities to various agencies involved in the current epidemic response. The current swine flu ''[[outbreak|http://www.veratect.com/media/042609_release.pdf]]'' is significant in that the ~H1N1 virus causing it is novel. The pig is known to be a transitional species for influenza viruses. That means re-assortment (i.e. mixing) of genes from bird flu, human flu, and swine flu viruses can take place in pigs. This can lead to more lethal, drug resistant novel strains to emerge from different existing ones. Source: [[NanoViricides Developing FluCide to Work Against All Influenza Types and Subtypes|hhttp://www.nanoviricides.com/]]
Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomedicine>><<matchTags popup sort:-created detection>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoimmunology>>
There are several issues to be addressed concerning the management and effective use of information (or data), generated from nanotechnology studies in biomedical research and medicine. These data are large in volume, diverse in content, and are beset with gaps and ambiguities in the description and characterization of nanomaterials. In this work, we have reviewed three areas of nanomedicine informatics: information resources; taxonomies, controlled vocabularies, and ontologies; and information standards. Informatics methods and standards in each of these areas are critical for enabling collaboration; data sharing; unambiguous representation and interpretation of data; semantic (meaningful) search and integration of data; and for ensuring data quality, reliability, and reproducibility. In particular, we have considered four types of information standards in this article, which are standard characterization protocols, common terminology standards, minimum information standards, and standard data communication (exchange) formats. Currently, because of gaps and ambiguities in the data, it is also difficult to apply computational methods and machine learning techniques to analyze, interpret, and recognize patterns in data that are high dimensional in nature, and also to relate variations in nanomaterial properties to variations in their chemical composition, synthesis, characterization protocols, and so on. Progress toward resolving the issues of information management in nanomedicine using informatics methods and standards discussed in this article will be essential to the rapidly growing field of nanomedicine informatics. Source: [[Informatics and standards for nanomedicine technology|http://wires.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WiresArticle/wisId-WNAN152.html]] by Dennis G. Thomas, Fred Klaessig, Stacey L. Harper, Martin Fritts, Mark D. Hoover, Sharon Gaheen, Todd H. Stokes, Rebecca Reznik‐Zellen, Elaine T. Freund, Juli D. Klemm, David S. Paik, Nathan A. Baker
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A new medical gauze that makes use of aluminosilicate nanoparticles to help blood clot more quickly used by US Army in Middle East wars.
"~Z-Medica Corporation, a medical products company focused on innovative hemostatic nano-technologies, today introduced ~QuikClot® Combat Gauze™ -- the latest of its product breakthroughs for stopping acute, traumatic bleeding. It is tailored to the needs of combat and tactical medical personnel. Marketed under the well-known ~QuikClot® brand, the new Combat Gauze™ combines surgical gauze with a proprietary inorganic material that stops arterial and venous bleeding in seconds. The material, pliable and familiar to medical personnel, can be fitted to any size or shape wound – including penetrating wounds. It is easily removed once clotting has taken place. The United States Department of Defense has awarded ~Z-Medica a $3.2 million grant for large-scale testing of the product on penetrating wounds. These multi-center clinical trials will take place during 2008."
Source: [[Z-Medica introduces QuikClot® Combat Gauze™ – New hemostatic product & delivery system for treating acute bleeding|http://www.z-medica.com/newsroom/zmedica_press_releases_details.asp?pressID=79]]
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The [[scanning tunneling microscope (STM)|Scanning Tunneling Microscope]] has been hailed as the "key enabling discovery for nanotechnology," the catalyst for a scientific field that attracts nearly $20 billion in funding each year. In Instrumental Community, [[Cyrus Mody|http://history.rice.edu/Mody/]] argues that this technology-centric view does not explain how these microscopes helped to launch nanotechnology -- and fails to acknowledge the agency of the microscopists in making the STM and its variants critically important tools. Mody tells the story of ''the invention, spread, and commercialization of scanning probe microscopy in terms of the networked structures of collaboration and competition that came into being within a diverse, colorful, and sometimes fractious community of researcher''s. By forming a community, he argues, these researchers were able to innovate rapidly, share the microscopes with a wide range of users, and generate prestige (including the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics) and profit (as the technology found applications in industry).
Mody shows that both the technology of probe microscopy and the community model offered by the probe microscopists contributed to the development of political and scientific support for nanotechnology and the global funding initiatives that followed. In the course of his account, Mody charts the shifts in U.S. science policy over the last forty years -- from the decline in federal basic research funding in the 1970s through the rise in academic patenting in the 1980s to the emergence of nanotechnology discourse in the 1990s -- that have resulted in today's increasing emphasis on the commercialization of academic research. Source: From ''[[Instrumental Community|http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=12735]] Probe Microscopy and the Path to Nanotechnology'' by Cyrus C. M. Mody, MIT Press
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created microscope>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoscience>>
''Context:''
April 2012. ''[[Probing the history of nanotechnology|http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1038/nnano.2012.47]]'' by [[Chris Toumey]], Nature Nanotechnology. //"Scanning probe microscopes feature prominently in the history of nanotechnology but, as a recent book on the subject makes clear, this history could have been very different"//. Please contact Chris Toumey (TOUMEY@mailbox.sc.edu) if you would like to receive a copy of his review article
2004. ''[[Probing the History of Scanning Tunneling Microscopy|http://www.rpri.ru/arshinov/literatura/dirk%20bekker/Áåêåð%20Äèðê%20è%C3%ADò0.pdf#page=149]]'' by Davis Baird & Ashley Shew. //"Nanotechnology has developed in a context sometimes referred to as “post- academic”, because of the increased emphasis on aspects of commercialization. We examine how this “post-academic” context has influenced the development of these instruments"//
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''Researchers have documented potential cellular damage from “fullerenes”''—soccer-ball-shaped, cage-like molecules composed of 60 carbon atoms. They also noted that ''this particular type of damage might hold hope for treatment of Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, or even cancer''. The research represents the first-ever observation of this kind for spherical fullerenes, also known as buckyballs, which take their names from the late Buckminster Fuller because they resemble the geodesic dome concept that he popularized.
Engineered carbon nanoparticles, which include fullerenes, are increasing in use worldwide. Each buckyball is a skeletal cage of carbon about the size of a virus. They show potential for creating stronger, lighter structures or acting as tiny delivery mechanisms for designer drugs or antibiotics, among other uses. About four to five tons of carbon nanoparticles are manufactured annually. ''“Nanomaterials are the 21st century revolution,”'' said [[Los Alamos National Laboratory|http://www.lanl.gov/orgs/b/about_us.shtml]] toxicologist Rashi Iyer, the principal research lead. ''“We are going to have to live with them and deal with them, and the question becomes, ‘How are we going to maximize our use of these materials and minimize their impact on us and the environment?’”''
Iyer and lead author Jun Gao, also a Los Alamos toxicologist, exposed cultured human skin cells to several distinct types of buckyballs. The differences in the buckyballs lay in the spatial arrangement of short branches of molecules coming off of the main buckyball structure. One buckyball variation, called the “tris” configuration, had three molecular branches off the main structure on one hemisphere; another variation, called the “hexa” configuration, had six branches off the main structure in a roughly symmetrical arrangement; the last type was a plain buckyball. The researchers found that cells exposed to the tris configuration underwent premature senescence—what might be described as a state of suspended animation. In other words, the cells did not die as cells normally should, nor did they divide or grow. This arrest of the natural cellular life cycle after exposure to the tris-configured buckyballs may compromise normal organ development, leading to disease within a living organism. In short, the tris buckyballs were toxic to human skin cells. Moreover, the cells exposed to the tris arrangement caused unique molecular level responses suggesting that tris-fullerenes may potentially interfere with normal immune responses induced by viruses. The team is now pursuing research to determine if cells exposed to this form of fullerenes may be more susceptible to viral infections. Ironically, the discovery could also lead to a novel treatment strategy for combating several debilitating diseases. In diseases like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s, nerve cells die or degenerate to a nonfunctional state. A mechanism to induce senescence in specific nerve cells could delay or eliminate onset of the diseases. Similarly, a disease like cancer, which spreads and thrives through unregulated replication of cancer cells, might be fought through induced senescence. This strategy could stop the cells from dividing and provide doctors with more time to kill the abnormal cells. Because of the minute size of nanomaterials, the primary hazard associated with them has been potential inhalation—similar to the concern over asbestos exposure.
“Already, from a toxicological point of view, this research is useful because it shows that if you have the choice to use a tris- or a hexa-arrangement for an application involving buckyballs, the hexa-arrangement is probably the better choice,” said Iyer. “These studies may provide guidance for new nanomaterial design and development.” Meantime, Los Alamos research into nanomaterials provides ''a cautionary tale for nanomaterial use, as well as early foundations for worker protection''. Right now, there are no federal regulations for the use of nanomaterials. Disclosure of use by companies or individuals is voluntary. As nanomaterial use increases, understanding of their potential hazards should also increase. Source: From [[Carbon Nanostructures—Elixir or Poison?|http://www.lanl.gov/news/releases/carbon_nanostructures_elixir_or_poison_news_release.html]]. Los Alamos researchers find a case where size really does matter. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Fullerene derivatives induce premature senescence: A new toxicity paradigm or novel biomedical applications|http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WXH-4Y34PV0-2&_user=10&_coverDate=04%2F15%2F2010&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=2b78828d350eee97bb6a8dc8ff31afdf]]'' by Jun Gao, Hsing Lin Wang, Andrew Shreve, Rashi Iyer.
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The recent explosion in the development of nanomaterials with enhanced performance characteristics for use in commercial and medical applications has increased the likelihood of people coming into direct contact with these materials.
There are currently more than 800 [[products on the market|http://www.nanotechproject.org/consumerproducts]] — including clothes, skin lotions and cleaning products — claiming to have at least one nanocomponent, and therapeutic nanocarriers have been designed for targeted drug delivery inside the human body. Human exposure to nanomaterials, which are smaller than one one-thousandth the diameter of a human hair, raises some important questions, including whether these "nano-bio" interactions could have adverse health effects.
Now, researchers at UCLA and the [[California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI)|http://www.cnsi.ucla.edu/]], along with colleagues in academia and industry, have taken a proactive role in examining the current understanding of the nano-bio interface to identify the potential risks of engineered nanomaterials and to explore design methods that will lead to safer and more effective nanoparticles for use in a variety of treatments and products.
In a research review, the team provides ''a comprehensive overview of current knowledge on the physical and chemical properties of nanomaterials that allow them to undergo interactions with biological molecules and bioprocesses''. "What we have established here is a blueprint that will serve to educate the first generation of nanobiologists," said [[Dr. Andre Nel|http://www.cnsi.ucla.edu/institution/personnel?personnel_id=8739]], leader of the team and chief of the division of nanomedicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the California ~NanoSystems Institute. "Instead of waiting for knowledge to unfold randomly, we can already begin to view the events at nano-bio interface as a discoverable scientific platform that can be used for setting up a deliberate inorganic-organic roadmap to new, better and safer products," Nel said. "What we can identify by understanding the rules that shape the nano-bio interface will have a massive impact on the ability to develop safe nanomaterials in the future."
Source: From [[Research explores interactions between nanomaterials, biological systems|http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/exploring-the-world-of-nanomaterial-94257.aspx]]. Review article calls for measures to enable safe design of nanomaterials By Jennifer Marcus. This work is detailed in the paper [[Understanding biophysicochemical interactions at the nano–bio interface|http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/v8/n7/abs/nmat2442.html]] by Andre E. Nel, Lutz Mädler, Darrell Velegol, Tian Xia, Eric M. V. Hoek, Ponisseril Somasundaran, Fred Klaessig, Vince Castranova & Mike Thompson
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Representative Mike Honda (D-San Jose) introduced HR 3235, the Nanotechnology Advancement and New Opportunities (NANO) Act. The legislation is to "promote the development and responsible stewardship of nanotechnology in the United States."Representative Honda drew on the report, [["Thinking Big About Thinking Small"|http://www.honda.house.gov/issues/links/brtfn_report_final.pdf]] when drafting the legislation for Congressional consideration. If it receives House approval, the Senate would then have to approve the language for it to become law.
Source: [[H.R.3235 Nanotechnology Advancement and New Opportunities Act (Introduced in House)|http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c110:1:./temp/~c110S9rP7F:e0:]]
This introduction to nanoscience by [[Kavli Foundation|The 2008 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience]] gives us a brief overview of the field and illuminates some of the interesting questions being currently researched.
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After more than twenty years of basic and applied research, nanotechnologies are gaining in commercial use. Nanoscale materials now are in electronic, cosmetics, automotive and medical products. But it has been difficult to find out how many "nano" consumer products are on the market and which merchandise could be called "nano."
While not comprehensive, this inventory gives the public the best available look at the 500+ manufacturer-identified nanotechnology-based consumer products currently on the market.
Source: [[Project On Emerging Nanotechnologies: Inventory of Nanotechnology Consumer Products|http://www.nanotechproject.org/index.php?id=44&action=intro]]
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" title="The experiments in Xia’s lab compared the usual experimental setup (top) with an upside-down setup (bottom). Nanoparticle uptake in the two setups differs only if the ratio of the forces driving sedimentation (S) to those driving diffusion (D) are different. In the situation shown here, the upright cells have taken up more nanoparticles than the upside-down ones because there is sedimentation. Younan Xia/WUSTL" src="img/trasnportzonestack.jpeg" width="30%"/></a></html>Nanoparticles will soon be used as tiny shuttles to deliver genes to cells and drugs to tumors in a more targeted way than was possible in the past. But as the scientists prepare to use the nanoparticles in medicine, concerns have arisen about their potential toxicity. ''Studies of both the applications of nanoparticles and their toxicity rely on the ability of scientists to quantify the interaction between the nanoparticles and cells, particularly the uptake (ingestion) of nanoparticles by cells''.
In the standard laboratory tests of the biological activity of nanoparticles, cells are plated on the bottom of a dish and culture medium containing nanoparticles is poured on top of them. It seems straightforward enough. But recently Washington University in St. Louis scientist [[Younan Xia|http://www.nanocages.com/]] started to worry about the in vitro experiments his lab was doing with gold nanoparticles. What if the cells were upside down, he wondered? Would that make a difference? Would it change their uptake rate?
“People assumed that if they prepared a suspension, the suspension was going to have the same concentration everywhere, including at the surface of the cells,” says Xia, PhD, the James M. McKelvey Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
A battery of experiments in Xia’s lab with both the standard and upside-down setups showed that nanoparticles above certain sizes and weights will settle out. So concentrations of the nanoparticles near the cell surfaces are different from those in the bulk solution and cellular uptake rates are higher. As Xia and his colleagues concluded in the Nature Nanotechnology article describing the experiments, “Studies on the cellular uptake of nanoparticles that have been conducted with cells in the upright configuration may have given rise to erroneous and misleading data.”
Scientists have felt they could safely assume that the concentration of nanoparticles in the fluid next to the cells, which drives cellular uptake, was the same as the initial concentration of nanoparticles in the medium because the particles are small enough to be easily lofted by Brownian motion, the random motion of the molecules in the liquid. Gravity, by this accounting, did not override this force for diffusion and the nanoparticles stayed in solution instead of settling out. “We started to wonder, however, because our nanoparticles are made of gold,” Xia says. “Gold is nontoxic but it is also very heavy, so it was conceivable relatively large nanoparticles might settle.”
Because it is impossible to measure the exact concentration of gold nanoparticles at the surface of a cell, Xia and coworkers designed a simple experiment to test whether settling changed the concentration there and the cellular uptake. Xia’s lab tested gold nanospheres of three sizes, nanocages of two edge lengths, and nanorods, some with surface coatings that picked up serum proteins in solution and others coated with a chemical that acts as an antifouling agent. After the cells were incubated in the nanoparticle-bearing medium, the concentration of the nanoparticles in the medium was measured spectroscopically and the number of particles each cell had taken up was calculated from the difference in the concentrations.
''In the literature there are reports that the cellular uptake of nanoparticles depends on the nanoparticles’ size, shape and surface coating. Xia lab’s experiments showed that these characteristics are secondary, relevant only insofar as they affect the sedimentation and diffusion velocities of the nanoparticles.''
For small, light particles, there was no disparity between the cells in the upright and the upside-down configurations. In the case of larger, heavier particles, however, sedimentation dominated, and the upright cells took in more nanoparticles than the upside-down cells. “All earlier work may need to be re-evaluated to account for the effects of sedimentation on nanoparticle dosimetry,” the authors conclude. “It’s no different from medicines that have to be shaken to suspend a powder in a water. If you don’t shake the bottle,” Xia says, “you end up under- or overdosing yourself.” Source: From [[Inverting a standard experiment sometimes produces different results|http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22241.aspx]]. This work is detailed in the paper [[The effect of sedimentation and diffusion on cellular uptake of gold nanoparticles|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nnano.2011.58.html]] <<slider chkSldr [[The effect of sedimentation and diffusion on cellular uptake of gold nanoparticles]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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Yao Zhao, Jinquan Wei, Robert Vajtai, Pulickel M. Ajayan & Enrique V. Barrera. 2011. ''Nature. Scientific Reports. doi: 10.1038/srep00083''
//Creating highly electrically conducting cables from macroscopic aggregates of carbon nanotubes, to replace metallic wires, is still a dream. Here we report the fabrication of iodine-doped, double-walled nanotube cables having electrical resistivity reaching ~10−7 Ω.m. Due to the low density, their specific conductivity (conductivity/weight) is higher than copper and aluminum and is only just below that of the highest specific conductivity metal, sodium. The cables exhibit high current-carrying capacity of 104~105 A/cm2 and can be joined together into arbitrary length and diameter, without degradation of their electrical properties. The application of such nanotube cables is demonstrated by partly replacing metal wires in a household light bulb circuit. The conductivity variation as a function of temperature for the cables is five times smaller than that for copper. The high conductivity nanotube cables could find a range of applications, from low dimensional interconnects to transmission lines.//
^^The synthetic strategy consists of the rapid injection of organo-metallic reagents hosting the desired element in a hot solvent in presence of surfactant molecules (and reducers in some cases), which produces a temporally discrete homogeneous nucleation, largely employed for the production of monodisperse semiconductor and metallic passivated NP. In the case of too reactive species, synthesis is carried out under inert atmosphere conditions (absence of water and oxygen). The decomposition and nucleation occurs rapidly upon injection. The lifetime of individual atoms, or intermediate species, in solution is short, and many small metal clusters (nuclei) form simultaneously. Surfactants have the ability to control the size and shape of the growing particles by dynamically coating the surface with a close-packed monolayer of coordinating ligand. In addition, the surfactant layer prevents the agglomeration of particles, allows monomers to add or subtract, passivates the NP against oxidation, defines the minimum interparticle distance and controls the chemical interactions. All these conditions may lead to extremely narrow size distributions of a large number of stable NP [Co,Au,Ni,Pt,~FeO~~x~~,15-28…]. ^^
And so, at the end of the process, one may end up with amazing TEM images. But we know how it is often hard to repeat and reproduce the process. The critical moment is the initial steps of the reaction, after that, the systems rapidly evolves towards less unstable equilibriums. What there is inside the flask at the initial moments of the reaction? One may have: the precursor molecule (organometálic or salt), the residues from the precursor molecule, the released, reduced (totally or partially) or not metallic atom, the surfactants as oleic acid or mercaptoundecanoic acid (and other surface active additives that interact with the growing crystal as citrate ions), which react with all the precedent and all the following and between them as the oleic acid dimerization through the carboxylic acid function in non polar solvents, the growing and grown ~NPs with more ore less organized surface coatings. Not to forget the solvent, who can be just a carrier, as cyclohexane or active as water or coordinating as the synthesis of ~CdSe performed in trioctyl phosphine oxide.
There are more species present in solution. There are protoparticles, kind of amorphous blobs bigger than the future ~NPs with highly dense incrusts, like shapeless 3D pepperoni´s pizzas. If there was a reducer, it is also in solution. Together with the oxidated species, be it in the form of protons or water if reducing with hydrogen, or any other (even electrodes release cations uncontrolledly). There is a solvent, which is always present even in the cases where it is just a vehicle. Even, the isotopic composition of the solution has an impact on the synthesis of ~NPs. There is the atmosphere, controllable (from artificial air to argon). And the respective stability of each component in the solvent and the atmosphere. There are so many actors that there is even an effect of the reactor walls (hydroxilic coated amorphous silicon oxide –glass), the reaction volume, the temperature and concentration gradients, and their stability well beyond relative concentration ratios, and off course any contamination. If the goal is to make bimetallic ~NPs, either core-shell or alloys, we have to take into account the interface between species that in principle prefer to grow over themselves, the surfactants and their particular preference for any of the two species or a subset of crystal orientations of a determined symmetry group, what modifies the surface tension and forces an specie to be at the core of the NP and the other at the shell. And mainly, the less noble of the two metals is an excellent reducer for the more noble cation, leading often to have Au coated with Pt, or Silver dissolved by Au forming hollows structures, but not reverse (Au on top of Pt or Au sacrificial templates for the growth of hollow Ag nanostructures).
All this species, in the synthesis conditions, are at average distances of 10 to 100 nm, distance that they cross, via Brownian motion, in fractions of nanoseconds.
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The potential of carbon nanotubes to diagnose and treat brain tumors is being explored through a partnership between NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and [[City of Hope|http://www.cityofhope.org]], a leading cancer research and treatment center in Duarte, Calif.
Nanotechnology may help revolutionize medicine in the future with its promise to play a role in selective cancer therapy. City of Hope researchers hope to boost the brain's own immune response against tumors by delivering cancer-fighting agents via nanotubes.
If nanotube technology can be effectively applied to brain tumors, it might also be used to treat stroke, trauma, neurodegenerative disorders and other disease processes in the brain, said Dr. Behnam Badie, City of Hope's director of neurosurgery and of its brain tumor program.
The Nano and Micro Systems Group at JPL, which has been researching nanotubes since about 2000, creates these tiny, cylindrical multi-walled carbon tubes for City of Hope. (see [[nasa nanotechnology comes to market]])
City of Hope researchers, who began their quest in 2006, found good results: The nanotubes, which they used on mice, were non-toxic in brain cells, did not change cell reproduction and were capable of carrying DNA and siRNA, two types of molecules that encode genetic information.
JPL's Nano and Micro Systems Group grows the nanotubes on silicon strips a few square millimeters in area. The growth process forms them into hollow tubes as if by rolling sheets of graphite-like carbon.
Carbon nanotubes are extremely strong, flexible, heat-resistant, and have very sharp tips. Consequently, JPL uses nanotubes as field-emission cathodes -- vehicles that help produce electrons -- for various space applications such as x-ray and mass spectroscopy instruments, vacuum microelectronics and high-frequency communications (see [[nano-detector very promising for remote cosmic realms]]).
Source: [[JPL Nanotubes Help Advance Brain Tumor Research|http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2008-006]]
Journal of Visualized Experiments (~JoVE), Biological Experiments and Protocols on Video, is an online research journal employing visualization to increase reproducibility and transparency in biological sciences.
Journal of Visualized Experiments (~JoVE) is a peer reviewed, [[PubMed and MEDLINE|http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/543826/]] indexed journal devoted to the publication of biological research in a video format. The Journal of Visualized Experiments (~JoVE) was established as a new tool in life science publication and communication, with participation of scientists from leading research institutions. [[JoVE|http://jove-blog.blogspot.com/]] takes advantage of video technology to capture and transmit the multiple facets and intricacies of life science research. Visualization greatly facilitates the understanding and efficient reproduction of both basic and complex experimental techniques, thereby addressing two of the biggest challenges faced by today’s life science research community: i) low transparency and poor reproducibility of biological experiments and ii) time and labor-intensive nature of learning new experimental techniques.
The complexity and breadth of life science research has increased exponentially in recent years. Research progress and the translation of findings from the bench to clinical therapies relies on the rapid transfer of knowledge both within the research community and the general public. Written word and static picture-based traditional print journals are no longer sufficient to accurately transmit the intricacies of modern research.
As every researcher in the life sciences knows, it can take weeks or even months to learn, perfect, and apply new experimental techniques. It is especially difficult to reproduce newly published studies describing the advanced state-of-the-art techniques. Thus, much time in the laboratory is spent learning techniques and procedures. This is a never ending process for experimental scientists as methodologies in this fast-growing field evolve and change with each coming year (e.g. genomics and proteomics, most dramatically). The time and resource-consuming process of learning and staying current with techniques and procedures is a rate-limiting step in the advancement of scientific research and drug discovery.
~JoVE opens a new frontier in scientific publication by promoting efficiency and performance of life science research. Visualization of the temporal component, or the change over time integral to many life science experiments, can now be done. ~JoVE allows you to publish experiments in all their dimensions, overcoming the inherent limitations of traditional, static print journals, thereby adding an entirely new parameter to the communication of experimental data and research results.
~JoVE: Be a Part of a New Movement in Science Publishing. We invite you to actively participate in and contribute to ~JoVE, a scientific journal and novel tool for the advancement of life science research, by submitting video-articles that visualize your experiments.
Source: About [[Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE)|http://www.jove.com/]]. More information in the [[Submission Guidelines|http://www.jove.com/index/AboutSubmit.stp?]]. Over 300 articles have been published in ~JoVE since it was created in October 2006 by two post-doctoral researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital, [[Moshe Pritsker|http://network.nature.com/people/mfenner/blog/2009/01/24/interview-with-moshe-pritsker]] (Ph.D.) and [[Klaus Korak|http://macklis.mgh.harvard.edu/people/korak.html]] (M.D.), and a programmer Nikita Bernstein.
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[<img[Journal of Nano Education|http://www.ingentaconnect.com/journal-logos/asp/jne.gif]]The first issue of the peer-reviewed international Journal of Nano Education (March 2009) now is available, published by the American Scientific Publishers. Articles appearing in the first issue will be freely available until December 31, 2009. "What makes JNE unique among the many other established journals that focus on teaching and learning in the various scientific, technological, engineering and medical disciplines? A primary area of differentiation is based on the fact that research in nanoscale science, technology, engineering and medicine inherently is an interdisciplinary endeavor (...) In particular, an overarching goal of JNE is to become a recognized leader in the development of a coherent, integrated knowledge base in ''nanoscale science, technology, engineering and medical education'' (...) As Roco (2003) has persuasively argued, “one of the ‘grand challenges’ for nanotechnology is education, which is looming as a bottleneck for the development of the field, and particularly for its implementation”." From [["Welcome to the Journal of Nano Education"|http://openurl.ingenta.com/content?genre=article&issn=1936-7449&volume=1&issue=1&spage=1&epage=5]] by ~Editor-in-Chief, [[Aldrin E. Sweeney|http://education.ucf.edu/faculty_detail.cfm?ProfID=71]]
"As the Education and Outreach Coordinator for [[the U.S. National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN)|http://www.nnin.org/]], I am often asked ''why there is a need for “nano-education.”'' Questions arise asking if nanoscale science and engineering is truly a separate field of study; are we creating another layer in our educational system, or can nanotechnology be infused into our current science, technology, engineering, and mathematics educational system? These questions become particularly important when put in the context of [[the U.S. K–12 educational system|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%E2%80%9312_(education)]], which already has content standards that must be addressed at each grade level (...) Nanotechnology is really not a new and separate field, but involves the basic building blocks of our world -atoms and molecules. Nanoscale science and engineering are rooted in the core concepts of science. What is new is that we are now increasing our understanding concerning the interaction of atoms and molecules and have the tools to manipulate them to create new materials and devices. Teachers do not need to add anything new to what they are teaching, but rather they can introduce nanotechnology into concepts they are already teaching (...) With this new-found knowledge comes an ''imperative to change the way we teach science''. Nanoscale science and engineering crosses all disciplines and is truly an interdisciplinary field. This requires that we teach K–12 science not as compartmentalized subjects, but as concepts that have connection with each other. We must teach our students to be able to make connections between the sciences, which in turn requires that we teach our teacher candidates to make these same connections. Teachers also need exposure to inquiry methods, critical thinking, and problem solving and how to incorporate these into their teaching strategies. These are skills that will be needed by the nano workforce and must be part of our K–12 science curriculum (...) Nanoscale science and engineering can serve as a catalyst to excite students about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and, in turn, direct them to education and careers in STEM. However, to do this will ''require that we continue to enhance our efforts to communicate the importance of nanoscale science and engineering to all members of our society''." From [["Why Nano Education?"|http://openurl.ingenta.com/content?genre=article&issn=1936-7449&volume=1&issue=1&spage=6&epage=7]] by [[Nancy Healy|http://www.nisenet.org/users/nancy_healy]]
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<img src="http://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2010/06/03/nyu-chemist-seeman-wins-kavli-prize-in-nanoscience-/_jcr_content/image.img.png" alt="Nadrian Seeman has been awarded the 2010 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience" title="New York University Chemist Nadrian Seeman has been awarded the 2010 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience for his creation of robotic devices that have the potential to create new materials a billionth of a meter in size. Photo credit: Mike Summers" width="100%"/>
</html>These are the second group of recipients of the biennial Kavli Prizes, following the successful launch of [[the awards in 2008|The 2008 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience]].
[[The nanoscience prize|http://www.kavliprize.no/binfil/download.php?tid=45355]] was awarded jointly to US scientists Donald M. Eigler, of IBM’s Almaden Research Centre, San Jose, California, and [[Nadrian Seeman|http://seemanlab4.chem.nyu.edu/]], of New York University.
''[[Donald M. Eigler|http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/31812.wss]]'' is recognized with the Kavli Prize in Nanoscience ''for the development of Atom Manipulation with the STM and for the elucidation and demonstration of quantum phenomena with precisely controlled atomic and molecular arrangements on surfaces.''
''[[Nadrian C. Seeman|http://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2010/06/03/nyu-chemist-seeman-wins-kavli-prize-in-nanoscience-.html]]'' is recognized with the Kavli prize for nanoscience, ''for inventing DNA nanotechnology, for pioneering the use of DNA as a non-biological programmable material for a countless number of devices that self-assemble, walk, compute and catalyze.''
Eigler reserved his place in the history of science in 1989 when he became [[the first person ever to pick up an individual atom and move it precisely to another location|Positioning single atoms with a scanning tunnelling microscope]], and then went on to make a series of breakthroughs that have helped us to understand some of the the most basic units of matter. A decade before Eigler’s historic achievement, Seeman [[invented structural DNA nanotechnology|'nanorobotic' arm to operate within dna sequence]] when he realised the building blocks of the genetic blueprint of living organisms could be harnessed to create the raw materials for new, nanoscale circuits, sensors and medical devices.
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}}}
<br>Justin Bolton, Travis S. Bailey & Javid Rzayev. ''Nano Letters (2011) doi:10.1021/nl103747m''
//Asymmetric polystyrene−polylactide (PS-PLA) bottlebrush block copolymers have been shown to self-assemble into a cylindrical morphology with large domain spacings. PLA cylinders can be selectively etched out of the shear-aligned polymer monoliths to generate nanoporous materials with an average cylindrical pore diameter of 55 nm. The remaining bottlebrush backbone provides a functional, hydrophilic coating inside the nanopores. This methodology significantly expands the range of pore sizes attainable in block copolymer based nanoporous materials.//
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//"We hope to ignite artists' interest in the exploration of nanotech/nanoscience and encourage scientists, scholars and educators to contemplate the implications of an art-nanotech/nanoscience connection". Leonardo/ISAST begin a cooperation with NanoWiki in the publication of capsules tagged "art". See [[Nano and art: Leonardo/ISAST cooperation with NanoWiki]]//
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Only 45% of Europeans are aware of nanotechnology, but 60% of those expressing an opinion support nanotechnology in consumer products.
These are some of the findings regarding European public opinion on nanotechnology in a recent report analysing the Eurobaromater survey on Biotechnology held in February 2010.
''Europeans are less optimistic about nanotechnology than about other areas of science and technology, but this appears to be due to a lack of awareness'' (41% is optimistic, 40% does not know - much the same as in 2005). There are remarkable differences in awareness and optimism between EU member and associated states. Source: [[Less than half of Europeans are aware of nanotechnology|http://www.nanoforum.org/nf06~modul~showmore~folder~99999~scc~news~scid~4166~.html?action=longview]]. European Commission
There are questions on nanotechnology in the Eurobarometer – in part because nanotechnology has been heralded as the next strategic technology, but also on account of its links with biotechnology, as seen in the emergence of the so-called converging technologies. The crisis of confidence in technology and regulation that characterised the 1990s – a result of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, contaminated blood and other perceived regulatory failures – is no longer the dominant perspective. ''In 2010 we see a greater focus on technologies themselves'': are they safe? Are they useful? And are there 'technolite' alternatives with more acceptable ethical-moral implications? Europeans are also increasingly concerned about energy and sustainability. There is no rejection of the impetus towards innovation: Europeans are in favour of appropriate regulation to balance the market, and wish to be involved in decisions about new technologies when social values are at stake. ''While nanotechnology had seen increasing optimism since 2002, in 2010 show a decline'' – with support holding constant but increases in the percentages of people saying they ‘make things worse’. These increase from 5 to 10 per cent for nanotechnology. ''For the opponents of nanotechnology, safety is the pressing concern followed by the perceived absence of benefits''. Taken as a whole, perceptions of nanotechnology emerge as rather neutral in character. But dig beneath the surface and we find division in perceptions between supporters and opponents. Supporters are much more likely than opponents to agree that nanotechnology is beneficial, safe, equitable and not the cause of worry. When comparing opponents and supporters, the most pronounced contrast is in the issue of safety. Supporters and opponents are most in agreement on the issue of inequity, which supporters returning a neutral verdict on this issue, and opponents somewhat concerned. Source: From [[Europeans and Biotechnology in 2010. Winds of change?|http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_341_winds_en.pdf]]. European Commission
''Nanotechnology perceptions''
Nanotechnology development ''is in its early phase and there is a growing debate on its potential benefits and risks''. This report reviews literature on public opinion and NGO perspectives concerning nanotechnology. It starts with a discussion on the position of public in the context of nanotechnology development. Different constructions of public (citizens, consumers, human beings, populations, patients) contain different understandings of the possibilities for action, responsibilities and needs for information.
The report discusses the role of news media in nanotechnology communication. One central issue is message framing which refers to the context in which an issue is presented. ''Framing of nanotechnology in newspapers has changed in time''. In the late 1990s scientific framing was common but currently more varied frames are used, e.g. societal implications of nanotechnology.
The report reveals that ''general knowledge of nanotechnology among lay people is currently very low''. However, various studies suggest that lay people are able to consider complicated technological and scientific developments from wide perspectives, if they are provided with proper possibilities for that.
The analysis indicated that ''NGOs view nanotechnology not only from the perspective of health and safety, but also from the perspective of its societal implications''. The NGOs point out the importance of public transparency and societal relevance of nanotechnology research and development.
The lack of knowledge of nanotechnology among lay people creates challenges for communication. Making information available is important. However, various studies have indicated that feelings and values have an important role to play in the formation of nanotechnology perceptions. This is why ''an interactive and dialogical approach may be more effective than one-way information in communicating a message about nanotechnology to the public''. Source: [[Nanotechnology perceptions. Literature review on media coverage, public opinion and NGO perspectives|http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=91133&CultureCode=en]] by Anna Leinonen & Sirkku Kivisaari. [[Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT)|http://www.vtt.fi/?lang=en]]
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In findings that took the experimenters three years to believe, University of Michigan engineers and their collaborators have demonstrated that light itself can twist ribbons of nanoparticles. Matter readily bends and twists light. That's the mechanism behind optical lenses and polarizing 3-D movie glasses. But the opposite interaction has rarely been observed, said [[Nicholas Kotov|http://www.engin.umich.edu/dept/che/research/kotov/people.pi.htm]], principal investigator on the project.
While light has been known to affect matter on the molecular scale - bending or twisting molecules a few nanometers in size - it has not been observed causing such drastic mechanical twisting to larger particles. The nanoparticle ribbons in this study were between one and four micrometers long. A micrometer is one-millionth of a meter. "I didn't believe it at the beginning," Kotov said. "To be honest, ''it took us three and a half years to really figure out how photons of light can lead to such a remarkable change in rigid structures a thousand times bigger than molecules''." Kotov and his colleagues had set out in this study to create "superchiral" particles - spirals of nano-scale mixed metals that could theoretically focus visible light to specks smaller than its wavelength. Materials with this unique "negative refractive index" could be capable of producing Klingon-like invisibility cloaks, said [[Sharon C. Glotzer|http://www.engin.umich.edu/dept/che/chemengin/people/glotzer.html]], who was also involved in the experiments. The twisted nanoparticle ribbons are likely to lead to the superchiral materials, the professors say.
To begin the experiment, the researchers dispersed nanoparticles of cadmium telluride in a water-based solution. They checked on them intermittently with powerful microscopes. After about 24 hours under light, the nanoparticles had assembled themselves into flat ribbons. After 72 hours, they had twisted and bunched together in the process. But when the nanoparticles were left in the dark, distinct, long, straight ribbons formed. "We discovered that if we make flat ribbons in the dark and then illuminate them, we see a gradual twisting, twisting that increases as we shine more light," Kotov said. "This is very unusual in many ways."
The light twists the ribbons by causing a stronger repulsion between nanoparticles in them. ''The twisted ribbon is a new shape in nanotechnology'', Kotov said. Besides superchiral materials, he envisions clever applications for the shape and the technique used to create I it. Sudhanshu Srivastava, a postdoctoral researcher in his lab, is trying to make the spirals rotate. "He's making very small propellers to move through fluid - nanoscale submarines, if you will," Kotov said. "You often see this motif of twisted structures in mobility organs of bacteria and cells." The nanoscale submarines could conceivably be used for drug-delivery and in microfluidic systems that mimic the body for experiments. This newly-discovered twisting effect could also lead to microelectromechanical systems that are controlled by light. And it could be utilized in lithography, or microchip production. Glotzer and Aaron Santos, a postdoctoral researcher in her lab, performed computer simulations that helped Kotov and his team better understand how the ribbons form. The simulations showed that under certain circumstances, the complex combination of forces between the tetrahedrally-shaped nanoparticles could conspire to produce ribbons of just the width observed in the experiments. A tetrahedron is a pyramid-shaped, three-dimensional polyhedron. "The precise balance of forces leading to the self-assembly of ribbons is very revealing," Glotzer said. "It could be used to stabilize other nanostructures made of non-spherical particles. It's all about how the particles want to pack themselves." Source: [[Light twists rigid structures in unexpected nanotech finding|http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=7573]]. This work is detailed in the paper [[Light-Controlled Self-Assembly of Semiconductor Nanoparticles into Twisted Ribbons|http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/327/5971/1355]] by Sudhanshu Srivastava, Aaron Santos, Kevin Critchley, Ki-Sub Kim, Paul Podsiadlo, Kai Sun, Jaebeom Lee, Chuanlai Xu, G. Daniel Lilly, Sharon C. Glotzer, Nicholas A. Kotov.
Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanophotonics>><<matchTags popup sort:-created self-assembly>><<matchTags popup sort:-created milestone>>
[<img[Sunlight prompts a newly developed molecular nanomotor to unclasp in this artist’s illustration. In its clasped, or closed, form, the nanomotor measures 2 to 5 nanometers — 2 to 5 billionths of a meter. In its unclasped form, it extends as long as 10 to 12 nanometers. Yan Chen/University of Florida|http://news.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/sunnanomotor-143x92.jpg]] A team of chemists is the latest to report ''a new mechanism to transform light straight into motion''. In a paper, the University of Florida team reports building a new type of “molecular nanomotor” driven only by photons, or particles of light. While it is not [[the first photon-driven nanomotor|http://www.rug.nl/kennisdebat/onderwerpen/nano/nano_onderzoek/Nanomotor?lang=en]], the almost infinitesimal device is ''the first built entirely with [[a single molecule of DNA|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl015713%2B]]'' — giving it a simplicity that increases its potential for development, manufacture and real-world applications in areas ranging from medicine to manufacturing, the scientists say.
In coming years, the nanomotor could become a component of microscopic devices that repair individual cells or fight viruses or bacteria. Although in the conceptual stage, those devices, like much larger ones, will require a power source to function. Because it is made of DNA, the nanomotor is biocompatible. Unlike traditional energy systems, the nanomotor also produces no waste when it converts light energy into motion.
“The major difficulty lies ahead,” said [[Weihong Tan|http://www.chem.ufl.edu/~tan/group/]], a UF professor of chemistry and physiology, author of the paper and the leader of the research group reporting the findings. “That is how to collect the molecular level force into a coherent accumulated force that can do real work when the motor absorbs sunlight.” Tan added that the group has already begun working on the problem. “Some prototype DNA nanostructures incorporating single photo-switchable motors are in the making which will synchronize molecular motions to accumulate forces,” he said.
To make the nanomotor, the researchers combined a DNA molecule they created in the lab with azobenzene, a chemical compound that responds to light. A high-energy photon prompts one response; lower energy another. To demonstrate the movement, the researchers attached a fluorophore, or light-emitter, to one end of the nanomotor and a quencher, which can quench the emitting light, to the other end. Their instruments recorded emitted light intensity that corresponded to the motor movement.
“Radiation does cause things to move from the spinning of radiometer wheels to the turning of sunflowers and other plants toward the sun,” said Richard Zare, distinguished professor and chairman of chemistry at Stanford University. “What Professor Tan and co-workers have done is to create a clever light-actuated nanomotor involving a single DNA molecule. I believe it is the first of its type.” Source: [[New, light-driven nanomotor is simpler, more promising, scientists say|http://news.ufl.edu/2009/06/04/sun-nanomotor/]] by Aaron Hoover, University of Florida News. This work is detailed in the paper [[Single-DNA Molecule Nanomotor Regulated by Photons|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl9011694]] by Huaizhi Kang, Haipeng Liu, Joseph A. Phillips, Zehui Cao, Youngmi Kim, Yan Chen, Zunyi Yang, Jianwei Li and Weihong Tan. More information: [[Photon-fueled single-molecule DNA nanomotor|http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=11086.php]] by Michael Berger, Nanowerk
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''A study has for the first time claimed a concrete link between exposure to nanoparticles in adhesive paint and development of severe pulmonary fibrosis in a group of young female workers; two of whom went on to suffer fatal lung failure.''
Toxicity from nanoparticulates has been the topic of increasing research effort for several years. For some nanoparticles and nanomaterials, toxicity has already been established in animals. For example, mice were found to develop symptoms of inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis following application of carbon nanoparticles to the trachea ([[Lam et. al, 2004|http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14514958]]). However, ''until now no cases have been reported in humans''. The work of a Beijing-based group of scientists in the [[European Respiratory Journal|http://erj.ersjournals.com/]] linking exposure to nanoparticles in adhesive paint to severe pulmonary fibrosis in a group of young female workers therefore breaks new ground in the area, providing fascinating new evidence for consideration in the debate on the dangers of nanotechnologies.
The study, by a team led by Yuguo Song, of the Occupational Disease and Clinical Toxicology Department at Chaoyang Hospital in Beijing, involved seven healthy young women employed in a print plant. Over the course of a few months, all of the women were hospitalised for respiratory problems, accompanied by itchy eruptions of the skin on the face and arms. On examination, the patients were found to have liquid effusion around the heart and lungs, which proved resistant to all treatments. Comprehensive investigation led to a diagnosis, in all cases, of pulmonary fibrosis with consequent impairment of lung function.
The Chinese team's link between the symptoms and nanoparticle exposure was based on the results from electron microscopy of the chemical used, lung biopsy tissue and pleural effusion liquid, all three of which were found to contain round nanoparticles with a diameter of approximately 30 nanometres. Yuguo Song, the lead scientist, claims that these particles were likely to originate in the polyacrylate-based adhesive paints used by the women daily in the course of their work. However, he emphasises that despite repeated efforts, the group has not at this stage been able to obtain precise data on the composition of the paint in question. Likewise, the researchers have not been able to determine the workers' level of exposure through measurement of airborne particles, since the workshop was closed down several months before their investigation began.
"It is clear that the symptoms, the examination results and the progress of the disease in our patients differ markedly from respiratory pathologies induced by paint inhalation", Yuguo Song emphasises. Given the increasing enthusiasm for nanotechnologies, the authors urge that priority be given to protecting the public and the workforce. ''"We call on scientists throughout the world to work together and address this new challenge"'', Yuguo Song concludes. Clearly, the paper’s findings are set to have a huge impact on the nanotoxicology field, and potentially on the public acceptance of nano in general. ''However, there are a number of issues with the evidence presented in the paper, which are causing leading nanotoxicologists to question the causal link implicated between the nanoparticle exposures and the consequent illness''. Source: From ''[[Chinese researchers link nanoparticle exposure to pulmonary fibrosis in female workers|http://www.safenano.org/SingleNews.aspx?NewsId=804]]''. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Exposure to nanoparticles is related to pleural effusion, pulmonary fibrosis and granuloma|http://erj.ersjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/09031936.00178308v1]]'' by Yuguo Song, X. Li and X. Du
SAFENANO has prepared a special feature on this paper (''[[Linking nanoparticle exposure to pulmonary fibrosis and mortality. Evaluating the key messages of Song et. al.|http://www.safenano.org/LinkingNanoToMortality.aspx]]''), which provides an impartial breakdown & appraisal of the study's findings in order to assist readers in forming their own opinion on its importance & implications.
Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanotoxicology>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoparticles>><<matchTags popup sort:-created concerns>>
{{fourcolumns{
''Directories''
<html><a href="http://www.dmoz.org/Science/Technology/Nanotechnology/" title="the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the web">dmoz open directory project</a></html>
''Educational''
<html><a href="http://www.mcrel.org/nanoleap/index.asp" title="instructional materials that teach high school students about nanoscale science">A NanoLeap into New science</a></html>
<html><a href="http://www.exo.net/~jillj/" title="Jill Johnsen Exploratorium Nano Activites">Materials Science and the Nanoworld</a></html>
<html><a href="http://www.nclt.us/" title="National Center for Learning and Teaching in Nanoscale Science and Engineering">NCLT</a></html>
<html><a href="http://www.nanoed.org/" title="A repository for the collection and dissemination of information for the NSEE community">NanoEd Resource Portal</a></html>
<html><a href="http://www.nanooze.org/" title="Magazine that has been created to get kids excited about science and especially nanotechnology">Nanooze</a></html>
<html><a href="http://www.nanosense.org/" title="The basic sense behind nanoscience">NanoSense</a></html>
<html><a href="http://www.nanonet.go.jp/english/kids/" title="Nanotechnology Researchers Network Center of Japan">Nanotech Kids</a></html>
<html><a href="http://www.nisenet.org/" title="Nanoscale informal science education">NISE Network</a></html>
<html><a href="http://www.nnin.org/nnin_edu.html" title="National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network Education Portal">NNIN Education Portal</a></html>
<html><a href="http://www.nanoforum.org/educationtree/index.php" title="Nanoforum has produced a Nanotechnology Education Tree">The Nano Education Tree</a></html>
''International resources''
<html><a href="http://amsn-network.astf.net/" title="Arab Materials Science and Nanotechnology Network. Nanotechnology Researchers on the Arab World">AMSN</a></html>
<html><a href="http://cordis.europa.eu/nanotechnology/" title="Nanotechnology Homepage of the European Commission">Cordis</a></html>
<html><a href="http://icon.rice.edu/" title="A partnership for nanotechnology stewardship and sustainability">International Council on Nanotechnology</a></html>
<html><a href="http://www.isnsce.org/" title="International Society for Nanoscale Science, Computation and Engineering">ISNSCE</a></html>
<html><a href="http://www.nanoctr.cn/english/" title="National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, China">NCNST</a></html>
<html><a href="http://nanomission.gov.in/" title="To make India a global nano hub">Nano Mission</a></html>
<html><a href="http://www.nanoforum.org/" title="European Nanotechnology Gateway">Nanoforum</a></html>
<html><a href="http://www.nanospain.org/" title="Spanish Nanotechnology Network">Nanospain</a></html>
<html><a href="http://nanonet.mext.go.jp/?lang=en" title="Japanese Nanotechnology innovation Program">NanotechJapan</a></html>
<html><a href="http://www.nano.gov/" title="The U.S.A. National Nanotechnology Initiative">NNI</a></html>
<html><a href="http://en.rusnano.com/" title="Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies">Rusnano</a></html>
''News services''
<html><a href="http://community.acs.org/nanotation/" title="Assembling the community of nanoscience">ACS Nanotation</a></html>
<html><a href="http://www.azonano.com/" title="The A to Z of Nanotechnology">AZoNano.com</a></html>
<html><a href="http://www.nanowerk.com/" title="Nanotechnology and nanosciences portal">Nanowerk</a></html>
<html><a href="http://nanotechnews.wordpress.com/" title="Nano Science and Technology Institute">NanoTechNews</a></html>
<html><a href="http://nanotechweb.org/cws/home" title="A community website from IOP Publishing">nanotechweb.org</a></html>
<html><a href="http://www.smalltimes.com/" title="Nanotech news with a business angle">Small Times</a></html>
''Research Publications''
<html><a href="http://pubs.acs.org/journals/nalefd/index.html" title="American Chemical Society">Nano Letters</a></html>
<html><a href="http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/Journals/nr/index.asp" title="Collaborative venture between british RSC Publishing and chinese NCNST">Nanoscale</a></html>
<html><a href="http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/0957-4484" title="Institute of Physics">Nanotechnology</a></html>
}}}
{{twocolumns{
Scientific knowledge has been shared in the same way for centuries. A European research project advocates replacing papers and peer reviews with a new process inspired by the social Web.
Scientists spend too much of their time publishing papers and ploughing through the mountains of papers produced by their colleagues, and not enough time doing science. That’s the observation – and frustration – that spurred [[Fabio Casati|http://sites.google.com/site/sphoebss/]] and his collaborators to launch [[LiquidPublication, an EU-financed research project|http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=FP7_PROJ_EN&ACTION=D&DOC=1&CAT=PROJ&RCN=86414]] that seeks to revolutionise how scientists share their work and evaluate the contributions of their peers. “The more papers you produce, the more brownie points you get,” says Casati. “So most of your time is spent writing papers instead of thinking or doing science.”
Besides wasting untold hours, Casati says, the current scientific publication paradigm produces other toxic fallout including an unduly heavy load for peer reviewers and too many papers that recycle already published research or dribble out results a bit at a time. “The current system generates a tremendous amount of noise,” he says. “It’s hard to find interesting new knowledge because there’s so much to see.”
Casati and his colleagues are developing and ''promoting a radically new way to share scientific knowledge, which they call “liquid publication”''. They want to tap the power of the Web – including its ability to speed communication, facilitate data storage, search and retrieval, and foster communities of interest – to replace traditional peer reviews and paper publications with a faster, fairer and more flexible process. “If we can make scientists’ work even ten percent more efficiently, it will give a great benefit to the community,” Casati says.
''Don’t print it; post it''. Following the lead of physicists and mathematicians who for years have been posting early versions of their papers on a website called <html><a href="http://www.arxiv.com" title="An e-print service in the fields of physics, mathematics, non-linear science, computer science, quantitative biology, quantitative finance and statistics. Submissions to arXiv must conform to Cornell University academic standards">arXiv.com</a></html> for quick dissemination and peer critiques, Casati and his colleagues propose that all scientists jumpstart the dissemination of their findings by posting them online.
''Don’t review it; use it''. This radical new approach to scientific publication offers an equally radical alternative to the peer review process. For the past 300 years, Casati argues, printing and publishing a scientific paper was a costly process. Because of this, gatekeepers were needed to judge which contributions were worth publishing; hence peer reviews. Since liquid publications cost nothing, he says, a major justification for those gatekeepers vanishes. Source: From ''[[New paradigm for scientific publication and peer review|http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults/index.cfm?section=news&tpl=article&id=91404]]''
The world of scientific publications has been largely oblivious to the advent of the Web and to advances in ICT. Even more surprisingly, this is the case even for research in the ICT area: ICT researchers have been able to exploit the Web to improve the (production) process in almost all areas, but not their own. ''We are producing scientific knowledge (and publications in particular) essentially following the very same approach we followed before the Web''. Scientific knowledge dissemination is still based on the traditional notion of “paper” publication and on peer review as quality assessment method. The current approach encourages authors to write many (possibly incremental) papers to get more “tokens of credit”, generating often unnecessary dissemination overhead for themselves and for the community of reviewers. Furthermore, it does not encourage or support reuse and evolution of publications: whenever a (possibly small) progress is made on a certain subject, a new paper is written, reviewed, and published, often after several months. The situation is analogous if not worse for textbooks.
''The LiquidPub project proposes a paradigm shift in the way scientific knowledge is created, disseminated, evaluated and maintained. This shift is enabled by the notion of Liquid Publications, which are evolutionary, collaborative, and composable scientific contributions''. Many Liquid Publication concepts are based on a parallel between scientific knowledge artifacts and software artifacts, and hence on lessons learned in (agile, collaborative, open source) software development, as well as on lessons learned from Web 2.0 in terms of collaborative evaluation of knowledge artifacts. Source: ''[[Liquid Publications: Scientific Publications meet the Web — LiquidPub Project|http://project.liquidpub.org/]]''
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}}}
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<br> Jokerst, J. V., Chou, J., Camp, J. P., Wong, J., Lennart, A., Pollard, A. A., Floriano, P. N., Christodoulides, N., Simmons, G. W., Zhou, Y., Ali, M. F. and McDevitt, J. T. , Location of Biomarkers and Reagents within Agarose Beads of a Programmable Nano-bio-chip. ''Small, n/a. doi: 10.1002/smll.201002089''<br>
//The slow development of cost-effective medical microdevices with strong analytical performance characteristics is due to a lack of selective and efficient analyte capture and signaling. The recently developed programmable nano-bio-chip (PNBC) is a flexible detection device with analytical behavior rivaling established macroscopic methods. The PNBC system employs ≈300 μm-diameter bead sensors composed of agarose “nanonets” that populate a microelectromechanical support structure with integrated microfluidic elements. The beads are an efficient and selective protein-capture medium suitable for the analysis of complex fluid samples. Microscopy and computational studies probe the 3D interior of the beads. The relative contributions that the capture and detection of moieties, analyte size, and bead porosity make to signal distribution and intensity are reported. Agarose pore sizes ranging from 45 to 620 nm are examined and those near 140 nm provide optimal transport characteristics for rapid (<15 min) tests. The system exhibits efficient (99.5%) detection of bead-bound analyte along with low (≈2%) nonspecific immobilization of the detection probe for carcinoembryonic antigen assay. Furthermore, the role analyte dimensions play in signal distribution is explored, and enhanced methods for assay building that consider the unique features of biomarker size are offered.//
{{twocolumns{
The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) announced that a research team from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering has developed a technology that enables scientists and engineers to observe processes occurring in liquid media on the smallest possible scale which is less than a nanometer.
Professor Jeong Yong Lee and Researcher Jong Min Yuk, in collaboration with Professor Paul Alivisatos's and Professor Alex Zettl's groups at the University of California, Berkeley, succeeded in making ''a graphene liquid cell or capsule, confining an ultra-thin liquid film between layers of graphene, for real-time and in situ imagining of nanoscale processes in fluids with atomic-level resolution by a transmission electron microscope'' (TEM).
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/graphene_liquid_cell.jpg" title="Two sheets of graphene encapsulate a platinum growth solution. Credit: KAIST" class="photo" width="60%"/></html>The graphene liquid cell (GLC) is composed of two sheets of graphene sandwiched to create a sealed chamber where a platinum growth solution is encapsulated in the form of a thin slice. Each graphene layer has a thickness of one carbon atom, the thinnest membrane that has ever been used to fabricate a liquid cell required for TEM.
The research team peered inside the GLC to observe the growth and dynamics of platinum nanocrystals in solution as they coalesced into a larger size, during which the graphene membrane with the encapsulated liquid remained intact. The researchers from KAIST and the UC Berkeley identified important features in the ongoing process of the nanocrystals' coalescence and their expansion through coalescence to form certain shapes by imaging the phenomena with atomic-level resolution.
Professor Lee said, "It has now become possible for scientists to observe what is happening in liquids on an atomic level under transmission electron microscopes."
Researcher Yuk, one of the first authors of the paper, explained his research work. "This research will promote other fields of study related to materials in a fluid stage including physical, chemical, and biological phenomena at the atomic level and promises numerous applications in the future. ''Pending further studies on liquid microscopy, the full application of a graphene-liquid-cell (GLC) TEM to biological samples is yet to be confirmed''. Nonetheless, the GLC is the most effective technique developed today to sustain the natural state of fluid samples or species suspended in the liquid for a TEM imaging."
The transmission electron microscope (TEM), first introduced in the 1930s, produces images at a significantly higher resolution than light microscopes, allowing users to examine the smallest level of physical, chemical, and biological phenomena. Observations by TEM with atomic resolution, however, have been limited to solid and/or frozen samples, and thus it has previously been impossible to study the real time fluid dynamics of liquid phases.
TEM imaging is performed in a high vacuum chamber in which a thin slice of the imaged sample is situated, and an electron beam passes through the slice to create an image. In this process, a liquid medium, unlike solid or frozen samples, evaporates, making it difficult to observe under TEM.
Attempts to produce a liquid capsule have thus far been made with electron-transparent membranes of such materials as silicon nitride or silicon oxide; such liquid capsules are relatively thick (tens to one hundred nanometers), however, resulting in poor electron transmittance with a reduced resolution of only a few nanometers. Silicon nitride is 25 nanometers thick, whereas graphene is only 0.34 nanometers.
[[Graphene|graphene]], most commonly found in bulk graphite, is the thinnest material made out of carbon atoms. It has unique properties such as mechanical tensile strength, high flexibility, impermeability to small molecules, and high electrical conductivity. Graphene is an excellent material to hold micro- and nanoscopic objects for observation in a transmission electron microscope by minimizing scattering of the electron beam that irradiates a liquid sample while reducing charging and heating effects. Source: From [[High-resolution atomic imaging of specimens in liquid by TEM using graphene liquid cell|http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-04/tkai-hai040912.php]]. Looking into specimens on an atomic level in liquids, and understanding atomic processes so far regarded impossible. This work is detailed in the paper ''[["High-Resolution EM of Colloidal Nanocrystal Growth Using Graphene Liquid Cells"|http://www.sciencemag.org/content/336/6077/61.abstract]]'' by Jong Min Yuk, Jungwon Park, Peter Ercius, Kwanpyo Kim, Daniel J. Hellebusch, Michael F. Crommie, Jeong Yong Lee, A. Zettl, A. Paul Alivisatos.
''Context:''
April 5, 2012. [[Graphene puts wet chemistry under the microscope|http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2012/April/graphene-cover-slip-wet-chemistry.asp]] by Simon Hadlington, Chemistry World.
March 2012. [[Scientists revolutionise electron microscope]]
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created graphene>><<matchTags popup sort:-created microscope>>
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The twisting, ladder-like form of the DNA molecule - the architectural floor plan of life - contains a universe of information critical to human health. Enormous effort has been invested in deciphering the genetic code, including, most famously, the Human Genome Project. Nevertheless, the process of reading some three-billion nucleotide "letters" to reveal an individual's full genome remains a costly and complex undertaking.
Now biophysicist [[Stuart Lindsay|http://labs.biodesign.asu.edu/lindsay/]], of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, has demonstrated ''a technique that may lead to rapid, low cost reading of whole genomes, through recognition of the basic chemical units - the nucleotide bases that make up the DNA double helix''. An affordable technique for DNA sequencing would be a tremendous advance for medicine, allowing routine clinical genomic screening for diagnostic purposes; the design of a new generation of custom-fit pharmaceuticals; and even genomic tinkering to enhance cellular resistance to viral or bacterial infection.
Lindsay's technique for reading the DNA code relies on a fundamental property of matter known as [[quantum tunneling|Quantum Tunnel installation]], which operates at the subatomic scale. According to quantum theory, elementary particles like electrons can do some very strange and counter-intuitive things, in defiance of classical laws of physics. Such sub-atomic, quantum entities possess both a particle and a wave-like nature. Part of the consequence of this is that an electron has some probability of moving from one side of a barrier to the other, regardless of the height or width of such a barrier.
Remarkably, an electron can accomplish this feat, even when the potential energy of the barrier exceeds the kinetic energy of the particle. Such behavior is known as quantum tunneling, and the flow of electrons is a tunneling current. Tunneling is confined to small distances - so small that a tunnel junction should be able to read one DNA base (there are four of them in the gentic code, A,T,C and G) at a time without interference from flanking bases. But the same sensitivity to distance means that vibrations of the DNA, or intervening water molecules, ruin the tunneling signal. So the Lindsay group has developed "recognition molecules" that "grab hold" of each base in turn, clutching the base against the electrodes that read out the signal. ''They call this new method "recognition tunneling."''
Sequencing through recognition tunneling, if proven successful for whole genome reading, could represent a substantial savings in cost and hopefully, in time as well. "Direct readout of the epigenetic code holds the key to understanding why cells in different tissues are different, despite having the same genome" Lindsay adds, a reference to the new ability to read epigenetic modifications with tunneling.
Lindsay stresses much work remains to be done before the application of sequencing by recognition can become a clinical reality. "Right now, we can only read two or three bases as the tunneling probe drifts over them, and some bases are more accurately identified than others," he says. However, the group expects this to improve as future generations of recognition molecules are synthesized.
"The basic physics is now demonstrated" Lindsay says, adding "perhaps it will soon be possible to incorporate these principles into mass produced computer chips." ''The day of the "genome on a lap-top" might be coming sooner than previously thought possible''. Source: From ''[[A new read on DNA sequencing|http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-11/asu-anr111210.php]]''. This work is detailed in the paper [[Identifying single bases in a DNA oligomer with electron tunnelling|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nnano.2010.213.html]] by Shuo Huang, Jin He, Shuai Chang, Peiming Zhang, Feng Liang, Shengqin Li, Michael Tuchband, Alexander Fuhrmann, [[Robert Ros|http://roslab.physics.asu.edu/]] & Stuart Lindsay<<slider chkSldr [[Identifying single bases in a DNA oligomer with electron tunnelling]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomedicine>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanopore>>
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MESA+ is ''one of the largest nanotechnology research institutes in the world'', delivering competitive and successful [[high quality research|'Molecular Glass Fibre']]. The MESA+ lab facilities play a crucial role in the MESA+ research programs as well as in the commercialization strategy. The MESA+ research programs are directly related to the national research program [[NanoNed|http://www.nanoned.nl/]]. In NanoNed the importance of a national facility has been acknowledged, and a major part of the effort and the accompanying budget is dedicated to [[NanoLab NL|http://www.nanoned.nl/nanolab-nl.html]]. MESA+ NanoLab has extensive laboratory facilities at its disposal. It uses a unique structure, which unites scientific disciplines, and builds fruitful international cooperation to excel in science and education. MESA+ has created a perfect habitat for start-ups in the micro- and nano-industry to establish and to mature. MESA+, Institute for Nanotechnology, is part of the University of Twente, having intensive cooperation with various research groups within the University. Source: [[About MESA+|http://www.mesaplus.utwente.nl/about_mesa/]]
MESA+
University of Twente
Building: Hogekamp/SP
De Veldmaat 10
7522 NM Enschede
The Netherlands
http://www.mesaplus.utwente.nl/
Yesterday a friend told me, worried about a News appeared on the journals: //"You should be careful"//. [[The News said that Nanotechnology had been toughly beaten, Nanothings produce cancer|http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/poen-cnt051908.php]]. A [[study appeared in Nature Nanotechnology|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nnano.2008.111.html]] saying that Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) larger than 20 microns induced cancer (in mice). 20 microns! 20.000 nanometers. This is the case of the 10 feet tall dwarf. Nanotechnology, in a general manner (at a very high proportion) deals with length scales between 1 and 100 nm. 20 microns is almost evident for the naked human eye! Besides, this is known for long: rigid and non biodegradable matter, of micrometric size, in the lung, induces cancer. The immune cells responsible for the cleaning service (fixed macrophages in the lung walls in this case) are unable of phagocytate the strange body (the trash can does not fit in the trash truck or the trash in the trash can).
Thus, the immune system, what he tries as an alternative, is to dissolve or disintegrate the strange body by (bio)chemical attack. If the material does not dissolves, this process leads to a permanent chronic inflammation that has a high probability to induce cancer. This mechanism is properly described and understood. It is the case of asbestosis, silicosis and a number of granulomatosis. It is disappointing that a publisher as Nature issues such a study as a break through when it is (to some point and at the journal standards and impact) banal.
Simultaneously appear on the News another [[study about the deleterious effects of the interaction between highly hydrophobic C60 and cell membranes|http://www.ucalgary.ca/news/may2008/buckyballs]]. Cell membranes have an hydrophobic core. Detergents are known to be toxics because of that. In general, hydrophobic substances and materials are known to be toxic and opsonisation helps the body to deal with it.
It is -from my personal point of view- somehow exaggerated and worrying that based in such studies the whole nanotechnology field is questioned. ''It is sad because it distract us from the true challenging questions''. //Does the nanoform of a substance bear an increased toxicity and risk? What about long term and repeated exposure? How human-environment interactions should be regarded?// Because if it is the 20 microns carbon-based particulate matter what is really toxic, maybe we should stop driving and any type of thermodegradation of organic matter. Even more, serious challenges in health and environmental sciences may be addressed with the help of nanotechnology.
//''There is a serious issue in ontology in all that, very different things are called the same (as 'nanoparticles') and many different properties are simply labelled nanotechnology''//. The diversity of properties and behaviours (and essence) of matter at the nanoscale is at least as broad as matter itself, if not more. Therefore, to decide on the forest just by looking at one tree is wrong.
Besides all that, I will strongly recommend people to stay away from large ~CNTs and C60 (and very careful with the rest, by now).
Finally, in the Nature Nano paper, it is clearly said that 10 microns and smaller ~CNTs did not caused any appreciable effect in that particular experimental conditions. ''Maybe the problem is not about the Science but how it is communicated. [[An honest ontology|A severe need]].''
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created dissemination>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[public opinion]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created concerns>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[carbon nanotubes]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[Victor Puntes]]>>
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<br>//The use of light for controlling objects led to the development of optical tweezers. Now, the applications have expanded into the creation of three-dimensional structures and the control of surface structures.//
Over the past decade, intense renewed effort has been made to understand the plasmonics of metallic NanoParticles. The ability to tune the plasmon resonances over a wide wavelength range via the choice of nanoparticle size, shape, and composition, extreme local-field enhancements, and intense far-field scattering are all strong motivations for applications in high-resolution and single-molecule microscopy and spectroscopy, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, biosensing, hyperthermia and extreme optical communication below the diffraction limit. Explicit control of the plasmon response has been achieved by the use of different particle shapes, such as nanoshells, nanorings, and nanorods. Recently, the analogy between nanorods, acting as a NanoAntenna with response in the optical regime, and traditional microwave and radio wave antennas has been brought out, explored, and exploited.
Source: [[Mapping the Plasmon Resonances of Metallic Nanoantennas|http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/nalefd/asap/abs/nl073042v.html]]
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoelectronics>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomaterial>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[Victor Puntes]]>>
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A group of researchers led by [[Adrian Bachtold|http://www.cin2.eu/adrianbachtold.html]] of the ~CIN2 laboratory in Spain has developed ''an ultrasensitive mass sensor, which can measure tiny amounts of mass with atomic precision, and with an unprecedented resolution to date''.
The [[CIN2 (Research Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology)|http://www.cin2.eu/]], is a joint centre belonging to the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the [[Nanotechnology Catalonian Institute (ICN)|http://www.nanocat.org/]].
''The device is based on a carbon nanotube of 1 nanometer diameter which is clamped at both ends to two electrodes. It works as an electromechanical resonator characterized by a mechanical resonance frequency as if it was a string on a guitar. When atoms are directed towards the nanotube, they hit and stick to its surface. This increases the nanotube mass, thereby reducing its resonance frequency: this slowing of the vibration is used to quantify the mass of the atoms''.
At room temperature, the nanotube resonator has a resolution of 25 zeptograms (zg) but cooling the nanotube down to 5 Kelvin (268.15 degrees C below zero) the resolution improves to 1.4 zeptograms. A zeptogram equals 10 -21 grams or, which is the same, a thousandth part of one millionth of one millionth of one millionth of a gram.
A sensor of this resolution would allow the detection of tiny amounts of mass such as the mass of proteins or other molecules with atomic resolution. Also, it could be used to monitor nuclear reactions in individual atoms, or biological molecules in chemical reactions.
The researchers tested the device by measuring the mass of evaporated chromium atoms, and the performance, as explained in an article published in the journal Nanoletters (//''Ultra Sensitive Mass Sensing with a Nanotube Electromechanical Resonator''//), is exceptional. The other members of the team are [[Benjamin Lassagne and Daniel Garcia|http://www.nanocat.org/dataeng/personal.php]], both of ~CIN2, and Albert Aguasca, from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.
A remaining challenge
One of the challenges of nanotechnology and nanomechanics is having a mass spectrometer working at subatomic level. The maximum resolution had been achieved with some silicon resonators (with a resolution of about 7 to zeptograms temperature of 4.2 Kelvin). Now, the work of Bachtold and co-workers has substantially increased that resolution through the use of carbon nanotubes.
The mass of a nanotube is very low, barely a few atograms (which is a millionth of one millionth of a microgram, or 10 -18 g), so that any tiny amount of added mass will be detected. In addition, the nanotubes are mechanically ultrarigid, which makes them excellent candidates to be used as mechanical resonators.
Now, the team of [[Bachtold|http://www.nanocat.org/dataeng/recerca/qnepriv/images/CVBachtold.pdf]] is improving the measurement set up and hopes to achieve in the near future the resolution of 0.001 zg, the mass of one nucleus. The researchers will then place proteins on the nanotube and monitor the change of the mass during chemical reactions (when a hydrogen atom is released from the protein, for instance).
Nanotechnology has been advancing rapidly in the few last years. Even so, there remain many challenges ahead, and one of them is a mass spectrometer to allow work at that level, with small biological molecules or atoms.
''The development of the ~CIN2 team has coincided in time with others of similar characteristics, both from the U.S.A. One, at the Technical University of California (Caltech) and the other at the University of California (Berkeley)'' [K. Jensen, K. Kim, and [[A. Zettl|Single nanotube makes world's smallest radio]]. //[[An atomic-resolution nanomechanical mass sensor|http://www.physics.berkeley.edu/research/zettl/pdf/345.NatNaotech-Jensen.pdf]]//. Nature Nanotech 3 (2008)]. Both groups have developed mass sensors based on carbon nanotubes, with minor differences between the methods used. The fact was recently highlighted in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
Source: [[Measuring Tiny Amounts of Mass with Atomic Precision|http://www.alphagalileo.org/index.cfm?_rss=1&fuseaction=readrelease&releaseid=533398]]
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{{twocolumns{
A new hand-held medical device will help UK athletes reach the top of their game when preparing for upcoming sporting competitions. UK Sport, the UK's high performance sports agency, has reached an agreement to become the first organisation to use cutting edge technology developed by Argento Diagnostics to improve training programmes for athletes.
''Elite athletes will be able to monitor various proteins which reveal details about the condition of the body – known as biomarkers – before, during and after training sessions''. These biomarkers can give a clear indication of their physical health and the effectiveness of a particular training programme. Everyone reacts differently to training, so understanding how activities affect the body helps ensure that athletes follow the best programmes for them and avoid injury. This is particularly important for elite level athletes, where small changes in fitness can mean the difference between success and failure.
These biomarker tests are currently carried out at centralised laboratories. However the time taken to send samples to the laboratory and receive the results can limit the benefits.
[[Argento Diagnostics|http://www.argentodiagnostics.com/]] – a spin out of the [[National Physical Laboratory|http://www.npl.co.uk/]], the UK's National Measurement Institute – has developed a rapid [[diagnostic technology|http://www.argentodiagnostics.com/technology/]] to solve this and other problems associated with slow clinical laboratory diagnosis. Argento's hand-held device provides a quick, full diagnosis from a single small sample (such as blood, urine or saliva), returning results within minutes. As well as providing real time data for training, the results can also quickly identify injuries or medical conditions, enabling rapid treatment before long-term damage can be done, and therefore increase chance of a quick recovery.
''Argento's portable device uses nanotechnology to analyse the sample''. The sample is mixed with silver nanoparticles coated with a binding unit, an antibody, against a specific biological compound, the biomarker, which is indicative of the condition being tested for. If the biomarker is present the silver nanoparticles will stick to magnetic beads with the biomarkers sandwiched in-between.
Magnets pull these compounds into the measurement zone, where the silver nanoparticles are dislodged off, drawn down to the sensor and measured. The number of nanoparticles measured by the sensor will be directly proportional to the expressed amount of biomarker. The device can therefore quickly analyse the biomarker level and, using a computer programme, summarise it in a meaningful way on an on-screen readout.
Keith Page, CEO of Argento Diagnostics, said: "This technology was developed to provide quick and simple diagnosis of a board range of conditions. The deal with UK Sport will allow a dramatically increased understanding of how the human body works when being pushed to its limit and we can use that information to continue to improve physical performance. This is a great example of the UK's world-leading science expertise supporting our world-leading sportsmen and women."
The agreement marks the first commercial use for Argento's technology. ''The device also has the potential to save lives by providing rapid diagnosis of a wide range of medical conditions'', from cardiac damage to swine flu, allowing faster delivery of treatment. It has huge implications for emergency treatment as well as veterinary, bio-defence and environmental applications. Argento are in talks with several organisations in all these areas. Source: [[Medical science helps UK athletes reach peak performance|http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-12-medical-science-uk-athletes-peak.html]]
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HP announced that it has entered into a joint development agreement with Hynix Semiconductor Inc., a world leader in the manufacture of computer memory, to bring memristor technology to market.
[[Memristors|http://www.hpl.hp.com/news/2008/apr-jun/memristor.html]] represent a fourth basic passive circuit element. They existed only in theory until 2006 – when researchers in HP Labs’ [[Information and Quantum Systems Laboratory (IQSL)|http://www.hpl.hp.com/research/quantum_systems/]] first intentionally demonstrated their existence.
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Memory chips created with memristor technology have the potential to run considerably faster and use much less energy than Flash memory technologies, says [[Dr. Stanley Williams|http://www.hpl.hp.com/about/bios/stanwilliams.html]], HP Senior Fellow and IQSL founding Director. ''“We believe that the memristor is a universal memory that over time could replace Flash, DRAM, and even hard drives,”'' he says. [[Memristors|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memristor]] have extraordinary potential. Research from the IQSL team published earlier this year showed that, ''in addition to acting as memory devices, [[memristors can also perform logic functions|http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v464/n7290/full/nature08940.html]]. This suggests that computation might eventually be performed where data is stored, rather than on a specialized central processing unit'' – something that could result in computers running significantly faster than at present.
Uniting HP’s world-class research and IP with a first-rate memory manufacturer will allow high-quality, memristor-based memory to be developed quickly and on a mass scale, Williams adds. Source: [[Bringing the memristor to market|http://www.hpl.hp.com/news/2010/jul-sep/memristorhynix.html]]. HP to collaborate with Hynix on next generation memory
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{{twocolumns{
Researchers at Michigan State University have unraveled the mystery of how microbes generate electricity while cleaning up nuclear waste and other toxic metals. The implications could eventually benefit sites forever changed by nuclear contamination, said [[Gemma Reguera|http://www.mmg.msu.edu/reguera.html]], MSU microbiologist.
“Geobacter bacteria are tiny micro-organisms that can play a major role in cleaning up polluted sites around the world,” said Reguera, who is an MSU AgBioResearch scientist. “Uranium contamination can be produced at any step in the production of nuclear fuel, and this process safely prevents its mobility and the hazard for exposure.”
''The ability of Geobacter to immobilize uranium has been well documented. However, identifying the Geobacters’ conductive pili or nanowires as doing the yeoman’s share of the work is a new revelation.'' Nanowires, hair-like appendages found on the outside of Geobacters, are the managers of electrical activity during a cleanup.
“Our findings clearly identify nanowires as being the primary catalyst for uranium reduction,” Reguera said. “They are essentially performing nature’s version of electroplating with uranium, effectively immobilizing the radioactive material and preventing it from leaching into groundwater.”
The nanowires also shield Geobacter and allow the bacteria to thrive in a toxic environment, she added.
''Their effectiveness was proven during a cleanup in a uranium mill tailings site in Rifle, Colo.'' Researchers injected acetate into contaminated groundwater. Since this is Geobacters’ preferred food, it stimulated the growth of the Geobacter community already in the soil, which in turn, worked to remove the uranium, Reguera said.
Reguera and her team of researchers were able to genetically engineer a Geobacter strain with enhanced nanowire production. The modified version improved the efficiency of the bacteria’s ability to immobilize uranium proportionally to the number of nanowires while subsequently improving its viability as a catalytic cell.
Reguera has filed patents to build on her research, which could lead to the development of microbial fuel cells capable of generating electricity while cleaning up after environmental disasters. Source: From [[Microbes generate electricity while cleaning up nuclear waste|http://news.msu.edu/story/9741/]]. This work was detailed in the paper [["Extracellular reduction of uranium via Geobacter conductive pili as a protective cellular mechanism”|http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/08/30/1108616108.abstract]] <<slider chkSldr [[Extracellular reduction of uranium via Geobacter conductive pili as a protective cellular mechanism]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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Nanoparticles and bacteria can be used, independently, to deliver genes and proteins into mammalian cells for monitoring or altering gene expression and protein production. Here, we show the simultaneous use of nanoparticles and bacteria to deliver ~DNA-based model drug molecules in vivo and in vitro. In our approach, cargo (in this case, a fluorescent or a bioluminescent gene) is loaded onto the nanoparticles, which are carried on the bacteria surface. When incubated with cells, the cargo-carrying bacteria ('microbots') were internalized by the cells, and the genes released from the nanoparticles were expressed in the cells. Mice injected with microbots also successfully expressed the genes as seen by the luminescence in different organs. This new approach may be used to deliver different types of cargo into live animals and a variety of cells in culture without the need for complicated genetic manipulations.
Source: [[Bacteria-mediated delivery of nanoparticles and cargo into cells : Abstract : Nature Nanotechnology|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/v2/n7/abs/nnano.2007.149.html;jsessionid=FDF5FBBFBEF3877B07EB6610432602F7]]
related: [[Microbotics - nanoparticles hitching a ride on bacteria|http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=2366.php]]
{{twocolumns{
Conventional wisdom holds that optical microscopy can't be used to "see" something as small as an individual molecule. But as it is wont, clever science has once again overturned conventional wisdom. [[Secretary of Energy|http://www.energy.gov/organization/dr_steven_chu.htm]], [[Nobel laureate|http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1997/chu-autobio.html#]] and former director of the [[Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)|http://www.lbl.gov/Publications/Director/index-Chu.html]] Steven Chu led the development of ''a technique that enables the use of optical microscopy to image objects or the distance between them with resolutions as small as 0.5 nanometers'' - one-half of one billionth of a meter, or an order of magnitude smaller than the previous best.
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"The ability to get sub-nanometer resolution in biologically relevant aqueous environments has the potential to revolutionize biology, particularly structural biology," says Secretary Chu. "One of the motivations for this work, for example, was to measure distances between proteins that form multi-domain, highly complex structures, such as the protein assembly that forms the human RNA polymerase II system, which initiates DNA transcription."
Pertsinidis is continuing to work with Chu and others in the group on the further development and application of this super-resolution technique. In addition to the human RNA polymerase II system, he and the group are using it to determine the structure of the Epithelial cadherin molecules that are responsible for the cell-to-cell adhesion that holds tissue and other biological materials together. Pertsinidis, Zhang, and another postdoc in Chu’s research group, [[Sang Ryul Park|http://chu.berkeley.edu/dokuwiki/chu:people]], are also using this technique to create 3D measurements of the molecular organization inside brain cells.
In a collaboration with [[Joe Gray|http://www.lbl.gov/lsd/People_&_Organization/Scientific_Staff_Directory/Gray_Lab.html]], Berkeley Lab’s Associate Director for Life Sciences and a leading cancer researcher, postdocs in Chu’s research group are also using the super-resolution technique to study the attachment of signaling molecules on the RAS protein, which has been linked to a number of cancers, including those of the breast, pancreas, lung and colon. This research could help explain why cancer therapies that perform well on some patients are ineffective on others.
In addition to its biological applications, Pertsinidis, Zhang and Chu say their super-resolution technique should also prove valuable to characterize and design precision photometric imaging systems in atomic physics or astronomy, and allow for new tools in optical lithography and nanometrology. Source: [[Correcting a trick of the light brings molecules into view|http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stories/2010/07/14/trick-of-the-light/]] by Lynn Yarris. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Subnanometre single-molecule localization, registration and distance measurements|http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature09163.html]]'' by [[Alexandros Pertsinidis, Yunxiang Zhang|http://chu.berkeley.edu/dokuwiki/chu:people]] & [[Steven Chu|http://chu.berkeley.edu/dokuwiki/chu:research]]
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{{twocolumns{
The 2010 <html><a href="http://www.millenniumprize.fi/en/prize/mission/" title="tribute to developers of life-enhancing technological innovations">Millennium Prize</a></html> Laureate <html><a href="http://isic2.epfl.ch/page58671-en.html" title="He discovered a new type of solar cell based on dye sensitized nanocrystalline semiconductor oxide particles">Michael Grätzel</a></html> is the father of third generation dye-sensitized solar cells. Grätzel cells, which promise electricity-generating windows and low-cost solar panels, have just made their debut in consumer products.
"For his invention and development of dye-sensitized solar cells, known as [['Grätzel cells'|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dye-sensitized_solar_cell]]. The excellent price/performance ratio of these novel devices gives them major potential as significant contributor to the diverse portfolio of future energy technologies. Grätzel cells are likely to have an important role in low-cost, large-scale solutions for renewable energy. Besides photovoltaics, the concepts of Grätzel cells can also be applied in batteries and hydrogen production, all important components of future energy needs." - International Selection Committee
One of mankind’s greatest challenges is to find ways to replace the diminishing fossil fuel supply. The most obvious energy source is the sun, origin of almost all the energy found on Earth. The surface of the Earth receives solar radiation energy at an average of 81,000 terawatt – exceeding the whole global energy demand by a factor of 5,000. Yet, we are still figuring out a cost-effective way of harnessing it.
Solar cells, converting energy from the sun into electricity, were first used in the 1950s to power orbiting satellites and other spacecraft. Applied to power generation on Earth, the price does matter. Selected silicon based technology was – and still is – expensive, even if the cost of photovoltaics has declined steadily since the first solar cells were manufactured.
[[Grätzel's innovation|http://www.millenniumprize.fi/uploads/images/laureates2010/BackgroundGratzelMichael.pdf]], the dye solar cell (DSC), is ''a third generation photovoltaic technology. The technology often described as ‘artificial photosynthesis’ is a promising alternative to standard silicon photovoltaics''. It is made of low-cost materials and does not need an elaborate apparatus to manufacture. Though DSC cells are still in relatively early stages of development, they show great promise as an inexpensive alternative to costly silicon solar cells and an attractive candidate for a new renewable energy source.
In the 1980s Grätzel was working doing basic research on nanotechnology. ''They were the first to make nanoparticles from titanium oxide''. The properties of the new material were examined in many ways. "That was a fundamental study, just driven by our curiosity. Nobody had done it before. However this experiments provided important insight in the sensitization process that formed the scientific basis for the subsequent realization of dye sensitized solar cells."
Source: [[Millennium Prize - PROFESSOR MICHAEL GRÄTZEL: DEVELOPER OF DYE-SENSITIZED SOLAR CELLS|http://www.millenniumprize.fi/en/2010-prize/professor-michael-graetzel/]]. The original landmark paper presenting an entirely new paradigm in photovoltaic technology: ''[[A low-cost, high-efficiency solar cell based on dye-sensitized colloidal TiO2 films|http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v353/n6346/abs/353737a0.html]]'' by Brian O'Regan & Michael Grätzel.
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{{twocolumns{
Researchers announce new breakthrough in developing molecules that behave like robots. ''Researchers have created and programmed robots the size of single molecule that can move independently across a nano-scale track''. This development marks an important advancement in the nascent fields of molecular computing and robotics, and could someday lead to molecular robots that can fix individual cells or assemble nanotechnology products.
The project was led by [[Milan N. Stojanovic|http://columbiamedicine2.org/CPET/research/molecularrobotics.html]], a faculty member in the division of experimental therapeutics at Columbia University, who partnered with [[Erik Winfree|http://molecular-programming.org/]], associate professor of computer science at Caltech, [[Hao Yan|http://yanlab.asu.edu/index.html]], professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Arizona State University and an expert in DNA nanotechnology, and with [[Nils G. Walter|http://www.umich.edu/~rnapeopl/WalterIndex.htm]], professor of chemistry and director of the Single Molecule Analysis in Real-Time (SMART) Center at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
The word ‘robot' makes most people think of solid machines that use computer circuitry to perform defined jobs, such as vacuuming a carpet or welding together automobiles. In recent years, scientists have worked to create robots that could also reliably perform useful tasks, but at a molecular level. This is, needless to say, not a simple endeavor, and it involves reprogramming DNA molecules to perform in specific ways. "Can you instruct a biomolecule to move and function in a certain way -- researchers at the interface of computer science, chemistry, biology and engineering are attempting to do just that," says Mitra Basu, a program director at NSF responsible for the agency's support to this research.
Recent molecular robotics work has produced so-called DNA walkers, or strings of reprogrammed DNA with 'legs' that enabled them to briefly walk. Now this research team has shown these molecular robotic spiders can in fact move autonomously through a specially-created, two-dimensional landscape. The spiders acted in rudimentary robotic ways, showing they are capable of starting motion, walking for awhile, turning, and stopping.
In addition to be incredibly smal -- about 4 nanometers in diameter -- the walkers are also move slowly, covering 100 nanometers in times ranging 30 minutes to a full hour by taking approximately 100 steps. This is a significant improvement over previous DNA walkers that were capable of only about three steps.
While the field of molecular robotics is still emerging, it is possible that these tiny creations may someday have important medical applications. "This work one day may lead to effective control of chronic diseases such as diabetes or cancer," Basu says.
According to Stojanovich, these practical applications are still many years off, but he and his colleagues hope to continue their work in to the foundations of this young field. Source: ''[[Molecular Robots On the Rise|http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=116957&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click]]''. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Molecular robots guided by prescriptive landscapes|http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v465/n7295/full/nature09012.html]]'' by Kyle Lund, Anthony J. Manzo, Nadine Dabby, Nicole Michelotti, Alexander Johnson-Buck, Jeanette Nangreave, Steven Taylor, Renjun Pei, Milan N. Stojanovic, Nils G. Walter, Erik Winfree & Hao Yan
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[[Related quotes|http://topics.treehugger.com/search/quotes?q=molecular+robot]]
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{{twocolumns{
Researchers have created the first-ever system of “designer electrons” – exotic variants of ordinary electrons with tunable properties that may ultimately lead to new types of materials and devices.
“The behavior of electrons in materials is at the heart of essentially all of today’s technologies,” said [[Hari Manoharan|http://mota.stanford.edu/molecular_graphene.php]], associate professor of physics at Stanford and a member of SLAC’s Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, who led the research. ''“We’re now able to tune the fundamental properties of electrons so they behave in ways rarely seen in ordinary materials.”''
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Their first examples were hand-crafted, honeycomb-shaped structures inspired by [[graphene]], a pure form of carbon that has been widely heralded for its potential in future electronics. Initially, the electrons in this structure had graphene-like properties; for example, unlike ordinary electrons, they had no mass and traveled as if they were moving at the speed of light in a vacuum. But researchers were then able to tune these electrons in ways that are difficult to do in real graphene.
To make the structure, which Manoharan calls molecular graphene, the scientists use a [[scanning tunneling microscope|Positioning single atoms with a scanning tunnelling microscope]] to place individual carbon monoxide molecules on a perfectly smooth copper surface. The carbon monoxide repels the free-flowing electrons on the copper surface and forces them into a honeycomb pattern, where they behave like graphene electrons.
To tune the electrons’ properties, the researchers repositioned the carbon monoxide molecules on the surface; this changed the symmetry of the electron flow. In some configurations, electrons acted as if they had been exposed to a magnetic or electric field. In others, researchers were able to finely tune the density of electrons on the surface by introducing defects or impurities. By writing complex patterns that mimicked changes in carbon-carbon bond lengths and strengths in graphene, the researchers were able to restore the electrons’ mass in small, selected areas.
“One of the wildest things we did was to make the electrons think they are in a huge magnetic field when, in fact, no real field had been applied,”Manoharan said. Guided by the theory developed by co-author Francisco Guinea of Spain, the Stanford team calculated the positions where carbon atoms in graphene should be to make its electrons believe they were being exposed to magnetic fields ranging from zero to 60 Tesla, more than 30 percent higher than [[the strongest continuous magnetic field ever achieved on Earth|http://www.magnet.fsu.edu/mediacenter/factsheets/records.html]]. The researchers then moved carbon monoxide molecules to steer the electrons into precisely those positions, and the electrons responded by behaving exactly as predicted – as if they had been exposed to a real field.
“Our new approach is a powerful new test bed for physics,” Manoharan said. ''“Molecular graphene is just the first in a series of possible designer structures. We expect that our research will ultimately identify new nanoscale materials with useful electronic properties.”'' Source: From ''[[Molecular Graphene Heralds New Era of ‘Designer Electrons’|https://news.slac.stanford.edu/press-release/molecular-graphene-heralds-new-era-designer-electrons]]''. This work is detailed in the paper [["Designer Dirac fermions and topological phases in molecular graphene"|http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature10941]] by Kenjiro K. Gomes, Warren Mar, Wonhee Ko, Francisco Guinea, Hari C. Manoharan.
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Researchers from CNRS and the Université de Bordeaux, in collaboration with a Chinese team, have developed the first molecular piston capable of self-assembly. Their research represents ''a significant technological advance in the design of molecular motors''. Such pistons could, for example, be used to manufacture artificial muscles or create polymers with controllable stiffness.
Living organisms make extensive use of molecular motors in fulfilling some of their vital functions, such as storing energy, enabling cell transport or even moving about in the case of bacteria. Since the molecular layouts of such motors are extremely complex, scientists seek to create their own, simpler versions. The motor developed by the international team headed by [[Ivan Huc|http://www.iecb.u-bordeaux.fr/teams/HUC/]], CNRS researcher in the “Chimie et Biologie des Membranes et des Nanoobjets” Unit (CNRS/Université de Bordeaux), is a “molecular piston”. Like a real piston, it comprises a rod on which a moving part slides, except that the rod and the moving part are only several nanometers long.
More specifically, the rod is formed of a slender molecule, whereas the moving part is a helix-shaped molecule (both are derivatives of organic compounds especially synthesized for the purpose). How can the helicoidal molecule move along the rod? The acidity of the medium in which the molecular motor is immersed controls the progress of the helix along the rod: by increasing the acidity, the helix is drawn towards one end of the rod, as it then has an affinity for that portion of the slender molecule. By reducing the acidity, the process is reversed and the helix goes in the other direction.
This device has a crucial advantage compared to existing molecular pistons: self-assembly. In previous versions, which take the form of a ring sliding along a rod, the moving part is mechanically passed onto the rod with extreme difficulty. Conversely, the new piston is self-constructing: the researchers designed the helicoidal molecule specifically so that it winds itself spontaneously around the rod, while retaining enough flexibility for its lateral movements.
By allowing the large scale manufacturing of such molecular pistons, this self-assembly capacity augurs well for the rapid development of applications in various disciplines: biophysics, electronics, chemistry, etc. By grafting several pistons together end-to-end, it could be possible, for example, to produce a simplified version of an artificial muscle, capable of contracting on demand. A surface bristling with molecular pistons could, as and when required, become an electrical conductor or insulator. Finally, a large-scale version of the rod on which several helices could slide would provide a polymer of adjustable mechanical stiffness. This goes to show that the possibilities for this new molecular piston are (almost) infinite. Source: From ''[[A breakthrough in the design of molecular motors|http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/1833.htm]]''. This work is detailed in the paper [[Helix-Rod Host-Guest Complexes with Shuttling Rates Much Faster than Disassembly|http://www.sciencemag.org/content/331/6021/1172.abstract]] <<slider chkSldr [[Helix-Rod Host-Guest Complexes with Shuttling Rates Much Faster than Disassembly]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/cell_sensors.jpg" title="Sensing the niche - Cells carrying sensors monitor the cellular nano-environment in real-time. Credit: Courtesy of Brigham and Women's Hospital" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>Using nanotechnology to engineer sensors onto the surface of cells, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have developed ''a platform technology for monitoring single-cell interactions in real-time''. This innovation addresses needs in both science and medicine by providing the ability to further understand complex cell biology, track transplanted cells, and develop effective therapeutics.
"We can now monitor how individual cells talk to one another in real-time with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution," says [[Jeffrey Karp|http://www.karplab.net/]], senior study author, and co-director of the Center for Regenerative Therapeutics ([[ReGen Rx|http://www.brighamandwomens.org/research/centers/Regenerative_Medicine/About_Us.aspx]]) at BWH. "This allows us to understand signaling between cells and interactions with drugs in great detail that should have broad implications for basic science and drug discovery."
The cell-signaling sensors researchers currently use are limited to measuring the activity in the bulk environment that a group of cells are in. In this study, researchers used nanotechnology to anchor a sensor to the membrane of individual cells, allowing them to monitor soluble signals within the cellular nanoenvironment. Given that cells are directly labeled with sensors permits application to transplanted cells or tissues.
"Once this is refined as a tool, and used to study drug interactions with cells on a regular basis, there is potential that it may be used for personalized medicine in the future," said Weian Zhao, lead author of the study, also of the Center for Regenerative Therapeutics (ReGen Rx) at BWH. Karp adds, "We may one day be able to test a drug's influence on cell-cell interactions before deciding on the appropriate therapeutic for each person."
The researchers are also especially excited by preliminary data that demonstrates the potential to use this engineering approach to track and monitor the environment surrounding transplanted cells, in real time, which was never before possible. This would be useful for developing a deeper understanding of signaling events that define a site of inflammation for example or the stem cell niche, which may have implications for treatment of many diseases.
"This new study takes a significant step toward the goal to eavesdrop in real-time and at high spatial resolution on communications between cells in their native environment, with far-reaching implications for the development of new drugs and diagnostics" said Ulrich von Andrian, the Mallinckrodt Professor of Immunopathology at Harvard Medical School who was not involved in this study. Source: [[Researchers provide means of monitoring cellular interactions|http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-07/bawh-rpm071311.php]]. This work was detailed in the paper ''[[“Cell-surface sensors for real-time probing of cellular environments”|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nnano.2011.101.html]]''<<slider chkSldr [[Cell-surface sensors for real-time probing of cellular environments]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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<br>Massimo Reconditia, Elisabetta Brunelloa, Marco Linaria, Pasquale Biancoa, Theyencheri Narayananc, Pierre Paninec, Gabriella Piazzesia, Vincenzo Lombardia & Malcolm Irving. 2011. ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNPAS) journal doi: 10.1073/pnas.1018330108''
//Muscle contraction is driven by a change in the structure of the head domain of myosin, the “working stroke” that pulls the actin filaments toward the midpoint of the myosin filaments. This movement of the myosin heads can be measured very precisely in intact muscle cells by X-ray interference, but until now this technique has not been applied to physiological activation and force generation following electrical stimulation of muscle cells. By using this approach, we show that the long axes of the myosin head domains are roughly parallel to the filaments in resting muscle, with their center of mass offset by approximately 7 nm from the C terminus of the head domain. The observed mass distribution matches that seen in electron micrographs of isolated myosin filaments in which the heads are folded back toward the filament midpoint. Following electrical stimulation, the heads move by approximately 10 nm away from the filament midpoint, in the opposite direction to the working stroke. The time course of this motion matches that of force generation, but is slower than the other structural changes in the myosin filaments on activation, including the loss of helical and axial order of the myosin heads and the change in periodicity of the filament backbone. The rate of force development is limited by that of attachment of myosin heads to actin in a conformation that is the same as that during steady-state isometric contraction; force generation in the actin-attached head is fast compared with the attachment step.//
There is a several thousand year history of associating music with cosmic phenomena, the famous "Music of the Spheres" created from the regularities in the astronomical universe. Even though of course there is generally no sound in outer space, because the conditions of pressure and density to allow accoustic waves are very rare.
The same urge motivates artists and scientists interested in sonifying
Sound Artist Peter Gena has a large collection of DNA Music and other sonifications of molecular structures:
http://www.petergena.com/DNAmus.html
Like Kepler, and many others who subscibed to the Pythagorian ideas
http://www.skyscript.co.uk/kepler.html
Gena believes that:
"From the onset I believed that a musical reading of DNA ought to be rendered literally. As the sequences represent life of many sorts, I am reluctant to tamper with the “score.” The DNA mixer can realize sequences as digital sound and/or print them out in musical notation.
Ideally, performances of the gene sequences should be executed live from the computer as in an installation, where the ribosome simulations can be positioned spontaneously before playing.
Red Blood Cells is a mix of five genes that are present in human blood: alpha and beta globin, heme synthetase, transaldolase, and glucose 6 phosphate. These are realized simultaneously, just as they are produced in the body. "
John Dunn and Mary Anne Clark
An artist and a biologist have collaborated on the sonification of protein data.
http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/002409499552966
See also:
http://www.whozoo.org/mac/Music/
Proteins, Immersive Games and Music
Y.Y. Cai, B.F. Lu, Z.W. Fan, C.W. Chan, K.T. Lim, L. Qi and L. Li
Implementations of VR protein games and protein-derived computer music:
http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/leon.2006.39.2.135
There is even now an automated software package, PROM Composer,
http://amas.cz3.nus.edu.sg/music/
to create the music of your own submitted protein sequence from a team in Singapore:
Artist and Fine Art Program Leader: Jiang Li,
Music Program Leader: L. Y. Han
Web-Design: L. Y. Han, Jiang Li, H.H.Lin and C. J. Zheng
Bioinformatics and computational scientists: J. Cui, C. J. Zheng, H.
Zhou, H. H. Lin, H.L. Zhang
Supervisor: Associate Professor Y. Z. Chen
These are associations or translations of nano structures to sound structures because there is no sound at the nano level any more than produced by the planetary system.
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NANOYOU (Nano for Youth) is a project funded by the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme that aims to increase young people’s basic understanding of nanotechnologies (NT) and to engage in the dialogue about its ethical, legal and social aspects (ELSA).
Nanotechnologies are the design, characterisation, production and application of structures, devices and systems by controlling shape and size at nanometer scale - the scale of individual molecules, where properties differ significantly from those at a larger scale. NTs will impact the life of every citizen. They are already revolutionising different disciplines in science, such as medicine, computing sciences and energy production.
Although NTs are being developed to provide benefits, some of these new applications may have harmful effects under certain circumstances. Therefore, citizens need to be informed in order to weigh benefits versus hypothetical risks so that they can make a real contribution to future decision-making. Moreover, at this early stage of development, when just a few applications have reached the market, it is a critical moment for potential communication on NTs. Source: [[Nanoyou project|http://www.nanoyou.eu/en/nanoyou-project/about.html?view=alphacontent]]
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Despite extensive investment in nanotechnology and increasing commercialization over the last decade, insufficient understanding remains about the environmental, health, and safety aspects of nanomaterials. ''Without a coordinated research plan to help guide efforts to manage and avoid potential risks, the future of safe and sustainable nanotechnology is uncertain'', says a new report from the National Research Council. The report presents a strategic approach for developing research and a scientific infrastructure needed to address potential health and environmental risks of nanomaterials. Its effective implementation would require sufficient management and budgetary authority to direct research across federal agencies.
Nanoscale engineering manipulates materials at the molecular level to create structures with unique and useful properties -- materials that are both very strong and very light, for example. Many of the products containing nanomaterials on the market now are for skin care and cosmetics, but nanomaterials are also increasingly being used in products ranging from medical therapies to food additives to electronics. In 2009, developers generated $1 billion from the sale of nanomaterials, and the market for products that rely on these materials is expected to grow to $3 trillion by 2015.
The committee that wrote the report found that over the last seven years there has been considerable effort internationally to identify research needs for the development and safe use of nanotechnology, including those of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), which coordinates U.S. federal investments in nanoscale research and development. However, there has not been sufficient linkage between research and research findings and the creation of strategies to prevent and manage any risks. For instance, little progress has been made on the effects of ingested nanomaterials on human health and other potential health and environmental effects of complex nanomaterials that are expected to enter the market over the next decade. Therefore, there is the need for a research strategy that is independent of any one stakeholder group, has human and environmental health as its primary focus, builds on past efforts, and is flexible in anticipating and adjusting to emerging challenges, the committee said.
Because the number of products containing nanoscale materials is expected to explode, and future exposure scenarios may not resemble those of today, selecting target materials to study on the basis of existing market size -- as is the practice now -- is problematic. To help guide research, the committee noted the following four research categories, which should be addressed within five years:
· identify and quantify the nanomaterials being released and the populations and environments being exposed;
· understand processes that affect both potential hazards and exposure;
· examine nanomaterial interactions in complex systems ranging from subcellular to ecosystems; and
· support an adaptive research and knowledge infrastructure for accelerating progress and providing rapid feedback to advance research.
While surveying the existing resources for research, the committee acknowledged a gap between funding and the level of activity required to support the committee's strategy. The committee concluded that any reduction in the current funding level of approximately $120 million per year over the next five years for health and environmental risk research by federal agencies would be a setback to nanomaterials risk research. Moreover, additional modest resources from public, private, and international initiatives are needed in critical areas -- informatics, nanomaterial characterization, benchmarking nanomaterials, characterization of sources, and development of networks for supporting collaborative research -- to derive maximum strategic value from the research investments.
Implementation of the strategy should also include the integration of domestic and international participants involved in nanotechnology-related research, including the NNI, federal agencies, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and the academic community. The committee said that the current structure of the NNI -- which has only coordinating functions across federal agencies and no top-down budgetary or management authority to direct nanotechnology-related environmental, health, and safety research -- hinders its accountability for effective implementation. In addition, there is concern that dual and potentially conflicting roles of the NNI, such as developing and promoting nanotechnology while identifying and mitigating risks that arise from its use, impede application and evaluation of health and environmental risk research. To carry out the research strategy effectively, a clear separation of management and budgetary authority and accountability between promoting nanotechnology and assessing potential environmental and safety risks is essential.
The study was sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are independent, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under an 1863 congressional charter. Panel members, who serve pro bono as volunteers, are chosen by the Academies for each study based on their expertise and experience and must satisfy the Academies' conflict-of-interest standards. The resulting consensus reports undergo external peer review before completion. For more information, visit http://national-academies.org/studycommitteprocess.pdf . Source: From ''[[Health and Environmental Effects of Nanomaterials Remain Uncertain; Cohesive Research Plan Needed to Help Avoid Potential Risks From Rapidly Evolving Technology|http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=13347]]'', The National Academies.
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''Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have discovered carbon molecules, known as "buckyballs," in space for the first time''.
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"We found what are now the largest molecules known to exist in space," says astronomer [[Jan Cami|http://www.astro.uwo.ca/~jcami/]] of The University of Western Ontario and the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif. "We are particularly excited because they have unique properties that make them important players for all sorts of physical and chemical processes going on in space."
[[The Cami team unexpectedly found the carbon balls in a planetary nebula named Tc 1|http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/news/spitzer20100722.html]]. Planetary nebulas are the remains of stars, like the sun, that shed their outer layers of gas and dust as they age. A compact, hot star, or white dwarf, at the center of the nebula illuminates and heats these clouds of material that has been shed.
In 1970, Japanese professor Eiji Osawa predicted the existence of buckyballs, but they were not observed until lab experiments in 1985. Researchers simulated conditions in the atmospheres of aging, carbon-rich giant stars, in which chains of carbon had been detected. Surprisingly, these experiments resulted in the formation of large quantities of buckminsterfullerenes. The molecules have since been found on Earth in candle soot, layers of rock and meteorites. Sir Harry Kroto, who shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in chemistry with Bob Curl and Rick Smalley for [[the discovery of buckyballs|C60: Buckminsterfullerene]], said, "This most exciting breakthrough provides convincing evidence that the buckyball has, as I long suspected, existed since time immemorial in the dark recesses of our galaxy."
Previous searches for buckyballs in space, in particular around carbon-rich stars, proved unsuccessful. Source: From [[NASA telescope finds elusive buckyballs|http://communications.uwo.ca/com/western_news/stories/nasa_telescope_finds_elusive_buckyballs_20100722446613/]] by Heather Travis. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Detection of C60 and C70 in a Young Planetary Nebula|http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/science.1192035]]'' by Jan Cami, [[Jeronimo Bernard-Salas|http://isc.astro.cornell.edu/~jbs/struct_astro.html]], [[Els Peeters|http://www.astro.uwo.ca/~epeeters/]], Sarah Elizabeth Malek.
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In recent years, scientists have begun to harness DNA’s powerful molecular machinery to build artificial structures at the nanoscale using the natural ability of pairs of DNA molecules to assemble into complex structures. Such “[[DNA Origami]],” first developed at the California Institute of Technology, could provide a means of assembling complex nanostructures such as semiconductor devices, sensors and drug delivery systems, from the bottom up. While most researchers in the field are working to demonstrate what’s possible, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are ''seeking to determine what’s practical''.
According to NIST researcher Alex Liddle, it’s a lot like building with LEGOs—some patterns enable the blocks to fit together snugly and stick together strongly and some don’t.<html><img style="float:left; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/dna_origami.jpg" title="NIST researchers made three DNA origami templates designed so that quantum dots would arrange themselves: (a in the corners, b) diagonally (three dots), and (c in a line (four dots). The researchers found that putting the quantum dots closer together caused them to interfere with one another, leading to higher error rates and lower bonding strength. Credit: Ko/NIST" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>
“If the technology is actually going to be useful, you have to figure out how well it works,” says Liddle. “We have determined what a number of the critical factors are for the specific case of assembling nanostructures using a DNA-origami template and have shown how proper design of the desired nanostructures is essential to achieving good yield, moving, we hope, the technology a step forward.”
In DNA origami, researchers lay down a long thread of DNA and attach “staples” comprised of complementary strands that bind to make the DNA fold up into various shapes, including rectangles, squares and triangles. The shapes serve as a template onto which nanoscale objects such as nanoparticles and quantum dots can be attached using strings of linker molecules.
The NIST researchers measured how quickly nanoscale structures can be assembled using this technique, how precise the assembly process is, how closely they can be spaced, and the strength of the bonds between the nanoparticles and the DNA origami template.
What they found is that a simple structure, four quantum dots at the corners of a 70-nanometer by 100-nanometer origami rectangle, takes up to 24 hours to self-assemble with an error rate of about 5 percent.
Other patterns that placed three and four dots in a line through the middle of the origami template were increasingly error prone. Sheathing the dots in biomaterials, a necessity for attaching them to the template, increases their effective diameter. A wider effective diameter (about 20 nanometers) limits how closely the dots can be positioned and also increases their tendency to interfere with one another during self-assembly, leading to higher error rates and lower bonding strength. This trend was especially pronounced for the four-dot patterns.
“Overall, we think that this process is ''good for building structures for biological applications like sensors and drug delivery'', but it might be a bit of a stretch when applied to semiconductor device manufacturing—the distances can’t be made small enough and the error rate is just too high,” says Liddle. Source: From ''[[The Shape of Things to Come: NIST Probes the Promise of Nanomanufacturing Using DNA Origami|http://www.nist.gov/cnst/origami-030612.cfm]]'' . This work is detailed in the paper [["Nanomanufacturing with DNA origami: factors affecting the kinetics and yield of quantum dot binding"|http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adfm.201102077/abstract]] by S.H. Ko, G.M. Gallatin and J.A. Liddle.
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The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently renewed two important cooperative agreements totaling more than $12.5 million over five years. These awards leverage previous investments for studying the ethical, legal, economic and policy implications of the relatively new, nature-altering science called nanotechnology. The [[Center for Nanotechnology in Society|http://cns.asu.edu/]] at Arizona State University (CNS-ASU) received $6,507,000 over a five year renewal, while the [[Center for Nanotechnology in Society|http://www.cns.ucsb.edu/]] at University of California, Santa Barbara (CNS-UCSB) received $6,076,000 for the same time period.
Nanotechnology allows researchers and manufacturers to controll matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Societal benefits of using the science to create new materials, devices for medicine, electronics and energy production could be transformative. But creating such things through molecular manipulation raises health and safety risks as well as ethical and legal questions.
''As part of the National Nanotechnology Initiative, which identifies "responsible development" as one of four strategic goals for nanotechnology research, NSF is committed to supporting research that investigates the societal aspects of this promising but uncertain technology''. "These centers play a pivotal role in understanding and anticipating the potential societal impacts of nanotechnology and engaging multiple stakeholders in discussions about the future of emerging technologies," said [[Myron Gutmann, NSF assistant director|http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=115316&org=OLPA&from=news]], who leads the [[Directorate for Social Behavioral and Economic Sciences|http://www.nsf.gov/dir/index.jsp?org=SBE]]. "They are truly interdisciplinary centers, spanning the social, natural and engineering sciences."
"It is particularly important to locate nanotechnologies in the city because cities are home to most of humanity and are also focal points of complex systems for energy, water, transportation, etc., that will be sites for nanotechnological innovation," said [[David Guston, director of CNS-ASU|http://cns.asu.edu/about/people/guston.htm]]. Assessing how nanotechnologies may or may not contribute to the sustainability of these systems in an urban context is the primary goal of this new program. Under the renewal, the center will also pursue formal and informal educational opportunities and build new capacities among a broad array of stakeholders and the public.
ASU's sister center at UC Santa Barbara will pull together interdisciplinary research to produce new knowledge about the challenges to successful development of nanotechnologies in North America, Europe, Asia and other regions. "The nano enterprise is a rapidly expanding," said [[center director Barbara Herr Harthorn|http://www.femst.ucsb.edu/harthorn.html]], an anthropologist and associate professor of feminist studies at UC Santa Barbara. "It is a highly distributed global phenomenon with the potential for broad social and economic implications." She said the challenge at CNS-UCSB is to systematically study, both in its contemporary and historical contexts, the dynamic system of technological production associated with nanotechnology, while at the same time probing aspects that are vital to fulfilling its promises of socially responsible development. Source: [[NSF Renews Centers for Nanotechnology in Society|http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=117862&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click]]. National Science Foundation awards more than $12.5M to study societal impacts of emerging technologies.
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''ICON seeks input from occupational experts, nano workers on planned Wiki''
In 2006, the International Council on Nanotechnology ("ICON") completed a [[survey|first survey of nanotechnology practices]] of current workplace practices in the nanotechnology industry confirming that organizations involved in this industry //“believe there are special risks related to the nanomaterials they work with.”// The survey further found that these organizations are //“actively seeking additional information on how to best handle nanomaterials.”// With this goal in mind, ICON is developing an Internet-based, wiki-software platform (nicknamed the “~GoodWiki”) specially designed ''to enhance the ability of experts in the field to exchange information about good occupational practices for the safe handling of nanomaterials''. ICON needs input from a wide variety of people to make sure the ~GoodWiki works as intended and provides content that is both useful and timely. Please take a moment then to respond to the following [[questionnaire|https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=fNfePVsukX8rvhvYNhMgrQ_3d_3d]]
The ~GoodWiki is an Internet-based collaboration platform specially designed to enhance the ability of experts to exchange ideas on how best to handle nanomaterials in an occupational setting. It is meant to be a modern, interactive forum that fills the need for up-to-date information about current good practices for the handling of nanomaterials in an occupational setting, including the highlighting of new practices as they develop. That said, while the ~GoodWiki respects the dialogue now being held worldwide regarding the effect nanotechnologies may have on human health, the environment, and society in general, the ~GoodWiki is not meant to address or resolve such issues. Instead, it assumes that someone, somewhere in the world is likely to be working on nanomaterials as this debate continues, and thus endeavors to provide information to that person about current good practices to make sure appropriate safeguards are in place as that person works on nanomaterials in an occupational setting. Finally, the ~GoodWiki is open for everyone to review. However, to ensure the dependability of the good practices reported, the ~GoodWiki is a protected site in which contributions are limited to those individuals that have become ~GoodWiki members.
Source: [[Nano Good Practices Wiki|http://icon.rice.edu/projects.cfm?doc_id=12207]]
^^Via Inge, [[Victor Puntes|Victor Puntes]]^^
The International Council on Nanotechnology ([[ICON|http://icon.rice.edu/]]) is an international, multi-stakeholder organization whose mission is to develop and communicate information regarding potential environmental and health risks of nanotechnology, thereby fostering risk reduction while maximizing societal benefit.
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This year, Nano Letters celebrates its 10th anniversary. During its 10-year history, the journal has been responsible for publishing some of the most important advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology. Moreover, its rapid publication of brief reports has helped accelerate the pace of new discoveries and innovations around the world. As evidence of its value to research, Nano Letters is ranked #2 in impact, with a 10.371 ISI Impact Factor. It is ranked #1 in citations, with 37,089 cites, out of 50 journals in the category of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, according to the 2008 Journal Citation Reports®.
To commemorate this landmark year for the journal, we have created a special [[10th anniversary Nano Letters website|http://pubs.acs.org/page/nalefd/anniversary/10/index.html]] which can be found from the journal homepage at [[pubs.acs.org/NanoLett|http://pubs.acs.org/NanoLett]]. The website features the journal’s [[10 most-cited articles|http://pubs.acs.org/page/nalefd/anniversary/10/most-cited.html]], leading you to some of the most groundbreaking findings in nanoscience and nanotechnology. There are also thought-provoking Editorials and Perspectives and information on prolific authors. In addition, you will find details on the 10th anniversary Nano Letters Symposium, “Nano Letters: The Next Ten Years,” which take place, along with a special reception, at the 240th ACS National Meeting & Exposition. Source: ''[[Nano Letters Marks 10 Years at the Leading Edge of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/story/10.1021/ex.2010.04.08.473512]]''
Nano Letters reports on fundamental research in all branches of the theory and practice of nanoscience and nanotechnology, providing rapid disclosure of the key elements of a study, publishing preliminary, experimental, and theoretical results on the physical, chemical, and biological phenomena, along with processes and applications of structures within the nanoscale range.
The Nano Letters manuscript submission process is fully electronic, to ensure the rapid publication of results. Manuscripts should be submitted via our secure Web site. Manuscripts submitted by hardcopy mail or by e-mail will not be processed. Introduction Nano Letters invites original reports of fundamental research in all branches of the theory and practice of nanoscience and nanotechnology.
Co-Editors-in-Chief: [[A. Paul Alivisatos|http://www.cchem.berkeley.edu/pagrp/paulbio.html]] & [[Charles M. Lieber|http://cmliris.harvard.edu/people/CML.php]]
University of California, Berkeley & Harvard University, Cambridge
Print Edition ISSN: 1530-6984
Web Edition ISSN: 1530-6992
2009 Impact Factor: 9.991
2009 Total Citations: 46,238
Indexed/Abstracted in: CAS, SCOPUS, EBSCOhost, British Library, PubMed, and Web of Science. Source: From ''[[About the Journal|http://pubs.acs.org/page/nalefd/about.html]]''
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Murali M. Sundaram has a dream. One day, he hopes to see a low-cost and sustainable manufacturing facility capable of machining all sorts of substances at the smallest scales, without the need for a super-clean laboratory environment.
''“Success in manufacturing is only possible if the common man is involved,”'' said Sundaram, assistant professor of mechanical engineering in UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science. “Sustainability requires low-cost. Investment will follow affordability.”
Director of UC’s Micro and Nano Manufacturing Laboratory, Sundaram is exploring a variety of cutting-edge processes to be used to machine substances at very small scales. The ability to manufacture at micro-scales and nano-scales has potential application in biomedical, automotive, microelectronics, paintings and coatings, and measurement industries.
“The key is to move from the clean room into the real world.” Sundaram said. “To do that we have to not only develop these processes, but to make them reliable and affordable.”
Another goal is to apply processes to a variety of materials. Over the past half-century, silicon has been used in many microelectronic devices, so its properties are widely understood. Sundaram notes that some devices call for materials other than silicon.
“When I was student, I often heard, ‘We can do micromachining on any substance as long as it is silicon,’” Sundaram said. “But in the real world we need technologies to micromachine a variety of materials. This was my motivation to explore nontraditional and alternative processes.”
Although the processes Sundaram is exploring are often called “alternative manufacturing processes,” he notes that, for some tasks, the only workable process is an “alternative” process. A major factor, particularly at nano-scales, is that materials don’t behave the same as they do at “normal” scales.
“Let’s say I want to write a program for a robot to move an object,” Sundaram said. “It should be simple. Locate the object, pick it up, move it drop it. However, at the nano-scale, the object will not drop. Gravity is not the major force at that scale.”
At nano-levels, properties change. There is much to learn about how materials behave at that scale. “First, I ask what is the difference?” Sundaram said. “Then, what causes the difference? Then how can I use the difference in manufacturing?”
Sundaram’s lab is ''engaged in an effort to find a nano-equivalent to common machining techniques'' like drilling or grinding. There is no nano-equivalent to sandpaper, but tiny particles of diamond can be bounced between an ultrasonically vibrated tool and the workpiece, generating holes smaller than 400 nanometers in diameter. Even here, scale makes a difference.
“If I were to drill a hole in a sheet of metal, I would expect that hole to be there next week or next year,” Sundaram said. “If I make a hole just a few atoms wide, I will find that atoms gradually move into the open space.”
Even at this scale, environmental concerns arise. Nano-abrasives may knock nothing larger than a nano-particle from the target, but enough nano-particles eventually add up to an environmental concern.
Working with doctoral candidate Sagil James, Sundaram is exploring green nanomanufacturing technology to monitor and control the production of toxic nanoparticles. The goal is a cost-effective method to monitor and prevent hazardous nanoparticles from entering the ecosystem and adversely affecting the environment. Source: [[Smallest Workshop Promises Big Benefits in Nano Manufacturing|http://www.uc.edu/news/NR.aspx?id=14502]]
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Design rules will enable scientists to build desired nanomaterials for broad application of nanotechnology to address social challenges, bolstering industry and creating jobs.
Learning the rules for consistently arranging nanoparticles, like nature arranges atoms into molecules and materials, has been a goal of scientists for quite some time because doing so is essential to capitalize on nanotechnology's potential for broad application. This challenge has now been met for a class of materials. Specifically, [[Chad Mirkin|http://chemgroups.northwestern.edu/mirkingroup/]] of Northwestern University and his team developed rules that enable scientists to make any structure for almost any application.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/nanoparticles_with_dna_linkers.jpg" title="Gold nanoparticles have been assembled with DNA linkers into crystalline lattices, where particle sizes, crystal symmetries and lattice parameters can be independently controlled. This has been achieved through the development of 6 design rules that allow one to predict the relative stability of a particular structure for a given set of design parameters, such as nanoparticle size or DNA length. These rules enable the construction of both nanoscale analogues of atomic lattices, and lattices that have no naturally occuring mineral equivalent. The lattices shown here are isostructural with (from left) Cr3Si, AlB2, CsCl, NaCl and Cs6C60. Credit: Northwestern University" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>
"This discovery is the largely the result of high-risk, high reward funding of basic research, in NSF's Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centers" said Mihail C. Roco, senior advisor for nanotechnology at NSF, key architect of the National Nanotechnology Initiative and founding chair of the U.S. National Science and Technology Council's Subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology.
Roco continued, "In our 2003 National Nanotechnology Initiative report, we identified the efficient creation of nanomaterials with prescribed properties and functions as key to broad applicability of nanotechnology. With this discovery, Mirkin and his team have met that challenge for a large set of materials. The future is indeed bright for revolutionary new materials and systems and what they will bring to our daily life and to our economic livelihood -- from innovative disease treatments, new information methods and more efficient energy conversion storage and use to the companies and jobs created in the process."
[[Watch and listen to Chad Mirkin|http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_images.jsp?cntn_id=121957&org=NSF]] as he discusses his discovery and its broad implications for the future of science. Source: From ''[[Nano Materials by Design: No Small Breakthrough|http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=121957&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51]]''. This work was detailed in the paper [[Nanoparticle Superlattice Engineering with DNA|http://www.sciencemag.org/content/334/6053/204.abstract?sid=72b0ffb6-52b5-4d05-afcf-6847ce388ae9]].
Nature is a master builder. Using a bottom-up approach, nature takes tiny atoms and, through chemical bonding, makes crystalline materials, like diamonds, silicon and even table salt. In all of them, the properties of the crystals depend upon the type and arrangement of atoms within the crystalline lattice.
Now, a team of Northwestern University scientists has learned how to top nature by ''building crystalline materials from nanoparticles and DNA'', the same material that defines the genetic code for all living organisms.
Using nanoparticles as “atoms” and DNA as “bonds,” the scientists have learned how to create crystals with the particles arranged in the same types of atomic lattice configurations as some found in nature, but they also have built completely new structures that have no naturally occurring mineral counterpart. Source: From ''[[Emulating -- and Surpassing -- Nature|http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2011/10/chad-mirkin-nanomaterials.html]]''. Design rules will enable scientists to use DNA to build nanomaterials with desired properties By Megan Fellman
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NANO MIRAGES ? Dec 9 and 9 2010 Toulouse France
''This interesting on the nano sciences addresses heads on whether we can make any kind of visual or other representations that make sense of phenomena at the nano scale. The nano world is not our world= and all is mirage?''
http://www.images-mirages-nanosciences.cemes.fr/
''Images & mirages @ nanosciences''
From 8 To 16 December 2010 In Toulouse (France)
Event Images & mirages @ nanosciences
Images & mirages @ nanosciences is an international event to be held from 8 to 16 December 2010, La Fabrique Cultural (CIAM) in Toulouse. This event will explore, through various channels, the problem of images and representations in the field of nanoscience. It will bring together in one place, an international conference, exhibition and scientific and artistic choreography.
- [[International Symposium|http://www.images-mirages-nanosciences.cemes.fr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=56]] in simultaneous translation from 9 to 10 December on registration
- [[Exhibition|http://www.images-mirages-nanosciences.cemes.fr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=53]] from December 8 to 16, free admission
- [[Choreographic and musical performance|http://www.images-mirages-nanosciences.cemes.fr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57&Itemid=63]] on December 8 to 19h
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created art>><<matchTags popup sort:-created images>>
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<html><img title="affiche Images & mirages @ nanosciences event" src="/img/affiche.jpg" width="95%"/>
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="http://www.dutchdesignweek.nl/deelnemers/foto/ddw_f1526_1.jpg" title="Speculative nanotech product" alt="Speculative nanotech product" class="photo"/></html>Nanotechnology is an important emerging technology of our time – it radically intervenes with our sense of what is natural – yet most people are still relatively unaware of its consequences. The NANO Supermarket presents speculative nanotech products that may hit the shelves within the next ten years: medicinal candy, interactive wall paint, a wine which taste can be altered with microwaves, a twitter implant, invisible security spray and much more. Visit the shop, taste & test our products and experience the impact of nanotechnology on our everyday lives.
Nanotechnology is an emerging field of science that deals with the manipulation of structures on an atomic and molecular scale – the size of one billionth of a meter. It is often seen as a trend in material science, but has much deeper implications. Nanotechnology radically intervenes with our notion of what is natural. It may realize the dreams people have of themselves and significantly improve our lives, but may also have its downsides.
The NANO Supermarket features debate–provoking [[nanotech products|Nanotech-enabled Consumer Products Top the 1,000 Mark]] submitted by designers, technologists and artists from six different countries. They were selected by a jury of nanotech experts and design experts. Our products are both innovative and useful as well as uncanny and disturbing. They function as scenarios for potential nano futures, that help us decide what nano future we actually want.
Come visit the Nano Supermarket to taste & test the products and experience the impact of nanotechnology on our everyday lives.
Opening: Saturday 23 October 17:00
Location: 18 Septemberplein, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Dates: 23-31 October (during [[Dutch Design Week|http://www.dutchdesignweek.nl/index.php?lang=en&id=0]])
Times: 10:00-17:00
Premium sponsor: [[Nanopodium|http://www.nanopodium.nl/english/]]
Source: ''[[Nano Supermarket « NextNature.net|http://www.nextnature.net/events/nano-supermarket/]]'' //"On this website we explore our changing relation with nature. We aim to visualize, research and understand the implications of the up-and-coming next nature on our everyday lives... Despite the global awareness of our fragile relation with nature and the countless projects initiated to restore the balance, almost no one has asked the question: What is our concept of nature? And how is our relation with nature changing? Hence the need to explore how we can design, build and live in the nature caused by people."//
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There are a number of new publications and events which are championing the work of artists and scientists struggling with the cultural meaning of the nano sciences. ''With 2011 the International Year of Chemistry, there will be many opportunities for cultural appropriation and contextualising of the nano world''.
__''Leonardo Journal''__
Leonardo Journal Guest Editor and chemist Tami Spector in San Francisco, California is guest editing a series of articles in Leonardo Journal at MIT Press. An open call for papers from artists, scientists and engineers is available at: ''http://www.leonardo.info/isast/journal/calls/nanocall.html''
__''Mètode''__
Guillermo Muñoz , one of the founders of the group [[Pirates of Science|http://www.piratasdelaciencia.org/]] in Valencia, Spain announces the recent publication of the spring number of the journal Mètode, whichs covers the world of Nanotechnology and Nanoscience and is accompanied with ilustrations from Nanoart from Christa Sommerer & Laurent Mignoneau, Anne Niemetz & Andrew Pelling, [[Victor Puntes]], Hugo Martínez-Tormo, Paul Thomas. With a few scientifics articles which explains in a popularizating languaje the hot topics and the key points of Nano it is presented an article from [[Chris Toumey]] about Nanotechnology and Religion, and another one from Josep Perello about Nanoart. The monograph is ilustrated at the same time with examples of interdisciplinary work from Victoria Vesna & James Gimzewsky, Cris Orfescu and his [[Nanoart21|http://www.nanoart21.org/]] online competition, [[SPMage|http://www.icmm.csic.es/spmage07/spmage09.php]] nanophotograph competition and [[Fotciencia|http://www.fotciencia.fecyt.es/]] Spanish goverment photograpic competition. Finally, the monograph present two interviews to Rober Langer and Georges Whitesides.
''http://www.metode.cat''
Finally, a third opportunity:
__''HAIP10: NEW NATURE''__
<html>
<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-HAIP10: NEW NATURE"> <a class="url" href="http://www.haip.cc/"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20101123">November 23th</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="20101126">26th, 2010</abbr> <span class="summary">HAIP10: NEW NATURE</span>— at <span class="location">Ljubljana, Slovenia</span> </a> <div class="description">4th International Multimedia Festival HAIP10 is coming this fall - multimedia centre "Cyberpipe/Kiberpipa" from Ljubljana is announcing call for applications. This year's festival theme is "New Nature". Application deadline is May 9th 2010.</div></html>
Information about applications, festival and theme is available on HAIP website: ''http://www.haip.cc/''
The theme " New nature" deals centrally with nano: Data processing through the synthesis, manipulation and characterization of matter on the atomic and molecular level (which enables the creation of so-called nanostructure materials) opens a line of thought as regards the new levels of autonomy and life of a certain matter. In the attempt to understand the use of matter that is in the process of being modified on its atomic level (as a multidirectional medium) the focus turns towards the specifics and (non)materiality of the intermediate spaces - towards contents, quantumly transformed through these spaces. This means that the artistic medium is established on an entirely new - atomic and subatomic level.
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created art>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[Roger Malina]]>>
"The critical challenges of the 21st century require mobilization and cross-fertilization among the domains of art, science and technology. Leonardo/ISAST fosters ''collaborative explorations'' both nationally and internationally by facilitating interdisciplinary projects and documenting and disseminating information about interdisciplinary practice." From [[Leonardo /ISAST Mission|http://www.leonardo.info/isast/isastinfo.html]]
Currently, "Leonardo, the Journal of the International Society of the Arts, Sciences and Technology, is seeking to publish papers and artworks on the intersections of chemistry, nanotechnology and art for our on-going special section on nanotechnology and the arts. With this special section of Leonardo, ''we hope to ignite artists' interest in the exploration of nanotech/nanoscience and encourage scientists, scholars and educators to contemplate the implications of an art-nanotech/nanoscience connection''. Leonardo, in collaboration with the [[Exploratorium|http://www.exploratorium.edu/]] under the auspices of the [[Nanotech Informal Science Education Network|http://www.nisenet.org/]], will publish a series of special sections periodically over the next 5 years exploring the intersections of nanotech/science and art." From [[Nanotechnology, Nanoscale Science And Art|http://nanowiki.info/#%5B%5BNanotechnology%2C%20Nanoscale%20Science%20And%20Art%5D%5D]]
In this framework, ''Leonardo/ISAST begin a cooperation with NanoWiki'' in the publication of capsules tagged "art", providing one new item a month; an abstract of a paper either accepted or published in one of the Leonardo journals or a related news that deal with nano and art. NanoWiki is a digital online publication, developed in the frame of NanoAracat, to track the evolution of paradigms and discoveries in nanoscience and nanotechnology field, annotate and disseminate them, giving an overall view and feed the essential public debate on nanotechnology and its practical applications.
This is the first post resulting from this cooperation of Leonardo with NanoWiki, send by [[Roger Malina|http://www.leonardo.info/rolodex/malina.roger.html]] from a call of [[Victoria Vesna|http://vv.arts.ucla.edu/biography/]] and edited by NanoWiki team: ''[[SciArt NanoLab]]''
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Reports using nanotechnology to deliver antineoplastic agents are constantly appearing showing the potential of improving primary effects and decrease secondary ones. Recently, researches at the MIT Targeted delivery of [[cisplatin|Enhancement of In Vivo Anticancer Effects of Cisplatin]] to prostate cancer cells by aptamer functionalized Pt(IV) prodrug-PLGA–PEG nanoparticles
Source: [[Targeted Nanoparticles Boost Platinum-Based Anticancer Therapy|http://nano.cancer.gov/news_center/2008/nov/nanotech_news_2008-11-20b.asp]]. This work is detailed in the paper [[Targeted delivery of cisplatin to prostate cancer cells by aptamer functionalized Pt(IV) prodrug-PLGA–PEG nanoparticles|http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1073/pnas.0809154105]] by Shanta Dhar, Frank X. Gu, Robert Langer, Omid C. Farokhzad, and Stephen J. Lippard
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Some of the products labelled Nano pretend to have some component designed at the nanometric scale. Some of them have actual nanoparticles other agglomerates other just the name, as the ipod nano or the recent commercialization of the ~TataNano, announced as the cheapest car in the world, built from glued recycled plastic. Nano sounds nice. In fact, technology gets introduced into social networks and therefore the associated applications are a mix of social and technological forces. If society embraces and finds uses of a technology then it survives, if it does not, then no matter how good the technology is, it will die. Nowadays, a major environmental, medical or safety problem -real or not- with a product or application that is labelled "nanotechnology" whether it actually is NanoTechnology or not - could dampen public confidence and investment in nanotechnology, and could even lead to unwise regulation. This remember when at the end of the 18th century, when Oersted and Amper set the bases for the canalization of electrons which allowed to light up the cities with electricity in a matter of only 30 years. At that time people was convinced that electricity will wake up the dead and consequently Mary Shelly wrote her wonderful Frankenstein in 1818. So you may hear these days that someone promise immortality (or total annihilation) through nanotechnology, and so on, but as with the electricity, it is still science fiction that a lighting give live to a corps.
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Just how innovative Colombia’s nanoscientists are is illustrated by Dr Jorge Reynols’ announcement of the new 10 nm long Puente AV nano-pacemaker. This device was finalised on 19 August 2011 and could be implanted in humans in 3 years time after thorough medical testing. The inventor of the first external pacemaker in the world - implanted in a priest in 1958 - proudly presented this nano-pacemaker in his lecture during the conference “Challenges and opportunities from engineering for the future of Colombia”, 23-24 August at the National University of Colombia (UNAL), Bogota. Source: From ''[[Colombian nano-innovation conquers the world|http://www.nanoforum.org/nf06~modul~showmore~folder~99999~scc~news~scid~4242~.html?action=longview]]''
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/first_pacemaker.jpg" title="The first pacemaker" class="photo" width="45%"/></html>Keeping in mind that heart illnesses are the main cause of death in our societies, it is obvious that the pacemaker in the daily life of patients has prolonged the life of more than 50 million people and will prolong the life of so many others that it is impossible to forecast. An invention that is already considered one of the 100 inventions most significant in history worldwide, and the first pacemaker to be kept in a museum – in the Museum of National Academy of Medicine. This was the first step which will soon result in the design of the first nano pacemaker, the first in the world which is being developed by Reynolds and an interdisciplinary team, a pacemaker so minute that it will be practically invisible, one fourth of a grain of rice – a devise that will offer physicians the possibility of monitoring the functioning of the patient’s heart through a cell phone or the internet. Source: From [[Innovators 2011: Jorge Reynolds|http://innovadoresdeamerica.org/app/en/participant.aspx?id=12]]
This new system of regulation of heart rate, designed by engineer George Reynolds, of the Foundation Shaio represents one of the greatest advances in the country in nanotechnology. This is an international project led by the Bogotá that works with research centers in China, Japan, England and USA.
Since Reynolds designed the first external pacemaker with electrodes connected to the heart in 1958, this electrical engineer and his team have developed new proposals that will enable patients to improve their quality of life with heart problems.
"Of that 1.50 meters external device charged car batteries, used in Colombia for the first time six months after its creation, there are only memories," said Reynolds at its conference in Bogota. Since then, the pacemaker has evolved to acquire smaller sizes compared with the initial creation, so much so that through nanotechnology, the design engineer has a mechanism of just 10 nanometers in size, able to regulate the heartbeat.
"Thanks to this discipline, we can manipulate molecules, atoms, elements nanometer (one billionth of a meter), we created a series of circuits that generate pulses on the heart and uses electrical power generated by the atrium of the same body to recharge. The device, which can be implanted through a heart made of modeling and for understanding its operation at these scales, amplifies that energy and generates pulses in the ventricle, "said the scientist. Source: From [[Create pacemaker only 10 nanometers|http://www.agenciadenoticias.unal.edu.co/nc/detalle/article/crean-marcapasos-de-solo-10-nanometros.html]]
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Just a few decades ago, scientists believed that all ordered matter consists of self–repeating building blocks - atoms, ions or molecules. In this view, the ordinary solids of everyday life are arranged in crystals of repeating, three–dimensional patterns. Scientists challenged this once-believed universal law of nature when they discovered an “impossible” material whose existence could not be explained by periodic arrangement of atoms. These materials, later named [[quasicrystals|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasicrystal]], follow different, mathematically strict yet non–repeating patterns. Since then, quasicrystals have been discovered in approximately 100 synthetic intermetallic compounds and, in 2009, in a geological specimen. But questions remained. How and why do they form, are they stable, and what is their precise atomic structure?
[<img[These images show various magnified views of quasicrystals self-assembled from spherical nanoparticles. The scale bars are in nanometers. A DNA molecule measures approximately two nanometers in diameter (Dmitri Talapin, University of Chicago)|http://news.uchicago.edu/images/assets/091030.crystals.jpg]] Now the University of Chicago’s [[Dmitri Talapin|http://chemistry.uchicago.edu/fac/talapin.shtml]] and his colleagues have ''created quasicrystals out of self–assembling nanoparticles for the first time''. Self–assembly techniques harness nature’s own tendencies to develop novel materials. The techniques also promise to reveal new details of quasicrystals’ atomic structure in a way that elude even the most powerful microscopy techniques.
The ~UChicago–Argonne–Penn team synthesized spherical nanoparticles of several different materials and coaxed them to self–assemble into quasicrystals. “We figured out the fundamental rules of what governs the self–assembly of quasicrystals,” Talapin said. “Nature forces these random spheres to pack together into really complex, three–dimensional patterns.” Because quasicrystals are rare, scientists have not yet fully explored their properties. However, existing experimental and theoretical studies point to the possibilities of achieving unprecedented mechanical, optical and electronic properties.
This exploration would greatly benefit from a better understanding of fundamental rules governing the formation of quasicrystals, said Talapin. Their study continues to give scientists a new appreciation for the complexity and beauty of solids, which form the basis of modern life and technology. “Crystals are the key materials for a huge list of applications. We rely on crystals in our computers, in our watches, in cars, on streets, everywhere. What new opportunities can quasicrystals bring to us?”
Source: From [[Scientists witness nature's complexity unfold in self-assembling quasicrystals|http://news.uchicago.edu/news.php?asset_id=1759]]. This work is detailed in the paper [[Quasicrystalline order in self-assembled binary nanoparticle superlattices|http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v461/n7266/abs/nature08439.html]] by Dmitri V. Talapin, [[Elena V. Shevchenko|http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2009/news090821.html]], [[Maryna I. Bodnarchuk|http://talapinlab.uchicago.edu/CV_Bodnarchuk.pdf]], [[Xingchen Ye, Jun Chen|http://cbmurray.chem.upenn.edu/people.html]] and [[Christopher B. Murray|http://cbmurray.chem.upenn.edu/drmurray.html]]
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The platform „Swiss Nano-Cube“ was awarded a „Best of 2012“ certificate in the category "e-learning" within the Innovation Prize IT 2012. The project has particularly convinced the jury and thus belongs to the top among 2´500 participating projects.
//„Best of 2012“ Award for a European Pioneer Project in E-Learning//
''The web platform [[„Swiss Nano-Cube“|www.swissnanocube.ch]] is an interactive knowledge and education gateway for micro and nanotechnology for the application in vocational and grammar school''. The Innovation Society, St.Gallen with the support of several Swiss Federal Offices (OPET, FOEN, FOAG) has launched the project in 2009 together with the Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (SFIVET) and partners from industry. The goal of Swiss Nano-Cube is to awaken interest for technological and natural scientific topics among youth, thus imparting knowledge about practice-relevant knowledge of nanotechnology for apprentices. Although being a key technology with a huge potential and diverse application opportunities, teaching material and education and formation offers for nanotechnology are scarce. Many teachers have not dealt with nanotechnology in their education. Here, Swiss Nano-Cube as European pioneer project bridges a gap and creates great benefits for education and formation.
//Nano-Knowledge: Exciting, Playful and Fascinating//
Swiss Nano-Cube addresses to youth and young professionals. The layout of the gateway as well as the constituent elements are especially designed for a young audience. This is complemented by exciting learning arrangements, like for example the interactive game ''[[“Nanorama Loft”|http://www.swissnanocube.ch/nanorama/?L=3]]''. In a virtual loft diverse nano products from everyday life have to be found and the player has to answer quiz questions. The ''[[“NanoTeachBox”|http://www.swissnanocube.ch/en/nanoteachbox/]]'' contains didactical teaching and learning materials, ready-to-use, as well as videos, presentations and much more information to be used in school lessons. Teaching and learning material e. g. for nano chemistry, occupational health and nanosilver is available and can be directly applied to lessons. Furthermore, “Swiss Nano-Cube” offers diversified background information on several aspects of nanotechnology drawing a bow from basic effects in the nano world, over economic, social and technological issues to practice-relevant information for work routine. All materials can be downloaded and used for free. Concomitantly, “Swiss Nano-Cube” periodically offers “TeachNano” upgrade training courses for teachers.
//Combining "Virtual" and "Real" Communication Tools//
The "Best-of-2012" award is an important milestone for the Swiss Nano-Cube project and all the involved partners. At the same time the award is also ''a stimulus for further developments and the combination of new communication tools''. The Innovation Society has recently developed the ''[[“SimplyNano 1”|http://www.simplyscience.ch/Home/Mach-mit/Tipps/Experimente-Tipp-SimplyNano-1-Experimentierkoffer.aspx]]'' nanotechnology experiment kit for secondary school level for the SimplyScience foundation. It contains some exciting experiments from the world of nanotechnology. The "physical" kit can be combined with the "virtual" e-learning-platform, in order to address the target-audience. Thus, making use of digital media to teach "hard-fact-science" in a new way sparking enthusiasm for science and technology. Source: From ''[[Swiss Nano-Cube Project Wins „Best of 2012“ Award|http://www.innovationsgesellschaft.ch/index.php?section=news&cmd=details&newsid=603&teaserId=4&setLang=2]]''.
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/simplynano.jpg" title="The SimplyNano 1 experiment kit contains 8 exciting experiments from the world of nanotechnologies and is dedicated to students from secondary schools (7th to 10th school year). The kit has been developed by The Innovation Society on behalf of the Simply Science Foundation." class="photo" width="100%"/></html>
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Our cognitive systems have developed using our senses and a certain scale of things that our system is able to interact with. We have immense difficulty imagining the world at very difference scales (time or space) and we tend to transpose the experience of daily life inappropriately to the nano scale. At the nano scale the ratio between gravity and other forces (electrical charge for instances) is different and objects can "go up hill" if the electrical forces dominate. Atoms do not have surfaces in spite of the usual way of representing them, and relative motion is constant.
''Artists have been developing projects that help us "imagine" the world and its phenomena at nano scales''.
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Artists [[Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignoneau|http://www.interface.ufg.ac.at/christa-laurent/]] developed in 2001 an installation called "Nano-Scape" for the public exhibition "Science + Fiction" at the Sprengelmuseum in Hannover. The aim of [["Nano-Scape"|http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1178507]] is to let visitors intuitively experience aspects of nanotechnology by interacting with invisible self-organizing atoms through a magnetic force feedback interface.
It emphasises how touch and manipulating objects is an intrinsic building block that allows us to imagine the world.
Another approach is taken more recently by artist [[Patrick Millard|http://www.patrickmillard.com]] in his simulation work NanoResponse web.
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NanoResponse [excerpt]
Nanobots may help us ward off diseases, enhance our memories, reduce signs of aging, increase physical dexterity and perform a wide range of other tasks. NanoResponse incorporates the sound from Generative Behaviors. These are musical compositions composed by the computer that are ever-changing and require no assistance from the human creator once fundamental elements are set and the system begins to extrapolate them. The graphic element of the work involves a responsive nanobot. By "listening" to and interpolating the audio levels of Generative Behaviors the nanobot limits and expands its range as instructed by the audio output. The response given to the audio replicates the behavior a Microbivore [nanobot white blood cells] would perform in your body when you become ill. Likewise, a Respirocyte [nanobot red blood cells] can aid in the transportation of oxygen and carbon dioxide throughout the body. If, for instance, you suffer from carbon monoxide poisoning in a fire, Respirocytes would release into your blood stream to jump-start your system.
The artists that travelled on the voyages of geographical discovery were essential to building the cultural imaginary that drove human exploration around the planet; the exploration of space built upon the artists and writers scenarios from Jules Verne to Stanley Kubrick. Artists need to be on the journeys to the nano scale if we really want to integrate nano into human culture. Via [[Leonardo/ISAST cooperation with NanoWiki|Nano and art: Leonardo/ISAST cooperation with NanoWiki]]
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created art>><<matchTags popup sort:-created video>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[Roger Malina]]>>
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With potential adverse health and environmental effects often in the news about nanotechnology, scientists in Arkansas are reporting that carbon nanotubes (~CNTs) could have beneficial effects in agriculture. Their studyfound that tomato seeds exposed to ~CNTs germinated faster and grew into larger, heavier seedlings than other seeds. That growth-enhancing effect could be a boon for biomass production for plant-based biofuels and other agricultural products, they suggest.
Mariya Khodakovskaya, Alexandru Biris, and colleagues note that considerable scientific research is underway to use nanoparticles — wisps 1/50,000th the width of a human hair — in agriculture. ''The goals of "nano-agriculture" include improving the productivity of plants for food, fuel, and other uses''.
The scientists report the ''first evidence that ~CNTs penetrate the hard outer coating of seeds, and have beneficial effects''. Nanotube-exposed seeds sprouted up to two times faster than control seeds and the seedlings weighed more than twice as much as the untreated plants. Those effects may occur because nanotubes penetrate the seed coat and boost water uptake, the researchers state. "This observed positive effect of ~CNTs on the seed germination could have significant economic importance for agriculture, horticulture, and the energy sector, such as for production of biofuels," they add. Source: From ''[[Advance in 'nano-agriculture': Tiny stuff has huge effect on plant growth|http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/acs-ai102109.php]]''. This work is detailed in the paper [[Carbon Nanotubes Are Able To Penetrate Plant Seed Coat and Dramatically Affect Seed Germination and Plant Growth|http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/full/10.1021/nn900887m]] by [[Mariya Khodakovskaya|http://ualr.edu/www/2009/05/06/space-tomato-project-offers-potential-for-drought-disease-resistance/]], Enkeleda Dervishi, Meena Mahmood, [[Yang Xu|http://nanotechnologycenter.ualr.edu/?page_id=64]], [[Zhongrui Li|http://nanotechnologycenter.ualr.edu/?page_id=63]], [[Fumiya Watanabe|http://nanotechnologycenter.ualr.edu/?page_id=61]] and [[Alexandru S. Biris|http://nanotechnologycenter.ualr.edu/?page_id=60]]
Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created food "food "news list by date, most recent first" "-modified">><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[carbon nanotubes]]>>
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="http://www.uni-muenster.de/Rektorat/upm2/foto/upm-en13699-0.jpeg" title="Münster scientists have shown that so-called nano-containers – shown here – can be guided by light alone. Foto: WWU - Devaux" alt="Nano-containers – shown here – can be guided by light alone" class="photo"/></html> Münster University ''study on the arrangement of nano-containers is among the best pieces of work done in 2010 in the fields of optics and photonics.'' A few months ago Münster scientists showed that certain molecules – so-called nano-containers – can be guided by light alone. This study has now been singled out for special praise – according to the journal Optics and Photonics News it is among the 30 best pieces of work done in 2010. In a special issue published at the end of the year the journal – an international opinion-former – traditionally looks back on the research highlights of the past year in the fields of optics and photonics. The Münster study, which involved scientists working with [[Prof. Cornelia Denz|http://www.uni-muenster.de/Physik.AP/Denz/]] (physics) and [[Prof. Luisa De Cola|http://www.uni-muenster.de/Physik.PI/DeCola/research.html]] (chemistry), even made it on to the front page of the special issue, which was a particular honour.
"We're delighted that the hierarchical arrangement of molecules by means of light has received such a good reception by the research community," says physicist [[Mike Wördemann|http://www.uni-muenster.de/Physik.AP/Denz/Organisation/mike_woerdemann.html]], who played a key role in the study. "This interdisciplinary work was only possible as a result of the first-class collaboration between physicists and chemists." The study was carried out jointly with Münster University's [[Centre for Nonlinear Science|http://www.uni-muenster.de/CeNoS/index.php?id=&L=1]] as part of the first German-Chinese Transregio Collaborative Research Centre ([[TRR 61|http://www.uni-muenster.de/TRR61/en/opening.html]]) of the German Research Foundation.
''The team of scientists has developed a new type of method to arrange miniscule nano-containers which are able to transport a wide variety of "guest molecules" such as medicines or other active ingredients in cavities inside themselves. It is not even necessary to touch the nano-containers – they are guided solely – as if by magic – by means of light from a non-visible, infrared high-performance laser.'' In this way completely new possibilities are created for the extremely precise control of artificial, nano-structured materials. For medical applications, for example, filling a container (whether a medicine or an active ingredient) could be precisely positioned and the effect likewise precisely controlled.
Inspired by the universal principles of self-organization in nature, the scientists arranged the containers – which themselves contained highly ordered "guest molecules" – in an ordered structure and thus created a so-called hierarchical, supermolecular arrangement. This method, developed by close collaboration between physicists and chemists, has made it possible for the first time to steer each individual nano-container directly and arrange them on the nanometer scale with the greatest possible precision.
One special quality the containers have is their internal structure with innumerable, strictly arranged cavities which can be filled with a wide variety of "guest molecules". This high degree of order on the nanometer scale can, in itself, lead to fascinating new properties in the materials produced which cannot be realized with the "guest molecules" alone, say the scientists. Source: ''[[Moved by light - as if by magic|http://www.uni-muenster.de/en/exec/upm.php?rubrik=Alle&neu=1&monat=201012&nummer=13699]]''. This work was detailed in the paper ''[[“Managing Hierarchical Supramolecular Organization with Holographic Tweezers”|http://www.opticsinfobase.org/OPN/abstract.cfm?uri=OPN-21-12-40]]'' by M. Woerdemann, [[A. Devaux|http://www.uni-muenster.de/Physik.PI/DeCola/andre.html]], L. De Cola, and C. Denz <<slider chkSldr [[Managing Hierarchical Supramolecular Organization with Holographic Tweezers]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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''Context:'' "Holographic optical tweezers were invented by [[Eric Dufresne|http://www.eng.yale.edu/softmatter/]] and [[David Grier|http://www.physics.nyu.edu/grierlab/home.html]] at The University of Chicago in 1997. The original reference to the technique is [[“Optical tweezer arrays and optical substrates created with diffractive optical elements”|http://rsi.aip.org/resource/1/rsinak/v69/i5/p1974_s1?isAuthorized=no]]". Source: From [[Holographic Optical Trapping|http://www.physics.nyu.edu/grierlab/hot.html]]
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Microscopic magnetic particles have been used to bring stem cells to sites of cardiovascular injury in a new method designed to increase the capacity of cells to repair damaged tissue. Although magnetic fields have been used to guide cellular therapies, ''this is the first time cells have been targeted using a method directly applicable to clinical practice''. The technique uses an FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) approved agent that is already used to monitor cells in humans using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).
Dr Mark Lythgoe, [[UCL Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging|http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cabi/]], the senior author of the study, said: “Because the material we used in this method is already FDA approved we could see this technology being applied in human clinical trials within three to five years. It’s feasible that heart attacks and other vascular injuries could eventually be treated using regular injections of magnetised stem cells. The technology could be adapted to localise cells in other organs and provide a useful tool for the systemic injection of all manner of cell therapies. And it’s not just limited to cells – by focusing tagged antibodies or viruses using this method, cancerous tumours could be much more specifically targeted.”
Panagiotis Kyrtatos, also from the UCL Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging and lead researcher of the study, added: “This research tackles one of the most critical challenges in the biomedical sciences today: ensuring the effective delivery and retention of cellular therapies to specific targets within the body. Cell therapies could greatly benefit from nano-magnetic techniques which concentrate cells where they are needed most. The nano-magnets not only assist with the targeting, but with the aid of MRI also allow us to observe how the cells behave once they’re injected.”
John Martin, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at UCL, is another of the paper's co-authors. He commented: "UCL is already leading clinical trials in stem cells in repairing the damaged heart. This paper describes how a second generation of improved cells might be targeted to damaged areas. Research such as this directly informs the future design of clinical trials. It is a great reminder that clinical research must be informed by basic research and that results from scientific laboratories can be highly relevant to clinical medicine, and to patients." Source: From [[Nano-magnets guide stem cells to damaged tissue|http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0908/09081701]]. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Magnetic Tagging Increases Delivery of Circulating Progenitors in Vascular Injury|http://interventions.onlinejacc.org/cgi/content/abstract/2/8/794?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Mark+Lythgoe&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT]]'' by Panagiotis G. Kyrtatos, Pauliina Lehtolainen, Manfred ~Junemann-Ramirez, Ana ~Garcia-Prieto, Anthony N. Price, John F. Martin, David G. Gadian, Quentin A. Pankhurst, Mark F. Lythgoe.
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^^via Arnau, [[Victor Puntes|Victor Puntes]]^^
MRC-funded scientists led by [[Dr Josef Kittler|http://ucl.ac.uk/npp/jk.html]] ([[UCL Neuroscience|http://www.ucl.ac.uk/neuroscience/Page.php]]) have ''identified how nano-sized motors in nerve cells help to regulate the balance of communication in the brain.''
The findings may also help to explain why communication between nerve cells is disrupted in [[Huntington’s disease|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntington%E2%80%99s_disease]], leading to altered electrical behaviour of nerve cells in this disease.
Nerve cells send signals to each other by releasing chemicals at specialized junctions between the cells called synapses. One key neurotransmitter, called GABA, acts on special proteins (GABA receptors) to generate inhibition, which stops the brain from becoming too excitable. In a paper, Dr Kittler reveals how a protein named HAP1, working together with molecular motor proteins, helps to guide the GABA receptors to the synapses.
Alison Twelvetrees (UCL Neuroscience) first author on the study, said: “This work advances our understanding of how the GABA receptor proteins are delivered to synapses to control the level of inhibition in the brain. ''We show that the receptors are transported to synapses by small nanometer-sized motors, on intracellular protein tracks called microtubules''”.
In the inherited neurological disorder Huntington’s disease, a mutation in the gene for the protein huntingtin leads to the production of a mutant huntingtin protein. This can disrupt several aspects of normal nerve cell function, including the function of the synapses. This altered function of synapses is likely to be an important contributor to the progression of the disorder.
Lead author Dr Josef Kittler said: “Our work shows how the transport of the GABA receptors to synapses is disrupted by the protein that is mutated in Huntington’s disease, and adds another piece to the complex puzzle of how synaptic communication in the brain gets disrupted in this disorder”.
The research is a good example of how understanding the way that tiny, but crucial, cell components such as synapses function contributes to understanding problems that affect whole body systems. Source: [[Nano-motors facilitate communication between brain cells|http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/from-neuroscience/10012001]]. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Delivery of GABAARs to Synapses Is Mediated by HAP1-KIF5 and Disrupted by Mutant Huntingtin|http://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273%2809%2900997-0]]'' by Alison E. Twelvetrees, Eunice Y. Yuen, I. Lorena Arancibia-Carcamo, Andrew F. MacAskill, Philippe Rostaing, Michael J. Lumb, Sandrine Humbert, Antoine Triller, Frederic Saudou, Zhen Yan, Josef T. Kittler.
Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created [[nano before nanotech]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomedicine>>
''A systematic framework is proposed for unifying and defining nanoscience''. This systematic framework is based on the same "first principles" initiated by Lavoisier, Dalton, Mendeleev and others that lead to a "periodic system and central paradigm" for traditional elemental atom and small molecule chemistry.
This proposed concept must be viewed as a nano-periodic system with many defining dimensions. This new complexity will undoubtedly require more than a single nano-periodic table to capture such a broad range of designable features and information. The daunting challenge will be to consolidate these emerging nano-periodic property patterns into major trends and areas much as pre-Mendeleev scientists did in the 19th century with the expectation that this effort will crystallize into a grand perspective and system of understanding. Accomplishing this objective will provide a powerful means for predicting new nano-properties/behavior as well as an effective system for anticipating new nano-materials yet to be discovered, while defining important and critical risk/benefit boundaries in the field of nanoscience.
From ''[[In Quest of a Systematic Framework for Unifying and Defining Nanoscience|http://www.nseresearch.org/2009/overviews/Day1_Tomalia.pdf]]'' by [[Donald A. Tomalia|http://www.news.cmich.edu/experts/2007/09/donald-tomalia/]], director of the National Dendrimer & Nanotechnology Center at Central Michigan University, 2009. This work is detailed in the paper [[In Quest of a Systematic Framework for Unifying and Defining Nanoscience|http://www.springerlink.com/content/j70t106u875x2g37/]]
''Context:'' //Donald Tomalia commenting on this post "describing our efforts to develop a "nano-periodic system" around hard and soft categories of well defined building blocks (i.e., nano-element categories)", notes that "[[V. Percec|http://perceco2.chem.upenn.edu/~percec/index.html]] has recently published a paper in [[J. Am. Chem. Soc., 131, 17500 (2009)|http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19904947?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum&ordinalpos=31]] which ''fulfills our prediction of "nano-periodic property patterns"'' based on conserved Critical Nanoscale Design Parameters(CNDP) such as: size, shape, surface chemistry, flexibility and architecture."//
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Nano Science and Technology deal with phenomena at the sub micron and atomic scale (see [[The Opensource Handbook of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology|http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/The_Opensource_Handbook_of_Nanoscience_and_Nanotechnology]]). Material and phenomena at these scales are not visible to the human eye, and indeed at these scales interference between light waves can create various kinds interesting structures when converted to images the eye can see directly. May ways of probing matter at these scales use other approaches, there are more than 20 different techniques ([[Seeing Nano|http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Nanotechnology/Seeing_Nano]]) from Microscopy to Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Inevitably the data from these instruments is converted to visual displays to allow humans to interpret using visual cognition as a tool; but there is no such thing as a correct translation of the data from a field effect microscope to a visual image. But the question “but what does it look like?” is unavoidable.
For the past 7 years the US National Science Foundation and Science Magazine have run an international competition to visualize scientific data, principles and findings: [[International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge|http://www.sciencemag.org/special/vis2009/]]. Categories included Illustration, Interactive Media, Non Interactive Media, Information Graphics and Photography.
First place winners in the 2009 Illustration category included a large sculpture, Branching Morphogenesis, by architect Jenny E Sabin and biologist peter Lloyd Jones of the University of Pennsylvania. It is a project of the [[Sabin+Jones Lanb|http://www.sabin-jones.com/]] that develops projects to depict large complex data sets in new ways. They emphasise that they are ‘depicting’ not visualizing and that the purpose is to encourage new ways of thinking. In the case of Branching Morphogenesis they have depicted the forces that lung cells exert as they form capillaries. Viewers can walk through the depiction and touch and distort it with their hands.
Their work is also featured in the [[SIGGRAPH Bio Logic exhibition and panels|http://www.siggraph.org/s2009/galleries_experiences/generative_fabrication/]] co-sponsored by Leonardo organization. Many of the works display very different visual styles than those usually associated with scientific visualization, and take the nano to the macro scale.
This kind of work is an example of how artists can help us create new intuitions and even ontologies at the nano scale. Human cognition is shaped by the plastic development of the brain during infancy and childhood and results of complex interactions between the experiences we have and the data that is transmitted by our senses. We have no experience at the nano scale and therefore our brains are unable to interpret nano phenomena except by imposing the way our brain has learned to structure the world at our human scale. There is no single, or correct, way of converting nano sensory data to perception to cognition to understanding or experience. The question “but what does it look like” is a complex one that artists can help us unpack. Via [[Leonardo/ISAST cooperation with NanoWiki|Nano and art: Leonardo/ISAST cooperation with NanoWiki]]
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created art>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[Roger Malina]]>>}}}
[[Nano: The Next dimension|http://www.athenaweb.org/films-library/summary/nano:-the-next-dimension-1000038.html]] by Pierre Oscar Levy. Produced by European Commission Directorate General Research. 2002. When we look at our planet on this new scale, a scale of a billionth of a metre, a nanometre, it suddenly takes on enormous proportions. This is the revolution brought about by the nanosciences and nanotechnologies.
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''NanoArt 2011 INTERNATIONAL ONLINE COMPETITION. The 5th Anniversary Edition''
FREE Entries - Open to All Artists and Scientists - Seed Images of 3 Nanosculptures are Provided for Further Artistic Creation
Submission deadline March 31, 2010
The worldwide competition NanoArt 2011 is open to all artists 18 years and older. The online exhibition will open for public in April, 2011. Winners will be notified and published online on May 31, 2011.
Jurors: Dr. Anatoli Korkin (PhD in Physics from Moscow Lomonosov State University) is Associate Research Professor at Arizona State University and President of Nano & Giga Solutions, a company that provides research and software development in the area of computational chemistry and materials design for nanotechnology applications and consulting and project management in nanotechnology education, science, and innovation; Hugh McGrory is an Irish filmmaker/photographer and a NanoArt pioneer who has built a strong reputation for innovation through experimentation. He was filmmaker in residence at the Toomre Lab's CINEMA microscopy department, Yale University School of Medicine for summer 2007, researching, collecting and creating moving images of the living cell and exploring the wider area of scientific imaging. He is now the Creative Director of Culture Shock Marketing in New York City.
For the 5th anniversary edition of this competition, nanoart21.org will provide 3 high resolution monochromatic electron scans of nanosculptures created by Cris Orfescu (www.crisorfescu.com and www.absolutearts.com/nanoart).The participating artists will have to alter the provided image(s) in any artistic way to finish the artistic-scientific process and create NanoArt work(s). The artists and scientists are strongly encouraged to participate with their own images as long as these visualize micro or nanostructures.
For more information, please visit the competition site at http://nanoart21.org/html/nanoart_2011.html or send e-mail to 2011@nanoart21.org
Cris Orfescu
Ph: (310) 397-2592
E-mail: criorf@verizon.net
Website: http://nanoart21.org
Blog: http://nanoart21.org/blog
Follow me on TWITTER @ http://twitter.com/nanoart
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''__[[SXM Project: An Open-Source Scanning Tunneling Microscope]]__'': For schools and undergraduate practical courses: build your own nano-instruments
''__[[NanoSense: the basic sense behind nanoscience]]__'': Address the question of how to teach nanoscale science at the high school level
''__[[NANOYOU (Nano for Youth)]]__'': To increase young people’s basic understanding of nanotechnologies and to engage in the dialogue about its ethical, legal and social aspects [video]
''__[[A Delicious New Solar Cell Technology]]__'': Researchers demonstrate a new solar cell technology: How To Make a Solar Cell with Donuts and Tea [video]
''__[[The Strange New World of Nanoscience]]__'': Where and what is nano? How will it shape our future? Cambridge University’s YouTube Channel [video]
''__[[Positioning single atoms with a scanning tunnelling microscope]]__'': 20th anniversary of the announcement [video]
''__[[Bringing Nano to the Public]]__'': Nanoscale science and tech are perfect topics for museum/researcher partnerships
''__[[SciArt NanoLab]]__'': Program for creative high school students who love both art and science [video]
''__[[DragonflyTV Nano]]__'': The first television science series to explore this challenging subject area [video]
''__[[C60: Buckminsterfullerene]]__'': New forms of the element carbon was discovered in 1985 [video]
''__[[A defining moment in nanoscience experimentation]]__'': 20th anniversary of moving atoms [video]
''__[[Richard Feynman and Nanotechnology]]__'': "We can arrange the atoms the way we want; the very atoms, all the way down! " [video]
''__[[Carbon nanotube electronics]]__'': The Stanford Nanoelectronics Group presents an student-created education short on nanotechnology and carbon nanotubes. Funded by NSF [video]
''__[[Visions of the future]]__'': Dr Michio Kaku explores the cutting edge science of today, tomorrow, and beyond. BBC [video]
''__[[Video Journey Into Nanotechnology]]__'': Unique approaches to diagnosis and treatment of cancer that could not even be imagined with conventional technology. The NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer [video]
''__[[Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. Between present science fiction and future technology|http://rsef.uc3m.es/images/documentos/Nanociencia.pdf]]__'' (Spanish): 2009, the European Year of Creativity and Innovation; speaking of nanoscience and nanotechnology is to talk about innovation. [[FECYT|http://www.fecyt.es/]]
''__[[Nano: The Next dimension]]__'': When we look at our planet on this new scale, a scale of a billionth of a metre, a nanometre, it suddenly takes on enormous proportions. [video]
''__[[Journal of Nano Education]]__'': Knowledge base in nanoscale science, technology, engineering and medical education. American Scientific Publishers
''__[[Introduction to Nanoscience]]__'': Overview of the field and illuminates some of the interesting questions being currently researched. Kavli Foundation. [video]
''__[[AccessNano|AccessNano: "children were asking to be taught about nanotechnology"]]__'': Accessible and innovative science and technology into secondary school classrooms. Australian Office of Nanotechnology
''__[[A new way to communicate nanoscience]]__'': 'To see what the scientists are doing at the moment'. Video diaries, available to view over the Internet with a forum facilitating discussion between the scientists and the public. nano2hybrids project. [video]
''__[[The Kitty Hawk of nanotechnology]]__'': A tour of the Scanning Tunneling Microscope lab that was the first ever to position individual atoms. [video]
''__[[NanoMission: Learning Nanotechnology through Games]]__'': To inspire youngsters about the world of nanotechnology, potentially opening their eyes to choosing it as a career. ~PlayGen
''__[[Nanotechnology can be child's play|nanotechnology can be child's play]]__'': How young people can observe, test and investigate nanotechnology at home or in a classroom without any expensive equipment. [video]
''__[[Unique models help teach nanoscience to the blind|unique models help teach nanoscience to the blind]]__'': The fact is, we're all blind at the nanoscale.
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The Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions Library has recently launched the NanoEthicsBank, a resource for researchers, scholars, students, and the general public who are interested in the social and ethical implications of nanotechnology.
http://hum.iit.edu/NanoEthicsBank/intro/intro.html
Source: [[CSEP Library Launches NanoEthicsBank « Paul V. Galvin Library|http://galvinlibrary.wordpress.com/2007/05/14/nanoethicsbank-launched/]]
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~NanoFeeds sources: //[[ACS Nanotation|http://www.acsnanotation.org/]], [[EurekAlert!|http://www.eurekalert.org/]], [[International Council on Nanotechnology|http://icon.rice.edu/]], [[Nanoforum.org|http://www.nanoforum.org/]], [[Nanowerk Nanotechnology Spotlight|http://www.nanowerk.com/]], [[PHYSorg.com: Nanotechnology News|http://physorg.com]]//
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~NanoFeedsBiz sources: //[[AZoNano.com|http://www.azonano.com/]], [[NanoTechNews|http://nanotechnews.wordpress.com/]], [[nanotechweb.org|http://nanotechweb.org/]], [[Small Times Wire News|http://www.smalltimes.com/]]//
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~NanoFeedsCulture sources: //[[Metamodern|http://metamodern.com/]], [[nanoarchitecture.net|http://nanoarchitecture.net/]], [[Nanodot|http://www.foresight.org/nanodot/]], [[Responsible Nanotechnology|http://crnano.typepad.com/]]//
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~NanoFeedsEducational sources: //[[nano2hybrids|http://www.nano2hybrids.net/]], [[NISE Network|http://www.nisenet.org/]]//
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Australia has no formal national nanotechnology initiative, though a series of national networks and programs have been established to bring together relevant research.
There is significant government investment in Australian nanotechnology research from the [[Australian Research Council|http://www.ausnano.net/content/about]] and the [[Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization|http://www.csiro.au/]] as well as funding from state governments. Over 50 Australian companies claim to be working in 'nanotechnology'.
The NanoHouse Initiative, conceived in 2002 by Dr Carl Masens at the Institute for Nanoscale Technology and visualised and implemented by architect James Muir, has proven a successful method of explaining what nanotechnologies are and how they work. Why a House? Shelter is a basic need. Every one understands what a house is. In this context it is easy to see where nanotechnology will be used and how the new technology will impact upon our lives.
Source: [[Nanotechnology in Australia|http://www.nano.uts.edu.au/about/australia.html]]. See also [[The House that Nano Built|http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/buzz/stories/s820758.htm]]
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''To create Europe’s leading centre for nanomanufacturing research'' focussed on consumer and related products drawing upon [[the University of Leeds’ substantial science and engineering base in nanoscale science and process engineering|Biosensors Identify Disease using Nanotechnology]].
The NMi's target is to establish new research projects drawing on the University’s science that focuses on the issues of scale-up and manufacturability of nano-enabled products. To accomplish its goals, the NMi works closely with all of the academic departments within the University of Leeds and draws on the strengths of its core staff and the members of the various management committees. Source: [[University of Leeds : NMI|http://nmi.leeds.ac.uk/Default.aspx?Id=2]]
NanoManufacturing Institute
University of Leeds
The Houldsworth Building
Clarendon Road
Leeds LS2 9JT
United Kingdom
http://nmi.leeds.ac.uk/
"Whilst most young people are familiar with nanotechnology as a fantastic futuristic technology involving miniature robots, very few have a realistic understanding of nanotechnology, realise its impact on the world around them, or are genuinely stimulated about its possibilities. Coupled with declining numbers of physics, chemistry and engineering students, this is a major cause for concern.
Our aim is to inspire youngsters about the world of nanotechnology, potentially opening their eyes to choosing it as a career. Aimed at the gaming generations, ~NanoMission is an engaging learning experience which educates players about basic concepts in nanoscience through real world practical applications from microelectronics to drug delivery."
Source: [[NanoMission|http://nanomission.org]]
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In NanoTechnology, a sub-classification of ultrafine particle with lengths in two or three dimensions greater than 0.001 micrometer (1 NanoMeter) and smaller than about 0.1 micrometer (100 nanometers). [[More|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanoparticle]]
The NanoSense project addressed the question of how to teach nanoscale science at the high school level. Working closely with scientists and educators, the project created, tested, and disseminated [[4 curriculum units|http://nanosense.org/activities.html]] to help high school teachers and students understand nanoscale science. The project hosted [[workshops|http://nanosense.org/workshops.html]] to introduce teachers to the materials, and held working meetings with experts and practitioners to identify and clarify major concepts and learning goals for nanoscience education. NanoSense materials were developed by [[SRI International|http://www.sri.com/]], with support from the [[National Science Foundation|http://nsf.gov/]].
The goal of the NanoSense project is to promote the learning of science concepts that account for nanoscale phenomena. Though these concepts do not represent new scientific understanding, per se, the characteristics and properties of substances exhibited at the nanoscale level is a relatively new focus. We are working closely with chemists, educators, and nanoscientists to generate a set of nanoscience activities to help students visualize physical, chemical, and biological principles that govern the behavior of particles on the nanoscopic scale. These materials also build on previous efforts in our NSF-funded [[ChemSense|http://chemsense.sri.com/]] project.
The NanoSense project ended in December 2008, but the curriculum units remain freely available under a [[Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License|http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/]]. We hope the materials continue to be of use. Source: ''[[What is NanoSense?|http://nanosense.org/index.html]]''
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Nanotechnology and nanoscience is about controlling and understanding matter on the sub-micrometer and atomic scale. A <html><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology">NanoTechnology</a></html> definition in the Wikipedia and in the <html><a href="http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/The_Opensource_Handbook_of_Nanoscience_and_Nanotechnology"> Nanotechnology wikibook</a></html>
''Options: [[Recent tweets from nanowiki|http://twitter.com/nanowiki]] | [[List @nanowiki/nanotweet|http://twitter.com/#!/nanowiki/nanotweet]] | [[The nanotweet Daily|http://paper.li/nanowiki/nanotweet]] | <html><a href="http://rss2pdf.com/index.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapp.feeddigest.com%2Fdigest3%2FUOSP4OED8D.rss&src=rss&title=&img=0">Print NanoTweets shown below</href></html>''
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Researchers at Idaho National Laboratory, along with partners at Microcontinuum Inc. and Patrick Pinhero of the University of Missouri, are developing a novel way to collect energy from the sun with a technology that could potentially cost pennies a yard, be imprinted on flexible materials and still draw energy after the sun has set.
The new approach, which garnered two 2007 Nano50 awards, uses a special manufacturing process to stamp ''tiny square spirals of conducting metal onto a sheet of plastic''. Each interlocking spiral "NanoAntenna" is as wide as 1/25 the diameter of a human hair.
Because of their size, the nanoantennas absorb energy in the infrared part of the spectrum, just outside the range of what is visible to the eye. The sun radiates a lot of infrared energy, some of which is soaked up by the earth and later released as radiation for hours after sunset. ''Nanoantennas can take in energy from both sunlight and the earth's heat, with higher efficiency than conventional solar cells''.
"I think these antennas really have the potential to replace traditional solar panels," says physicist Steven Novack, who spoke about the technology in November at the National Nano Engineering Conference in Boston.
Source: [[Harvesting the sun's energy with antennas|http://www.inl.gov/featurestories/2007-12-17.shtml]]
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"[[John M. Johansen|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_M._Johansen]], now 85 years old, has been one of the preeminent architects in the United States for more than half a century. After studying under Walter Gropius (who became his father-in-law) at Harvard, he embarked on an extraordinary career marked by experimental domestic and public design. Since retiring from practice, Johansen has devoted himself to producing futuristic architecture that looks to the newest technologies science has to offer -- from nanotechnology to magnetic levitation to material science -- for its inspiration.
Nanoarchitecture presents eleven of Johansen's most inspired visions. A floating conference center, an apartment building that sprouts from the earth and grows on its own, and a levitating auditorium all demonstrate Johansen's capricious yet thought-provoking ideas. Taken together, they offer an antidote to much of today's form-driven practice.
The projects in Nanoarchitecture are presented through a series of idiosyncratic models, drawings, and computer animations suggesting what it would be like to inhabit these fantastic spaces. Nanoarchitecture is designed by the award-winning practice COMA."[Johansen] points toward the creation of a new vernacular, a new fabric of space and time in which modern experience can increase, expand, and deepen." - -Lebbeus Woods
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''A public debate on the merits of nanobiotechnology is urgently needed if people's fears about the emerging science are to be allayed'', ~EU-funded researchers recommend in a new report.
Nanobiotechnology has the power to drastically transform society, yet all too often the dialogue regarding this science has been dominated by fear, created by novels such as [[Prey, by Michael Crichton|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prey_(novel)]], and news headlines about a [['grey goo nightmare'|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_goo]].
Now a new report, written as part of the ~EU-funded [[NanoBio-RAISE project|http://nanobio-raise.org/]], concludes that the public needs to be engaged in order to calm such fears. The report was presented at the recent [[EuroBIO2008|http://www.eurobio2008.com/]] conference in Paris, France.
The ~NanoBio-RAISE project was funded by the EU under the Science and Society Activity area of the Sixth Framework Programme (~FP6) to the tune of EUR 553,845.
''The project combines science communication with ethics research in nanobiotechnology and aims to anticipate any societal and ethical issues that may arise''.
Over the course of a series of workshops, bioethicists from the US and Europe gathered information and investigated the impact of nanobiotechnology in the areas of food and medicine as well as the emerging field of human enhancement. A final workshop looked into methods of engaging the [[public|public opinion]] in an informed debate over specific issues.
With regard to the issue of human enhancement, the report discovered a divergent attitude between the US and the EU. In Europe, human enhancement focuses on regenerative medicine and neurodegenerative disease, while in the US, the interest is primarily military, focussing on creating 'bionic soldiers'. Debate in the US also revolves around the nature of the human condition and how we can enhance, rather than just repair, our physical and mental states.
''Current fears regarding nanobiotechnology seemed to be dominated by the issue of nanofood technology, commonly associated with genetically modified (GM) foods. Also dominating the discussion are certain ideas rooted in science fiction such as replicator vending machines. Nanomedicine is viewed in a much better light, with certain advancements being heralded as great achievements. These include improved diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of patients, particularly in areas such as cancer, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disease''.
On the basis of these findings, ~NanoBio-RAISE coordinator Dr David Bennett and his colleagues have called for a proactive response to reassure the public over the potential of nanobiotechnology.
'There is a consistent demand for more open discussion and public involvement in policy making relating to science and technology overall than has been afforded up to now. Nanobiotechnology is the latest and, in our opinion, one of the most pressing areas in which this demand must be met. We believe that the EU has a major role to play in working with the research community, industry and other stakeholders to initiate innovative and effective programmes and activities across the community,' he said.
Source: [[Nanobiotechnology: Involving the public|http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=29983]]
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Researchers have made a breakthrough in energy storage and power generation. The power generated relative to the energy source size is three to four times greater than what is currently possible with the best lithium-ion batteries.
While on sabbatical from RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) in 2009 and 2010, Associate Professor Dr [[Kourosh Kalantar Zadeh|http://www.rmit.edu.au/browse/About%20RMIT%2FContact%2FAll%20contacts%2FStaff%2Fby%20name%2FK%2F;ID=6ahpib5s7qsh1;STATUS=A]], from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, joined MIT Associate Professor ''[[Michael Strano|New area of energy research: Thermopower Waves]]'''s nanotechnology research group.
The team was working on measuring the acceleration of a chemical reaction along a nanotube when they discovered that the reaction generated power.
Now the two researchers are using their combined expertise in chemistry and nanomaterials to explore this phenomenon.
Their work titled ''[[Nanodynamite: Fuel-coated nanotubes could provide bursts of power to the smallest systems|http://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/nanotechnology/nanodynamite/0]]'' is in the December IEEE Spectrum Magazine, the publication of the IEEE, the world's largest professional technology association.
Associate Professor Kalantar-zadeh said that his experimental system, based on one of the materials that have come from nanotechnology — carbon nanotubes — generates power, something researchers had not seen before.
“By coating a nanotube in nitrocellulose fuel and igniting one end, we set off a combustion wave along it and learned that a nanotube is an excellent conductor of heat from burning fuel. Even better, the combustion wave creates a strong electric current,” he said.
“Our discovery that a thermopower wave works best across these tubes because of their dual conductivity turns conventional thermoelectricity on its head.
“''It's the first viable nanoscale approach to power generation that exploits the thermoelectric effect'' by overcoming the feasibility issues associated with minimising dimensions.
“But there are multiple angles to explore when it comes to taming these exotic waves and, ultimately, finding out if they're the wave of the future.” Source: From ''[[New power source discovered|http://www.rmit.edu.au/browse/News%20and%20Events%2FNewsroom%2FNews%2Fby%20date%2FFeb%2FThu%2009/]]''.
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A new energy storage device that easily could be mistaken for a simple sheet of black paper.
The nanoengineered battery is lightweight, ultra thin, completely flexible, and geared toward meeting the trickiest design and energy requirements of tomorrow’s gadgets, implantable medical equipment, and transportation vehicles.
Along with its ability to function in temperatures up to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and down to 100 below zero, the device is completely integrated and can be printed like paper. The device is also unique in that it can function as both a high-energy battery and a high-power supercapacitor, which are generally separate components in most electrical systems. Another key feature is the capability to use human blood or sweat to help power the battery.
Details of the project are outlined in the paper ''“Flexible Energy Storage Devices Based on Nanocomposite Paper”'' published Aug. 13, 2007 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Source: [[Beyond batteries: Storing power in a sheet of paper|http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-08/rpi-bbs080907.php]]
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"The broad area of research and development that can be accurately described under the umbrella term "nanotechnology" has undergone a breathtaking expansion since the inauguration of the National Nanotechnology Initiative nearly 10 years ago. With that expansion has come an enormous quantity and variety of data. Data about material properties, nanodevices, nanosystems, environmental, health and safety impacts, etc., continue to accumulate in various databases and information repositories. ''Understanding how best to organize, collate and increase the utility of these vast and diverse data sets is the goal of a new nanoinformatics project''." Source: From [[ICON blog: Nanoinformatics: Making sense out of nanotechnology information|http://iconnanoblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/nanoinformatics-making-sense-out-of.html]]
"Nanoinformatics is the science and practice of ''determining which information is relevant to the nanoscale science and engineering community, while developing and implementing effective mechanisms for collecting, validating, storing, sharing, analyzing, and applying that information''. Nanoinformatics also involves the utilization of networked communication tools to launch and support efficient communities of practice. Nanoinformatics is necessary for intelligent development and comparative characterization of nanomaterials, for design and use of optimized nanodevices and nanosystems, and for development of advanced instrumentation and manufacturing processes. Nanoinformatics also fosters efficient scientific discovery and learning through data mining and machine learning techniques." Source: From [[Nanoinformatics|http://nanotechinformatics.org/nanoinformatics/index.php/Main_Page]]
"Nanoinformatics 2010 is a collaborative roadmapping and workshop project at which informatics experts, nanotechnology researchers, and other stakeholders and potential contributors will jointly develop a roadmap for the area of nanoinformatics. Nanoinformatics 2010 is designed to survey the landscape, generate a roadmap, and stimulate collaborative activities in the area of nanoinformatics. By doing so, it will accelerate the responsible development and use of nanotechnology. Workshop themes include:
* Data Collection and Curation
* Tools for Innovation, Analysis, and Simulation
* Data Accessibility and Information Sharing
Nanoinformatics 2010 is open to all members of the nanoinformatics community and will be organized and governed by that community. ''The Nanoinformatics Roadmap is currently under development and is expected for release in early 2011''. Source: From [[Nanoinformatics 2010|http://nanotechinformatics.org/overview]].
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Presentation by [[Jean-Claude Bradley|http://www.infotoday.com/it/sep10/Poynder.shtml]], [[pioneer of Open Notebook Science|http://usefulchem.blogspot.com/]], on //"The implications of Open Notebook Science and other new forms of scientific communication for Nanoinformatics"// at the Nanoinformatics 2010 conference. "[[Open Notebook Science|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Notebook_Science]] ''is the practice of making the entire primary record of a research project publicly available online as it is recorded''. This involves placing the personal, or laboratory, notebook of the researcher online along with all raw and processed data, and any associated material, as this material is generated. The approach may be summed up by the slogan 'no insider information'. It is the logical extreme of transparent approaches to research and explicitly includes the making available of failed, less significant, and otherwise unpublished experiments; so called 'Dark Data'"
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//"A thumb drive using our memory could store a terabyte of information," says Michael Kozicki, director of ASU's Center for Applied Nanoionics, which developed the [[technology|http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/news/2007/10/ion_memory]]. "All the current limitations in portable electronic storage could go away. You could record video of every event in your life and store it."//
ASU’s Center for Applied Nanoionics (~CANi) has a new take on old memory, one that promises to boost the performance, capacity and battery life of consumer electronics from digital cameras to laptops. Best of all, it is cheap, made from common materials and compatible with just about anything currently on the market.
“In using readily available materials, we’ve provided a way for this memory to be made at essentially zero extra cost, because the materials you need are already used in the chips – all you have to do is mix them in a slightly different way,” says Michael Kozicki, director of ~CANi.
“We’ve developed a new type of old memory, but really it is the perfect memory for what’s going to be required in future generations,” Kozicki says. “It’s very low-energy. You can scale it down to the nanoscale. You can pack a lot of it into a small space.”
~CANi was also able to overcome the limitations of conventional electronics by using nanoionics, a technique for moving tiny bits of matter around on a chip. Instead of moving electrons among charged particles, called ions, as in traditional electronics, nanoionics moves the ions themselves.
“We’ve actually been able to move something the size of a virus between electrodes to switch them from a high resistance to a low resistance, which is great for memory,” Kozicki says.
Most memory today stores information as charge; in the binary language of computers, this means that an abundance of charge at a particular site on a chip translated as a “one,” and a lack of charge is translated as a “zero.” The problem with such memory is that the smaller its physical size, the less charge it can reliably store.
Resistance-based memory, on the other hand, does not suffer from this problem and can even store multiple bits on one site. Moreover, once the resistance is set, it does not change, even when the power is switched off.
The real advancement of CANi’s newest memory is that researchers discovered a way to use materials already common in chip manufacturing. Although “doping” – mixing silicon with small amounts of conductive materials such as boron, arsenic or phosphorus – has been common practice for years, copper in silicon dioxide was largely unheard of. In fact, it was strictly avoided.
“People have actually gone to great lengths to keep the silicon oxide and the copper apart,” Kozicki says. “But in our case, we are very interested in mixing the copper with the oxide – basically, so that it would become mobile and move around in the material.”
“Because it can move in there, we can make a sort of nanoscale switch,” he adds. “This very, very small switch can be used in memory applications, storing information via a range of resistance values.”
“What it means is we could replace all of the memory in all sorts of applications – from laptops to iPods to cell phones to whatever – with this one type of memory,” Kozicki says. “Because it is so low energy, we can pack a lot of memory and not drain battery power; and it’s not volatile – you can switch everything off and retain information. What makes this significant is that we are using materials that are already in use in the semiconductor industry to create a component that’s never been thought of before.”
Source: [[ASU researchers give memory a boost|http://asunews.asu.edu/20071023_nanotech]]
''The need for broader democratic control over the development and global regulation of new technologies is an even bigger priority for the 21st century than it was in the 20th.''
Nanotechnologies, which enable atomic scale construction, rearrangement and design of materials, have inspired Governments in the industrialised world to channel billions into national research programmes, usually without creating the regulatory institutions to monitor the health, social or environmental impacts.
//The Nanojury was meant as a contribution towards presenting a non-specialist perspective on these dilemmas, as well as being an opportunity for [[citizens|public opinion]] to have a voice on an issue that they had chosen.//
Source: [[Nanojury|http://www.nanojury.org.uk/intro.html]] (2005). See [[NanoJury gives its verdict|http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/23208]] and [[Report on UK NanoJury|http://nanohype.blogspot.com/2005/09/report-on-uk-nanojury.html]]
^^via [[Victor Puntes|Victor Puntes]]^^
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What is nanometric if I can not see it? How biologists, physicist and chemists agree? Which are (will be) the standards in nanotechnology?
Nanostrand Announces Nanostandards and Nanometrology Workshops
Do you wish to help identify the new measurement tools, technologies and standards required to support nanotechnology development and exploitation? If so you can participate in two expert workshops organised by Nanostrand, the European nanometrology and standards foresighting project .
Source: [[Nanostrand|http://www.nanostrand.net/]]
Nanostrand is supported by the European Commission Sixth Framework Programme Contract: ~NMP4-CT2006-033167
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"The heat is on for an online social networking community for nanoscientists. The International Nanoscience Community, TINC, was cooked up by Hungarian chemistry PhD student Andras Paszternak. It now provides a rich menu of communication tools for the international community of scientists working in the growing field of nanoscience and nanotechnology and recently passed the 5100 members mark.
The virtual nano community is fully equipped with all the functions one expects from a modern online networking site: personal chat, a scientific forum, more than 50 thematic groups, including microscopy, nanomedicine, and even a discussion forum on safety and toxicity. TINC is also a media partner for more than 45 nano conferences on ifferent topics in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/nanopaprika.jpg" title="Nanopaprika background" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>“The main idea was to create something more personal than the other nano networks already on the Internet,” says Paszternak. “I started off editing the existing nano website at my institution in Hungary but realized the site could be so much bigger, spreading like a tree and connecting nano scientists across the globe,” he adds.
“Registering the web address www.Nanopaprika.eu for TINC was my little joke adding Hungary’s favourite spice to the nano community." Source: [[About Nanopaprika.eu|http://www.nanopaprika.eu/page/about-us]]
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Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University researchers are the first to create a nanoparticle capable of detecting and imaging trace amounts of hydrogen peroxide in animals. The nanoparticles, thought to be completely nontoxic, could some day be used as a simple, all-purpose diagnostic tool to detect the earliest stages of any disease that involves chronic inflammation — everything from cancer and Alzheimer’s to heart disease and arthritis.
[<img[first to image hydrogen peroxide in animals|http://www.gatech.edu/upload/pr/tuj16061.jpg]] The nanoparticle polymer is made of peroxalate esters. A fluorescent dye (pentacene) is then encapsulated into the polymer. When the nano particles bump into hydrogen peroxide, they excite the dye, which then emits photons (or light) that can be detected
Source: [[Nanoparticle Could Help Detect Many Diseases Early|http://www.gatech.edu/news-room/release.php?id=1462]]
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The tendency of nanoparticles to clump together in solution—"agglomeration"—is of great interest because the size of the clusters plays an important role in the behavior of the materials. Toxicity, the persistence of the nanomaterials in the environment, their efficacy as biosensors and, for that matter, the accuracy of experiments to measure these factors, are all known to be affected by agglomeration and cluster size. Recent work at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) offers [[a way to measure accurately both the distribution of cluster sizes in a sample and the characteristic light absorption for each size|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn202645b]]. The latter is important for the application of nanoparticles in biosensors.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/cluster_nanoparticles.jpeg" title="Clusters of roughly 30-nanometer gold nanoparticles imaged by transmission electron microscopy. (Color added for clarity.) Credit: Keene, FDA" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>''A good example of the potential application of the work'', says NIST biomedical engineer Justin Zook, is in the development of ''nanoparticle biosensors for ultrasensitive pregnancy tests''. Gold nanoparticles can be coated with antibodies to a hormone (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) produced by an embryo shortly after conception. Multiple gold nanoparticles can bind to each hormone, forming clusters that have a different color from unclustered gold nanoparticles. But only certain size clusters are optimal for this measurement, so knowing how light absorbance changes with cluster size makes it easier to design the biosensors to result in just the right sized clusters.
The NIST team first prepared samples of gold nanoparticles—a nanomaterial widely used in biology—in a standard cell culture solution, using their previously developed [[technique for creating samples with a controlled distribution of sizes|http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/tech-beat/tb20110202.cfm#nanoparticles]]. The particles are allowed to agglomerate in gradually growing clusters and the clumping process is "turned off" after varying lengths of time by adding a stabilizing agent that prevents further agglomeration.
They then used a technique called analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) to simultaneously sort the clusters by size and measure their light absorption. The centrifuge causes the nanoparticle clusters to separate by size, the smaller, lighter clusters moving more slowly than the larger ones. While this is happening, the sample containers are repeatedly scanned with light and the amount of light passing through the sample for each color or frequency is recorded. The larger the cluster, the more light is absorbed by lower frequencies. Measuring the absorption by frequency across the sample containers allows the researchers both to watch the gradual separation of cluster sizes and to correlate absorbed frequencies with specific cluster sizes.
Most previous measurements of absorption spectra for solutions of nanoparticles were able only to measure the bulk spectra—the absorption of all the different cluster sizes mixed together. AUC makes it possible to measure the quantity and distribution of each nanoparticle cluster without being confounded by other components in complex biological mixtures, such as proteins. The technique previously had been used only to make these measurements for single nanoparticles in solution. The NIST researchers are the first to show that the procedure also works for nanoparticle clusters. Source: [[Improved Characterization of Nanoparticle Clusters for EHS and Biosensors Research|http://www.nist.gov/mml/biochemical/cluster-102511.cfm]]
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[[The quest to develop novel methods to combat drug-resistant and infectious diseases|Encapsulating antibiotics inside nanofibers against antibiotic-resistant infections]] such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), which continue to pose serious challenges to human health worldwide due to the inherent ability of the disease-causing microbes to develop antibiotic resistance, has been spurring innovative research into the medical applications of nanotechnology in recent years.
One of the most remarkable achievements in the rapidly growing field of nanomedicine has been the successful synthesis of the ''first biodegradable polymer-based nanoparticle capable of combating multidrug-resistant microbes'', which works by selectively targeting and tearing down bacterial cell walls and membranes. Designed by researchers at the A*STAR Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) and the IBM Almaden Research Center, the unique nanoparticle has been featured as one of Scientific American’s top ten world changing ideas.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-bottom:10px;" src="img/bacteria-killing_nanoparticle.jpg" title="Biodegradable polymer nanoparticles (green) target and puncture the cell membranes of microbes (purple), killing even multidrug-resistant bacteria. Credit: IBN" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>Antibiotics traditionally work on the principle of using chemical compounds to act on specific molecular targets within bacteria, which leads to therapeutic specificity but allow resistance development through mutation. In contrast, the bacteria-killing nanoparticle developed by the IBN research team and colleagues at IBM may help to circumvent many of the problems associated with conventional methods of antibiotic therapy by utterly disintegrating the bacteria’s physical structure at the outset. This novel methodology has therefore been garnering widespread interest due to the way in which ''it offers a fundamentally different approach to fighting disease''.
The nanoparticles begin their assault on harmful bacteria by forming cationic (positively charged) clusters that are drawn towards the anionic (negatively charged) bacterial cell membranes. By selectively binding to the bacterial cell membranes in this way, the nanoparticles avoid harming human cell membranes, leaving red blood cells for example in tact. After targeting, puncturing and destabilizing the bacterial cell wall, the nanoparticles eventually break down and kill the bacterial cell. The physical destruction of the bacterial cell membrane delays or eliminates resistance development.
The team discovered that the nanoparticles could efficiently kill Gram-positive bacteria, MRSA and fungi, even at low concentrations. The nanoparticles showed no significant activity against red blood cells, and no obvious acute toxicity was observed during in vivo studies in mice, even at concentrations well above their effective dose.
The nanoparticles themselves are easily broken down by enzymes in the human body as they are composed of biodegradable polymers. Whereas most antimicrobial polymers developed to date have been non-biodegradable, which render difficulty in obtaining regulatory approval, the new nanoparticles offer a significant step forward for in vivo clinical trials. In addition, the biodegradable nanoparticles can be produced in large quantities and at low cost. Source: From ''[[Nanomedicine breakthrough hailed as ‘world changing’|http://www.research.a-star.edu.sg/feature-and-innovation/6446]]''. This work is detailed in the paper [["Biodegradable nanostructures with selective lysis of microbial membranes"|http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1012]] by Fredrik Nederberg, Ying Zhang, Jeremy P. K. Tan, Kaijin Xu, Huaying Wang, Chuan Yang, Shujun Gao, Xin Dong Guo, Kazuki Fukushima, Lanjuan Li, James L. Hedrick & Yi-Yan Yang
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''By encapsulating HIV drug molecules into tiny polymer particles that slow-release drug when they are injected, researchers are working on the next step in simplifying HIV therapy: injectable HAART you could take once a month.''
The company, and the drug, that has travelled furthest along this route are Tibotec/Johnson and Johnson and their as-yet-unlicensed ~NNRTI drug rilpivirine (~TMC278). Dr Gerben van t’Klooster presented the findings at the [[Fifteenth Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections|http://www.retroconference.org/2008/index.asp]] in Boston.
However another group based at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, has succeded in creating slow-release nanoparticles containing the drugs lopinavir, ritonavir and efavirenz.
A couple of other posters detailed ways of using nanoparticles. In another experiment from Creighton University, scientists succeeded in loading indinavir into nanoparticles then getting bone-marrow-derived macrophages (~BMMs), another kind of immune cell, to absorb them.
Finally, a team from the University of North Carolina attached a normally inactive ~CCR5 inhibitor to gold nanoparticles, and thereby restored its anti-HIV activity.
References
Van t’Klooster G et al. [[Long-acting TMC278, a parenteral-depot formulation delivering therapeutic NNRTI concentrations in preclinical and clinical settings|http://www.retroconference.org/2008/Abstracts/31749.htm]]. Fifteenth Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, Boston. Abstract 134. 2008.
Destache C et al. [[Ritonavir-, lopinavir-, and efavirenz-containing nanoparticles: in vitro release of ART|http://www.retroconference.org/2008/Abstracts/30725.htm]]. Fifteenth conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, Boston. Abstract 743. 2008.
Dou HY et al [[Anti-retroviral nanoformulations for HIV-1-associated cognitive impairments|http://www.retroconference.org/2008/Abstracts/31834.htm]]. Fifteenth conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, Boston. Abstract 745. 2008.
Bowman MC. [[HIV-1 inhibition with multi-valent gold nanoparticles. Fifteenth conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections|http://www.retroconference.org/2008/Abstracts/32153.htm]], Boston. Abstract 744. 2008.
Source: [[CROI: Nanoparticle technology creates a once-a-month HIV drug|http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/B17DF24F-F256-42FF-A9A7-DD6AE0610653.asp]]
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Nanoparticles are everywhere. From cosmetics and clothes, to soda and snacks. But as versatile as they are, nanoparticles also have a downside, say researchers at Binghamton University and Cornell University. These tiny particles, even in low doses, could have a big impact on our long-term health.
According to Gretchen Mahler, assistant professor of bioengineering at Binghamton University, much of the existing research on the safety of nanoparticles has been on the direct health effects. But what Mahler, Michael L. Shuler of Cornell University and a team of researchers really wanted to know was ''what happens when someone gets constant exposure in small doses'' -- the kind you'd get if you were taken a drug or supplement that included nanoparticles in some form.
"We thought that the best way to measure the more subtle effects of this kind of intake was to monitor the reaction of intestinal cells," said Mahler. "And we did this in two ways: in vitro, through human intestinal-lining cells that we had cultured in the lab; and in vivo, through the intestinal linings of live chickens. Both sets of results pointed to the same thing -- that exposure to nanoparticles influences the absorption of nutrients into the bloodstream."
The uptake of iron, an essential nutrient, was of particular interest due to the way it is absorbed and processed through the intestines. The way Mahler and the team tested this was to use polystyrene nanoparticles because of its easily traceable fluorescent properties.
"What we found was that for brief exposures, iron absorption dropped by about 50 percent," said Mahler. "But when we extended that period of time, absorption actually increased by about 200 percent. It was very clear -- ''nanoparticles definitely affects iron uptake and transport''."<html><img style="float:left; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/polystyrene_nanoparticles_intestinal.jpg" title="This figure shows 50 nm carboxylated polystyrene nanoparticles (green) interacting with a cell culture model of the intestinal epithelium (red). Oral exposure to these particles was shown to affect iron transport. (Credit: Nature Nanotechnology)" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>
While acute oral exposure caused disruptions to intestinal iron transport, chronic exposure caused a remodeling of the intestinal villi -- the tiny, finger-like projections that are vital to the intestine's ability to absorb nutrients -- making them larger and broader, thus allowing iron to enter the bloodstream much faster.
"The intestinal cells are a gateway that ingested nanoparticles must go through to get to the body," said Mahler. "We monitored iron absorption both in vivo and in vitro and found that the polystyrene nanoparticles affected the absorption process and caused a physiological response."
The next step for Mahler and the team is to take a look at whether similar disruptions in nutrient absorption could be possible in other inorganic elements such as calcium, copper and zinc. Also on the research agenda is the reaction of other nutrients such as fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. And chickens and their intestines will definitely be part of this next phase of the study.
"The gastrointestinal tract of a chicken has very similar features to that of a human," said Mahler. "We can learn a great deal from the way chicken tissue works which means we can make better predictions about how humans will react."
And ''humans certainly consume enough nanoparticles -- about 100 trillion of them every day''. Their ultra-small size and amazing qualities makes them increasingly common in food and pharmaceutical products. Although the impact of chronic exposure remains somewhat unknown, the ingestion of dietary particles is thought to promote a range of diseases, including Crohn's disease. With so many nanomaterials under development and with so much yet to be learned about nanoparticle toxicity and potential human tissue reactivity, Mahler and the team are hoping that their work, particularly the in vitro model, will provide an effective low-cost screening tool. Source: From ''[[Researchers show influence of nanoparticles on nutrient absorption|http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-03-nanoparticles-nutrient-absorption.html]]''. This work is detailed in the paper [["Oral exposure to polystyrene nanoparticles affects iron absorption"|http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2012.3]] by Gretchen J. Mahler, Mandy B. Esch, Elad Tako, Teresa L. Southard, Shivaun D. Archer, Raymond P. Glahn, Michael L. Shuler.
''Context:''
February 16, 2012. [[Nanoparticles in food, vitamins could harm human health|http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Feb12/nanoparticlesHarmful.html]]. Cornell University, Anne Ju. //"They may be more harmful to health than previously thought... We have some assurance that at a gross level they are not harmful, but there may be more subtle effects that we need to worry about."//
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A nontoxic nanoparticle is proving to be an all-around effective delivery system for both therapeutic drugs and the fluorescent dyes that can track their delivery.
An interdisciplinary group of materials scientists, chemists, bioengineers, physicists, and pharmacologists show that ''calcium phosphate particles ranging in size from 20 to 50 nanometers will successfully enter cells and dissolve harmlessly, releasing their cargo of drugs or dye''.
Although the primary use envisioned for these particles is for targeted cancer therapy, researchers are interested in their ability to deliver various drugs that have been shown to inhibit cell growth associated with vascular disease. Several drugs have been shown in cultures to be promising for reducing hardening of the arteries and narrowing of blood vessels after balloon angioplasty. The problem has been in delivering any of these drugs to a target.
Source: [[Nontoxic nanoparticle can deliver and track drugs|http://live.psu.edu/story/36065]]. The paper is published in Nano Letters: [["Encapsulation of Organic Molecules in Calcium Phosphate Nanocomposite Particles for Intracellular Imaging and Drug Delivery|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl8019888?prevSearch=calcium+phosphate&searchHistoryKey="]] by Thomas T. Morgan, Hari S. Muddana, Erhan İ. Altınoǧlu, Sarah M. Rouse, Amra Tabaković, Tristan Tabouillot, Timothy J. Russin, Sriram S. Shanmugavelandy, Peter J. Butler, Peter C. Eklund, Jong K. Yun, Mark Kester and James H. Adair from Pennsylvania State University
"Nanoparticles provide opportunities for designing and tuning properties that are not possible with other types of therapeutics, and as more clinical data become available, the nanoparticle approach should improve further as the optimal properties are elucidated. ''Nanoparticle-based therapeutics'' are evolving, and newer, more sophisticated multifunctional nanoparticles are reaching the clinic. Results from these trials are already fuelling enthusiasm for this type of therapeutic modality.
Nanoparticles — particles in the size range 1–100 nm — are emerging as a class of therapeutics for cancer. Early clinical results suggest that nanoparticle therapeutics can show ''enhanced efficacy, while simultaneously reducing side effects, owing to properties such as more targeted localization in tumours and active cellular uptake''. Here, we highlight the features of nanoparticle therapeutics that distinguish them from previous anticancer therapies, and describe how these features provide the potential for therapeutic effects that are not achievable with other modalities. While large numbers of preclinical studies have been published, the emphasis here is placed on preclinical and clinical studies that are likely to affect clinical investigations and their implications for advancing the treatment of patients with cancer".
Source: [[Nanoparticle therapeutics: an emerging treatment modality for cancer|http://www.nature.com/nrd/journal/v7/n9/abs/nrd2614.html]] by Mark E. Davis, Zhuo (Georgia) Chen and Dong M. Shin. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, September 2008
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For decades, researchers have been working to develop nanoparticles that deliver cancer drugs directly to tumors, minimizing the toxic side effects of chemotherapy. However, even with the best of these nanoparticles, only about 1 percent of the drug typically reaches its intended target.
Now, a team of researchers from MIT [[Laboratory for Multiscale Regenerative Technologies|http://lmrt.mit.edu/]], the [[Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute|http://www.sanfordburnham.org/research_and_faculty/technology_centers/center_for_nanomedicine.aspx]] and the [[University of California at San Diego’s Division of Physical Sciences|http://physicalsciences.ucsd.edu/]] have designed a new type of delivery system in which a first wave of nanoparticles homes in on the tumor, then calls in a much larger second wave that dispenses the cancer drug. ''This communication between nanoparticles, enabled by the body’s own biochemistry, boosted drug delivery to tumors by more than 40-fold in a mouse study''.
This new strategy could enhance the effectiveness of many drugs for cancer and other diseases, says Geoffrey von Maltzahn. “What we’ve demonstrated is that nanoparticles can be engineered to do things like communicate with each other in the body, and that these capabilities can improve the efficiency with which they find and treat diseases like cancer,” von Maltzahn says.
Scientists ''drew their inspiration from complex biological systems in which many components work together to achieve a common goal''. For example, the immune system works through highly orchestrated cooperation between many different types of cells. “There are beautiful examples throughout biology where at a system scale, complex behaviors emerge as a result of interaction, cooperation and communication between simple individual components”.
To pave the path for potential clinical trials and regulatory approval, the MIT researchers are now exploring ways to replace components of these cooperative nanosystems with drugs already being tested in patients. Source: From [[Working in harmony|http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/swarming-nanoparticles-0620.html]]. MIT-designed nanoparticles communicate with each other inside the body to target tumors more efficiently' By Anne Trafton
Like swarming insects drawing crowds to a food source, a system of nanoparticles and engineered proteins can communicate with one another to raise the concentration of systemically administered drugs at the site of a tumor, a team of scientists has demonstrated.
The system harnesses one of the body’s own communication pathways, one that coagulates blood, to accumulate drugs right where they are needed.
''“We engineered a set of nanoparticles that trigger the body to grow blood clots around tumors. A second set of nanoparticles that recognizes the blood clots then delivers a dose of anti-cancer drug to the tumor,”'' said Michael Sailor, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UC San Diego. Source: From [[Swarming Nanoparticles Communicate to Boost Drug Concentrations Near Tumors|http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/20110620Nanoparticles.asp]] By Susan Brown
This work was detailed in the paper ''[[“Nanoparticles that communicate in vivo to amplify tumour targeting”|http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nmat3049.html]]''<<slider chkSldr [[Nanoparticles that communicate in vivo to amplify tumour targeting]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="http://cdn.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/201003press.gif" title="Daily life of the ancient Maya recorded on murals at Calakmul. In 2009, archaeologist Ramon Carrasco Vargas and colleagues reported on the discovery of a painted mural, located in the Chiik Nahb complex" alt="Calakmul image" class="photo"/></html>The conservation of Mayan wall paintings at the archaeological site of Calakmul (Mexico) was one on the subjects touched upon by Piero Baglioni (based at the University of Florence) in his invited lecture at the [[3rd European Chemistry Congress|http://www.euchems-congress2010.org/]]. In a special issue of [[Chemistry -- A European Journal|http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/chem.v16:31/issuetoc]], which contains papers by many of the speakers at this conference, he reports on the latest developments ''on the use of humble calcium and barium hydroxides nanoparticles as a versatile and highly efficient tool to combat the main degradation processes that affect wall paintings''.
[[La Antigua Ciudad Maya de Calakmul|http://archaeology.about.com/od/mayaarchaeology/ss/calakmul_8.htm]] is located in the Campeche state (Mexico) and is one of the most important cities of the Classic Maya period (AD 250-800). The excavation of this site (set up in 1993) involves, under the supervision of the archaeologist ''[[Ramon Carrasco|http://www.pnas.org/content/106/46/19245]]'', archaeologists, architects, engineers, conservators and epigraphists, besides other specialists. Since 2004, the [[Center for Colloid and Surface Science (CSGI)|http://matsci.unipv.it/csgi/]] at the University of Florence (CSGI), and currently directed by ''[[Piero Baglioni|http://matsci.unipv.it/CSGI/proc/People.aspx?ID=35]]'', has been an active partner, being involved in the study of the painting technique and in the development of nanotechnology for the consolidation and protection of the wall paintings and limestone.
Over the last decades, polymers, mainly acrylic and vinyl resins, have been widely used to consolidate wall paintings and to confer protection and hydrorepellency to the painted layer. However, contrary to the expectations, polymers used for the protection of wall paintings have induced further degradation of the works of art and their chemical modifications, such as cross-linking, strongly hampers their removal. Hence, there has been a need to develop new methods of conservation.
In Florence, Piero Baglioni and his group have pioneered the use of calcium hydroxide nanoparticles to restore wall paintings, the degradation of which is basically due to the transformation of calcium carbonate into gypsum. Nanoparticles of calcium hydroxide efficiently interact with carbon dioxide to reform calcium carbonate and replace the degraded original ligand, leading to the re-cohesion of the paint layer. However, when large amounts of soluble sulfates (i.e., sodium or magnesium sulfates) are present in a wall painting, consolidation with calcium hydroxide nanoparticles might not produce durable results. In fact, sulfate ions can react with calcium hydroxide to give a double-exchange reaction, producing the slightly soluble gypsum (calcium sulfate dihydrate). Barium hydroxide nanoparticles represent a really useful alternative and a complementary tool to hinder this process. Hence, mixed formulations can be used for the pre-consolidation of surfaces largely contaminated by sulfates.
In Calakmul, Mayan paintings have been successfully treated by using a mixture of calcium and barium hydroxide nanoparticles as a dispersion in 1-propanol. The consolidation effect was significant already after one week. The result of the application is that the paintings are now stable and do not show ongoing degradation processes. Thus, nanoscience has opened up enormous potential for Cultural Heritage conservation, due to the unique properties that the reduction in particle size confers to nanomaterials compared to their micrometric counterparts. Source: [[Nanoparticles for cultural heritage conservation|http://www.physorg.com/news203316412.html]]. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Nanoparticles for Cultural Heritage Conservation: Calcium and Barium Hydroxide Nanoparticles for Wall Painting Consolidation|http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/chem.201001443]]'' by Rodorico Giorgi Dr., Moira Ambrosi Dr., Nicola Toccafondi Dr., & Piero Baglioni Prof.
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The NANOEAR consortium is developing therapies for inner ear disorders. Using nanoparticles that are targetable to selected cell populations, biodegradable, traceable in-vivo, and equipped with controlled drug release, ''we intend to revolutionise inner ear treatments''. With over 44 million EU citizens with hearing loss and 40 000 profoundly deaf who could immediately benefit from new approaches, the inner ear is a unique and compelling organ to investigate.
The measures of function and structural integrity are quantitative, precise, and objective, permitting detection of loss of a single sensory cell. Moreover, the population of profoundly deaf with cochlear implants, and commercial partners concerned with improving the benefits of sensory neuroprostheses through tissue engineering strategies, provide a direct pathway to eventual clinical application of NP-drug complexes produced by this research consortium. Cochlear Implants are the most economically successful type of neuroprosthesis.
Our nanoparticles will carry and release drug/gene precisely to targeted tissue sites and selected cells. In this research consortium we investigate 8 classes of nanoparticles that are constructed to test the delivery of molecules/drugs/genes. Our nanoparticles are made by demand, providing our in vitro and in vivo partners unparralleled access to cutting edge delivery systems. Source: [[NANOEAR consortium|http://www.nanoear.org/project-description.html]]
''Electrical stimulation of neurons is a recognised therapeutic approach for the treatment of neurodegenerative pathologies'' (Parkinson disease etc). These techniques could have a high impact on treatments of other pathologies like epilepsy or blindness. Available commercial devices based on metalised electrodes degrade in physiological environments and induce reactive gliosis, incompatible with fabrication of implants, where a long term stability is mandatory and a closer neuro-electronic interface is required to lower the neuronal activation threshold.
''The high resolution required for vision and the stimulation of graded potential neurons need complex and very precise stimulators''. DREAMS propose to study and fabricate novel types of nanotransducers, based on artificial nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) that exhibits extreme biocompatibility and stability in physiological media. Source: [[Diamond to retina artificial micro-interface structures|http://cordis.europa.eu/search/index.cfm?fuseaction=proj.document&PJ_RCN=9548145]]
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Researchers from India investigate for the presence of carbon nanoparticles in different carbohydrate based food caramels, viz. bread, jaggery, sugar caramel, corn flakes and biscuits, where the preparation involves heating of the starting material.
"We report the finding of the presence of carbon nanoparticles in different carbohydrate based food caramels, viz. bread, jaggery, sugar caramel, corn flakes and biscuits, where the preparation involves heating of the starting material.
"The carbon nanoparticles were amorphous in nature; the particles were spherical having sizes in the range of 4–30 nm, depending upon the source of extraction. The results also indicated that particles formed at higher temperature were smaller than those formed at lower temperature.
"Excitation tuneable photoluminescence was observed for all the samples with quantum yield 1.2, 0.55 and 0.63%, for carbon nanoparticles from bread, jaggery and sugar caramels respectively.
''The present discovery suggests potential usefulness of carbon nanoparticles for various biological applications, as the sources of extraction are regular food items, some of which have been consumed by humans for centuries, and thus they can be considered as safe''. Source: This work is detailed in the paper ''[["Presence of Amorphous Carbon Nanoparticles in Food Caramels"|http://www.nature.com/srep/2012/120426/srep00383/full/srep00383.html]]'' by Md Palashuddin Sk, Amit Jaiswal, Anumita Paul, Siddhartha Sankar Ghosh & [[Arun Chattopadhyay|http://www.iitg.ac.in/arun/index.html]].
''Context:''
May 11, 2012. ''[[Nanoparticles found in our daily food|http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/5574/nanoparticles-found-our-daily-food]]'' by Renae Soppe, Cosmos online. //“If we and our ancestors have been eating these nanoparticles for centuries (if not for millennia) and if these particles can offer some benefits of nanomaterials – then why not use them? (...) They have the potential to improve public perception on the safety of nanoparticles. This does not still mean that all nanoparticles are safe. Some are and some are not,” Chattopadhyay said."//
October, 2011. [[Challenging conventional thinking on the reactivity of nanoparticles]]
September, 2011.'' [[Is Nanofood Approaching the Table?|http://www.cnbss.eu/editorial_post2.php]]''. CNBSS
May 2011. [[Debate: Nanotechnology and Food]]
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Recent studies have demonstrated that nanoparticles of cerium oxide—common diesel fuel additives used to increase the fuel efficiency of automobile engines—can travel from the lungs to the liver and that this process is associated with liver damage.
The data in the study by Dr. Eric R. Blough and his colleagues at [[Marshall’s Center for Diagnostic Nanosystems|http://www.marshall.edu/cdn/]] indicate there is a dose-dependent increase in the concentration of cerium in the liver of animals that had been exposed to the nanoparticles, which are only about 1/40,000 times as large as the width of a human hair. These increases in cerium were associated with elevations of liver enzymes in the blood and histological evidence consistent with liver damage.
Cerium oxide is widely used as a polishing agent for glass mirrors, television tubes and ophthalmic lenses. Cerium oxide nanoparticles are used in the automobile industry to increase fuel efficiency and reduce particulate emissions. Some studies have found that cerium oxide nanoparticles may also be capable of acting as antioxidants, leading researchers to suggest these particles may also be useful for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease and radiation-induced tissue damage.
Blough, the center’s director and an associate professor in the university’s Department of Biological Sciences, said, “Given the ever-increasing use of nanomaterials in industry and in the products we buy, it is becoming increasingly important to understand if these substances may be harmful. ''To our knowledge, this is the first report to evaluate if inhaled cerium oxide nanoparticles exhibit toxic effects in the liver''.”
Dr. Siva K. Nalabotu, the study’s lead author and a Ph.D. student in Blough’s lab, said, “The potential effects of nanomaterials on the environment and cellular function is not yet well understood. ''Interest in nanotoxicity is rapidly growing''.
“Our studies show that cerium oxide nanoparticles are capable of entering the liver from lungs through the circulation, where they show dose-dependent toxic effects on the liver. Our next step is to determine the mechanism of the toxicity.” Source: From [[Marshall University study shows nanoparticles being used as additives in diesel fuels can travel from lungs to liver, causing damage|http://www.marshall.edu/murc/marshall-university-study-shows-nanoparticles-being-used-as-additives-in-diesel-fuels-can-travel-from-lungs-to-liver-causing-damage/]]. This work was detailed in the paper [[“Intratracheal instillation of cerium oxide nanoparticles induces hepatic toxicity in male Sprague-Dawley rats”|http://www.dovepress.com/intratracheal-instillation-of-cerium-oxide-nanoparticles-induces-hepat-peer-reviewed-article-IJN]].
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="http://uncnews.unc.edu/images/stories/news/science/2010/rbc%20news%20release%20stronger%20image.jpg" title="Extremely flexible hydrogel particles that resemble red blood cells in size and shape. To date, attempts to create effective red blood cell mimics have been limited because synthetic particles tended to be quickly filtered out of the circulatory system due to their stiffness. In testing, these flexible particles remained in circulation up to 30 times longer than stiffer ones. Image courtesy Timothy J. Merkel and Joseph M. DeSimone, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill." alt="Extremely flexible hydrogel particles that resemble red blood cells" class="photo" width="98%"/></html>
A team of scientists has created particles that closely mirror some of the key properties of red blood cells, potentially helping pave the way for the development of synthetic blood. The new discovery also could lead to more effective treatments for life threatening medical conditions such as cancer.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers used technology known as PRINT (Particle Replication in Non-wetting Templates) to produce ''very soft hydrogel particles that mimic the size, shape and flexibility of red blood cells, allowing the particles to circulate in the body for extended periods of time''.
Tests of the particles’ ability to perform functions such as transporting oxygen or carrying therapeutic drugs have not been conducted, and they do not remain in the cardiovascular system as long as real red blood cells.
However, the researchers believe the findings – especially regarding flexibility – are significant because red blood cells naturally deform in order to pass through microscopic pores in organs and narrow blood vessels. Over their 120-day lifespan, real cells gradually become stiffer and eventually are filtered out of circulation when they can no longer deform enough to pass through pores in the spleen. To date, attempts to create effective red blood cell mimics have been limited because the particles tend to be quickly filtered out of circulation due to their inflexibility.
UNC researchers designed the hydrogel material for the study to make particles of varying stiffness. Then, using PRINT technology — a technique invented in DeSimone’s lab to produce nanoparticles with control over size, shape and chemistry — they created molds, which were filled with the hydrogel solution and processed to produce thousands of red blood cell-like discs, each a mere 6 micrometers in diameter. Source: ''[[UNC researchers inch closer to unlocking potential of synthetic blood|http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4200/138/]]''. This work was detailed in the paper ''[[“Using Mechano-biological Mimicry of Red Blood Cells to Extend Circulation Times of Hydrogel Microparticles”|http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/12/20/1010013108.abstract]]'' by Timothy J. Merkel, Stephen W. Jones, Kevin P. Herlihya, Farrell R. Kersey, Adam R. Shields, Mary Napiera, J. Christopher Lufta, Huali Wug, William C. Zamboni, Andrew Z. Wang, James E. Bear, and [[Joseph M. DeSimone|http://www.desimone-group.chem.unc.edu/]] <<slider chkSldr [[Using Mechano-biological Mimicry of Red Blood Cells to Extend Circulation Times of Hydrogel Microparticles]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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<br>Geoffrey von Maltzahn, Ji-Ho Park, Kevin Y. Lin, Neetu Singh, Christian Schwöppe, Rolf Mesters, Wolfgang E. Berdel, Erkki Ruoslahti, Michael J. Sailor & Sangeeta N. Bhatia. 2011. ''Nature Materials doi:10.1038/nmat3049''
//Nanomedicines have enormous potential to improve the precision of cancer therapy, yet our ability to efficiently home these materials to regions of disease in vivo remains very limited. Inspired by the ability of communication to improve targeting in biological systems, such as inflammatory-cell recruitment to sites of disease, we construct systems where synthetic biological and nanotechnological components communicate to amplify disease targeting in vivo. These systems are composed of ‘signalling’ modules (nanoparticles or engineered proteins) that target tumours and then locally activate the coagulation cascade to broadcast tumour location to clot-targeted ‘receiving’ nanoparticles in circulation that carry a diagnostic or therapeutic cargo, thereby amplifying their delivery. We show that communicating nanoparticle systems can be composed of multiple types of signalling and receiving modules, can transmit information through multiple molecular pathways in coagulation, can operate autonomously and can target over 40 times higher doses of chemotherapeutics to tumours than non-communicating controls.//
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" title="Engineers at Brown University have created a nanopatch for the heart that tests show restores areas that have been damaged, such as from a heart attack. Credit: Frank Mullin/Brown University" src="img/heart_nanopatch.jpg" width="50%"/></a></html>Engineers at Brown University and in India have a promising new approach to treating heart-attack victims. The researchers created a nanopatch with carbon nanofibers and a polymer. In laboratory tests, natural heart-tissue cell density on the nanoscaffold was six times greater than the control sample, while neuron density had doubled.
When you suffer a heart attack, a part of your heart dies. Nerve cells in the heart's wall and a special class of cells that spontaneously expand and contract – keeping the heart beating in perfect synchronicity – are lost forever. Surgeons can’t repair the affected area. It’s as if when confronted with a road riddled with potholes, you abandon what’s there and build a new road instead.
Needless to say, this is a grossly inefficient way to treat arguably the single most important organ in the human body. The best approach would be to figure out how to resuscitate the deadened area, and in this quest, a group of researchers at Brown University and in India may have an answer.
The scientists turned to nanotechnology. In a lab, they built a scaffold-looking structure consisting of carbon nanofibers and a government-approved polymer. Tests showed the synthetic nanopatch regenerated natural heart tissue cells – called cardiomyocytes – as well as neurons. In short, the tests showed that a dead region of the heart can be brought back to life.
“This whole idea is to put something where dead tissue is to help regenerate it, so that you eventually have a healthy heart,” said David Stout, a graduate student in the School of Engineering at Brown and the lead author of the paper published in Acta Biomaterialia.
The approach, if successful, would help millions of people. In 2009, some 785,000 Americans suffered a new heart attack linked to weakness caused by the scarred cardiac muscle from a previous heart attack, according to the American Heart Association. Just as ominously, a third of women and a fifth of men who have experienced a heart attack will have another one within six years, the researchers added, citing the American Heart Association.
What is unique about the experiments at Brown and at the India Institute of Technology Kanpur is the engineers employed carbon nanofibers, helical-shaped tubes with diameters between 60 and 200 nanometers. The carbon nanofibers work well because they are excellent conductors of electrons, performing the kind of electrical connections the heart relies upon for keeping a steady beat. The researchers stitched the nanofibers together using a poly lactic-co-glycolic acid polymer to form a mesh about 22 millimeters long and 15 microns thick and resembling “a black Band Aid,” Stout said. They laid the mesh on a glass substrate to test whether cardiomyocytes would colonize the surface and grow more cells.
In tests with the 200-nanometer-diameter carbon nanofibers seeded with cardiomyocytes, five times as many heart-tissue cells colonized the surface after four hours than with a control sample consisting of the polymer only. After five days, the density of the surface was six times greater than the control sample, the researchers reported. Neuron density had also doubled after four days, they added.
The scaffold works because it is elastic and durable, and can thus expand and contract much like heart tissue, said Thomas Webster, associate professor in engineering and orthopaedics at Brown and the corresponding author on the paper. It’s because of these properties and the carbon nanofibers that cardiomyocytes and neurons congregate on the scaffold and spawn new cells, in effect regenerating the area.
The scientists want to tweak the scaffold pattern to better mimic the electrical current of the heart, as well as build an in-vitro model to test how the material reacts to the heart’s voltage and beat regime. They also want to make sure the cardiomyocytes that grow on the scaffolds are endowed with the same abilities as other heart-tissue cells.
Bikramjit Basu at the India Institute of Technology Kanpur contributed to the paper. The Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum, the Hermann Foundation, the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, the government of India and California State University funded the research. Source: [[Researchers create nanopatch for the heart|http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2011/05/nanopatch]].
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<br>//Real-time evolution of nanoparticles grown at the semiconductor/electrolyte interface formed between a single crystalline n-type GaAs wafer and an aqueous solution of AgNO3 has been studied by using high-energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction. The results reveal the distinct nucleation and growth steps involved in the growth of anisotropic Ag nanoplates on the surface of the GaAs wafer. For the first time, a quick transit stage is observed to be responsible for the structural transformation of the nuclei to form structurally stable seeds that are critical for guiding their anisotropic growth into nanoplates. Reaction between a GaAs wafer and AgNO3 solution at room temperature primarily produces Ag nanoplates on the surface of the GaAs wafer in the dark and at room temperature. In contrast, X-ray irradiation can induce charge separation in the GaAs wafer to drive the growth of nanoparticles made of silver oxy salt (Ag7NO11) and silver arsenate (Ag3AsO4) at the semiconductor/electrolyte interface if the GaAs wafer is illuminated by the X-ray and reaction time is long enough.//
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/OxfordNanopore_AGBT.jpg" title="Oxford Nanopore’s disruptive MinION USB device. Oxford Nanopore announced that it plans to sell two amazing DNA sequencing gadgets by the end of the year: a single-use $900 USB thumb drive that sequences DNA, called MinIon, and a computer server-like device that, used in parallel, might be able to sequence a human genome in fifteen minutes" class="photo" width="95%"/></html>
Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd is developing ''a novel technology for direct, electronic detection and analysis of single molecules using [[nanopores|Graphene nanopores for DNA sequencing]]''. The modular, scalable GridION technology platform is designed to offer substantial benefits in a variety of applications. The miniaturised MinION device is the size of a USB memory stick, designed for portable analysis of single molecules. Oxford Nanopore intends to commercialise GridION and MinION directly to customers for DNA ‘strand sequencing’ in 2012. In addition to DNA sequencing, the system is also compatible with the direct analysis of RNA. Oxford Nanopore is also developing a Protein Analysis technology that combines target proteins with ligands for direct, electronic analysis using protein nanopores. These nanopore sensing techniques are combined with the Company’s proprietary array chip within the GridION system and MinION.The Company is also developing the subsequent generation of nanopore sensing devices based on solid-state nanopores. Source: From [[Oxford Nanopore introduces DNA ‘strand sequencing’ on the high-throughput GridION™ platform and presents MinION™, a sequencer the size of a USB memory stick|http://pathogenomics.bham.ac.uk/blog/2012/02/oxford-nanopore-introduces-dna-strand-sequencing-on-the-high-throughput-gridion-platform-and-presents-minion-a-sequencer-the-size-of-a-usb-memory-stick/]] by By Nick Loman.
''Context:''
February 18, 2012. ''[[Who Doubts The USB Thumb Drive Sequencer? A Rival|http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2012/02/18/who-doubts-the-usb-thumb-drive-sequencer-a-rival/]]''. Forbes, Matthew Herper.
February 17, 2012. ''[[Nanopore genome sequencer makes its debut|http://www.nature.com/news/nanopore-genome-sequencer-makes-its-debut-1.10051]]''. Technique promises it will produce a human genome in 15 minutes. Nature, Erika Check Hayden.
February 17, 2012. [[Oxford Nanopore megaton announcement: “Why do you need a machine?” – exclusive interview for this blog!|http://pathogenomics.bham.ac.uk/blog/2012/02/oxford-nanopore-megaton-announcement-why-do-you-need-a-machine-exclusive-interview-for-this-blog/]] by Nick Loman. Interview with Oxford Nanopore’s Dan Turner (Director of Applications), Clive Brown (Chief Technical Officer) and Zoe McDougall (Director of Comms).
February 17, 2012. [[Oxford Strikes First in DNA Sequencing Nanopore Wars|http://www.bio-itworld.com/news/02/17/12/Oxford-strikes-first-in-DNA-sequencing-nanopore-wars.html]]. Bio-IT World, Kevin Davies.
February 17, 2012. [[Who are the sequencing superpowers?|http://seqonomics.blogspot.com/2012/02/who-are-sequencing-superpowers.html]] by Art Wuster
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Imagine being able to rapidly identify tiny biological molecules such as DNA and toxins using less than a drop of salt water in a system that can fit on a microchip. A single nanometer-scale pore in a thin membrane can be used to accurately detect and sort different-sized polymer chains (a model for biomolecules) that pass through or block the channel.
Source: [[NIST Tech Beat - May 10, 2007|http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/techbeat/tb2007_0510.htm#nanopore]]
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A team of scientists from the United States Food and Drug Administration and the National Cancer Institute have found that nanoscale titanium dioxide used in sunscreen is unlikely to penetrate healthy human skin. Source: [[Federal Scientists Find Nanoscale Sunscreen Ingredient Does Not Penetrate Healthy Skin|http://www.merid.org/ndn/more.php?articleID=2441]].
"Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is included in some sunscreen formulations to physically block UV radiation. A dermal penetration study was conducted in minipigs with three TiO2 particles... There is no significant penetration of TiO2 nanoparticles through the intact normal epidermis." This work is detailed in the paper [[“Lack of Significant Dermal Penetration of Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) from Sunscreen Formulations containing Nano- and Sub-Micron-Size TiO2 Particles”|http://toxsci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/kfq041v1]] by Nakissa Sadrieh, Anna M. Wokovich, Neera V. Gopee, Jiwen Zheng, Diana Haines, David Parmiter, Paul H. Siitonen, Christy R. Cozart, Anil K. Patri, Scott E. McNeil, Paul C. Howard, William H. Doub and Lucinda F. Buhse.
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<br>//The movement of lithium ions into and out of electrodes is central to the operation of lithium-ion batteries. Although this process has been extensively studied at the device level, it remains insufficiently characterized at the nanoscale level of grain clusters, single grains and defects. Here, we probe the spatial variation of lithium-ion diffusion times in the battery-cathode material LiCoO2 at a resolution of ~100 nm by using an atomic force microscope to both redistribute lithium ions and measure the resulting cathode deformation. The relationship between diffusion and single grains and grain boundaries is observed, revealing that the diffusion coefficient increases for certain grain orientations and single-grain boundaries. This knowledge provides feedback to improve understanding of the nanoscale mechanisms underpinning lithium-ion battery operation.//
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Scientists at TU Delft’s Kavli Institute and the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM Foundation) have succeeded for the first time in detecting a [[Majorana particle|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ettore_Majorana]]. In the 1930s, the brilliant Italian physicist Ettore Majorana deduced from quantum theory the possibility of the existence of a very special particle, ''a particle that is its own anti-particle: the Majorana fermion. That ‘Majorana’ would be right on the border between matter and anti-matter''.
Quantum computer and dark matter
Majorana fermions are very interesting – not only because their discovery opens up a new and uncharted chapter of fundamental physics; they may also play a role in cosmology. A proposed theory assumes that the mysterious ‘dark matter, which forms the greatest part of the universe, is composed of Majorana fermions. Furthermore, scientists view the particles as fundamental building blocks for the quantum computer. Such a computer is far more powerful than the best supercomputer, but only exists in theory so far. Contrary to an ‘ordinary’ quantum computer, a quantum computer based on Majorana fermions is exceptionally stable and barely sensitive to external influences.
Nanowire
For the first time, scientists in nanoscientist [[Leo Kouwenhoven’s research group|http://kouwenhovenlab.tudelft.nl/]] managed to create a nanoscale electronic device in which a pair of Majorana fermions ‘appear’ at either end of a nanowire. They did this by combining an extremely small nanowire, made by colleagues from Eindhoven University of Technology, with a superconducting material and a strong magnetic field. ''‘The measurements of the particle at the ends of the nanowire cannot otherwise be explained than through the presence of a pair of Majorana fermions’'', says Leo Kouwenhoven.
Particle accelerators
It is theoretically possible to detect a Majorana fermion with a particle accelerator such as the one at CERN. The current Large Hadron Collider appears to be insufficiently sensitive for that purpose but, according to physicists, there is another possibility: ''Majorana fermions can also appear in properly designed nanostructures. ‘What’s magical about quantum mechanics is that a Majorana particle created in this way is similar to the ones that may be observed in a particle accelerator'', although that is very difficult to comprehend’, explains Kouwenhoven. ‘In 2010, two different groups of theorists came up with a solution using nanowires, superconductors and a strong magnetic field. We happened to be very familiar with those ingredients here at TU Delft through earlier research.’ Microsoft approached Leo Kouwenhoven to help them lead a special FOM programme in search of Majorana fermions, resulting in a successful outcome. Source: From [[Nanoscientists find long-sought Majorana particle|http://tudelft.nl/en/current/latest-news/article/detail/nanowetenschappers-vinden-langgezocht-majorana-deeltje/]] by Webredactie M&C. This work is detailed in the paper ''[["Signatures of Majorana Fermions in Hybrid Superconductor-Semiconductor Nanowire Devices"|http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2012/04/11/science.1222360]]'' by V. Mourik, K. Zuo, S. M. Frolov, S. R. Plissard, E. P. A. M. Bakkers, L. P. Kouwenhoven.
''Context:''
April 2012. [[About our Majorana fermion paper|http://sergeyfrolov.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/background-information-for-our-majorana-fermion-paper/]] by Sergey Frolov.
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[<img[How light bounces off of human tissue allow to detect subtle changes potentially caused by cancer. Credit: Nicolle Rager Fuller, National Science Foundation|http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/pancreatic_cancer5_f.jpg]] A team of researchers in Chicago has developed a way to examine cell biopsies and detect never-before-seen signs of early-stage pancreatic cancer. Though the new technique has not yet proven effective in double-blind clinical trials, it may one day help diagnose cancers of the pancreas and, potentially, other organs at their earliest and most treatable stages, before they spread.
A team from Northwestern University and ~NorthShore University ~HealthSystem describes the first application of their new technique, which they call partial wave microscopic spectroscopy. This technique allows them to examine cell samples taken from people who have undergone screening for pancreatic cancer to detect signs of the disease.
Pancreatic cancer is typically diagnosed by hospital pathologists who look for telltale changes to the morphology of pancreatic cells when they examine cell biopsies under the microscope. The problem is that in the early stages of cancer, many early-stage cancer cells appear normal. By the time the cancerous cells undergo observable changes, it may be too late in the disease progression for effective treatment.
In fact, only 7 percent of people with pancreatic cancer are diagnosed in the earliest stages of the disease, when the cancer is still confined to its primary site. More than half of all people with the disease are not diagnosed until it has already metastasized.
"In the beginning, cells look normal," says [[Vadim Backman|http://biophotonics.bme.northwestern.edu/]], a professor of biomedical engineering at Northwestern University who developed partial wave microscopic spectroscopy with his former graduate students Yang Liu and Hariharan Subramanian and postdoctoral fellow Prabhakar Pradhan. ''The new technique measures nanoscopic changes to the interior architecture of cells -- changes that may signal signs of cancer even in cells that look normal under the microscope''.
To test their technique, Backman and Subramanian collaborated with gastroenterologists Hemant K. Roy and Randall Brand, who had collected tissue samples from people undergoing biopsies to detect pancreatic cancer.
''[[The new technique|http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20080278713]] works by detecting fluctuations in the cells' refractive index (an optical property that measures how cells bend light passing through them). No other technique has ever measured this quantitatively'', says Backman. These fluctuations are influenced by nanoscopic changes to the cells' interior architecture that often occur much earlier than the changes pathologists can detect under their microscopes. The more architectural disorder there is inside the cell, the more the refractive index fluctuates. The Chicago researchers showed that by quantifying these fluctuations, partial wave spectroscopy could identify cancer cells even in cases where they had not been detected by pathologists.
''Partial wave microscopic spectroscopy may be a boon to medicine'', if it proves effective in clinical trials at detecting cancers early -- especially for people with pancreatic cancer, which is one of the most deadly forms of cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, more than 37,000 men and women in the United States were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2008, and statistically 95 percent of them will succumb to the disease within five years.
Source: [[Nanoscopic changes to pancreatic cells reveal cancer|http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-02/osoa-nct021209.php]]. This work is detailed in the paper [[Partial-wave microscopic spectroscopy detects subwavelength refractive index fluctuations: an application to cancer diagnosis|http://www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract.cfm?URI=ol-34-4-518]] by Hariharan Subramanian, [[Prabhakar Pradhan|http://www.ece.northwestern.edu/~pradhan/]], Yang Liu, Ilker R. Capoglu, Jeremy D. Rogers, Hemant K. Roy, Randall E. Brand, and [[Vadim Backman|http://www.bme.northwestern.edu/faculty_staff/core/backman.html]]
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A new way of splitting layered materials, similar to graphite, into sheets of material just one atom thick could lead to revolutionary new electronic and energy storage technologies.
An international team, led by Oxford University and Trinity College Dublin scientists, has ''invented a versatile method for creating one-atom thick ‘nanosheets’ from a range of materials'' using mild ultrasonic pulses, like those generated by jewellery cleaning devices, and common solvents. The new method is simple, fast, and inexpensive, and could be scaled up to work on an industrial scale.
Each one-millimetre-thick layer of graphite is made up of around three million layers of graphene – a flat sheet of carbon one atom thick – stacked one on top of the other.
''‘Because of its extraordinary electronic properties [[graphene|Nobel "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene"]] has been getting all the attention, including a recent Nobel Prize'', as physicists hope that it might, one day, compete with silicon in electronics,’ said Dr Valeria Nicolosi of Oxford University’s Department of Materials, who led the research with Professor Jonathan Coleman of Trinity College Dublin.'' ‘But in fact there are hundreds of other layered materials that could enable us to create powerful new technologies.’''
Professor Coleman, of Trinity College Dublin, said: ‘These novel materials have chemical and electronic properties which are well suited for applications in new electronic devices, super-strong composite materials and energy generation and storage. In particular, this research represents a major breakthrough towards the development of efficient thermoelectric materials.
There are over 150 of these exotic layered materials – such as Boron Nitride, Molybdenum disulfide, and Tungsten disulfide – that have the potential to be metallic, semi-metallic or semiconducting depending on their chemical composition and how their atoms are arranged.
For decades researchers have tried to create nanosheets of these kind of materials as arranging them in atom-thick layers would enable us to unlock their unusual electronic and thermoelectric properties. However, all previous methods were extremely time consuming and laborious and the resulting materials were fragile and unsuited to most applications.
Our new method offers low-costs, a very high yield and a very large throughput: within a couple of hours, and with just 1 mg of material, billions and billions of one-atom-thick graphene-like nanosheets can be made at the same time from a wide variety of exotic layered materials,’ said Dr Nicolosi.
Nanosheets created using this method can be sprayed onto the surface of other materials, such as silicon, to produce ‘hybrid films’ which, potentially, enable their exotic abilities to be integrated with conventional technologies. Such films could be used to construct, among other things, new designs of computing devices, sensors or batteries. Source: ''[[Atom-thick sheets unlock future technologies|http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_releases_for_journalists/110104.html]]''. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Two-Dimensional Nanosheets Produced by Liquid Exfoliation of Layered Materials|http://www.sciencemag.org/content/331/6017/568.abstract]]'' by Jonathan N. Coleman, Mustafa Lotya, Arlene O’Neill, Shane D. Bergin, Paul J. King, Umar Khan, Karen Young, Alexandre Gaucher, Sukanta De, Ronan J. Smith, Igor V. Shvets, Sunil K. Arora, George Stanton, Hye-Young Kim, Kangho Lee, Gyu Tae Kim, Georg S. Duesberg, Toby Hallam, John J. Boland, Jing Jing Wang, John F. Donegan, Jaime C. Grunlan, Gregory Moriarty, Aleksey Shmeliov, Rebecca J. Nicholls, James M. Perkins, Eleanor M. Grieveson, Koenraad Theuwissen, David W. McComb, Peter D. Nellist & Valeria Nicolosi. <<slider chkSldr [[Two-Dimensional Nanosheets Produced by Liquid Exfoliation of Layered Materials]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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The “Nanosystems Initiative Munich” (NIM) is ''one of the Clusters of Excellence which have been selected in 2006 by the German Government's "Excellence Initiative"''. Scientists of international repute from various research facilities in and around Munich and different disciplines such as physics, biophysics, physical chemistry, biochemistry, pharmaceutics, biology, electronics and medicine have been brought together to form one coherent and focused Nanoscience Cluster. The overarching vision of NIM is to design, fabricate and achieve control of multi-functional [[nanosystems|New Method to Optimize Molecular Self-Organization]], and to unlock their potential for applications in fields as diverse as future information technologies, the life sciences, or combinations of both. Source: [[Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM)|http://www.nano-initiative-munich.de/about-nim/]]
Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM)
Schellingstraße 4
80799 München
Germany
http://www.nano-initiative-munich.de
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Engineers have designed a biological device that can measure glucose concentrations in human saliva. The technique could eliminate the need for diabetics to draw blood to check their glucose levels. ''The biochip uses plasmonic interferometers and could be used to measure a range of biological and environmental substances.''
<html><img style="float:center" src="img/plasmonics.jpg" title="Each plasmonic interferometer – thousands of them per square millimeter – consists of a slit flanked by two grooves etched in a silver metal film. The schematic shows glucose molecules “dancing” on the sensor surface illuminated by light with different colors. Changes in light intensity transmitted through the slit of each plasmonic interferometer yield information about the concentration of glucose molecules in solution. Credit: Domenico Pacifici" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>For the 26 million Americans with diabetes, drawing blood is the most prevalent way to check glucose levels. It is invasive and at least minimally painful. Researchers at Brown University are working on a new sensor that can check blood sugar levels by measuring glucose concentrations in saliva instead.
''The technique takes advantage of a convergence of nanotechnology and [[surface plasmonics|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasmon]], which explores the interaction of electrons and photons (light)''. The engineers at Brown etched thousands of plasmonic interferometers onto a fingernail-size biochip and measured the concentration of glucose molecules in water on the chip. Their results showed that the specially designed biochip could detect glucose levels similar to the levels found in human saliva. Glucose in human saliva is typically about 100 times less concentrated than in the blood.
//“This is proof of concept that plasmonic interferometers can be used to detect molecules in low concentrations, using a footprint that is ten times smaller than a human hair,”// said [[Domenico Pacifici|http://research.brown.edu/research/profile.php?id=1252443198]], assistant professor of engineering and lead author of the paper.
The technique can be used to detect other chemicals or substances, from anthrax to biological compounds, Pacifici said, “and to detect them all at once, in parallel, using the same chip.”
''“It could be possible to use these biochips to carry out the screening of multiple biomarkers for individual patients, all at once and in parallel, with unprecedented sensitivity,”'' Pacifici said.
The engineers next plan to build sensors tailored for glucose and for other substances to further test the devices. “The proposed approach will enable very high throughput detection of environmentally and biologically relevant analytes in an extremely compact design. We can do it with a sensitivity that rivals modern technologies,” Pacifici said. Source: From ''[[Biochip measures glucose in saliva, not blood|http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2012/01/plasmonic]]''. This work is detailed in the paper [["Nanoscale Plasmonic Interferometers for Multispectral, High-Throughput Biochemical Sensing"|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl203325s?journalCode=nalefd]] by Jing Feng, Vince S. Siu, Alec Roelke, Vihang Mehta, Steve Y. Rhieu, G. Tayhas R. Palmore, and Domenico Pacifici.
''related:''
[[New biosensor benefits from melding of carbon nanotubes, DNA]]
[[Type 1 diabetes nanosensor and nanovaccine]]
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''Nanotech consumer products have now crossed the millennial threshold''. Over 1,000 nanotechnology-enabled products have been made available to consumers around the world, according to [[the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN)|http://www.nanotechproject.org/]]. The most recent update to the group’s three-and-a-half-year-old inventory reflects the increasing use of the tiny particles in everything from conventional products like non-stick cookware and lighter, stronger tennis racquets, to more unique items such as wearable sensors that monitor posture.
“The use of nanotechnology in consumer products continues to grow rapidly,” says [[PEN Director David Rejeski|http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=about.profile&person_id=5814]]. “When we launched the inventory in March 2006 we only had 212 products. If the introduction of new products continues at the present rate, the number of products listed in the inventory will reach close to 1,600 within the next two years. This will provide significant oversight challenges for agencies like the Food and Drug Administration and Consumer Product Safety Commission, which often lack any mechanisms to identify nanotech products before they enter the marketplace.”
Health and fitness items continue to dominate the PEN inventory, representing 60 percent of products listed. More products are based on nanoscale silver—used for its antimicrobial properties—than any other nanomaterial; 259 products (26 percent of the inventory) use silver nanoparticles. The updated inventory represents products from over 24 countries, including the US, China, Canada, and Germany. This update also identifies products that were previously available, but for which there is no current information.
The release of the updated inventory coincides with ''[[the first public hearing on nanotechnology being held by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)|http://search.cpsc.gov/cs.html?url=http%3A//www.cpsc.gov/LIBRARY/FOIA/FOIA09/pubcom/2011priorities.pdf&charset=iso-8859-1&qt=nanotechnology&col=pubweb&n=2&la=en]]''. The CPSC, with a staff of fewer than 400 employees, oversees the safety of 15,000 types of consumer products.
[[Andrew Maynard, chief science advisor for PEN|http://www.google.com/cse?cx=004490888024521477894%3Asaircctgzwe&q=%22Andrew+Maynard&sa=Search&cof=FORID%3A0]], noted that “the CPSC deserves credit for focusing on nanotechnologies. The resources available to the agency to address health and safety issues are negligible compared to the over $1.5 billion federal investment in nanotechnology research and development.”
The inventory is available at http://www.nanotechproject.org/inventories/consumer/
The PEN consumer products inventory includes products that have been identified by their manufacturer or a credible source as being nanotechnology-based. This update identifies products that were previously sold, but which may no longer be available. It remains the most comprehensive and widely used source of information on nanotechnology-enabled consumer products in the world. Source: [[Nanotech-enabled Consumer Products Top the 1,000 Mark|http://www.nanotechproject.org/news/archive/8277/]]
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Since 2007 the Cambridge arm of the Nokia Research Center has been keenly hunched over the microscope, ''exploring the possibilities of pioneering nanotechnology''. NRC’s tight-knit collaboration with Cambridge University saw the Morph concept emerge from the laboratory, and now the teams are exploring the nanotechnology that could breathe life into this concept device of the future. However this fascinating research into nanotechnology isn’t locked in an subterranean vault. In fact the research team are so keen to share their studies that its published a book called ''‘Nanotechnologies for Future Mobile Devices’''.
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The book highlights much of the ongoing research that’s being investigated within the NRC team in Cambridge, and details the exploration of some pretty exciting concepts, such as using nanoscale engineering techniques to alter the construction of new materials and the surfaces of devices in the future. Plus, it delves into the details on battery capabilities and using nanoelectronics in the creation of sensors and radios. And those are just a handful of examples from the mountain of information explored in ''[[‘Nanotechnologies for Future Mobile Devices’|http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/reader/0521112168/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link]]''.
Recently, the <html><a href="http://research.nokia.com/research/labs/nrc_cambridge_uk_laboratory" title="Nanotechnologies for mobile communication and ambient intelligence">Nokia Research Center in Cambridge</a></html> was awarded the UK Nordic Business award for Research and Development by UK Trade and Investment for its pioneering studies in the use of nanotechnologies in mobile devices. Source: ''[[Nokia researchers publish book on nanotechnology|http://conversations.nokia.com/2010/03/09/nokia-researchers-publish-book-on-nanotechnology/]]''
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The market for nanotechnology-based products is expected to reach $3.1 trillion by 2015, up from $147 billion in 2007, according to a recent report by technology advisory firm Lux Research.
Nanotechnology realized the greatest growth in the report's materials and manufacturing sector during 2007, with the technology being used in $97 billion worth of products including coatings and composites used in automobiles and buildings. Electronics followed at $35 billion where nanotech is being used to develop displays and batteries. The healthcare industry generated $15 billion of revenue, driven primarily by pharmaceutical applications.
The United States leads the way with $59 billion worth of nanotech-based products produced in 2007. Europe followed at $47 billion; Asia/Pacific accounts for $31 billion, and the rest of the world accounted for $9.4 billion. However, //Europe is expected to edge the United States in nanotech revenue// with $1.09 trillion worth of products generated by 2015, compared with $1.08 trillion in the U.S. over the same period. Asia will remain in third place at $717 billion.
Nanotechnology research and development hit $13.5 billion in 2007, up 14% from 2006. //Global corporate R&D spending grew 23% to reach $6.6 billion, passing government spending for the first time//.
The Lux report, "Nanomaterials State of the Market Q3 2008: Stealth Success, Broad Impact," contends that ''the growth of nanotechnology is turning a once-overhyped industry into reality''.
//"Nanotech isn't a new market or industry - it's an enabling technology that improves many types of products,"// says Jurron Bradley, senior analyst at Lux Research. "For example, you find it in coatings boosting the efficiency of automobile engines, in nano-enabled finishes protecting electronic devices, and nanoparticulate reformulations that make cholesterol-reducing drugs more effective. //These innovations aren't always visible to consumers, but they improve products and boost margins. That's why nanomaterials' use is only going to keep growing.//
Source: [[Nanotechnology Boom Expected by 2015|http://www.industryweek.com/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=16884]] by Jonathan Katz, Industry Week
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What does nylon fiber look like when you zoom in with an electron microscope? Or spider spinnerets - those things on a spider's belly that allow it to create a web? Or the tip of the electron microscope itself? NanoSonic developed a free nanotechnology coloring book that shows, in line drawings, what such nano worlds look like.
The coloring book is designed to provide teachers with a resource for helping young students better understand the world of nanotechnology. It contains pictures and text related to nanotechnology on about a US fifth grade science and math level. Most of the illustrations look more like abstract art than science. Students can let their imaginations run wild because images of the nano world are taken with an electron microscope in black-and-white; researchers then apply their own colors to make them interesting and show special features.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/coloring_book.jpg" title="NanoSonic created an educational coloring book about nanotechnology, with explanatory text and questions for students. The cover design by Sally Green is based on an electron microscope photograph by Lee Williams. ©2012 NanoSonic, Inc." class="photo" width="60%"/></html>For example, the cover of the coloring book was created from a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) photograph shot by Lee Williams of NanoSonic. It was then colored imaginatively by Sally Green who also added a title. Source: [[Nanotechnology Coloring Book For Teachers and Kids|http://www.nanosonic.com/408/blog/42/blog.html]]
Some of the images in the coloring book are based on Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) photographs by NanoSonic research scientists Lee Williams and Liz Gladwin; they show materials developed in our laboratories. Other images are from around the world. All images are identified with a credit line. If applicable, each image includes an approximate measure in nanometers, for reference, as well as a question related to grade level science and math.
This coloring book was funded in part by NASA. It was designed by Robin Rogers, Andrew Teates and Sally Green of NanoSonic, Inc. It was reviewed by Virginia public school teachers Brandi Smith of Macy McClaugherty Elementary/Middle School in Giles County and Susan Mauney of Blacksburg Middle School in Montgomery County. The cover illustration was created by Sally Green based on a NanoSonic SEM image by Lee Williams.
[[Nanotechnology Coloring Book|http://www.webkey2.com/files/Nanotechnology%20Coloring%20Book%20REDUCED%20SIZE.pdf]] (19MB): NanoSonic created this free, downloadable coloring book to provide teachers with a resource for helping young students better understand the world of nanotechnology.
[[Nanotechnology Coloring Book ANSWERS Sheet|http://www.nanosonic.com/files/94.pdf]] (581 kb): This Answers Sheet provides solutions for the Nanotechnology Coloring Book questions, produced by NanoSonic. Source: [[Nanotechnology Coloring Book|http://www.nanosonic.com/664/nanotechnology-coloring-book.html]]
NanoSonic is a 14-year old, privately-held company in Pembroke, Virginia, USA, with approximately 70 employees. They develop and manufacture innovative materials and products that are environmentally benign, using processes that are environmentally-friendly. Their headquarters is a Green Building that features a transpired solar collector across the entire south face of the building. NanoSonic participates regularly in educational events such as NASA’s STEM workshops, Studio STEM with Virginia Tech and the local Giles County, Virginia, schools. Their scientists and engineers visit schools, plus the company hosts tours and workshops to promote science and engineering careers, as well as sustainable building and the production of clean technology.
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/juno_nasa_and_nanocomp.jpg" title="NASA spacecraft, Juno. Credit: Courtesy of NASA" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>The NASA spacecraft, Juno, has ''nanotechnology-enabled shielding'' to prevent build up of electrostatic charge on key engine components. The protective shields are made of sheets of carbon nanotubes manufactured by Nanocomp Technologies, Inc. Its unique nantotube-based sheet material, EMSHIELD, has been incorporated into the Juno spacecraft, launched on August 5, 2011, to provide protection against electrostatic discharge (ESD) as the spacecraft makes its way through space to Jupiter.
Specifically, the Juno development team used Nanocomp material as a surface layer on several critical components of the flight system’s attitude control motor struts and the main engine housing. Nanocomp worked in partnership with Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor on the project, to integrate EMSHIELD during spacecraft development and construction.
“The Juno spacecraft has many composite components throughout the structure that require ESD protection especially as it will be travelling through Jupiter’s extremely strong radiation belts,” said Peter Antoinette, president and CEO, Nanocomp Technologies. “Lockheed was interested in implementing an alternative ESD solution to traditional aluminum foil that is typically bonded to the surface of composites. By adding EMSHIELD CNT sheet layers during fabrication of the composite, they were able to integrate ESD protection directly onto the structure, making the composite a multifunctional element of the spacecraft.”
“It goes without saying, that becoming space qualified against the rigorous standards set by NASA in support of a very important space mission is a major accomplishment for Nanocomp,” said Antoinette. “We are grateful that the Juno team took interest in advancing the Technical Readiness Level of our technology, and are pleased that ''the visibility of this mission demonstrates how advanced CNT product manufacturing has become a reality''.”
Nanocomp’s industrially relevant CNT material is able to solve a number of cross-industry application challenges that no other material in the world has been efficiently able to solve. In fact, the Department of Defense, through its Title III Defense Production Act, has designated Nanocomp’s products as “critical to national defense.”
“Carbon nanotube materials have long been known to have a number of very attractive properties. They are extremely strong while being exceptionally lightweight and exhibiting attractive electrical conductivity. The challenge has been to capture these properties in product formats that can be readily integrated with existing manufacturing processes of complex components that are on the leading edge of technology,” said Antoinette.
The company currently produces CNT yarn and sheet material for continued test and evaluation by government and commercial customers, and will soon be transitioning to a larger manufacturing facility in southern New Hampshire – which will emerge as the United States’ first Center of Excellence for Commercial Nanomanufacturing. Source: [[Nanocomp Reaches New Frontiers on NASA’s Juno Mission|http://www.nanocomptech.com/press/pr_08-08-11.htm]]
''Nanotechnology can have a broad impact on NASA missions'' by enabling such advances as the development of ultralightweight, multifunctional materials for aircraft and spacecraft, robust fault tolerant electronics, high sensitivity, low power sensors for planetary exploration and high thrust propellants. This roadmap addresses a 20- year plan for the development and implementation of nanotech- nologies for NASA missions. The roadmap is or- ganized into four themes – Engineered Materials and Structures, Energy Generation and Storage, Electronics, Sensors and Devices and Propulsion. Source: [[DRAFT NANoTechNology RoADmAp. Technology Area 10|http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/501325main_TA10-Nanotech-DRAFT-Nov2010-A.pdf]] by Michael A. Meador, Bradley Files, Jing Li, Harish Manohara, Dan Powell, Emilie J. Siochi. November, 2010
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In a dramatic demonstration of what nanotechnology might achieve in regenerative medicine, paralyzed lab mice with spinal cord injuries have regained the ability to use their hind legs six weeks after a simple injection of a purpose-designed nanomaterial.
A video of Stupp discussing his groundbreaking research with collaborator John Kessler, M.D., Davee Professor of Stem Cell Biology and chair of the Davee Department of Neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine is available at http://www.nanotechproject.org/114.
"By injecting molecules that were designed to self-assemble into nanostructures in the spinal tissue, we have been able to rescue and regrow rapidly damaged neurons," Stupp said. The nanofibers -- thousands of times thinner than a human hair -- are the key to not only preventing the formation of harmful scar tissue which inhibits spinal cord healing, but to stimulating the body into regenerating lost or damaged cells."
Stupp and his coworkers designed molecules with the capacity to self-assemble into nanofibers once injected into the body with a syringe. When the nanofibers form they can be immobilized in an area of tissue where it is necessary to activate some biological process, for example saving damaged cells or regenerating needed differentiated cells from stem cells.
This same work also has implications for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, both diseases in which key brain cells stop working properly.
Stupp also reported on the ongoing research with collaborators in Mexico and Canada, showing the impressive visual of mice recovering from the symptoms of Parkinson's disease after being exposed to the bioactive nanostructures developed in Stupp's laboratory at Northwestern University. He also reported on work with Jon Lomasney, associate professor of pathology at Northwestern, demonstrating the use of nanostructures and proteins to achieve recovery of heart function after an infarct.
Source: [[Nanotechnology May Be Used to Regenerate Tissues, Organs, NewsCenter, Northwestern University|http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2007/05/stupp.html]]
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There is an accelerating and non-uniform process of discoveries and innovations leading at times to emerging areas of science and technology such as nanotechnology around the year 2000. Only ten years after proposing a new definition and a long-term vision, nanotechnology also has become a socio-economic initiative in all developed countries and in many developing countries. A global science and societal endeavor has been initiated by the long-term nanotechnology R&D vision formulated in the 1999 report “Nanotechnology Research Direction: Vision for the next ten years” adopted as an official document of the National Science and Technology Council and published by Springer in 2000.
A new report, ''[[“Nanotechnology Research Directions for Societal Needs in 2020”|http://www.wtec.org/nano2/docs/ChaptersPdf/Ch0_1_ExSum_10-1121.pdf]]'' outlines the foundational knowledge and infrastructure development in the last decade, the current ~$15 billion in R&D programs underpinning about $250 billion of products incorporating nanoscale components in the world in 2009, and the likely evolution towards a general purpose technology by 2020. The study includes opinions of leading experts from over 35 countries and brainstorming meetings hosted by the Word Technology Evaluation Center (WTEC) in 2010 in Chicago, Hamburg, Tokyo, Singapore and Arlington. The full report is made available at: ''http://www.wtec.org/nano2/''
[[Dr. Mihail (Mike) Roco|http://www.nsf.gov/eng/staff/mroco.jsp]], founding chair of the National Science and Technology Council's [[subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology (NSET)|http://www.nano.gov/html/about/nset.html]], and Senior Advisor for Nanotechnology at the National Science Foundation, covered the reasons for establishing the [[National Nanotechnology Initiative|http://www.nano.gov/html/about/home_about.html]] and other national programs around the world, the main outcomes after ten years, the governance aspects including the nanotechnology EHS (Environment, Health and Safety) and ELSI (Ethical, Legal and Social Implications) issues, what has worked, what has not, and most importantly how we prepare now for the future. Download Dr. Roco’s presentation slides: [[Nanotechnology Research Directions for Societal Needs in 2020|http://www.nanotechproject.org/mint/pepper/tillkruess/downloads/tracker.php?url=http%3A//www.nanotechproject.org/process/assets/files/8350/roco_presentation.pdf]].
Source: [[Nanotechnology Research Directions for Societal Needs in 2020|http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=events.event_summary&event_id=642777]]. The Impact, Lessons Learned and International Perspective for Nanotechnology to 2020
Mike Roco, Dec 1 2010 "//It will be imperative over the next decade to focus on four distinct aspects of nanotechnology development:
• How nanoscale science and engineering can improve understanding of nature, generate breakthrough discoveries and innovation, and build materials and systems by nanoscale design – “knowledge progress”
• How nanotechnology can generate economic and medical value —“material progress”
• How nanotechnology can address sustainable development, safety, and international collaboration —“global progress”
• How nanotechnology governance can enhance quality-of-life and social equity —“moral progress”//"
See also the ''[[Debate around U.S National Nanotechnology Initiative]]''
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[[Nanotechnology Takes Off Educator Guide|http://www.kqed.org/quest/files/download/14/106a_nanotechnologytakesoff.pdf]]
Source: [[Nanotechnology Takes Off|http://www.kqed.org/quest/television/view/189]] KQED QUEST Television Story
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''<<matchTags popup sort:-created context>>'' <<matchTags popup sort:-created [[public opinion]]>> ''Nanotechnology and public opinion''
//"Two challenges are emerging as public attitudes toward nanotechnology develop along with the technology. The first challenge relates to a long-standing problem surrounding the development of technical innovations in modern societies: ''knowledge gaps'' (...) As the technology evolves and has an impact on more and more areas of our daily lives, highly-educated respondents become more familiar with nanotechnology and its applications, but less educated groups fall behind and are potentially becoming less-and-less informed about nanotechnology as societal debates focus on an increasingly complex set of ethical, legal and social challenges. This has tremendous implications for many outreach efforts. But there is a silver lining. A closer look at the media use patterns among different socioeconomic status (SES) groups shows that ''online sources of information about nanotechnology can help overcome knowledge deficits for low SES respondents'', and future research will have to explore how to better utilize online communication channels to more systematically target hard-to-reach audiences.
A second challenge for researchers studying public attitudes toward nanotechnology is the ''role that personal values play in helping people make sense of new information about emerging technologies'' (...) Religious views, cultural predispositions, and views about scientific authority shape how people translate (mass mediated) information into attitudes toward nanotechnology. In other words, values and predispositions can serve as perceptual filters that shape information processing, and the same piece of information will be interpreted very differently by different audiences, depending on their pre-existing values and predispositions. ''This role of values as perceptual filters is particularly important'' given recent comparisons among the U.S. and various European countries (...) As regulators in the U.S. work with their counterparts in other countries in order to harmonize regulatory frameworks for nanotechnology, understanding the value landscape in each country will be absolutely critical for evaluating the viability of regulatory choices and restrictions."// From ''[[Public attitudes toward nanotechnology|http://nanopublic.blogspot.com/2011/01/public-attitudes-toward-nanotechnology.html]]'' by Dietram A. Scheufele
{{twocolumns{
What are the implications of nanotechnology for the general public? What use is it to them? What are the risks and benefits? These are the types of questions that an online Knowledge Debate hopes to provoke.
Dr Robert Doubleday, Head of Research at the Centre for Science and Policy at the University of Cambridge, is helping to coordinate ''a European online debate about developments in nanotechnology''. This process of public debate is designed to generate questions about nanotechnology and encourage academics to address some of these questions through research.
The project invites comments from members of the public and representatives of civil society organisations about five areas that employ nanotechnology: food and packaging, renewable energy, cancer diagnosis and treatment, ambient intelligence and environmental analysis of nano particles.
''There have been a number of public dialogues about nanotechnology in recent years, but what makes this online debate different is its ambition to lead directly to new research''. It aims to address gaps in knowledge about the use of nanotechnologies in society.
“''This dialogue is not about reaching any conclusions; it’s about generating questions'', which highlight the areas that need to be looked at in more detail,” said Dr Doubleday. “What we hope will come out of it is a series of concrete research questions that we will actively follow up.”
The nanotechnology Knowledge Debate is part of [[PERARES (Public Engagement with Research and Research Engagement with Society)|http://www.livingknowledge.org/discussion/diskutiere/]], a project funded by the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme. PERARES consists of a network of universities and research organisations across Europe committed to carrying out research in response to questions raised by civil society organisations and the wider public. The PERARES Knowledge Debate provides a means of discovering what potential consumers and citizens think about nanotechnology and addressing any issues that arise.
According to Dr Doubleday, most people have mixed reactions towards new technologies: “They are excited about the potential of new technologies – they can see the benefits – but they also feel deeply uneasy about the lack of collective capacity to manage our increasing dependency on complex technologies.”
PERARES provides a platform for debate, addressing this tension between hope for technological contributions to an improved quality of life on the one hand and unease about becoming more dependent on unmanageable technologies.
Dr Doubleday convened a round-table event which brought together nanotechnology researchers with social scientists, science policy advisors and civil society organisations. ''One area which emerged as posing new questions was the inclusion of engineered nanoparticles in [[food|Debate: Nanotechnology and Food]] and its packaging''.
Recently, the [[European Parliament and Commission agreed rules|EU: First practical guidance for assessing nano applications in food & feed]] that will require food manufacturers to label all food containing engineered nano particles.
“When people read that there are nano ingredients in their food, what will they think? What will that information mean to them and how can they use it?” Dr Doubleday asks.
“These are important issues. How does labelling work with other forms of regulation? Does labelling enable wider public debate about the direction of innovation, or does it narrow this issue down to a question of consumer choice?”
Some people view nanotechnologies as a continuation and evolution of previous human efforts to improve food. Ricotta cheese, for example, has its specific texture because the fat particles are at the nano scale – a process that was used unintentionally years ago.
However, for many people the technology raises significant questions about who, if anyone, has an overview of the speed and direction of innovation.
“This is why projects which encourage public engagement with science are important – to try to provide neutral space for such discussion and to bridge the gap between researchers and the wider public,” Dr Doubleday said.
The online debate provides the general public and potential consumers with the chance to comment on any aspect of the development and use of nanotechnology in food and to ask questions which could be the subject for future research by scientists and social scientists.
To read more about the questions which come up through inclusion of engineered nano particles in food and packaging, please visit [[Food, nanotechnology and labelling|http://www.livingknowledge.org/discussion/diskutiere/2011/food-nanotechnology-and-labelling/]] Source: From ''[[Nanotechnology and your views|http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/nanotechnology-and-your-views/]]''.
''Context:''
September, 2011. [[Is Nanofood Approaching the Table?|http://www.cnbss.eu/editorial_post2.php]]
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"The risk assessment of nano-sized materials (NM) currently suffers from great uncertainties regarding their putative toxicity for humans and the environment. An extensive amount of the respective original research literature has to be evaluated before a targeted and hypothesis-driven Environmental and Health Safety research can be stipulated. Furthermore, to comply with the European animal protection legislation in vitro testing has to be preferred whenever possible. Against this background, there is the need for tools that enable producers of NM and risk assessors for a fast and comprehensive data retrieval, thereby linking the 3Rs principle - replace, reduce, refine animal experiments - to the hazard identification of NM. Here we report on the development of ''a knowledge-based search engine that is tailored to the particular needs of risk assessors in the area of NM''. Comprehensive retrieval of data from studies utilising in vitro as well as in vivo methods relying on the PubMed database is presented exemplarily with a titanium dioxide case study. A ''fast, relevant and reliable information retrieval'' is of paramount importance for the scientific community dedicated to develop safe NM in various product areas, and for risk assessors obliged to identify data gaps, to define additional data requirements for approval of NM and to create strategies for integrated testing using alternative methods." From [[Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology : A knowledge-based search engine to navigate the information thicket of nanotoxicology|http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WPT-511R9SC-2&_user=10&_coverDate=02%2F28%2F2011&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=gateway&_origin=gateway&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=38aac5eae861eb53e7cb5aa81fa64b05&searchtype=a]]
"The project Go3R aims at developing a knowledge-based search engine for alternative methods to animal experiments in order to provide optimal search options for alternatives to animal experimentation. The first step consists of developing an ontology for the knowledge domain of alternative methods to animal experiments. Such an ontology represents a system of knowledge which permits logical deductions as a result of the numerous relationships between terms describing alternative methods it contains - in rough analogy to the possible connections between synapses in the brain." From [[Go3R website|http://www.go3r.org/]]
"Since the importance of the Internet as a means of information dissemination is increasing steadily, the available data on any given topic is accumulating exponentially. The possibly relevant literature on Nanotechnology also follows this trend. At the same time, or even due to the tremendous increase in scientific literature, it is becoming increasingly difficult to extract relevant and reliable information.
To set up a relevant ontology of concept terms that are used within a given domain of knowledge, it is indispensable to integrate domain expertise. The required expertise in the fields of Nanotechnology and Nanotoxicology in the NanoOntology project was brought in by experts entrusted with the risk assessment of NM. Additionally, a certain set of scientific original research papers was analyzed for the commonly used language in this domain. Search engines that integrate human expert knowledge are tools that can assist scientists in retrieving, sorting and evaluating extensive amounts of literature from the Internet. They are a subgroup of “semantic search engines” that aim to gather the meaning of natural language documents from the occurrence (and co-occurrence) of certain terms (and their synonyms) within the text of the document. One example of such an engine is the knowledge-based Go3R tool that aids in retrieving 3Rs-relevant literature from PubMed. It is the worldwide first tool of its kind specially equipped with expert knowledge from the area of the 3Rs. This unique knowledge is captured within ''a so-called “ontology”, i.e. an extensive and detailed network of “concepts”, terms that are unambiguous identifiers of the respective scientific area'', such as dendrimers or nanoclay in the field of Nanotechnology, or humane endpoints in the field of the 3Rs.
After establishing an initial version of the ''NanoOntology'', the proposed branching structure and integrated concept terms were discussed with the Nanotechnology expert partners in order to strive for a user-oriented setup. This feed back loop from experts/users was activated iteratively during the further course of the project. Eventually, a series of search queries was run and the retrieved and classified documents were evaluated in order to examine the relevance of the final version of the NanoOntology." From [[Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology : A knowledge-based search engine to navigate the information thicket of nanotoxicology|http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WPT-511R9SC-2&_user=10&_coverDate=02%2F28%2F2011&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=gateway&_origin=gateway&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=38aac5eae861eb53e7cb5aa81fa64b05&searchtype=a]]
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{{twocolumns{
Physicists have made ''nanomechanical measurements of unprecedented resolution on protein molecules''.
The new measurements, by UCLA physics professor [[Giovanni Zocchi|http://zocchi.physics.ucla.edu/]] and former UCLA physics graduate student Yong Wang, are approximately 100 times higher in resolution than previous mechanical measurements, a nanotechnology feat which ''reveals an isolated protein molecule, surprisingly, is neither a solid nor a liquid''.
"Proteins are the molecular machines of life, the molecules we are made of," Zocchi said. "We have found that sometimes they behave as a solid and sometimes as a liquid.
"Solids have a shape while liquids flow — for simple materials at low stresses. However, for complex materials, or large stresses, the behavior can be in-between. Subjected to mechanical forces, a material might be elastic and store mechanical energy (simple solid), viscous and dissipate mechanical energy (simple fluid), or visco-elastic and both store and dissipate mechanical energy (complex solid, complex fluid). The viscoelastic behavior characteristic of more complex matter had not been clearly seen before on isolated proteins because mechanical measurements tend to destroy the proteins."
Zocchi and Wang's new nanotechnology method allowed them to apply stresses and probe the mechanics of the protein without destroying it. Wang, now a physics postdoctoral fellow at the University of Illinois in Urbana–Champaign, and Zocchi ''discovered a "transition to a viscoelastic regime in the mechanical response" of the protein.''
"Below the transition, the protein responds elastically, like a spring," Zocchi said. "Above the transition, the protein flows like a viscous liquid. However, the transition is reversible if the stress is removed. Functional conformational changes of enzymes (changes in the shape of the molecule) must typically operate across this transition."
In previous research, Zocchi and colleagues reported a significant step in controlling chemical reactions mechanically last year, made a significant step toward a new approach to protein engineering in 2006, created a mechanism at the nanoscale to externally control the function and action of a protein in 2005, and created a first-of-its-kind nanoscale sensor using a single molecule less than 20 nanometers long in 2003. A nanometer is roughly 2,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Source: From [[UCLA physicists report nanotechnology feat with proteins|http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/ucla-physicists-report-nanotechnology-220884.aspx]] by Stuart Wolpert. This work was detailed in the paper ''[[“Viscoelastic Transition and Yield Strain of the Folded Protein”|http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0028097]]''.
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created milestone>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomechanics>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanometrology>>
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{{twocolumns{
Building on the vision for coordinated human and robotic exploration of our solar system established in The Global Exploration Strategy: the Framework for Coordination, released in May 2007, space agencies participating in the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) are developing the Global Exploration Roadmap. The Global Exploration Roadmap reflects the international effort to define feasible and sustainable exploration pathways to the Moon, near-Earth asteroids, and Mars. Beginning with the International Space Station (ISS), this first iteration of the roadmap examines ''possible pathways in the next 25 years''.
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<br>Agencies agree that human space exploration will be most successful as an international endeavor because there are many challenges to preparing for these missions and because of the significant social, intellectual, and economic benefits to people on Earth. This first version of the Global Exploration Roadmap represents a step in the international human space exploration roadmapping activity that allows agencies to be better informed as they prepare to play a part in the global effort. It will be updated over time to reflect ''evolving global consensus on exploration destinations and associated architectures''.
By sharing early results of this work with the broader community, space agencies hope to generate innovative ideas and solutions for meeting the challenges ahead (...)
Agencies are working on advancing many ''technologies needed for exploration''. Across the globe, engineers and scientists are working on many of the essential preparatory activities (as advanced technology development) necessary to extend human presence into space and explore the planet Mars. By developing a common roadmap, agencies hope to coordinate their preparatory activities in ways that maximize return on investments and enable realization of their goals and objectives. Significant activities are underway in the following areas, each presenting opportunities for near-term coordination and cooperation.
Proposed Technology Developments: ''Nanotechnology'' (Technology Area 10) New advanced materials for reducing vehicle & structural mass, improved functionality and durability of materials, and unique new capabilities such as enhanced power generation & storage, nanopropellants for propulsion, and nanofiltration for improved astronaut heath management. Source: From ''[[The Global Exploration Roadmap|http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/591067main_GER_2011_small_single.pdf]]'', September 2011
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As the global nanotechnology industry continues to produce cutting-edge consumer products, ''the scientific community is leaving a key part of the U.S. public behind when sharing knowledge of this new field of science'', according to a new study by Arizona State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Researchers found widening gaps in nanotech knowledge since 2004 between the least educated and most educated citizens. Americans with at least a college degree have shown an increased understanding of the new technology, while knowledge about nanotechnology has declined over time for those with education levels of less than a high school diploma, according to the study.
"Unfortunately, people with little or no formal education – those who need outreach the most – aren't getting as much information about this issue, which will likely become even harder to understand over time," says [[Elizabeth Corley|http://www.public.asu.edu/~ecorley/]], Lincoln Professor of Public Policy, Ethics and Emerging Technologies in Arizona State University's School of Public Affairs, and co-author of the study. Well-educated people who already are "information-rich" are learning about nanotechnology from traditional outreach efforts such as museums, Corley says. Closing these informational gaps among public audiences "is a necessity, especially in light of a projected 2009 U.S. budget that has reduced spending for ‘educational and social dimensions' of nanotechnology to $33.5 million from $39.2 million in 2007," the article states.
"There is a real urgency to find ways of communicating effectively with all groups in society," says [[Dietram Scheufele|http://lsc.wisc.edu/people/faculty/dietram-scheufele/]], John E. Ross Professor in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and co-author of the study. "Unless we find ways to close these learning gaps, we will create two classes of citizens – those who are able to make informed consumer and policy choices about these new technologies, and those who simply can't."
But there is a silver lining. The study also found that ''the Internet is one of the most effective methods in closing gaps and informing the less educated about nanotechnology.'' "Online and social media are some of the most promising tools for making sure we reach all members of the public with information about science and technology," says Scheufele.
Corley and Scheufele analyzed data from national surveys conducted over the last five years. The study was funded by the [[Center for Nanotechnology in Society|http://cns.asu.edu/]] at ASU. Source: From ''[[Report: Nanotechnology information gap widening|http://asunews.asu.edu/20100111_nanotechreport]]''. This report is published in ''[[Outreach Going Wrong?|http://www.the-scientist.com/2010/1/1/22/1]]''. When we talk nano to the public, we are leaving behind key audiences by By Elizabeth A. Corley and Dietram A. Scheufele.
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''Context:'' //"In the emerging stages of a new technology - as is the case with nanotechnologies today - the public usually is either unaware or uninformed. This leaves a lot of room for extreme opinion makers to either hype or vilify all or aspects of the new technology. As risk perception and acceptance of a technology go hand in hand, risk communication is a key instruments in informing a largely unaware public."// From [[Communicating nanotechnology |http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=14344.php]] by Michael Berger. [[Bibliography of research on public perceptions of nanotechnology|http://nanohype.blogspot.com/2009/10/updated-bib-on-nano-perception.html]]
Using nanotechnology, scientists from UCLA and Northwestern University have developed a localized and controlled drug delivery method that is invisible to the immune system, a discovery that could provide newer and more effective treatments for cancer and other diseases. The study provides an example of the enormous potential and clinical significance that nanomaterials may represent in such fields as oncology, endocrinology and cardiology.
The researchers used nanoscale polymer films, about four nanometers per layer, to build a sort of matrix or platform to hold and slowly release an anti-inflammatory drug.
The nanomaterial technology serves as a non-invasive and biocompatible platform for the delivery of a broad range of therapeutics. The technology also may prove to be an effective approach for delivering multiple drugs, controlling the sequence of multi-drug delivery strategies and enhancing the life spans of commonly implanted devices such as cardiac stents, pacemakers and continuous glucose monitors. “For chemotherapy, this system could enhance treatment efficacy while preventing uncontrolled delivery and the resultant patient side effects.”
Source: [[Scientists use nanotechnology to localize and control drug delivery|http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/scientists-use-nanotechnology-43634.aspx]]
2011 is the International Year of Chemistry! To celebrate Leonardo is seeking to publish papers and artworks on the intersections of chemistry, nanotechnology and art for our on-going special section on nanotechnology and the arts. Since its inception nanotech/science has been intimately connected to chemistry; fullerenes, nanoputians, molecular machines, nano-inorganics and self-assembling molecular systems all spring from the minds and labs of chemists, biochemists and chemical engineers. If you’re a nano-oriented chemist who is serious about art, an artist working on the molecular level, or a chemical educator exploring the mysteries of nano through the arts we are especially seeking submissions from you.
Over the last decade, "nano" has become a buzzword signifying everything from imagined atomic-scale robotic utopias to small electronics. For scientists the shift toward nano has also become ubiquitous; what used to be referred to as molecular has been reframed as nano; 27 journals devoted to nanotech/nanoscience are now published; and the National Science Foundation and other granting agencies have devoted a significant amount of funding toward nanotech/nanoscience. Among engineers, scientists and science-studies scholars, discussions of the potential of nanotech/nanoscience abound, including conferences that debate the pros and cons of a nano-hegemony and attempt to debunk some of the hype. Artists, however, have only begun to explore this emergent scientific field, leaving it wide open for creative interpretation.'' With this special section of Leonardo, we hope to ignite artists' interest in the exploration of nanotech/nanoscience and encourage scientists, scholars and educators to contemplate the implications of an art-nanotech/nanoscience connection.''
Leonardo, in collaboration with the Exploratorium under the auspices of the Nanotech Informal Science Education Network, will publish a series of special sections periodically over the next 5 years exploring the intersections of nanotech/science and art. We are especially seeking submissions of artworks (visual, performance, sound, etc.) with artist's statements explaining the relationship of the work to nanotech/science; essays from scientists, engineers and scholars exploring the connection between nanotech/science and art; and essays and visuals aiming at nanotech/science education that use the arts as a pedagogical tool.
Interested artists and authors are invited to send proposals, queries and/or manuscripts to the Leonardo editorial office at leonardomanuscripts@gmail.com
Resources and related projects:
[[The Leonardo Scientists Working Group|http://www.leonardo.info/isast/sci-workgroup.html]] (Tami Spector, Chair)
[[Nanotechnology and Art|http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin/viewtopic.php?t=1262]] discussion on YASMIN Network (co-sponsored by Leonardo), moderated by piratas.de.la.ciencia
[[Nanotechnology Takes Off|http://www.kqed.org/quest/television/embed/189]] and [[Future of Nanosolar|http://www.kqed.org/quest/television/embed/399]] - two short films on nanotechnology from QUEST: KQED's Bay Area Science, Nature and Environment Series.
Source: ''[[Leonardo Journal Call for Papers: NANOTECHNOLOGY, NANOSCALE SCIENCE AND ART.|http://www.leonardo.info/isast/journal/calls/nanocall.html]]'' Guest Editors: Tom Rockwell and Tami I. Spector
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{{twocolumns{
Friends of the Earth groups around the world released the report, [[Nanotechnology, climate and energy: Over-heated promises and hot air?|http://www.foe.org/nano-climate]], debunking the promises made by the nanotechnology industry about its ability to increase energy efficiency and alleviate climate change.
The report delves into the complex issues raised by nanotechnology and concludes that nanotechnology fails to exhibit much potential as a solution to global warming, resource depletion or pollution.
“Despite claims that nanotechnology can limit climate change and promote energy efficiency, we’ve found that the use of nanotechnology actually comes at a large environmental cost,” said Ian Illuminato of Friends of the Earth U.S., a coauthor of the report. “Rather than substantively reducing our environmental footprint, it instead allows people to continue with ‘business as usual’ and avoid serious improvements in energy efficiency and behavioral changes.”
“Worse, the report reveals that the world’s biggest petrochemical companies have established a joint, U.S.-based, consortium to use nanotechnology to find and extract more oil and gas, which would have extremely adverse environmental impacts.”
''According to the report, nanotechnology has the potential to transform the way we harness, use and store energy''. However, the manufacture of nanotechnology products requires large amounts of energy, and the products may not deliver promised energy. The report also highlights how the technology is primarily used in products that do not provide energy savings, such as clothing, cosmetics and sporting goods.
In response to the report, [[350.org|http://www.350.org/]] founder Bill McKibben said, “Very few people have looked beyond the shiny promise of nanotechnology to try and understand how this far-reaching new technique is actually developing. This report is an excellent glimpse inside, and it offers a judicious and balanced account of a subject we need very much to be thinking about.”
''“Nanotechnology has been the focus of considerable ‘greenwash’ and industry has promoted it as is a solution to environmental concerns. It is important the public understands that many nanotechnology applications actually come at a high environmental cost. Worse, at a time when we need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, there is growing investment in nanotechnology to find and extract more oil and gas,”'' said report coauthor Georgia Miller, of Friends of the Earth Australia. Source: [[Nanotechnology’s true climate and energy cost exposed|http://www.foe.org/nanotechnology%E2%80%99s-true-climate-and-energy-cost-exposed]]. Report reveals large net energy cost and other environmental threats posed by nanotechnology by Friends of the Earth
[[Andrew Maynard|http://2020science.org/andrew-maynard/]] over at his 2020 Science blog takes [[a first look at the report|http://2020science.org/2010/11/16/nanotechnology-climate-and-energy-over-heated-promises-and-hot-air/]], which provides a cursory breakdown and appraisal of the report in order to assist readers in forming their own opinion on its importance and implications. "I’ve only had the chance to skim through the report so far, and so don’t have detailed comments on it. But on my initial skim a number of things struck me:
* The report is written from a specific perspective that questions the validity of claims made of nanotechnology – especially that it will “deliver energy technologies that are efficient, inexpensive and environmentally sound”
* It is pretty comprehensive, covering nanotechnology and solar energy, wind energy, hydrogen energy, oil and gas extraction, batteries, supercapacitors, nanocoatings and insulators, catalysis and reinforced parts for airplanes and cars.
* However, it doesn’t cover all nano-applications in the energy sector. Two examples are the use of heterogeneous catalysts in vehicle exhausts and to reduce the energy overheads of a multitude of processes, the use of nanomaterials to develop more efficient power lines.
* The report also tends to focus on areas where it is easier to construct position statements challenging statements on the positive use of nanomaterials.
* ''Nevertheless, it appears to be a significant and well-written counterbalance to publications that promote the benefits of nanotechnology in the energy sector without deep and critical evaluation of the pros and cons of the technology''.
Are the issues raised valid and in need of further exploration? It’s worth reading for yourself to decide."
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//"Controlling climate change, abandoning dependency on fossil fuels, and creating the conditions for sustainable development will require as great a transformation as our ancestors accomplished over tens of thousands of years in moving from agrarian to urban societies"//. ''"Nanotechnology: Engines On"'' is a new book about how Nanotechnology is contributing to solve this vital challenges.
//"''Merging and blending some thoughts on recent news on energy'' that appeared in on our Nanowiki 2010, following the positive experience from last year’s digest, “[[Nanotechnology: balancing the promises]]”, on the question of the unknown potential benefits to human health and environmental risks of nanotechnology. The responsible implementation of Nanotechnology should be a balance between the risks and benefits to society, as analyzed by a broad spectrum of stakeholders. Our intention is to promote the debate on the evolution of this young discipline, nanotechnology, to ensure its safe and responsible development. The text is accompanied by a selection of microscopy images which summarize our efforts within the laboratory to explore the world on the nanoscale during the last year."//
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In electronic ([[ePub|http://www.archive.org/details/NanotechnologyEnginesOn]], pdf) and [[paper|http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/nanotechnology-engines-on/15059593]] editions. Download the free ebook at the Internet Archive: [[Nanotechnology: Engines On|http://www.archive.org/details/NanotechnologyEnginesOn]]
[[(91.3 MB) pdf_high resolution (print)|http://www.archive.org/download/NanotechnologyEnginesOn/NanotechnologyEnginesOn_PRINT.pdf]]
[[(4.3 MB) pdf_low resolution (web)|http://www.archive.org/download/NanotechnologyEnginesOn/NanotechnologyEnginesOn_WEB.pdf]]
[[(9.9 MB) ePub (e-readers)|http://www.archive.org/download/NanotechnologyEnginesOn/NanotechnologyEnginesOn.epub]]. You can download this ePub for multiple [[reading systems|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPUB#Reading_systems]] in [[PCs|http://calibre-ebook.com/]], [[mobiles|http://fbreader.org/about.php]] or [[ebook readers|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_e-book_readers]], even [[read ePub-files in Firefox|https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/45281]].
Subra Suresh, in a recent interview, nicely quoted ''the potentialities of nanotechnology to perform in the life sciences area''. At a (bio)molecular level which is, by its own, nanometric.
The [[malaria|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria]] parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, turn rigid the red blood cells and these looses their abilty to enter the smallest human capillaries. This is the effect of one protein, discovered by a team lead not by a biologist neither a ~MSc but an engineer: [[Subra Suresh|http://sureshgroup.mit.edu/suresh.htm]], dean of the Engineering Schoold at the Massachussets Intitute of Technology.
“Traditonally, in biology, they study the biomolecules. Here we introduce the engineering. ''Biologists have known for 20 years the effect of malaria in the red blood cells. Now, thanks to the nanotechnology, we have tools to measure the mechanical properties of the cell with high precission, and that is the new thing. Our contribution is to show the mechanical behaviour of the cell.''”
Source: [['Hacemos ingeniería celular a nanoescala'|http://www.elpais.com/articulo/futuro/Hacemos/ingenieria/celular/nanoescala/elpepusocfut/20080618elpepifut_4/Tes]]. El País, june 18, 2008
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"Governments and industry are pouring billions of euros into developing nanotechnology, while the media and consumer goods companies use the word “nano” with ever-increasing regularity. Yet nanotechnology is well understood by very few outside the scientific community even though its impacts, both positive and negative, are likely to affect many aspects of our lives within a decade. ''This report aims to give the non-scientist a brief yet comprehensive overview of nanotechnology'' – what it is, what its impacts will be on industry, the economy, the environment and society - and suggests some actions that can be implemented on a regional basis to address the key issues of concern, with particular reference to [[Catalonia|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalonia]]." Source: ''[[Nanotechnology: What is it and how will affect us? A non-technical review of nanotechnology from a Catalan perspective — its potential economic and social impacts and the potential role of public policy|http://www.fcri.es/interior.asp?idcanal=7&idcategory=65&idsubcategory=111]]''. Edited by: Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation ([[FCRI|http://www.fcr.es/home.asp?Idcanal=7&idioma=EN]]), June 2009. Direction: Judit Castellà. Co-ordination: Dolors López. Author: Boaz Kogon. Scientific revision: Jordi Pascual. Linguistic revision: Montserrat Miras. Design and layout: Iván Barreda
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{{twocolumns{
> ''Nano-measurement of troponin levels proves an accurate predictor of deterioration in heart failure''
> Simple blood tests with new high sensitive assay show that even small changes accurately forecast 90-day prognosis
More evidence is reported for the role of the blood biomarker troponin in predicting risk of mortality and hospital readmission in heart failure. A study presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association showed that measurements of troponin, a cardiac-specific protein, were associated with worsening heart failure (and mortality) in older adults. Now, a new report shows that even very small elevations of troponin are indicative of 90-day mortality and re-hospitalisation.
Today, heart failure is by far the single biggest reason for acute hospital admission. Around 30 million people in Europe have heart failure and its incidence is still increasing: more cases are being identified, more people are living to an old age, and more are surviving a heart attack but with damage to the heart muscle. Yet traditional risk-factor prediction models have only limited accuracy in this population to identify those at highest risk for worsening outcomes.
So far, those risk prediction models have relied on measurements of a biomarker known as pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) for prognostic information, but studies have provided inconsistent and often inaccurate results. Measurements of troponin have been previously used in some types of cardiovascular disease, but the standard assays were not sufficiently sensitive to detect relevant changes in most heart failure patients. Now, the introduction of highly sensitive troponin assays has improved accuracy and allowed the detection of even small concentration changes.
''This latest study assessed the prognostic value of the new high-sensitive assay with nanotechnology (ie, within the nanogram per litre range) in patients admitted to hospital with heart failure.'' Using the new high sensitive assay, troponin measurements could be quantified in more than 99% of serum samples taken from all patients in the study. Analysis showed that levels in the higher quartile ranges (even at these small nanogram levels) were significantly associated with increased risk of mortality and readmission; patients with increasing levels during treatment also had higher mortality rates than those with stable or decreasing levels. The associations with troponin were statistically significant, while those with BNP were not.
The investigators drew three conclusions from the study:
* Troponin levels are measurable in virtually all heart failure patients with the use of a high sensitive assay
* Even small elevations in troponin during hospitalisation for heart failure are associated with increased 90-day mortality and readmission
* Serial increases in troponin concentrations during hospitalisation are associated with higher mortality than stable or decreasing levels.
Commenting on the study, co-investigator Dr Yang Xue from the Division of Cardiology, University of California at San Diego, acknowledged that heart failure is a complex disease and that no single biomarker is likely to be fully predictive. However, because troponin is a marker for myocardial damage (a significant cause of heart failure), its accurate measurement in combination with other biomarkers will help provide a more comprehensive evaluation - and certainly more accurate than BNP alone. Said Dr Xue: "The fact that 99% of our samples had measurable levels highlights the feasibility of measuring troponin in virtually all heart failure patients. This was simply not possible with earlier assays. But it did allow us to detect a trend of increasing troponin levels during the 90-day study period which was significantly associated with an increased risk of mortality which was not evident in patients with stable or decreasing levels. ''These findings may help identify a previously unidentified subgroup of high-risk patients who need closer monitoring in hospital and post-discharge''." Source: From [[Nano-measurement of troponin levels proves an accurate predictor of deterioration in heart failure|http://www.escardio.org/about/press/press-releases/pr-10/Pages/Troponin-predictor-HF.aspx?hit=DontMiss]]
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''The protein was measured with a novel nanotechnology-based assay developed by [[Nanosphere|http://www.nanosphere.us/]] of Northbrook, Ill., capable of 0.25-ng/mL sensitivity with a 10% coefficient of variance at 12 ng/mL'' Source: [[New Troponin Assay May Sharpen HF Prognosis|http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/CHF/23917]]
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''A new book about the evolution of Nanotechnology'', in electronic ([[ePub|http://nanowiki.info/NanotechnologyBalancingThePromises.epub]], pdf) and [[paper|http://www.bubok.com/libros/169483/Nanotechnology-balancing-the-promises]] editions. This book includes [[42 original plates of nanoparticles|Balancing the promises plates]].
//"We would like to start the year with some thoughts on some of the recent news appeared in Nanowiki 2009. In this occasion we would like to focus on probably one of the major impact areas of nanotechnology nowadays, that is, to solve the question of its preasumed potential uses in medicine versus its unknown potential in human health and environment risks. This new thing, does it heal or does it kill? Ultimately, both, the toxicity and the medical applications will emerge from the interaction dynamics between inorganic and organic matter at the nanometric (molecular) scale. The responsible implementation of Nanotechnology will result as a balance between the risks and benefits to society analyzed by a broad spectrum of stakeholders. Our intention is ''to promote the debate on the evolution of this young discipline, nanotechnology, for its safe and responsible development. In parallel, we would like to approach Nature to society through Science and Nanotechnology''."//
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Download the free ebook at the Internet Archive: [[Nanotechnology: balancing the promises|http://www.archive.org/details/NanotechnologyBalancingThePromises]]
[[(168 MB) pdf_high resolution (print)|http://www.archive.org/download/NanotechnologyBalancingThePromises/BalancingThePromises.pdf]]
[[(3.14 MB) pdf_low resolution (web)|http://www.archive.org/download/NanotechnologyBalancingThePromises/BalancingThePromises_WEB.pdf]]
[[(8.84 MB) ePub (e-readers)|http://www.archive.org/download/NanotechnologyBalancingThePromises/BalancingThePromises.epub]]. You can download this ePub for multiple [[reading systems|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPUB#Reading_systems]] in [[PCs|http://calibre-ebook.com/]], [[mobiles|http://fbreader.org/about.php]] or [[ebook readers|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_e-book_readers]], even [[read ePub-files in Firefox|https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/45281]].
When the public considers competing arguments about a new technology’s potential risks and benefits, people will tend to agree with the expert whose values are closest to their own, no matter what position the expert takes. The same will hold true for nanotechnology, a key study has found. The study results appear in a report issued by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN).
“Because most people lack the time and expertise necessary to make sense of scientific information on complex and novel risks, they naturally rely on experts whom they trust to determine what information to believe. Individuals are inclined to trust those who share their cultural outlooks,” according to the study’s lead author Yale Law School professor Dan Kahan.
The new results are consistent with those from an earlier study — part of an ongoing series being sponsored by the National Science Foundation, PEN and the Oscar M. Ruebahausen Fund at Yale Law School — in which the same researchers found that individuals’ values influence how they respond to information about nanotechnology risks.
The findings reinforce the fact that the task of engaging the U.S. public about nanotechnology will not be simple or easy, PEN Director David Rejeski says.
“This study identifies some of the hurdles policy experts face in developing a comprehensive strategy for providing citizens with information about nanotechnology,” Rejeski says. “It highlights the urgency of talking with the public about nanotechnology now — at this relatively early stage in its commercialization. It also emphasizes the importance of getting information to people that they can trust and from sources they can rely on.”
In the third and final study in this series of experiments, expected to be completed in spring 2008, the Cultural Cognition Project will explore the persuasiveness of different messages coupled with a variety of trusted messengers on various audience groups.
Source: [[Nanotechnology’s Future Depends On Who The Public Trusts|http://www.nanotechproject.org/news/archive/yale21/]]
Besides, despite the continuing stimulation for interdisciplinary collaboration, biological applications of nanotechnologically designed objects still suffer from gaps between the different disciplines. Chemists, physicists, and engineers create new advanced materials of
sophisticated functionality on a daily basis, but their understanding of biology is usually limited. This leads to studies where uptake of nanoparticles by cells is investigated but facts, such as that the incorporated particles are stuck in endosomal/lysosomal structures instead of being free in the cytoplasm, are ignored. In biological contexts, the uptake of nanoparticles by cells is typically investigated with relatively undefined nanoparticles with large polydispersity,
limited colloidal stability, unknown surface chemistry, etc. And finally, the social burden of toxicity makes it difficult to extract conclusions, and the results, even the more technical ones, often biased towards toxicity or not toxicity depending on the context of the reporters, e.g., presenting a new medical device versus evaluating a material toxicity.
An example of such is the observation of toxicity of CNT which is then proposed to get rid of bacteria. Fighting against bacteria is critical in some conditions, besides, bacteria are at the base of the food chain and the life substrate itself. In fact, nanosilver was banned by the FDA because of its bactericide character.
[[Carbon nanotubes show germ-fighting promise|http://www.nanotoday.com/pdfs_nanotoday_05_2007/news.pdf]]
[[EPA uses nanotech regulation ploy to target colloidal silver while ignoring all other nanotech particles|http://www.newstarget.com/021231.html]]
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Engineers at the University of California, Riverside are part of a team that has found semiconducting nanotubes produced by living bacteria – a discovery that could help in the creation of a new generation of nanoelectronic devices.
The research team believes this is the first time nanotubes have been shown to be produced by biological rather than chemical means. It opens the door to the possibility of cheaper and more environmentally friendly manufacture of electronic materials.
[<img[Shewanella bacteria (shown in blue) forming nanotubes|http://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/rel/6135_rel.jpg]]
The team found the bacterium Shewanella facilitates the formation of arsenic-sulfide nanotubes that have unique physical and chemical properties not produced by chemical agents. The photoactive arsenic-sulfide nanotubes produced by the bacteria behave as metals with electrical and photoconductive properties. The researchers report that these properties may also provide novel functionality for the next generation of semiconductors in nano- and opto-electronic devices. In a process that is not yet fully understood, the Shewanella bacterium secretes polysacarides that seem to produce the template for the arsenic sulfide nanotubes,
Source: [[Nanotube-producing Bacteria Show Manufacturing Promise|http://www.newsroom.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/display.cgi?id=1730]]
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/nanowire.jpg" title="A schematic shows nanoscale battery/supercapacitor devices in an array, as constructed at Rice University. The devices show promise for powering nanoscale electronics and as a research tool for understanding electrochemical phenomenon at the nanoscale. Credit: Ajayan Lab/Rice University" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>The world at large runs on lithium ion batteries. New research shows that tiny worlds may soon do the same. The Rice lab of Professor [[Pulickel Ajayan|http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~rv4/Ajayan/]] has ''packed an entire lithium ion energy storage device into a single nanowire''. The researchers believe their creation is as small as such devices can possibly get, and could be valuable as a rechargeable power source for new generations of nanoelectronics.
The researchers built centimeter-scale arrays containing thousands of nanowire devices, each about 150 nanometers wide. Ajayan's team has been inching toward single-nanowire devices for years. The researchers first reported the creation of [[three-dimensional nanobatteries|http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=15154]] last December.
"The idea here is to fabricate nanowire energy storage devices with ultrathin separation between the electrodes," said Arava Leela Mohana Reddy, a research scientist at Rice. "This affects the electrochemical behavior of the device. Our devices could be a very useful tool to probe nanoscale phenomenon."
The team's experimental batteries are about 50 microns tall — about the diameter of a human hair and almost invisible when viewed edge-on, Reddy said. Theoretically, the nanowire energy storage devices can be as long and wide as the templates allow, which makes them scalable.
The nanowire devices show good capacity; the researchers are fine-tuning the materials to increase their ability to repeatedly charge and discharge, which now drops off after a about 20 cycles. "There's a lot to be done to optimize the devices in terms of performance," said Sanketh Gowda, a chemical engineering graduate student at Rice. "Optimization of the polymer separator and its thickness and an exploration of different electrode systems could lead to improvements." Source: [[Rice builds nanowire battery|http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=15996]] . Hybrid energy storage device is as small as it can possibly get. This work was detailed in the paper ''[[Building Energy Storage Device on a Single Nanowire|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl2017042]]''<<slider chkSldr [[Building Energy Storage Device on a Single Nanowire]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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<html><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/20808112?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="100%" height="225" frameborder="0"></iframe></html>Presentation of the three-dimensional nanobatteries
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An endoscope that can provide high-resolution optical images of the interior of a single living cell, or precisely deliver genes, proteins, therapeutic drugs or other cargo without injuring or damaging the cell, has been developed by researchers. This highly versatile and mechanically robust nanowire-based optical probe can also be applied to biosensing and single-cell electrophysiology.
A team of researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley attached a tin oxide nanowire waveguide to the tapered end of an optical fibre to create a novel endoscope system. Light travelling along the optical fibre can be effectively coupled into the nanowire where it is re-emitted into free space when it reaches the tip. The nanowire tip is extremely flexible due to its small size and high aspect ratio, yet can endure repeated bending and buckling so that it can be used multiple times.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/Peidong-HeLa-cell.jpg" title="Fluorescence confocal image of a single living HeLa cell shows that via nanoendoscopy a quantum dot cluster (red dot) has been delivered to the cytoplasm within the membrane (green) of the cell. (Courtesy of Berkeley Lab)" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>“By combining the advantages of nanowire waveguides and fibre-optic fluorescence imaging, we can manipulate light at the nanoscale inside living cells for studying biological processes within single living cells with high spatial and temporal resolution,” says [[Peidong Yang|http://www.cchem.berkeley.edu/pdygrp/main.html]], a chemist with Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division, who led this research.
Despite significant advancements in electron and scanning probe microscopy, visible light microscopy remains the workhorse for the study of biological cells. Because cells are optically transparent, they can be noninvasively imaged with visible light in three-dimensions. Also, visible light allows the fluorescent tagging and detection of cellular constituents, such as proteins, nucleic acids and lipids. The one drawback to visible light imaging in biology has been the diffraction barrier, which prevents visible light from resolving structures smaller than half the wavelength of the incident light. Recent breakthroughs in nanophotonics have made it possible to overcome this barrier and bring subcellular components into view with optical imaging systems. However, such systems are complex, expensive and, oddly enough, bulky in size.
“Previously, we had shown that subwavelength dielectric nanowire waveguides can efficiently shuttle ultraviolet and visible light in air and fluidic media,” Yang says. “By incorporating one of our nanophotonic components into a simple, low-cost, bench-top fibre-optical set-up, we were able to miniaturize our endoscopic system.”
To test their ''nanowire endoscope as a local light source for subcellular imaging'', Yang and his co-authors optically coupled it to an excitation laser then waveguided blue light across the membrane and into the interiors of individual HeLa cells, the most commonly used immortalized human cell line for scientific research.
“The insertion of our tin oxide nanowire into the cell cytoplasm did not induce cell death, apoptosis, significant cellular stress, or membrane rupture. Moreover, illuminating the intracellular environment of HeLa cells with blue light using the nanoprobe did not harm the cells because the illumination volume was so small, down to the picolitre-scale.”
''Having demonstrated the biocompatibility of their nanowire endoscope'', Yang and his co-authors ''next tested its capabilities for delivering payloads to specific sites inside a cell''. While carbon and boron nitride nanotube-based single-cell delivery systems have been reported, these systems suffer from delivery times that range from 20-to-30 minutes, plus a lack of temporal control over the delivery process. To overcome these limitations, Yang and his co-authors attached quantum dots to the tin oxide nanowire tip of their endoscope using photo-activated linkers that can be cleaved by low-power ultraviolet radiation. Within one minute, their functionalized nanowire endoscope was able to release its quantum dot cargo into the targeted intracellular sites.
“In the future, in addition to optical imaging and cargo delivery, we could also use this nanowire endoscope to electrically or optically stimulate a living cell,” Yang says. Source: From [[A Single Cell Endoscope|http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2011/12/20/a-single-cell-endoscope/]]. Berkeley Lab Researchers Use Nanophotonics for Optical Look Inside Living Cells. This work was detailed in the paper [[“Nanowire-based single-cell endoscopy”|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nnano.2011.226.html]].
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Gallium nitride (GaN) and zinc oxide (ZnO) are among the most technologically relevant semiconducting materials. Gallium nitride is ubiquitous today in optoelectronic elements such as blue lasers (hence the blue-ray disc) and light-emitting-diodes (LEDs); zinc oxide also finds many uses in optoelectronics and sensors.
In the past few years, though, nanostructures made of these materials have shown a plethora of potential functionalities, ranging from single-nanowire lasers and LEDs to more complex devices such as resonators and, more recently, nanogenerators that convert mechanical energy from the environment (body movements, for example) to power electronic devices. The latter application relies on the fact that GaN and ZnO are also piezoelectric materials, meaning that they produce electric charges as they are deformed.
In a paper, [[Horacio Espinosa|http://clifton.mech.northwestern.edu/~espinosa/]], the James N. and Nancy J. Farley Professor in Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University, and Ravi Agrawal, a graduate student in Espinosa’s lab, reported that ''piezoelectricity in GaN and ZnO nanowires is in fact enhanced by as much as two orders of magnitude as the diameter of the nanowires decrease''. “This finding is very exciting because it suggests that constructing nanogenerators, sensors and other devices from smaller nanowires will greatly improve their output and sensitivity,” Espinosa said.
“We used a computational method called Density Functional Theory (DFT) to model GaN and ZnO nanowires of diameters ranging from 0.6 nanometers to 2.4 nanometers,” Agrawal said. The computational method is able to predict the electronic distribution of the nanowires as they are deformed and, therefore, allows calculating their piezoelectric coefficients.
''The findings by Espinosa and Agrawal may have important implications for the field of energy harvesting as well as for fundamental science''. For energy harvesting, where piezoelectric elements are used to convert mechanical to electrical energy in order to power electronic devices, these results point to an advantage in reducing the size of the piezoelectric elements down to the nanometer scale. Energy harvesting devices built from small-diameter nanowires should in principle be able to produce more electrical energy from the same amount of mechanical energy than their bulk counterparts.
''In terms of fundamental science, these results further previous conclusions that matter at the nanoscale has different properties''. It is clear now that by tailoring the size of nanostructures, their mechanical, electrical and thermal properties can be tuned as well.
“Our focus remains on understanding the fundamental principles governing the behavior of nanostructures as a function of their size,” Espinosa and Agrawal say. “One of the most important issues that needs to be addressed is to obtain experimental confirmation of these results, and establish up to what size the giant piezoelectric effects remain significant.”
Espinosa and Agrawal hope their work will spur new interest in the electromechanical properties of nanostructures, both from theoretical and experimental standpoints, in order to clear the path for the design and optimization of future nanoscale devices. Source: [[Nanowires Exhibit Giant Piezoelectricity|http://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/news/articles/article_819.html]]. This work was detailed in the paper [[“Giant Piezoelectric Size Effects in Zinc Oxide and Gallium Nitride Nanowires. A First Principles Investigation”|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl104004d]] by Ravi Agrawal & Horacio Espinosa<<slider chkSldr [[Giant Piezoelectric Size Effects in Zinc Oxide and Gallium Nitride Nanowires. A First Principles Investigation]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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<html><img title="Photos taken by a scanning electron microscope of silicon nanowires before (left) and after (right) absorbing lithium. Both photos were taken at the same magnification. Courtesy Nature Nanotechnology" src="http://news.stanford.edu/news/2008/january9/gifs/battery-nanowires.jpg" width="95%"/>
</html>
<br>Researchers have ''found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries'' that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices.
The new technology, developed through research led by [[Yi Cui|http://www.stanford.edu/group/cui_group/]], assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford, produces 10 times the amount of electricity of existing lithium-ion, known as Li-ion, batteries. ''A laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for 20 hours'', a boon to ocean-hopping business travelers. "It's not a small improvement," Cui said. "It's a revolutionary development."
''The greatly expanded storage capacity could make Li-ion batteries attractive to electric car manufacturers.'' Cui suggested that ''they could also be used in homes or offices to store electricity generated by rooftop solar panels.''
"Given the mature infrastructure behind silicon, this new technology can be pushed to real life quickly," Cui said.
The electrical storage capacity of a Li-ion battery is limited by how much lithium can be held in the battery's anode, which is typically made of carbon. Silicon has a much higher capacity than carbon, but also has a drawback.
Silicon placed in a battery swells as it absorbs positively charged lithium atoms during charging, then shrinks during use (i.e., when playing your iPod) as the lithium is drawn out of the silicon. This expand/shrink cycle typically causes the silicon (often in the form of particles or a thin film) to pulverize, degrading the performance of the battery.
Cui's battery gets around this problem with nanotechnology. The lithium is stored in a forest of tiny silicon nanowires, each with a diameter one-thousandth the thickness of a sheet of paper. The nanowires inflate four times their normal size as they soak up lithium. But, unlike other silicon shapes, they do not fracture.
Research on silicon in batteries began three decades ago. Chan explained: "The people kind of gave up on it because the capacity wasn't high enough and the cycle life wasn't good enough. And it was just because of the shape they were using. It was just too big, and they couldn't undergo the volume changes." Then, along came silicon nanowires. "We just kind of put them together," Chan said.
Cui said that a patent application has been filed. He is considering formation of a company or an agreement with a battery manufacturer. Manufacturing the nanowire batteries would require "one or two different steps, but the process can certainly be scaled up," he added. "It's a well understood process." Source: From [[Nanowire battery can hold 10 times the charge of existing lithium-ion battery|http://news.stanford.edu/news/2008/january9/nanowire-010908.html]] By Dan Stober. This work is detailed in the paper [[“High-performance lithium battery anodes using silicon nanowires”|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/v3/n1/full/nnano.2007.411.html]] by Candace K. Chan, Hailin Peng, Gao Liu, Kevin McIlwrath, Xiao Feng Zhang, Robert A. Huggins & Yi Cui <<slider chkSldr [[High-performance lithium battery anodes using silicon nanowires]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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Nano-cellulose drug carriers were produced by Iranian researchers from Islamic Azad University in association with their colleagues from Northern Carolina University of the US in a bid to fight various types of illness-causing bacteria such as bacteria that are resistant against antiseptics.
''"Natural nanopolymers, among which nano-cellulose is one of the most important ones, attracted the attention of researchers about 10 years ago. Nano-cellulose consists of crystalline and biological particles and they can be used as the base material in many industries due to their ability of surface modification,"'' Dr. Hassan Sadeqifar, member of the Scientific Board of Islamic Azad University, told the news service of the INIC.
Studying at Northern Carolina State University in the United States at post-doctorate level in the field of natural nanomaterials, Sadeqifar has carried out research aiming at presenting a new method for the production of cellulose nanoparticles from cellulose fibers and to carry out chemical modification on the surface of such particles in order to be used in antibacterial and medical purposes.
"''Cellulose nanoparticles are chemically neutral but biologically degradable and compatible with human's body''. Therefore, in addition to compatibility with human body's tissues, such materials degrade gradually when they are used as the base material in the production of antiseptics or drug carriers," Sadeqifar continued.
Cellulose nanoparticles have applications in numerous industries such as polymer, food, nano-electronics, paper fabrication, filters for chemical materials and gases neutralization, textile, and so forth. However, their application in medical purposes and drug carriers was the main purpose of this study. Source: From ''[[Iranian, American Researchers Produce Nano-Cellulose Drug Carriers|http://en.nano.ir/index.php/news/show/2472]]''. This work was detailed in the paper [[“Photobactericidal porphyrin-cellulose nanocrystals: synthesis, characterization, and antimicrobial properties”|http://www4.ncsu.edu/~raghilad/Ghiladi/Papers/R23.pdf]] by Feese, E., Sadeghifar, H., Gracz, H. S., Argyropoulos, D. S., & Ghiladi, R. A.
''Context:''
[[Bridging the gap: Science help brings Iranian and UNC researchers together|http://www.examiner.com/city-buzz-in-charlotte/bridging-the-gap-science-help-brings-iranian-and-unc-researchers-together]] by Robert Tilford, Charlotte City Buzz Examiner. "It’s not every day I run across an article in Iran which mentions North Carolina State University, or for that matter the United States in a positive light, but today I did. I guess I was surprised it didn’t have to do with CIA spies, secret drones, nuclear weapons or terrorism. God knows we hear enough of that kind already. Instead it had to do with a incredible medical break though that holds great promise in dealing with super resistant bacteria that can cause food borne illness (colloquially referred to as food poisoning)."
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<br>//The vast majority of materials shrink in all directions when hydrostatically compressed; exceptions include certain metallic or polymer foam structures, which may exhibit negative linear compressibility (NLC) (that is, they expand in one or more directions under hydrostatic compression). Materials that exhibit this property at the molecular level—crystalline solids with intrinsic NLC—are extremely uncommon. With the use of neutron powder diffraction, we have discovered and characterized both NLC and extremely anisotropic thermal expansion, including negative thermal expansion (NTE) along the NLC axis, in a simple molecular crystal (the deuterated 1:1 compound of methanol and water). Apically linked rhombuses, which are formed by the bridging of hydroxyl-water chains with methyl groups, extend along the axis of NLC/NTE and lead to the observed behavior. //
<br>//Neutron-rich isotopes with masses near that of iron are produced in type Ia and II supernovae. Traces of such nucleosynthesis are found in primitive meteorites in the form of variations in the isotopic abundance of 54Cr, the most neutron-rich stable isotope of chromium. The hosts of these isotopic anomalies must be presolar grains that condensed in the outflows of supernovae, offering the opportunity to study the nucleosynthesis of iron-peak nuclei in ways that complement spectroscopic observations and can inform models of stellar evolution. However, despite almost two decades of extensive search, the carrier of 54Cr anomalies is still unknown, presumably because it is fine-grained and is chemically labile. Here we identify in the primitive meteorite Orgueil the carrier of 54Cr-anomalies as nanoparticles, most likely spinels that show large enrichments in 54Cr relative to solar composition (54Cr/52Cr ratio >3.6xsolar). Such large enrichments in 54Cr can only be produced in supernovae. The mineralogy of the grains supports condensation in the O/Ne-O/C zones of a type II supernova, although a type Ia origin cannot be excluded. We suggest that planetary materials incorporated different amounts of these nanoparticles, possibly due to late injection by a nearby supernova that also delivered 26Al and 60Fe to the solar system. This idea explains why the relative abundance of 54Cr and other neutron-rich isotopes vary between planets and meteorites. We anticipate that future isotopic studies of the grains identified here will shed new light on the birth of the solar system and the conditions in supernovae. //
Cells of the innate immune system produces NET as a part of their defense mechanism. Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are networks of extracellular fibres generated by neutrophils that bind pathogens. NETs consist of stretches of DNA and globular protein domains with diameters of 15-17 nm and 25 nm, respectively. These aggregate into larger threads with a diameter of 50 nm. NETs disarm pathogens with antimicrobial proteins such as neutrophil elastase and hitones that are bound to the DNA. NETs provide for a high local concentration of antimicrobial components and bind, disarm, and kill microbes extracellularly independent of phagocytic uptake. In addition to their antimicrobial properties, NETs may serve as a physical barrier that prevents further spread of the pathogens. Recently, researchers observed that those DNA-Peptide webs were also efficient in trapping Au nanoparticles with different surface preparations. Not all the studied type of particles was similarly retained in a system were the CTAB in its disordered or micellar form appears to play a critical role. The results recalled the avidity of opsonins for positive charges and hydrophobic domains. The mesh of these NETs is around 100 nm so should be any problem for smaller than 100 nm non-sticky nanoparticles to go through, however, a number of interactions with the fibres will be inevitable, what may be key for the nanoparticles to pass the barriers in their medical journey into the body for diagnosis and or therapy.
[[Phagocytosis Independent Extracellular Nanoparticle Clearance by Human Immune Cells|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl902830x]] by Matthias Bartneck, Heidrun A. Keul, Gabriele Zwadlo-Klarwasser and Jürgen Groll
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="http://www.nist.gov/mml/ceramics/images/11MML014_AgNPs_afm_LR.jpg" title="AFM (Atomic force microscopy) image of silver nanoparticles formed from silver ions in solution with humic acid. Color tone in this image indicates height (0 to 10 nanometers) above the base plane, so brighter spots are taller, larger nanoparticles. Image is roughly 1,700 nm on a side. Credit: MacCuspie, NIST" class="photo" width="30%"/></html>Nanoparticles of silver are being found increasingly in the environment—and in environmental science laboratories. Because they have a variety of useful properties, especially as antibacterial and antifungal agents, silver nanoparticles increasingly are being used in a wide variety of industrial and consumer products. This, in turn, has raised concerns about what happens to them once released into the environment. Now a new research paper adds an additional wrinkle: ''Nature may be making silver nanoparticles on its own''.
A team of researchers from the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT), the State University of New York (SUNY), Buffalo, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) reports that, ''given a source of silver ions, naturally occurring humic acid will synthesize stable silver nanoparticles''.
“Our colleague, Virender Sharma, had read an article in which they were using wine to form nanoparticles. He thought that, based on the similar chemistry, we should be able to produce silver nanoparticles with humic acids,” explains FIT chemist Mary Sohn. “First we formed them by traditional methods and then we tried one of our river sediment humic acids. We were really excited that we could see the characteristic yellow color of the nanoparticles.” Samples were sent to Sarbajit Banerjee at SUNY Buffalo and Robert MacCuspie at NIST for detailed analyses to confirm the presence of silver nanoparticles.
''“Humic acid” is a complex mixture of many organic acids that are formed during the decay of dead organic matter. Although the exact composition varies from place to place and season to season, humic acid is ubiquitous in the environment''. Metallic nanoparticles, MacCuspie explains, have characteristic colors that are a direct consequence of their size. Silver nanoparticles appear a yellowish brown.
The team mixed silver ions with humic acid from a variety of sources at different temperatures and concentrations and found that acids from river water or sediments would form detectable silver nanoparticles at room temperature in as little as two to four days. Moreover, MacCuspie says, the humic acid appears to stabilize the nanoparticles by coating them and preventing the nanoparticles from clumping together into a larger mass of silver. “We believe it’s actually a similar process to how nanoparticles are synthesized in the laboratory,” he says, except that the lab process typically uses citric acid at elevated temperatures.
“This caught us by surprise because a lot of our work is focused on how silver nanoparticles may dissolve when they’re released into the environment and release silver ions,” MacCuspie says. Many biologists believe the toxicity of silver nanoparticles, the reason for their use as an antibacterial or antifungal agent, is due to their high surface area that makes them an efficient source of silver ions, he says, but “this creates the idea that there may be some sort of natural cycle returning some of the ions to nanoparticles.” It also helps explain the discovery, over the past few years, of silver nanoparticles in locations like old mining regions that are not likely to have been exposed to man-made nanoparticles, but would have significant concentrations of silver ions. Source: From ''[[Silver Cycle: New Evidence for Natural Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles|http://www.nist.gov/mml/ceramics/silver-051011.cfm]]''. This work was detailed in the paper [[“Humic acid-induced silver nanoparticle formation under environmentally relevant conditions”|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es103946g]]<<slider chkSldr [[Humic acid-induced silver nanoparticle formation under environmentally relevant conditions]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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The first concrete result of the work ISO launched in 2005 to develop standards to support the innovative field of nanotechnologies comes with the publication of [[ISO/TS 27687:2008|http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail?csnumber=44278]], which provides terms and definitions related to particles in the field of nanotechnologies. It is intended to facilitate communications between organizations and individuals in industry and those who interact with them.
''ISO/TS 27687:2008, Nanotechnologies – Terminology and definitions for nano-objects – Nanoparticle, nanofibre and nanoplate'', //is the first part of a projected series on terminology and definitions documents covering the different aspects of nanotechnologies//.
ISO/TS 27687:2008 is concerned with the terminology and definitions for objects at the nano-scale, which come in several shapes. The three basic shapes referred to in this document are:
* nanoparticle
* nanofibre
* nanoplate.
[[Nanotechnologies|http://www.iso.org/iso/hot_topics_nanotechnology]] are expected to be a key economic driver for the 21st century. They promise significant benefits, including enhancements in medical diagnosis and treatment; more efficient energy sources; lighter, stronger and cheaper materials, faster and more powerful electronic products, and cleaner, cheaper water. At the same time, particular attention is being paid to the effects of specific nanomaterials, particularly nanoparticles, on human health and the environment and ISO's work in the field includes the development of standards on these aspects.
Dr. Peter Hatto, Chair of ISO technical committee [[ISO/TC 229, Nanotechnologies|http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_technical_committee?commid=381983]], comments: “International standardization will play a critical role in ensuring that the full potential of nanotechnology is realized and that nanotechnology is safely integrated into society. Standards will help create a smooth transition from the laboratory to the marketplace, promote progress along the nanotechnology value chain and facilitate global trade. ISO/TS 27687:2008 helps to provide clarity in the description and naming of these fundamental building blocks for this important area of technology”.
ISO/TS 27687, Nanotechnologies – Terminology and definitions for nano-objects – Nanoparticle, nanofibre and nanoplate, was developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 229, Nanotechnologies.
Source: [[New ISO/TS 27687 will help defining nanotechnologies|http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1161]]
Some classes of molecules are capable of arranging themselves in specific patterns on surfaces. This ability to self-organize is crucial for many technological applications, which are dependend on the assembly of ordered structures on surfaces. However, it has so far been virtually impossible to predict or control the result of such processes. Now a group of researchers led by [[Dr. Bianca Hermann|http://www.wmi.badw-muenchen.de/spm/aboutus/about.html]], a physicist from the [[Center for Nanoscience (CeNS)|http://www.cens.de/]] at LMU Munich, reports a significant breakthrough: By combining statistical physics and detailed simulations with images obtained by scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), the team has been able to ''formulate a simple model that can predict the patterns observed''. "With the help of the model, we can generate a wide variety of patterns that reproduce surprisingly well the arrangements observed experimentally", says Hermann. "We want to extend this approach to other surface symmetries. Already now the areas of molecular electronics, sensor applications, surface catalysis and organic photovoltaics can profit from our model. ''Its ability to predict structures formed by self-organization allows optimization of molecular building blocks prior to synthesis''." (NanoLetters online, 16 February 2010)
When "mother nature" does the engineering, molecules can self-organize into complex structures - a first step in the formation of membranes, cells and other molecular systems. The principle of self-organization, which allows very economical use of resources, is also exploited in the production of functionalized surfaces required in molecular electronics, sensor applications, catalysis and photovoltaic components. The idea of the manufacturing process is that molecular components are brought into contact with a substrate material, and then "magically" find their preferred positions in the desired molecular network. The starting components are selected to display specific structural and chemical features intended for the envisaged application. However, the optimization of the molecular adlayers depends largely on a trial-and-error approach, and is therefore complicated and time-consuming.
To develop the new molecular-interaction site model, Dr. Herrmann's group collaborated with [[Priv. Doz. Dr. Thomas Franosch|http://www.theorie.physik.uni-muenchen.de/lsfrey/members/group_leaders/thomas_franosch/index.html]] and [[Professor Erwin Frey|http://www.theorie.physik.uni-muenchen.de/about/board/erwin_frey/index.html]] within the Cluster of Excellence [["Nanosystems Initiative Munich" (NIM)|http://www.nano-initiative-munich.de/]]. The problem was tackled using an approach from statistical physics known as Monte Carlo method, which allows one to conduct a detailed computer simulation on the statistics of molecular interactions. The structural motifs so generated were compared with experimental high-resolution images of molecular patterns obtained by STM. Marta Balbás Gambra, a doctoral student, began each simulation with a mathematical representation of a collection of hundreds of randomly oriented particles of defined conformation. These schematic molecules were then perturbed by - computationally - adding energy, causing the population to adopt a new configuration. Using this simulation strategy, one can generate a greater variety of patterns than are found naturally, and many of these corresponded closely to the real molecular patterns revealed by STM. "In one case we actually predicted a pattern that was only later verified with STM", reports doctoral student Carsten Rohr.
According to the laws of thermodynamics, physical systems tend to adopt the state with the most favourable (i.e. lowest) energy. Experimental tests showed that different molecular configurations interconvert until an arrangement predominates that is reminiscent of tyre tracks. And indeed, the Monte Carlo approach had predicted that this arrangement corresponds to the state with the lowest energy. "In the end, we were able to show that the molecular geometry and a few salient features encode the structural motifs observed", explains theorist Franosch. "We plan to extend the approach to other types of surface symmetries, but the model already provides an important theoretical tool, because it helps us to forecast the type of surface pattern that a given functional molecule will form. This means that the design of molecules can be optimized during the synthetic phase, so as to obtain surfaces with the desired characteristics", says Hermann. The physicists in the group, who come from different scientific backgrounds and were able to pool their expertise for this project, envisage multiple potential applications for their model in molecular electronics, sensor technology, catalysis and photovoltaics.
Further possibilities include its use for predicting the results of other types of molecular interactions also on partially patterned substrates. Source: [[When molecules leave tire tracks – A new approach to optimizing molecular self-organization|http://www.en.uni-muenchen.de/news/research/2010-hermann-frey.html]]. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Molecular Jigsaw: Pattern Diversity Encoded by Elementary Geometrical Features|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl903225j]]'' by Carsten Rohr, Marta Balbás Gambra, K. Gruber, EC Constable, Erwin Frey, Thomas Franosch, and Bianca Hermann.
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The Beilstein-Institut publishes the Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry (BJOC) and starting in 2010, the Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology (BJNANO).
''Beilstein Open Access Journals support the unrestricted dissemination of scientific research results and information. Free access to publications maximizes the impact and visibility of scientific advances, allowing the rapid and efficient communication of new research ideas and discoveries among the scientific community.''
[[Beilstein-Institut|http://www.beilstein-institut.de/index.php?id=11&L=3&no_cache=&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=&tx_ttnews[backPid]=&cHash=]] started this new funding programme in the spirit of the [[Berlin Declaration (2003)|http://oa.mpg.de/openaccess-berlin/berlindeclaration.html]], where renowned institutes and researchers advocate open access to scientific information.
All articles published in the Beilstein Journals are fully peer reviewed, to ensure their quality, originality, novelty and importance. Articles are freely available online worldwide immediately on publication, and are archived in public repositories. Authors retain the copyright to their work. The Beilstein Journals are supported by international editorial and advisory boards.
The Beilstein-Institut is responsible for the production and hosting of the journal and has developed the Beilstein Publication System to provide high-quality submission, peer-review, editorial and publication processes for authors. Source: ''[[Beilstein Open Access Journals|http://www.beilstein-institut.de/en/journals]]''
''The Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology is an international, peer-reviewed, [[Open Access journal|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_access_journal]]. It provides a unique platform for rapid publication without publication charges. At the same time, all articles are freely accessible to readers worldwide''. Editor-in-Chief is Professor Thomas Schimmel, [[Karlsruhe Institute of Technology|http://www.int.kit.edu/english/index.php]].
The Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology offers scientists the unique opportunity to publish their research free of charge in an Open Access scientific journal that is freely available online 365 days a year to any user worldwide. Source: [[Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology - Home|http://www.beilstein-journals.org/bjnano/home/home.htm]]
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[<img[The initials for Stanford University are written in electron waves on a piece of copper and projected into a tiny hologram|http://home.slac.stanford.edu/pressreleases/images/SU-graphic.jpg]] Physicists have set a new world record for the smallest writing, with features of letters as small as 0.3 nanometers, or roughly one third of a billionth of a meter. The accomplishment demonstrates that information can be stored more densely than previously thought. The research was conducted at the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES), a joint institute of Stanford University and the U.S. Department of Energy's [[SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory|http://www.slac.stanford.edu/]]. The researchers encoded the letters "S" and "U" (as in Stanford University) within the interference patterns formed by quantum electron waves on the surface of a sliver of copper. The wave patterns even project a tiny hologram of the data, which can be viewed with a powerful microscope.
''"How densely can you encode information on a computer chip?"'' said Hari Manoharan the assistant professor of physics who directed the work of physics graduate student Chris Moon and other researchers. //"The assumption has been that basically the ultimate limit is when one atom represents one bit, and then there's no more room—in other words it's impossible to scale down below the level of atoms. But in this experiment we’ve stored some 35 bits per electron to encode each letter. So one bit per atom is no longer the limit for information density."//
''The quest for small writing has played a role in the development of nanotechnology for 50 years'', beginning decades before "nano" became a household word. During a now-legendary talk in 1959, the remarkable physicist Richard Feynman argued that there were no physical barriers preventing machines and circuitry from being shrunk drastically. He called his talk, [["There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom"|http://www.its.caltech.edu/~feynman/plenty.html]]. Feynman offered a $1,000 prize for anyone who could find a way to rewrite a page from an ordinary book in text 25,000 times smaller than the usual size (a scale at which the entire contents of the Encyclopedia Britannica would fit on the head of a pin). He held onto his money until 1985, when he mailed a check to Stanford grad student Tom Newman, who, working with Electrical Engineering Professor Fabian Pease, used electron beam lithography to engrave the opening page of Dickens' //A Tale of Two Cities// in such small print that it could be read only with an electron microscope. That record held until 1990, when [[IBM researchers famously spelled out the letters of their company name by arranging 35 individual xenon atoms|Atom Transporter]]. Now the researchers describe how they’ve created letters one fortieth the size of the original prize winning effort and less than one quarter of the size of the IBM initials.
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Source: [[Sub-atomic-scale Writing Using a Quantum Hologram Sets New Size Record|http://home.slac.stanford.edu/pressreleases/2009/20090128.htm]]. This work is detailed in the paper [[Quantum holographic encoding in a two-dimensional electron gas|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nnano.2008.415.html]] by [[Christopher R. Moon|http://www.stanford.edu/~cmoon/]], Laila S. Mattos, Brian K. Foster, Gabriel Zeltzer and [[Hari C. Manoharan|http://www.manoharan.org/]]
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What will New York City look like in 20 years? Nanotech, [[energy monitoring|http://www.google.com/powermeter/about/]], solar facades, [[building-integrated farms|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_farming]], tide turbine projects – these technologies and developments are currently underway and their future growth can dramatically affect the way we live and work.
During our recent event, “New York City the Future Metropolis,” we brought distinguished panelists speaking on an array of new technologies, research and development projects, and innovative, forward-looking design that will enhance our built environment.
Speakers Nanotechnology presentations:
* ''[[Edward M. Cupoli|https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B2tsQE090S3GOWUwODg3OTgtNmVkNS00ZTMyLThkMzYtMzQwNjM5ZjY5MmI2&hl=en]]'', Ph.D., Professor and Head, [[NanoEconomics Constellation|http://cnse.albany.edu/academic_programs/constellations/nanoeconomics.html]], College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, University at Albany. "Buildings use more energy than any other sector of the U.S. economy, consuming more than 70 percent of electricity and over 50 percent of natural gas", Source: Department of Energy
* ''[[Peter Yeadon and Martina Decker|https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B2tsQE090S3GNjZkYzM3NjMtN2U4ZC00NzRmLTkyMmEtNGU1M2E2YmZlMjk0&hl=en]]'', Partners of [[Decker Yeadon LLC|http://www.deckeryeadon.com/]] to speak on nanotechnology in architectural design
Source: [[Solar One » NYCFutureMetropolis|http://solar1.org/nycfuturemetropolis/]]
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" title="New technology developed at Oregon State University uses ferromagnetic nanobeads to develop a powerful, small new type of sensor. (Graphic courtesy of Oregon State University)" src="img/ferromagnetic_sensor.jpg" width="75%"/></a></html>Researchers have found a way to use magnetic “nanobeads” to help detect chemical and biological agents, with possible applications in everything from bioterrorism to medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring or even water and food safety. When fully developed as a hand-held, portable sensor, like something you might see in a science fiction movie, it will provide a whole diagnostic laboratory on a single chip. The research could revolutionize the size, speed and accuracy of chemical detection systems around the world.
The collaborative studies at Oregon State University were led by Vincent Remcho, an OSU professor of chemistry, and Pallavi Dhagat, an assistant professor in the OSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
''The key, scientists say, is tapping into the capability of ferromagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles – extraordinarily tiny pieces of rust. The use of such particles in the new system can not only detect chemicals with sensitivity and selectivity, but they can be incorporated into a system of integrated circuits to instantly display the findings.''
“The particles we’re using are 1,000 times smaller than those now being used in common diagnostic tests, allowing a device to be portable and used in the field,” said Remcho, who is also associate dean for research and graduate programs in the OSU College of Science. “Just as important, however, is that these nanoparticles are made of iron,” he said. “Because of that, we can use magnetism and electronics to make them also function as a signaling device, to give us immediate access to the information available.” According to Dhagat, this should result in ''a powerful sensing technology that is fast, accurate, inexpensive, mass-producible, and small enough to hold in your hand. “This could completely change the world of chemical assays,”'' Dhagat said.
Existing assays are often cumbersome and time consuming, using biochemical probes that require expensive equipment, expert personnel or a complex laboratory to detect or interpret. In the new approach, tiny nanoparticles could be attached to these biochemical probes, tagging along to see what they find. When a chemical of interest is detected, a “ferromagnetic resonance” is used to relay the information electronically to a tiny computer and the information immediately displayed to the user. No special thin films or complex processing is required, but the detection capability is still extremely sensitive and accurate.
Essentially, the system might be used to detect almost anything of interest in air or water. And the use of what is ordinary, rusty iron should help address issues of safety in the resulting nanotechnology product. Routine and improved monitoring of commercial water treatment and supplies could be pursued, along with other needs in environmental monitoring, cargo inspections, biomedical applications in research or medical care, pharmaceutical drug testing, or even more common uses in food safety.
Other OSU researchers working on this project include Tim Marr, a graduate student in electrical engineering, and Esha Chatterjee, a graduate chemistry student.
The concept has been proven in the latest study, scientists say, and work is continuing with microfluidics research to make the technology robust and durable for extended use in the field. Source: From [[New 'nanobead' approach could revolutionize sensor technology|http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2011/apr/new-%E2%80%9Cnanobead%E2%80%9D-approach-could-revolutionize-sensor-technology]]
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NSF’s contribution to the multiagency National Nanotechnology Initiative encompasses the systematic understanding, organization, manipulation, and control of matter at the atomic, molecular, and supramolecular levels in the size range of 1 to 100 nanometers. A team of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has ''discovered a previously unknown phenomenon that can cause powerful waves of energy to shoot through miniscule wires known as carbon nanotubes. The discovery, described as thermopower waves, opens up a new area of energy research'', according to [[Michael Strano|http://web.mit.edu/stranogroup/]], MIT’s Charles and Hilda Roddey Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering who was the senior author of a paper on the research in Nature Materials on March 7, 2010. Strano and colleagues found that a thermal wave—a moving pulse of heat—travelling along a microscopic wire can drive electrons along, creating an electrical current. In the group’s experiments, the amount of power released is much greater than that predicted by thermoelectric calculations, Strano said. While many semiconductor materials can produce an electric potential when heated—through something called the Seebeck effect—that effect is very weak in carbon. Strano said something else is happening in their experiments. “We call it electron entrainment, since part of the current appears to scale with wave velocity.” Practical applications for the discovery could include enabling new kinds of ultra-small electronic devices for sensors injected in the body or environmental sensors that could be scattered in the air. Source: From [[“Empowering the Nation Through Discovery and Innovation: NSF Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years (FY) 2011-2016”|http://www.nsf.gov/news/strategicplan/nsfstrategicplan_2011_2016.pdf]]. Original press release: ''[[MIT researchers discover new way of producing electricity|http://web.mit.edu/press/2010/thermopower-waves]]''. Phenomenon causes powerful waves of energy to shoot through carbon nanotubes. This work was detailed in the paper [[“Chemically driven carbon-nanotube-guided thermopower waves”|http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/v9/n5/abs/nmat2714.html]]<<slider chkSldr [[Chemically driven carbon-nanotube-guided thermopower waves]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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Scientists have developed a method for stacking synthetic DNA and carbon nanotubes onto a biosensor electrode, a development that may lead to more accurate measurements for research related to diabetes and other diseases.
Standard sensors employ metal electrodes coated with enzymes that react with compounds and produce an electrical signal that can be measured. But the inefficiency of those sensors leads to imperfect measurements.
Carbon nanotubes, cylindrically shaped carbon molecules known to have excellent thermal and electrical properties, have been seen as a possibility for improving sensor performance. The problem is that the materials are not fully compatible with water, which limits their application in biological fluids.
Purdue University scientist Marshall Porterfield, a professor of agricultural and biological engineering and biomedical engineering, and Jong Hyun Choi, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, have found a solution. Their findings describe a sensor that essentially builds itself.
"In the future, we will be able to create a DNA sequence that is complementary to the carbon nanotubes and is compatible with specific biosensor enzymes for the many different compounds we want to measure," Porterfield said. ''"It will be a self-assembling platform for biosensors at the biomolecular level."''
Choi developed a synthetic DNA that will attach to the surface of the carbon nanotubes and make them more water-soluble.
"Once the carbon nanotubes are in a solution, you only have to place the electrode into the solution and charge it. The carbon nanotubes will then coat the surface," Choi said.
The electrode coated with carbon nanotubes will attract the enzymes to finish the sensor's assembly.
The sensor described in the findings was designed for glucose. But Porterfield said it could be easily adapted for various compounds.
"You could mass produce these sensors for diabetes, for example, for insulin management for diabetic patients," Porterfield said.
Porterfield said it may one day be possible to develop other sensors using this technology that could lead to more personalized medicines that could test in real time the effectiveness of drugs on their targets as with cancer patients.
Jin Shi, a doctoral student working with Porterfield in the Physiological Sensing Facility at Purdue, contributed to the research.
Porterfield said he would continue to develop biosensors to detect different compounds. Source: From [[New biosensor benefits from melding of carbon nanotubes, DNA|http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2011/111114PorterfieldDNA.html]]. This work was detailed in the paper [[“Microbiosensors Based on DNA Modified Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube and Pt Black Nanocomposites”|http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2011/an/c1an15179g]].
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Imagine jeans, sweats or socks that clean and de-odorize themselves when hung on a clothesline in the sun or draped on a balcony railing. Scientists are reporting development of a new cotton fabric that does clean itself of stains and bacteria when exposed to ordinary sunlight.
Mingce Long and Deyong Wu say their fabric uses a coating made from a compound of titanium dioxide, the white material used in everything from white paint to foods to sunscreen lotions. Titanium dioxide breaks down dirt and kills microbes when exposed to some types of light. It already has found uses in self-cleaning windows, kitchen and bathroom tiles, odor-free socks and other products. Self-cleaning cotton fabrics have been made in the past, the authors note, but they self-clean thoroughly only when exposed to ultraviolet rays. So they set out to develop a new cotton fabric that cleans itself when exposed to ordinary sunlight.
Their report describes cotton fabric coated with nanoparticles made from a compound of titanium dioxide and nitrogen. They show that fabric coated with the material removes an orange dye stain when exposed to sunlight. Further dispersing nanoparticles composed of silver and iodine accelerates the discoloration process. The coating remains intact after washing and drying.
The authors acknowledge funding from Donghua University and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Source: From [[New cotton fabric cleans itself when exposed to ordinary sunlight|http://portal.acs.org/portal/PublicWebSite/pressroom/presspacs/CNBP_028856]]. This work was detailed in the paper [[“Realizing Visible-Light-Induced Self-Cleaning Property of Cotton through Coating N-TiO2 Film and Loading AgI Particles”|http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/full/10.1021/am201251d]]
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Scientists have developed a new kind of solar cell which could capture significantly more of the energy from the sun than current cells.
''New solar cells could increase the maximum efficiency of solar panels by over 25%'', according to scientists from the University of Cambridge.
Scientists from the Cavendish Laboratory, the University’s Department of Physics, have developed a novel type of solar cell which could harvest energy from the sun much more efficiently than traditional designs. The research could dramatically improve the amount of useful energy created by solar panels.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/optoelectronics-group-cavendish-laboratory.jpg" title="New solar cell. Credit: Optoelectronics Group, Cavendish Laboratory" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>Solar panels work by absorbing energy from particles of light, called photons, which then generate electrons to create electricity. Traditional solar cells are only capable of capturing part of the light from the sun and much of the energy of the absorbed light, particularly of the blue photons, is lost as heat. This inability to extract the full energy of all of the different colours of light at once means that traditional solar cells are incapable of converting more than 34% of the available sunlight into electrical power.
The Cambridge team, led by Professor Neil Greenham and Professor Sir Richard Friend, has developed a hybrid cell which absorbs red light and harnesses the extra energy of blue light to boost the electrical current. Typically, a solar cell generates a single electron for each photon captured. However, by adding pentacene, an organic semiconductor, the solar cells can generate two electrons for every photon from the blue light spectrum. This could enable the cells to capture 44% of the incoming solar energy.
Bruno Ehrler, the lead author on the paper, said: “Organic and hybrid solar cells have an advantage over current silicon-based technology because they can be produced in large quantities at low cost by roll-to-roll printing. However, much of the cost of a solar power plant is in the land, labour, and installation hardware. As a result, even if organic solar panels are less expensive, we need to improve their efficiency to make them competitive. Otherwise, it’d be like buying a cheap painting, only to find out you need an expensive frame.”
Mark Wilson, another author on the paper, said: “I think it’s very important that we move towards sustainable sources of energy, and it’s exciting to help explore possible solutions.”
Dr. Akshay Rao, co-author on the paper noted: “''This is just the first step towards a new generation of solar cells'' and we are very excited to be a part of this effort.” Source: From [[Here comes the sun…|http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/here-comes-the-sun/]]. This work is detailed in the paper [["Singlet Exciton Fission-Sensitized Infrared Quantum Dot Solar Cells"|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl204297u]] by Bruno Ehrler, Mark W. B. Wilson, Akshay Rao, Richard H. Friend, and Neil C. Greenham.
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="http://patapsco.nist.gov/imagegallery/retrieve.cfm?imageid=940&dpi=72&fileformat=jpg" title="After gold nanoparticles are trapped on the brown collection surface (left), the NIST team can apply a mild electric field and release most of them (right). The ability to trap and release particles in this fashion could aid in studying their properties, particularly with respect to their effects on human health. Credit: NIST" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>Depending on whom you ask, nanoparticles are, potentially, either one of the most promising or the most perilous creations of science. These tiny objects can deliver drugs efficiently and enhance the properties of many materials, but what if they also are hazardous to your health in some way? Now, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have found a way to manipulate nanoparticles so that questions like this can be answered.
The team has developed a method of attracting and capturing metal-based nanoparticles on a surface and releasing them at the desired moment. The method, which uses a mild electric current to influence the particles' behavior, could allow scientists to expose cell cultures to nanoparticles so that any lurking hazards they might cause to living cells can be assessed effectively.
The method also has the advantage of collecting the particles in a layer only one particle thick, which allows them to be evenly dispersed into a fluid sample, thereby reducing clumping—a common problem that can mask the properties they exhibit when they encounter living tissue. According to NIST physicist [[Darwin Reyes|http://www.nist.gov/pml/semiconductor/enabling_devices/reyes.cfm]], these combined advantages should make the new method especially useful in toxicology studies.
"Many other methods of trapping require that you modify the surface of the nanoparticles in some way so that you can control them more easily," Reyes says. "We take nanoparticles as they are, so that you can explore what you've actually got. Using this method, you can release them into a cell culture and watch how the cells react, which can give you a better idea of how cells in the body will respond."
Other means of studying nanoparticle toxicity do not enable such precise delivery of the particles to the cells. In the NIST method, the particles can be released in a controlled fashion into a fluid stream that flows over a colony of cells, mimicking the way the particles would encounter cells inside the body—allowing scientists to monitor how cells react over time, for example, or whether responses vary with changes in particle concentration.
For this particular study, the team used a gold surface covered by long, positively charged molecules, which stretch up from the gold like wheat in a field. The nanoparticles, which are also made of gold, are coated with citrate molecules that have a slight negative charge, which draws them to the surface covering, an attraction that can be broken with a slight electric current. Reyes says that because the surface covering can be designed to attract different materials, a variety of nanoparticles could be captured and released with the technique. Source: [[NIST 'Catch and Release' Program Could Improve Nanoparticle Safety Assessment|http://www.nist.gov/pml/semiconductor/nanoparticles-060711.cfm]]. This work was detailed in the paper [[“Trapping and release of citrate-capped gold nanoparticles”|http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169433211005642]]<<slider chkSldr [[Trapping and release of citrate-capped gold nanoparticles]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/clots.jpg" title="A blood vessel (top) with ruptured atherosclerotic plaque, shown in yellow, is developing a blood clot. The nanoparticles, shown in blue and black, are targeted to a protein in the blood clot called fibrin, shown in light blue. A traditional CT image (bottom left) shows no difference between the blood clot and the calcium in the plaque, making it unclear whether this image shows a clot that should be treated. A spectral CT image (bottom right) “sees” the bismuth nanoparticles targeted to fibrin in green, differentiating it from calcium, still shown in white, in the plaque." alt="atherosclerotic plaque" class="photo"/></html> For almost two decades, cardiologists have searched for ways to see dangerous blood clots before they cause heart attacks. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report that they have designed nanoparticles that find clots and make them visible to a new kind of X-ray technology.
According to Gregory Lanza, MD, PhD, a Washington University cardiologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, these nanoparticles will take the guesswork out of deciding whether a person coming to the hospital with chest pain is actually having a heart attack. “Every year, millions of people come to the emergency room with chest pain. For some of them, we know it’s not their heart. But for most, we’re not sure,” says Lanza, a professor of medicine. When there is any doubt, the patient must be admitted to the hospital and undergo tests to rule out or confirm a heart attack. “Those tests cost money and they take time,” Lanza says. Rather than an overnight stay to make sure the patient is stable, this new technology could reveal the location of a blood clot in a matter of hours.
''The nanoparticles are designed to be used with a new type of Computed Tomography scanner that is capable of “seeing” metals in color''. The new technology, called spectral CT, uses the full spectrum of the X-ray beam to differentiate objects that would be indistinguishable with a regular CT scanner that sees only black and white.
In this case, the metal in question is bismuth. Dipanjan Pan, PhD, research assistant professor of medicine, designed a nanoparticle that contains enough bismuth for it to be seen by the spectral CT scanner. But bismuth is a toxic heavy metal, Pan says. It can’t be injected into the body on its own. Instead, Pan used a compound made of bismuth atoms attached to fatty acid chains that can’t come apart in the body. He then dissolved this compound in a detergent and encapsulated the mixture in a phospholipid membrane. Much like oil droplets suspended in a shaken vinaigrette, these particles self-assemble with the bismuth compound at the core.
Once the nanoparticles carried enough bismuth to be visible to the scanner, Pan added a molecule to the particles’ surface that seeks out a protein called fibrin. Fibrin is common in blood clots but is not found elsewhere in the vasculature.
''More than simply confirming a heart attack, the new nanoparticles and spectral CT scanner can show a clot’s exact location.'' Since this nanoparticle finds and sticks to fibrin in the vessels, it would allow doctors to see problems that were previously difficult or impossible to detect. With this imaging technique, Lanza predicts new approaches to treating coronary disease. Unstable plaque that doesn’t restrict much blood flow does not require an expensive stent to prop the vessel open. Instead, Lanza foresees technologies that might act like Band-Aids, sealing weak spots in the vessel walls. “Today, you wouldn’t know where to stick the Band-Aid,” Lanza says. “But spectral CT imaging with bismuth nanoparticles would show the exact location of clots in the vessels, making it possible to prevent the dangerous rupture of unstable plaque.”
The spectral CT scanner used in this study is still a prototype instrument, developed by Philips Research in Hamburg, Germany. The nanoparticles have only been tested in rabbits and other animal models, but early results show success in distinguishing blood clots from calcium interference. Source: From [[New nanoparticles make blood clots visible|http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/21824.aspx]] by Julia Evangelou Strait. This work was detailed in the paper ''[[“Computed Tomography in color: NanoK-enhanced spectral CT molecular imaging”|http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201005657/abstract]]'' by Pan D, Roessl E, Schlomka JP, Caruthers SD, Senpan A, Scott MJ, Allen JS, Zhang H, Hu G, Gaffney PJ, Choi ET, Rasche V, Wickline SA, Proksa R, Lanza GM <<slider chkSldr [[Computed Tomography in color: NanoK-enhanced spectral CT molecular imaging]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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Scientists have created a 3D map of the earth so small that 1,000 of them could fit on one grain of salt. The scientists accomplished this by means of a new, breakthrough technique that uses a tiny, silicon tip with a sharp apex — 100,000 times smaller than a sharpened pencil — to create patterns and structures as small as 15 nanometers at greatly reduced cost and complexity. This patterning technique opens new prospects for developing nanosized objects in fields such as electronics, future chip technology, medicine, life sciences, and opto-electronics. To demonstrate the technique’s unique capability, the team created several 3D and 2D patterns (like a replica of the Matterhorn, a famous Alpine mountain), using different materials for each one.
The core component of the new technique, which was developed by a team of IBM scientists, is a tiny, very sharp silicon tip measuring 500 nanometers in length and only a few nanometers at its apex.
''“Advances in nanotechnology are intimately linked to the existence of high-quality methods and tools for producing nanoscale patterns and objects on surfaces,”'' explains physicist Dr. Armin Knoll of IBM Research – Zurich. “With its broad functionality and unique 3D patterning capability, this nanotip-based patterning methodology is a powerful tool for generating very small structures.”
The tip, similar to the kind used in atomic force microscopes, is attached to a bendable cantilever that controllably scans the surface of the substrate material with the accuracy of one nanometer—a millionth of a millimeter. By applying heat and force, the nano-sized tip can remove substrate material based on predefined patterns, thus operating like a “nanomilling” machine with ultra-high precision. Similar to using a milling machine, more material can be removed to create complex 3D structures with nanometer precision by modulating the force or by readdressing individual spots. The new IBM ''technique achieves resolutions as high as 15 nanometers—with a potential of going even smaller''. Using existing methods such as e-beam lithography it is becoming increasingly challenging to fabricate patterns at resolutions below 30 nanometers, where the technical limitations of that method are reached.
What’s more, compared to expensive e-beam-lithography tools that require several processing steps and equipment that can easily fill a laboratory, the tool created by IBM scientists—which can sit on a tabletop—promises improved and extended capabilities at very high resolutions, but at one-fifth to one-tenth of the cost and with far less complexity.
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Yet another advantage of the nanotip-based technique is the ability to assess the pattern directly by using the same tip to create an image of the written structures, as the IBM scientists demonstrated in their experiments.
Potential applications range from fast prototyping for CMOS nanoelectronics to creating prototype optical components and meta-materials, from fabricating 3D nanoparticles to shape-matching templates for the self-assembly of nanoscale objects such as nanorods or nanotubes. Source: [[IBM Research creates world’s smallest 3D map; brings low cost and ease of use to the fabrication of nanoscale objects |http://www.zurich.ibm.com/news/10/nanopatterning.html]]. New 3D microscopic technique improves development of nanoscale structures and devices. This work is detailed in the papers:
* ''[[Nanoscale 3D Patterning of Molecular Resists by Scanning Probes|http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/science.1187851]]'' by D. Pires, J. L. Hedrick, A. De Silva, J. Frommer, B. Gotsmann, H. Wolf, M. Despont, U. Duerig and A. W. Knoll
* ''[[Probe-based 3-D Nanolithography Using Self-Amplified Depolymerization Polymers|http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123373953/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0]]'' by A. Knoll, D. Pires, O. Coulembier, P. Dubois, J. L. Hedrick, J. Frommer and U. Duerig
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Researchers are developing a new type of rocket propellant made of a frozen mixture of water and "nanoscale aluminum" powder that is ''more environmentally friendly than conventional propellants and could be manufactured on the moon, Mars and other water-bearing bodies''.
The aluminum-ice, or ALICE, propellant might be used to launch rockets into orbit and for long-distance space missions and also to generate hydrogen for fuel cells, said [[Steven Son|http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~sson/Son_Webpage/Welcome.html]], an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University.
Purdue is working with NASA, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and Pennsylvania State University to develop ALICE.
"It's a proof of concept," Son said. "It could be improved and turned into a practical propellant. Theoretically, it also could be manufactured in distant places like the moon or Mars instead of being transported at high cost."
''The tiny size of the aluminum particles, which have a diameter of about 80 nanometers, or billionths of a meter, is key to the propellant's performance''. The nanoparticles combust more rapidly than larger particles and enable better control over the reaction and the rocket's thrust, said [[Timothée Pourpoint|https://engr.purdue.edu/AAE/People/Faculty/showFaculty?resource_id=23845]], a research assistant professor in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
"It is considered a green propellant, producing essentially hydrogen gas and aluminum oxide," Pourpoint said. "In contrast, each space shuttle flight consumes about 773 tons of the oxidizer ammonium perchlorate in the solid booster rockets. About 230 tons of hydrochloric acid immediately appears in the exhaust from such flights."
ALICE provides thrust through a chemical reaction between water and aluminum. As the aluminum ignites, water molecules provide oxygen and hydrogen to fuel the combustion until all of the powder is burned.
"ALICE might one day replace some liquid or solid propellants, and, when perfected, might have a higher performance than conventional propellants," Pourpoint said. "It's also extremely safe while frozen because it is difficult to accidentally ignite."
Other researchers previously have used aluminum particles in propellants, but those propellants usually also contained larger, micron-size particles, whereas the new fuel contained pure nanoparticles.
Manufacturers over the past decade have learned how to make higher-quality nano-aluminum particles than was possible in the past. The fuel needs to be frozen for two reasons: It must be solid to remain intact while subjected to the forces of the launch and also to ensure that it does not slowly react before it is used.
Future work will focus on perfecting the fuel and also may explore the possibility of creating a gelled fuel using the nanoparticles. Such a gel would behave like a liquid fuel, making it possible to vary the rate at which the fuel is pumped into the combustion chamber to throttle the motor up and down and increase the vehicle's distance.
A gelled fuel also could be mixed with materials containing larger amounts of hydrogen and then used to run hydrogen fuel cells in addition to rocket motors, Son said. Source: From ''[[New aluminum-water rocket propellant promising for future space missions |http://www.purdue.edu/UNS/x/2009b/091007SonRocket.html]]'' by Emil Venere. This work is detailed in the paper ''~Aluminum-Ice (ALICE) Propellants for Hydrogen Generation and Propulsion'' by Grant A. Risha, Terrence L. Connell, Jr., Richard A. Yetter, Vigor Yang (The Pennsylvania State University) and Tyler D. Wood, Mark A. Pfeil, Timothée L. Pourpoint, Steven F. Son (Purdue University)
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A team of physicists has developed a ''theory describing how to both detect weak electrical signals and cool electrical circuits using light and something very like a nanosized loudspeaker''. If demonstrated through experiment, the work could have a tremendous impact on detection of low-power radio signals, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and the developing field of quantum information science.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px;" src="img/nanomech_membrane.jpg" title="This schematic of the proposed device shows its use in detecting a signal produced by the quantum mechanical spin of a group of atoms. The atoms generate a faint radiofrequency signal in a coil (L) which is connected to microscale wires that form an electrical capacitor. This vibrates the nanomembrane which in turn affects the resonant frequency of a laser optical cavity. The output is light at frequency that is the sum of the original laser frequency plus the signal from the atoms. Credit: Taylor/NIST" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>"We envision coupling a nanomechanical membrane to an electrical circuit so that an electrical signal, even if exceedingly faint, will cause the membrane to quiver slightly as a function of the strength of that signal," says JQI physicist Jake Taylor. "We can then bounce photons from a laser off that membrane and read the signal by measuring the modulation of the reflected light as it is shifted by the motion of the membrane. This leads to a change in the wavelength of the light."
Present technology for measuring the wavelength of light is highly sensitive, which makes it ideal for detecting the nanoscopic motions of the loudspeaker caused by extremely faint electrical signals.
And the ability to detect extremely faint electrical signals may someday make MRI medical procedures much easier. "MRI machines are so big because they are stuffed with really powerful superconducting magnets, but if we can reduce the strength of the signals we need for a reading, we can reduce the strength, and the size, of the magnets," Taylor says. "This may mean that one could get an MRI while sitting quietly in a room and forgo the tube."
The same setup could be used to generate information-carrying photons from one qubit to another, according to Taylor. One popular quantum information system design uses light to transfer information among qubits, entangled particles that will exploit the inherent weirdness of quantum phenomena to perform certain calculations impossible for current computers. The 'nanospeaker' could be used to translate low-energy signals from a quantum processor to optical photons, where they can be detected and transmitted from one qubit to another.
All this, and the team will throw in cooling the system for free. According to their calculations, translating the mechanical motion of the little loudspeaker into photons will siphon a considerable amount of heat out of the system (from room temperature to 3 kelvin or -270 C), which in turn will reduce noise in the system and provide for better signal detection. Source: From [[Cool Nano Loudspeakers Could Make for Better MRIs, Quantum Computers|http://www.nist.gov/pml/div684/loudspeaker-012412.cfm]]. This work is detailed in the paper [["Laser cooling and optical detection of excitations in a LC electrical circuit"|http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.273601]] by J. M. Taylor, A. S. Sørensen, C. M. Marcus and E. S. Polzik
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A novel application of carbon nanotubes, developed by MIT researchers, shows promise as an innovative approach to storing solar energy for use whenever it’s needed.
''Storing the sun’s heat in chemical form'' — rather than converting it to electricity or storing the heat itself in a heavily insulated container — has significant advantages, since in principle the chemical material can be stored for long periods of time without losing any of its stored energy. The problem with that approach has been that until now the chemicals needed to perform this conversion and storage either degraded within a few cycles, or included the element ruthenium, which is rare and expensive.
Last year, MIT associate professor Jeffrey Grossman and four co-authors figured out exactly how fulvalene diruthenium — known to scientists as the best chemical for reversibly storing solar energy, since it did not degrade — was able to accomplish this feat. Grossman said at the time that better understanding this process could make it easier to search for other compounds, made of abundant and inexpensive materials, which could be used in the same way. Now, he and postdoc Alexie Kolpak have succeeded in doing just that.
The new material found by Grossman and Kolpak is made using carbon nanotubes, tiny tubular structures of pure carbon, in combination with a compound called azobenzene. The resulting molecules, produced using nanoscale templates to shape and constrain their physical structure, gain “new properties that aren’t available” in the separate materials, says Grossman, the Carl Richard Soderberg Associate Professor of Power Engineering.
Not only is this new chemical system less expensive than the earlier ruthenium-containing compound, but it also is vastly more efficient at storing energy in a given amount of space — about 10,000 times higher in volumetric energy density, Kolpak says — ''making its energy density comparable to lithium-ion batteries''. By using nanofabrication methods, “you can control [the molecules’] interactions, increasing the amount of energy they can store and the length of time for which they can store it — and most importantly, you can control both independently,” she says.
Thermo-chemical storage of solar energy uses a molecule whose structure changes when exposed to sunlight, and can remain stable in that form indefinitely. Then, when nudged by a stimulus — a catalyst, a small temperature change, a flash of light — it can quickly snap back to its other form, releasing its stored energy in a burst of heat. Grossman describes it as creating a rechargeable heat battery with a long shelf life, like a conventional battery.
One of the great advantages of the new approach to harnessing solar energy, Grossman says, is that it simplifies the process by ''combining energy harvesting and storage into a single step''. “You’ve got a material that both converts and stores energy,” he says. “It’s robust, it doesn’t degrade, and it’s cheap.” One limitation, however, is that while this process is useful for heating applications, to produce electricity would require another conversion step, using thermoelectric devices or producing steam to run a generator.
While the new work shows the energy-storage capability of a specific type of molecule — azobenzene-functionalized carbon nanotubes — Grossman says ''the way the material was designed involves “a general concept that can be applied to many new materials.”'' Many of these have already been synthesized by other researchers for different applications, and would simply need to have their properties fine-tuned for solar thermal storage. From Source: [[New way to store sun’s heat|http://web.mit.edu/press/2011/update-energy-storage.html]] by David L. Chandler, MIT News Office. This work was detailed in the paper [[“Azobenzene-Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes As High-Energy Density Solar Thermal Fuels”|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl201357n]] <<slider chkSldr [[Azobenzene-Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes As High-Energy Density Solar Thermal Fuels]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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[[The Solar Impulse aircraft|http://www.solarimpulse.com/]], which is powered only by solar energy, has triumphantly completed its [[first night flight|http://www.solarimpulse.com/common/documents/news_affich.php?lang=es&group=news&IdArticle=73]]. The ultralight aircraft was airborne for a total of 26 hours – from 7 am on July 7 until 9 am the following day (Central European Time) – before finally landing as planned at Payerne airbase in Switzerland. It is now officially ''the first manned aircraft capable of flying day and night without fuel, powered entirely by solar energy''.
“We extend our sincere congratulations to Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg of Solar Impulse, and are delighted to be part of this terrific achievement,” says Patrick Thomas, CEO of Bayer MaterialScience. “This is a further milestone on the way to the first solar-powered circumnavigation of the globe. We are proud to be an official partner of the Solar Impulse project and to make a further positive contribution to climate-friendly mobility with our innovative materials.”
In 2013 a second prototype is scheduled to fly right round the world in five stages, each lasting five days, traveling at an average speed of 70 km/h. Source: [[BAYNEWS - The Bayer Press Server - Solar Impulse aircraft successfully completes its first night flight|http://www.press.bayer.com/baynews/baynews.nsf/0/B2A2B2D2C5A7974AC125775B00351D2B?Open&ccm=010050&l=EN]]. Bayer MaterialScience contributes innovative materials to long-range solar-powered aircraft
Bayer MaterialScience has become an official partner of the Solar Impulse project. Its founders Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg are developing the first manned [[aircraft|http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/green-tech/solar/six-questions-about-the-solar-impulse-plane]] aiming to fly around the world day and night without fuel, propelled by solar energy only. The latest cutting-edge technology is incorporated into the prototype airplane, which has the wingspan of a large airliner (63.40 meters) and the weight of a midsize car (1.600 kilograms). Some 12,000 solar cells cover its surface to run 4 electrical engines and store the solar energy for the night in 400 kilograms of lithium batteries.
Bayer MaterialScience will support the Swiss-based Solar Impulse initiative with technical expertise, high-tech polymer materials and energy-saving lightweight products. ''Baytubes® carbon nanotubes from Bayer MaterialScience, for example, could increase battery performance and improve the strength of structural components while keeping their weight to a minimum''. Other potential applications include innovative adhesives, polyurethane rigid foams for paneling in the cockpit and engine, and extremely thin yet break-resistant polycarbonate films and sheet for the cockpit glazing.
Bertrand Piccard, Initiator of Solar Impulse, says support from Bayer MaterialScience is a significant boost for the project. ''“I've always been fascinated by nanotechnology''. Now, with Bayer MaterialScience as an official partner, we will be able to make our airplane even lighter and more efficient. We look forward with great enthusiasm to being able to tap into the company’s renowned expertise and innovative materials.” Source: [[Bayer MaterialScience becomes official partner for Solar Impulse|http://www.solarimpulse.com/common/documents/news_affich.php?lang=es&group=news&IdArticle=67]]
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Ushering in a new era of high-performance image sensors, InVisage Technologies, Inc. – a venture-backed start-up that is revolutionizing the way light is captured – announced QuantumFilm. Harnessing the power of custom-designed semiconductor materials, QuantumFilm image sensors are ''the world’s first commercial quantum dot-based image sensors, replacing silicon''. InVisage delivers 4x higher performance, 2x higher dynamic range and professional camera features not yet found in mobile image sensors. The first QuantumFilm-enabled product, due out later this year, solves the crucial challenge of capturing stunning images using mobile handset cameras.
QuantumFilm was developed by InVisage after years of research under the guidance of notable scientist and InVisage CTO Ted Sargent. The technology is based on [[quantum dots|http://www.invisageinc.com/page.aspx?cont=QuantumFilm%20Technology]] – semiconductors with unique light-capture properties. QuantumFilm works by capturing an imprint of a light image, and then employing the silicon beneath it to read out the image and turn it into versatile digital signals. InVisage spent three years engineering the quantum dot material to produce highly-sensitive image sensors that integrate with standard CMOS manufacturing processes. The first application of QuantumFilm will enable high pixel count and high performance in tiny form factors, breaking silicon's inherent performance-resolution tradeoff.
“It is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to develop next-generation image sensors using silicon; essentially, silicon has hit a wall,” says Jess Lee, InVisage President and C.E.O. “The fundamental problem is that silicon cannot capture light efficiently, but until now it has been the only option. The disruptive nature of QuantumFilm builds on silicon's success in electronics, and elevates its function using new materials that are engineered from the ground up for light capture.”
''Silicon-based image sensors – the technology used today for all digital cameras including handheld, professional, mobile phone, security and automotive cameras – capture on average a mere 25 percent of light. QuantumFilm captures between 90-95 percent, enabling better pictures in even the most challenging lighting conditions''. This increase in efficiency will deliver improvements across the entire imaging market, allowing QuantumFilm to be the de-facto next generation camera platform. The first target market for QuantumFilm is mobile handsets, where there is the greatest demand for small, high performance image sensors.
Just nanometers in size, the quantum dot-based material is deposited directly on top of the wafer during manufacturing. And unlike silicon-based image sensor technologies such as BSI (back-side illumination) and FSI (front-side illumination), QuantumFilm covers 100 percent of each pixel. The material is added as a final wafer-level process, which allows for easy integration into standard semiconductor foundries. The process - akin to coating a layer of photoresist onto a standard wafer - adds minimal cost on top of the standard layers of silicon processes.
“It is safe to say that the industry spends an average of $1 billion for each new generation of pixel technology, all to achieve a single-digit percentage improvement in image quality,” says Tetsuo Omori, senior analyst, Techno Systems Research Co. “The future of imaging is in new materials like QuantumFilm, which will change the competitive landscape and possibly re-ignite the pixel race.” Source: ''[[InVisage Unveils QuantumFilm Image Sensors|http://www.invisageinc.com/page.aspx?cont=Announcements]]''.
Future solutions: QuantumFilm is a tunable semiconductor in liquid form; the material can be treated like paint, and applied just about anywhere. The technology is ideal for applications like solar panels, because the efficiency of the material is much higher than what is currently used in solar panels today.
[[Related quotes|http://topics.treehugger.com/search?q=quantum+dot-based+image+sensors]]
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The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2010 to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, University of Manchester, UK "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene"
''Graphene – the perfect atomic lattice''
A thin flake of ordinary carbon, just one atom thick, lies behind this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics. [[Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov|Awarded for the discovery of graphene]] have shown that carbon in such a flat form has exceptional properties that originate from the remarkable world of quantum physics.
[[Graphene|http://www.graphene.org]] is a form of carbon. As a material it is completely new – not only the thinnest ever but also the strongest. As a conductor of electricity it performs as well as copper. As a conductor of heat it outperforms all other known materials. It is almost completely transparent, yet so dense that not even helium, the smallest gas atom, can pass through it. Carbon, the basis of all known life on earth, has surprised us once again.
Geim and Novoselov extracted the [[graphene|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene]] from a piece of graphite such as is found in ordinary pencils. Using regular adhesive tape they managed to obtain a flake of carbon with a thickness of just one atom. This at a time when many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable.
However, with graphene, physicists can now study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties. Graphene makes experiments possible that give new twists to the phenomena in quantum physics. Also a vast variety of practical applications now appear possible including the creation of new materials and the manufacture of innovative electronics. Graphene transistors are predicted to be substantially faster than today’s silicon transistors and result in more efficient computers.
Since it is practically transparent and a good conductor, graphene is suitable for producing transparent touch screens, light panels, and maybe even solar cells.
When mixed into plastics, graphene can turn them into conductors of electricity while making them more heat resistant and mechanically robust. This resilience can be utilised in new super strong materials, which are also thin, elastic and lightweight. In the future, satellites, airplanes, and cars could be manufactured out of the new composite materials.
This year’s Laureates have been working together for a long time now. Konstantin Novoselov, 36, first worked with Andre Geim, 51, as a PhD-student in the Netherlands. He subsequently followed Geim to the United Kingdom. Both of them originally studied and began their careers as physicists in Russia. Now they are both professors at the [[University of Manchester|http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/display/?id=6192]].
Playfulness is one of their hallmarks, one always learns something in the process and, who knows, you may even hit the jackpot. Like now when they, with graphene, write themselves into the annals of science. Source: ''[[The Nobel Prize in Physics 2010. Andre Geim, Konstantin Novoselov|http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2010/press.html]]'' The original paper with the discovery: ''[[Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films|http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/306/5696/666]]'' by K. S. Novoselov, A. K. Geim, S. V. Morozov, D. Jiang, Y. Zhang, S. V. Dubonos, I. V. Grigorieva, A. A. Firsov. <<slider chkSldr [[Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
''Context:''
- [[Harry Kroto|C60 by Harry Kroto]] commenting on this award //"The recent Nobel's are very interesting. I think Physics and Chemistry together are quite synergistic and are in fact a breakthrough - very exciting for the future of nano"//
''Follow up:''
- ''[[Letter from Walt de Heer to the Nobel Committee|http://www.gatech.edu/graphene/]]'' in response to the Scientific Background document . November 17, 2010
- ''[[Nobel document triggers debate|http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101124/full/468486a.html#B5]]''. Critics say that explanation of the 2010 award in physics slights other contributions to graphene research. By Eugenie Samuel Reich, Nature News. November 24, 2010
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In quasicrystals, we find the fascinating mosaics of the Arabic world reproduced at the level of atoms: regular patterns that never repeat themselves. However, the configuration found in quasicrystals was considered impossible, and [[Dan Shechtman|http://materials.technion.ac.il/st/]] had to fight a fierce battle against established science. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2011 has fundamentally altered how chemists conceive of solid matter.
On the morning of 8 April 1982, an image counter to the laws of nature appeared in Dan Shechtman's electron microscope. In all solid matter, atoms were believed to be packed inside crystals in symmetrical patterns that were repeated periodically over and over again. For scientists, this repetition was required in order to obtain a crystal.
Shechtman's image, however, showed that the atoms in his crystal were packed in a pattern that could not be repeated. Such a pattern was considered just as impossible as creating a football using only six-cornered polygons, when a sphere needs both five- and six-cornered polygons. His discovery was extremely controversial. In the course of defending his findings, he was asked to leave his research group. However, his battle eventually forced scientists to reconsider their conception of the very nature of matter.
Aperiodic mosaics, such as those found in the medieval Islamic mosaics of the Alhambra Palace in Spain and the Darb-i Imam Shrine in Iran, have helped scientists understand what quasicrystals look like at the atomic level. In those mosaics, as in quasicrystals, the patterns are regular - they follow mathematical rules - but they never repeat themselves.
When scientists describe Shechtman's quasicrystals, they use a concept that comes from mathematics and art: the golden ratio. This number had already caught the interest of mathematicians in Ancient Greece, as it often appeared in geometry. In quasicrystals, for instance, the ratio of various distances between atoms is related to the golden mean.
Following Shechtman's discovery, scientists have produced other kinds of quasicrystals in the lab and discovered naturally occurring quasicrystals in mineral samples from a Russian river. A Swedish company has also found quasicrystals in a certain form of steel, where the crystals reinforce the material like armor. Scientists are currently experimenting with using quasicrystals in different products such as frying pans and diesel engines. Source: [[The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2011 to Dan Shechtman (Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel) "for the discovery of quasicrystals"|http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2011/press.html]]. [[Scientific Background|http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2011/sciback_2011.pdf]]
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Our research group has pioneered the use of microemulsions in cultural heritage conservation as solubilizing agents to be used as an alternative to pure organic solvents for the selective extraction of naturally or artificially aged polymeric coatings. Nanotechnologies have produced some meaningful advantages within this field reducing between 80% and 95% of the amount of the used organic solvents with a consequent reduction of the environmental impact. Frescoes are porous structures, and conventional solvents can be efficient in removing polymeric material at the surface but are almost completely inefficient in cleaning the porous structure. Nanocompartmentalized systems are the best available cleaning system to avoid the penetration and the diffusion of the removed polymeric materials into the porous structure of the work of art.
Source: [[Oil-in-Water Nanocontainers as Low Environmental Impact Cleaning Tools for Works of Art: Two Case Studies|http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/langd5/asap/html/la700487s.html]] by Emiliano Carretti, Rodorico Giorgi, Debora Berti, and Piero Baglioni
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Federal government and U.S. industry scientists are forging ahead with plans to establish an international online forum for collaboration that aims to accelerate development of products with ultra-small dimensions while minimizing potential environmental, health, and safety risks. The collaboration will focus on the creation of critically needed nanotechnology standards for biomedical and health applications, including Standard Reference Materials and test methods.
Combining efforts of materials scientists and measurement laboratories with those of biological and medical researchers, the new Internet-linked "community of interest" will exploit Web 2.0-style social networking technologies for creating and sharing information, as well as deliberating over technical details.
The concept for the Web-based collaboration was strongly endorsed during a recent international two-day workshop on [[Enabling Standards for Nanomaterial Characterization|http://www.ceramics.nist.gov/nanomaterial_workshop.htm]], hosted and co-sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). At the workshop, participants had reported mixed results in recent interlaboratory comparisons of physical and biological measurements on reference nanomaterials and other pretested samples. Pointing to the inconsistent results in these pilot "round robins," many participants called for a sustained collaboration to develop high-quality, validated and uniformly applied standards that ensure reliable measurement and test results. "This consensus among the scientific community about what has to be done is really reassuring. I firmly believe we are on the right road now," said Kenneth Dawson, chair of the [[International Alliance for NanoEHS Harmonization|Scientists form alliance to develop nanotoxicology protocols]].
Estimated to be $147 billion in 2007, the global market for nanotechnology-enabled products could top $3 trillion by 2015, according to the market research firm Lux Research. The large projected market, an increasingly diverse range of anticipated nanotechnology applications, and the wide variety of science and engineering fields working toward these applications have led to a growing need for different types of nanotechnology standards.
"Engagement of the world’s environmental, health and safety scientific expertise in standards development could well become a [[‘tragedy of the commons’|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons]] in that we know standards will benefit the entire community, but there are a growing number of organizations tapping into this scientific expertise," said Clayton Teague, director of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office, which administers the federal National Nanotechnology Initiative. "This finite expertise might become so overly taxed that real progress will be hindered. A community-driven initiative makes sense. Collaborative Web sites look very promising as a means to enable sustained cooperation across nations and scientific disciplines."
The new online community of interest will concentrate on facilitating and streamlining the many back-and-forth technical deliberations that take place during the drafting of a standard—before it’s submitted for formal approval by an standards developing organization (SDO). Now undergoing further development at NCI, ''the nanotechnology standards wiki will enable instantaneous dissemination (as well as archiving) of drafts, discussions, votes and supporting materials. Wiki-related tools will help in organizing discussions, and ~SDOs will be able to tap this resource to expedite drafting and validating protocols before they enter the formal standards approval process''.
"The lack of standardized methods has been a rate-limiting step in the translation of [[nanoparticle-based cancer therapies|nano-oncology]]," said Piotr Grodzinski, director of NCI's Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer. "I commend this initiative for taking on streamlining nanomaterial characterization and its standardization."
''Increased transparency in the standards development process also will facilitate cooperation in interlaboratory testing to determine the reproducibility and repeatability of methods''. For NIST, input from the online community of interest will help to set priorities for developing reference materials used to calibrate instruments that make nanoscale measurements and validate testing protocols.
NCI and its partners expect a fully operational and vetted version of the site to be publicly available by early 2009.
Source: [[NCI and NIST Propose Online Community To Speed Up Development of Nanotech Standards|http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/online_community.html]]. Participatory, Web 2.0 Web Site to Focus on Nanomaterials
{{twocolumns{
Online courses covering the fundamentals of nanotechnology will be offered beginning in 2012 by the science portal [[nanoHUB|http://nanohub.org/]], the national Network for Computational Nanotechnology and Purdue University. Registration fees for each of the two five-week courses is $30, and continuing education credits are available for an extra fee.
Students in the courses will make use of simulation and modeling tools and the computational resources found at nanoHUB.org, allowing students to execute actual nanotechnology engineering simulations as part of their training.
The courses are aimed at engineers, academics, graduate students and others who need to understand both ''the basics and the latest developments in the field of nanoelectronics''.
[[Supriyo Datta|http://engineering.purdue.edu/ECE/People/profile?resource_id=3286]] will be teaching nanoHUB's first two courses. "Although we will be discussing cutting-edge concepts in nanoelectronics, the course should be understandable to anyone with a basic background in science and mathematics," Datta says. "We make every effort to avoid using specialist jargon so that it is accessible to people from all branches of engineering and science."
[[Datta|http://www.sigmaxi.org/programs/prizes/procter.datta.shtml]] is an award-winning researcher and teacher whose books on nanoelectronics - [["Electronic Transport in Microscopic Systems"|http://www.google.es/books?id=28BC-ofEhvUC&lpg=PP1&dq=%22Electronic%20Transport%20in%20Microscopic%20Systems%22%20supriyo%20datta&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false]] (Cambridge, 1995) and [["Quantum Transport: Atom to Transistor"|http://books.google.es/books?id=Yj50EJoS224C&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false]] (Cambridge, 2005) - are used as standard texts in the field of nanoelectronics.
Mark Lundstrom, Purdue's Don and Carol Scifres Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, says Datta's previous lectures have been viewed more than 75,000 times at the nanoHUB.org site. ''"Most of us in the field would agree that Supriyo is the [[Richard Feynman|Richard Feynman and Nanotechnology]] of nanoelectronics,"'' Lundstrom says.
"We're rethinking applied science and engineering, and we're inviting a worldwide audience to participate in that," he says. ''"The aim is to present and package nanotechnology in a way that's never been done before."'' Source: From [[Online course on fundamentals of nanotechnology offered|http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/academics/2011/111208DattaCourse.html]] by Steve Tally. Additional course information and registration are available at https://nanohub.org/groups/purdue
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''A global event, now in its 4th year, promoting Open Access as a new norm in scholarship and research''. LEARN MORE: http://tinyurl.com/2f96u6s
An opportunity for the academic and research community to continue to learn about the potential benefits of Open Access, to share what they’ve learned with colleagues, and to help inspire wider participation in helping to make Open Access a new norm in scholarship and research. “Open Access” to information – the free, immediate, online access to the results of scholarly research, and the right to use and re-use those results as you need – has the power to transform the way research and scientific inquiry are conducted. It has direct and widespread implications for academia, medicine, science, industry, and for society as a whole. Open Access (OA) has the potential to maximize research investments, increase the exposure and use of published research, facilitate the ability to conduct research across available literature, and enhance the overall advancement of scholarship. Research funding agencies, academic institutions, researchers and scientists, teachers, students, and members of the general public are supporting a move towards Open Access in increasing numbers every year. Open Access Week is a key opportunity for all members of the community to take action to keep this momentum moving forward. Source: [[Open Access Week|http://www.openaccessweek.org/]]
{{twocolumns{
''Evolving towards the info grid?'' by [[Victor Puntes]]
<<tiddler [[Evolving towards the info grid?]]>>
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" title="onsclaims.wikispaces.com" src="img/open_notebook_science.png" width="20%"/></a></html>''Open Notebook Science is the practice of making the entire primary record of a research project publicly available online as it is recorded''. This involves placing the personal, or laboratory, notebook of the researcher online along with all raw and processed data, and any associated material, as this material is generated. The approach may be summed up by the slogan 'no insider information'. It is the logical extreme of transparent approaches to research and explicitly includes the making available of failed, less significant, and otherwise unpublished experiments; so called 'Dark Data'. The practice of Open Notebook Science, although not the norm in the academic community, has gained significant recent attention in the research, general and peer-reviewed media as part of a general trend towards more open approaches in research practice and publishing. ''Open Notebook Science can therefore be described as part of a wider Open Science movement'' that includes the advocacy and adoption of Open access publication, Open Data, Crowdsourcing Data, and Citizen science. It is inspired in part by the success of Open Source Software[6] and draws on many of its ideas. Source: From [[Open Notebook Science - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Notebook_Science]]
An interview with Jean-Claude Bradley, [[pioneer of Open Notebook Science|http://usefulchem.blogspot.com/]]: [[The Impact of Open Notebook Science by Richard Poynder|http://www.infotoday.com/it/sep10/Poynder.shtml]]<br>
{{twocolumns{
<html><object width="100%" height="268"><param name="movie" value="http://www.scivee.tv/flash/embedCast.swf" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="flashvars" value="id=17876&type=3" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed src="http://www.scivee.tv/flash/embedCast.swf" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="always" width="100%" height="268" flashvars="id=17876&type=3"></embed></object></html> On May 14, 2010 Jean-Claude Bradley presented on Open Notebook Science at the OpenSciNY conference at the New York University Library. He introduced the topic by telling a few stories about how new forms of communication are affecting how we think about concepts like "scientific precedent", "peer review", "scientific publishing" and "scientific scholarship". At the end he spoke about archiving Open Notebook Science projects culminating in the publication of the Reaction Attempts and ONS Solubility Challenge books.
Presentation at Open Notebook Science Web Services - ACS Spring 2011:<html><div style="width:100%" id="__ss_7453631"> <strong style="display:block;margin:12px 0 4px"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/jcbradley/bradley-acs-sp2011" ></a></strong> <iframe src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/7453631" width="100%" height="268" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> </div></html>
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Michael Nielsen gave a talk at the [[TEDx|http://www.ted.com/pages/about]]Waterloo event and he discussed what is the most popular debate lately ''about scientist giving away their data freely''.
"[[Michael Nielsen|http://michaelnielsen.org/blog/michael-a-nielsen/]] is one of the pioneers of quantum computation. Together with Ike Chuang of MIT, he wrote the standard text in the field, a text which is now one of the twenty most highly cited physics books of all time. He is the author of more than fifty scientific papers, including invited contributions to Nature and Scientific American. His research contributions include involvement in one of the first quantum teleportation experiments, named as one of Science Magazine's Top Ten Breakthroughs of the Year for 1998. Michael was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of New Mexico, and has worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory, as the Richard Chace Tolman Prize Fellow at Caltech, as Foundation Professor of Quantum Information Science at the University of Queensland, and as a Senior Faculty Member at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Michael left academia to write a book about open science, and the radical change that online tools are causing in the way scientific discoveries are made." Source: From [[YouTube - TEDxWaterloo - Michael Nielsen - Open Science|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnWocYKqvhw]]
"The adoption and growth of the scientific journal system has created a body of shared knowledge for our civilization, a collective long-term memory which is the basis for much of human progress. This system has changed surprisingly little in the last 300 years. The internet offers us the first major opportunity to improve this collective long-term memory, and to create a collective short-term working memory, a conversational commons for the rapid collaborative development of ideas. ''The process of scientific discovery – how we do science – will change more over the next 20 years than in the past 300 years.''
This change will not be achieved without great effort. From the outside, scientists currently appear puzzlingly slow to adopt many online tools. We’ll see that this is a consequence of some major barriers deeply embedded within the culture of science. The first part of this essay is about these barriers, and how to overcome them. The second part of the essay illustrates these ideas, with a proposal for an online collaboration market where scientists can rapidly outsource scientific problems." Source: From ''[[The Future of Science by Michael Nielsen|http://michaelnielsen.org/blog/the-future-of-science-2/]]''
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<a href="http://stardustathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/a_science.php"><img title="Test array of silica aerogel cells for the Stardust mission, that captured both cometary samples and interstellar dust during its closest encounter with Comet Wild 2 in 2004 and returned to Earth on January 15, 2006" src="http://www.aerogel.org/albums/From%20the%20Web/cometcatchertest-jpl.jpg" width="95%"/>
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"What, you may ask, is aerogel? ''Aerogels are the world's lightest solid materials, composed of up to 99.98% air by volume''. [[Aerogels|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogel]] are a diverse class of amazing materials with properties unlike anything else. Transparent superinsulating [[silica aerogels|http://www.aerogel.org/?p=16]] exhibit the lowest thermal conductivity of any solid known. Ultrahigh surface area [[carbon aerogels|http://www.aerogel.org/?p=71]] power today's fast-charging supercapacitors. And ultrastrong, bendable [[x-aerogels|http://www.aerogel.org/?p=1058]] are the lowest-density structural materials ever developed. Welcome to Aerogel.org. Here you will find an encyclopedic reference about aerogels, how-to guides for making aerogels and building a do-it-yourself supercritical dryer, the world's most comprehensive aerogel image gallery, a podcast with the world's leading aerogel scientists, and more. Aerogel's not just for NASA anymore. ''Welcome to open-source nanotech''.
"We’ve got a lot of work to do on this planet.
"And it’s not gonna get done waiting around for somebody else to do it. We’ve got to take matters into our own hands. And it’s gonna take time, steady effort, and the willingness to take on hard problems. And it’s gonna take a lot of scientists, engineers, and creative brains.
"Welcome to Aerogel.org, an open source nanotech initiative.
''The mission of Aerogel.org is to empower, inspire, and motivate people to pursue nanotechnology using open source methodology and to catalyze the discovery of new technological possibilities for aerogel materials in the process.''
"Aerogel.org is based on the principle that making straightforward information about exciting science available to everyone is the best way to stimulate people to pursue science, engineering, and other creative endeavors.
"On Aerogel.org you will find an encyclopedic reference about aerogels, an extensive photo gallery, interviews with aerogel scientists, and how-to guides for how to make aerogels of your very own. You’ll find forums where you can interact with others interested in making aerogels and discover user-generated recipes for making aerogels of all sorts.
"We’ve gone to great lengths to try to make everything on Aerogel.org understandable with a minimal level of technical inclination but at the same time serve as a valuable resource for even university-level researchers. Even if you find some of the articles to be a bit on the technical side, we’re confident with a little bit of patience and interest you can figure it out.
"[[Aerogel’s not just for NASA anymore|http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/tech/aerogel.html]]. Welcome to open source nanotech–get involved!" Source: From ''[[Aerogel.org|http://www.aerogel.org/]]'' by [[Stephen Steiner and Will Walker|http://www.aerogel.org/?p=653]]
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Can organic matter behave like a fridge magnet? Scientists have now shown that it can. they used graphene, the world’s thinnest and strongest material, and made it magnetic.
Graphene is a sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a chicken wire structure. In its pristine state, it exhibits no signs of the conventional magnetism usually associated with such materials as iron or nickel.
Demonstrating its remarkable properties won Manchester researchers the [[Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010|Nobel "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene"]].
This latest research led by Dr Irina Grigorieva and Professor Sir [[Andre Geim|Awarded for the discovery of graphene]] (one of the Nobel prize recipients) could prove crucial to the future of graphene in electronics.
The Manchester researchers took nonmagnetic graphene and then either ‘peppered’ it with other nonmagnetic atoms like fluorine or removed some carbon atoms from the chicken wire. The empty spaces, called vacancies, and added atoms all turned out to be magnetic, exactly like atoms of, for example, iron.
“It is like minus multiplied by minus gives you plus”, says Dr Irina Grigorieva.
The researchers found that, to behave as magnetic atoms, defects must be far away from each other and their concentration should be low. If many defects are added to graphene, they reside too close and cancel each other’s magnetism. In the case of vacancies, their high concentration makes graphene disintegrate.
Professor Geim said: “The observed magnetism is tiny, and even the most magnetized graphene samples would not stick to your fridge.
“However, it is important to reach clarity in what is possible for graphene and what is not. The area of magnetism in nonmagnetic materials has previously had many false positives.”
"The most likely use of the found phenomenon is in spintronics. Spintronics devices are pervasive, most notably they can be found in computers’ hard disks. They function due to coupling of magnetism and electric current.
“Adding this new degree of functionality can prove important for potential applications of graphene in electronics”, adds Dr Grigorieva. Source: From [[Graphene reveals its magnetic personality|http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/display/?id=7831]]. The research is detailed in the paper ''[[“Spin-half paramagnetism in graphene induced by point defects”|http://www.nature.com/nphys/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nphys2183.html]]'' by R. Nair, M. Sepioni, I-Ling Tsai, O. Lehtinen, J. Keinonen, A. Krasheninnikov, T. Thomson, A. Geim and I. Grigorieva.
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A promising approach for making solar cells that are inexpensive, lightweight and flexible is to use organic (that is, carbon-containing) compounds instead of expensive, highly purified silicon. But one stubborn problem has slowed the development of such cells: Researchers have had a hard time coming up with appropriate materials for the electrodes to carry the current to and from the cells. Specifically, it has been hard to make electrodes using materials that can match the organic cells’ flexibility, transparency and low cost.
The standard material used so far for these electrodes is indium-tin-oxide, or ITO. But indium is expensive and relatively rare, so the search has been on for a suitable replacement. Now, a team of MIT researchers has come up with a practical way of using a possible substitute made from inexpensive and ubiquitous carbon. The proposed material is graphene, a form of carbon in which the atoms form a flat sheet just one atom thick, arranged in a chicken-wire-like formation.
Graphene is transparent, so that electrodes made from it can be applied to the transparent organic solar cells without blocking any of the incoming light. In addition, it is flexible, like the organic solar cells themselves, so it could be part of installations that require the panel to follow the contours of a structure, such as a patterned roof. ITO, by contrast, is stiff and brittle.
The biggest problem with getting graphene to work as an electrode for organic solar cells has been getting the material to adhere to the panel. Graphene repels water, so typical procedures for producing an electrode on the surface by depositing the material from a solution won’t work.
The team tried a variety of approaches to alter the surface properties of the cell or to use solutions other than water to deposit the carbon on the surface, but none of these performed well, MIT professor [[Jing Kong|http://www.rle.mit.edu/rleonline/People/JingKong.html]] says. But then they found that “doping” the surface — that is, introducing a set of impurities into the surface — changed the way it behaved, and allowed the graphene to bond tightly. As a bonus, it turned out the doping also improved the material’s electrical conductivity.
While the specific characteristics of the graphene electrode differ from those of the ITO it would replace, its overall performance in a solar cell is very similar, Kong says. And the flexibility and light weight of organic solar cells with graphene electrodes could open up a variety of different applications that would not be possible with today’s conventional silicon-based solar panels, she says. For example, because of their transparency they could be applied directly to windows without blocking the view, and they could be applied to irregular wall or rooftop surfaces. In addition, they could be stacked on top of other solar panels, increasing the amount of power generated from a given area. And they could even be folded or rolled up for easy transportation.
While this research looked at how to adapt graphene to replace one of the two electrodes on a solar panel, Kong and her co-workers are now trying to adapt it to the other electrode as well. In addition, widespread use of this technology will require new techniques for large-scale manufacturing of graphene — an area of very active research. The ongoing work has been funded by the Eni-MIT Alliance Solar Frontiers Center and an NSF research fellowship.
Peter Peumans, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University, who was not involved in this study, says ''organic solar cells will probably become practical only with the development of transparent electrode technology that is both cheaper and more robust than conventional metal oxides''. Other materials are being studied as possible substitutes, he says, but this work represents “very important progress” toward making graphene a credible replacement transparent electrode.
“Other groups had already shown that graphene exhibits good combinations of transparency and sheet resistance, but no one was able to achieve a performance with graphene electrodes that matches that of devices on conventional metal oxide (ITO) electrodes,” Peumans says. “This work is a substantial push toward making graphene a leading candidate.” Source: ''[[Graphene electrodes for organic solar cells|http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/graphene-solar-0106.html]]'' by David L. Chandler. Researchers identify technique that could make a new kind of solar photovoltaic panel practical. This work is detailed in the paper [[“Doped graphene electrodes for organic solar cells”|http://iopscience.iop.org/0957-4484/21/50/505204]] by Hyesung Park, [[Jill A Rowehl|http://mit.academia.edu/JillRowehl]], Ki Kang Kim, [[Vladimir Bulovic|http://www.rle.mit.edu/rleonline/People/VladimirBulovic.html]] and Jing Kong <<slider chkSldr [[Doped graphene electrodes for organic solar cells]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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These days, everyone talks about the use of solar energy for the generation of electricity. Conventional solar cells, however, use expensive materials and are manufactured under costly clean room conditions. Consequently, they can only deliver expensive electricity. Researchers have now presented solar panels that are printed on paper. The technology known as 3PV (3PV stands for [[printed paper photovoltaics|http://www.pppv.de/]]) uses conventional printing methods and standard substrates, like those used for magazines, posters or packaging. Special inks with electrical properties form the necessary structures on paper, which ensure that electricity is generated when being exposed to light. Since the employed conventional printing methods, i.e. gravure, flexo and offset printing, are very cost-efficient, the printed solar panels shall generate much cheaper electricity in comparison to conventional solar cells. Prof. Dr. Arved Hübler from the Institute for Print and Media Technology at Chemnitz University of Technology, who is working together with his research team on the 3PV technology for more than three years now, speaks of a paradigm shift in solar technology. His vision for the future is that ''common printing houses around the world could produce and market 3PV solar panels''.
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/paper_photovoltaic_cells.jpg" title="A 15x15 cm solar module consists of multiple sheets (in this case four) of photovoltaic cells. These printed photovoltaic modules are combined via snap fasteners and form a series connection. At the two ends of the serial connection, a connector cable is attached. The front of the module consists of the active layer composition, on the back paper, the substrate is directly visible. Source: B. Trnovec / pmTUC" class="photo" width="50%"/></html>Cells printed in Chemnitz ''achieve an energy conversion efficiency of 1.3 percent''. The researchers use a new material approach. In a special printing process, naturally oxidised zinc is applied as base electrode. The transparent counter electrode is printed with PEDOT, a conductive polymer. "The materials are constantly optimised and we are confident that the 3PV parameters can be further improved," says Tino Zillger, researcher at the Institute for Print and Media Technology and leader of the project. Even the team of Hübler is a bit surprised that it is already possible to produce very stable 3PV modules with a web printing press in the laboratory. "Our long experience in the field of printed electronics pays well here," says the head of the chair Print Media Technology.
Hübler assumes that all in all paper solar cells could have the edge over the current technological state of the art due to the efficient production and lower material costs. ''The aim of further research is to increase the efficiency to more than five percent'' in order to ensure that a 3PV module is economically attractive despite a life time of less than one year. "In nature we find a model for this strategy: even green leaves only have a moderate energy conversion efficiency of four to seven percent and a life time of less than one year. Nevertheless, this approach is obviously successful," explains Hübler.
The vision of being able to contribute to the overall energy supply with the help of paper solar panels is only one field of application. Researchers have already shown that it is also possible to drive small electrical devices with these paper solar cells. This opens up the possibility to supply mobile devices with "paper power” in a simple and self-sustaining way. Intelligent packaging, for instance, could include many additional features, ranging from displays to sensors. Handling of the paper solar cells can be very simple. Tino Zillger shows a possible solution with 3PV modules manufactured at the Institute for Print and Media Technology: The paper strips can be connected with the help of commercial snap fasteners. Immediately, an electrical current flows. ''After use, the paper modules can be recycled like any other waste paper''. According to Hübler it is, thus, not only possible to generate renewable energy, but also the solar cell itself is made from renewable resources and is consequently renewable. Source: From [[Printed photovoltaic cells on paper|http://www.pppv.de/pdf/uni_aktuell_en.pdf]]. Institute for Print and Media Technology of the Chemnitz UT introduces photovoltaic modules, which are printed with print colors with electrical properties on standard papers. This work was detailed in the paper [["Printed paper photovoltaic cells”|http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aenm.201100394/abstract]] <<slider chkSldr [[Printed Paper Photovoltaic Cells]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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<br>Niraj Kumar, Virginia Walker & Vishal Shah. 2011. ''Journal of Hazardous Materials in press''
//Technological advances allowing routine nanoparticle (NP) manufacture have enabled their use in electronic equipment, foods, clothing and medical devices. Although some NPs have antibacterial activity, little is known about their environmental impact and there is no information on the influence of NPs on soil in the possibly vulnerable ecosystems of polar regions. The potential toxicity of 0.066% silver, copper or silica NPs on a high latitude (> 78 °N) soil were determined using community level physiological profiles (CLPP), fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) assays and DNA analysis, including sequencing and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The results of these different investigations were amalgamated in order to develop a community toxicity indicator, which revealed that of the three NPs examined, silver NPs could be classified as highly toxic to these arctic consortia. Subsequent culture-based studies confirmed that one of the community-identified plant-associating bacteria, Bradyrhizobium canariense, appeared to have a marked sensitivity to silver NPs. Thus, NP contamination of arctic soils particularly by silver NPs is a concern and procedures for mitigation and remediation of such pollution should be a priority for investigation.//
[<img[A schematic illustration shows the microfiber nanowire hybrid nanogenerator, which is the basis of using fabrics for generating electricity. Credit: Prof. Z.L. Wang and Dr. X.D. Wang, Georgia Institute of Technology|http://portal.acs.org/portal/binfetch/consumption?fileUrl=/stellent/groups/web/documents/article/~export/WPCP_012560~1~HTML_DC_TEMPLATE~SNIPPET_LAYOUT/38774-1.jpg]] Scientists from Georgia describe technology that [[converts mechanical energy from body movements|http://www.gatech.edu/newsroom/release.html?id=2581]] or even the flow of blood in the body into electric energy that can be used to power a broad range of electronic devices without using batteries.
“This research will have a major impact on defense technology, environmental monitoring, biomedical sciences and even personal electronics,” says lead researcher Zhong Lin Wang, from the Georgia Institute of Technology. “Quite simply, this technology can be used to generate energy under any circumstances as long as there is movement,” according to Wang.
The researchers describe harvesting energy from the environment by converting low-frequency vibrations, like simple body movements, the beating of the heart or movement of the wind, into electricity, using zinc oxide (~ZnO) nanowires that conduct the electricity. The ~ZnO nanowires are piezoelectric — they generate an electric current when subjected to mechanical stress. The diameter and length of the wire are 1/5,000th and 1/25th the diameter of a human hair.
While biosensors have been miniaturized and can be implanted under the skin, he points out that these devices still require batteries, and the new nanogenerator would offer much more flexibility. A major advantage of this new technology is that many nanogenerators can produce electricity continuously and simultaneously. On the other hand, the greatest challenge in developing these nanogenerators is to improve the output voltage and power, he says. Last year Wang’s group presented a study on nanogenerators driven by ultrasound.
Source: [[New nanogenerator may charge iPods and cell phones with a wave of the hand|http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=222&content_id=WPCP_012560&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=69654eff-1658-4e59-861d-22e268c1f1cd]]. This work is detailed in the paper [[Converting Biomechanical Energy into Electricity by a Muscle-Movement-Driven Nanogenerator|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl803904b]] by [[Rusen Yang|http://www.nanoscience.gatech.edu/zlwang/group/ry.htm]], [[Yong Qin|http://www.nanoscience.gatech.edu/zlwang/group/yq.htm]], [[Cheng Li|http://www.nanoscience.gatech.edu/zlwang/group/cl.htm]], [[Guang Zhu|http://www.nanoscience.gatech.edu/zlwang/group/gz.htm]] and [[Zhong Lin Wang|http://www.mse.gatech.edu/FacultyStaff/MSE_Faculty_researchbios/Wang/wang.html]]. More information: [[Zhong Lin Wang describes his work to power the nanoworld|http://www.technologyreview.com/video/?vid=257]] in a video included in [[Nanopiezoelectronics|http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/22118/]] by Katherine Bourzac, MIT's Technology Review.
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" title="Piranha boat" src="img/piranha.jpg" width="50%"/></a></html>Zyvex Technologies announced that its 54' boat named Piranha completed sea trials in the Pacific Ocean, demonstrating ''record fuel efficiency''. After six months of extensive testing, the Piranha completed its final sea trial – an approximate 600 nautical mile (nm) rough-weather sea test off the shores of Washington and Oregon.
A conventional aluminum or fiberglass boat would have consumed 50 gallons or more per hour, while test results prove that Piranha consumed only 12 gallons of fuel per hour while cruising at 25 knots. The Piranha demonstrates Zyvex Technologies‚ ability to produce products with ''nano-enhanced materials that are 40% stronger than metals, such as aluminum, and 75% lighter, resulting in increased fuel efficiency''. Zyvex produced Piranha in just 90 days.
Made with 21st century advanced carbon fiber infused with carbon nanotubes (CNTs), the Piranha is the first boat built with CNTs. Weighing only 8,400 pounds, compared to boats of similar size that typically weigh 40,000 pounds, the Piranha is 75% lighter, making it easier to transport and cost-effective to operate.
"Our chemists molecularly engineer better materials and our designers and engineers make the world's strongest materials more useful," says Lance Criscuolo, president of Zyvex Technologies. "Metal boats have come a long way over the past 150 years, but it's only possible to reach new standards of performance using next-generation advanced composite materials."
Piranha can travel 2,800 nm without refueling and has operated in open-ocean conditions with waves exceeding 12 feet. Russell Belden, vice president of Zyvex Technologies, notes that other similar sized vessels built from heavier materials can only travel 450 nm without refueling and have limited rough-weather performance.
"The lightweight Piranha delivers significantly better fuel efficiency and capability than any vessel this size. The most expensive part of operating a boat can be the fuel costs. Since the Piranha gets 2.5 miles per gallon going 25 knots, ''its operators would only spend one fourth as much on operating costs''," said Belden. Source: [[Piranha completes rough weather sea trials|http://zyvex.posterous.com/piranha-completes-rough-weather-sea-trials]]
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Plants got the capacity of absorbing minerals and nutrients from the ground, then, they are processed and release specific elements in the environment; they can also be used as ‘phytoremediation’ species thanks to this metabolism. Dr. Jorge Luis Hernandez Piñero from the UANL School of Biological Sciences, who is working in the Department of Botany, he is analyzing and looking for Northeast Mexico plants’ morphological, anatomical and microscopic characteristics. They have started to work in a project focused on some ''plants use as an economic resource for metallic nanoparticles synthesis''. “In spite of its benefits, nano particles’ synthesis require processes which consume many chemical compounds that inevitably, are toxic, so there is a pollutant that is released in the environment and has serious consequences,” said Venezuelan researcher.
The use of plants is a cheaper and an ecological option in synthesis process, because it reduces the affectation in environment thanks to the plant turns into a reducer agent of nano particles. The studies about phytoremediation plants which absorb and stand heavy metals have made us to wonder what occurs with the metal.
“There are pioneer researches that show how specific plants can reduce the ionic silver to metallic silver in nano particles shape when the ionic silver is added to them, all this occurs in the same plant.” Likewise, it has been found that extracts can be used in stead of waiting for the plant to absorb metals from the ground through the root and goes through the stem and leaf, a process that is more complicated and slower. Furthermore, the techniques for making an extract of the plant and taking its reactive compounds are so cheap and do not generate toxic wastes.
We have to mention that “''not any plant can biosynthesize nanoparticles and studies are focused on the appropriate species research for this technology''. It is known that this phenomenon occurs in alfalfa and other plants which are not related at all with; we have seen which the common factor among the plants with biosynthesis of metallic nanoparticles is.”
Currently, Dr. Jorge Luis Hernandez Piñero and his FCB research team are looking for becoming plants in a viable, cheap and eological option to the Nanotechnology. Source: [[Plants for Purifying the Environment|http://noticias.uanl.mx/interes/descripcion.php?id_not=492&lang=en]]. Research and use of vegetable species -for the phytoremediation- by Mayra Silva Almanza
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<br>Shuangyin Wang, Dingshan Yu, and Liming Dai. 2011. ''Journal of the American Chemical Society at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/ja1112904''
//Having a strong electron-withdrawing ability, poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) was used to create net positive charge for carbon atoms in the nanotube carbon plane via intermolecular charge transfer. The resultant PDDA functionalized/adsorbed carbon nanotubes (CNTs), either in an aligned or nonaligned form, were demonstrated to act as metal-free catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells with similar performance as Pt catalysts. The adsorption-induced intermolecular charge-transfer should provide a general approach to various carbon-based efficient metal-free ORR catalysts for oxygen reduction in fuel cells, and even new catalytic materials for applications beyond fuel cells.//
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On April 5, 1990, Don Eigler and Erhard Schweizer announced in Nature that they had arranged 35 single atoms of xenon to spell out IBM. [[A defining moment in nanoscience experimentation]].
"Since its invention in the early 1980s by Binnig and Rohrer, the scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) has provided images of surfaces and adsorbed atoms and molecules with unprecedented resolution. The STM has also been used to modify surfaces, for example by locally pinning molecules to a surface and by transfer of an atom from the STM tip to the surface. Here we report the use of the STM at low temperatures (4 K) to position individual xenon atoms on a single-crystal nickel surface with atomic pre-cision. This capacity has allowed us to fabricate rudimentary structures of our own design, atom by atom. The processes we describe are in principle applicable to molecules also. In view of the device-like characteristics reported for single atoms on surfaces, the possibilities for perhaps the ultimate in device miniaturization are evident. The tip of an STM always exerts a finite force on an adsorbate atom. This force contains both Van der Waals and electrostatic contributions. By adjusting the position and the voltage of the tip we may tune both the magnitude and direction of this force. This, taken together with the fact that it generally requires less force to move an atom along a surface than to pull it away from the surface, makes it possible to set these parameters such that the STM tip can pull an atom across a surface while the atom remains bound to the surface." From [[Positioning single atoms with a scanning tunnelling microscope|http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v344/n6266/abs/344524a0.html]] by [[D. M. Eigler|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Eigler]] & E. K. Schweizer. IBM Research Division, Almaden Research Center, "[[The Kitty Hawk of nanotechnology]]".
"One half of 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to [[Ernst Ruska|http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1986/ruska-lecture.html]] for "his fundamental work in electron optics and for the design of the first electron microscope" (...) The other half of this year's prize has been awarded to [[Gerd Binnig|http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1986/binnig-lecture.html]] and [[Heinrich Rohrer|http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1986/rohrer-lecture.html]] for "their design of the scanning tunneling microscope". This instrument is not a true microscope (i.e. an instrument that gives a direct image of an object) since it is based on the principle that the structure of a surface can be studied using a stylus that scans the surface at a fixed distance from it. Vertical adjustment of the stylus is controlled by means of what is termed the tunnel effect - hence the name of the instrument. An electrical potential between the tip of the stylus and the surface causes an electric current to flow between them despite the fact that they are not in contact. The strength of the current is strongly dependent on the distance, and this makes it possible to maintain the distance constant at approximately 10^^-7^^ cm (i.e. about two atom diameters). The stylus is also extremely sharp, the tip being formed of one single atom. This enables it to follow even the smallest details of the surface it is scanning. Recording the vertical movement of the stylus makes it possible to study the structure of the surface atom by atom. [[The scanning tunneling microscope|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanning_tunneling_microscope]] is completely new, and we have so far seen only the beginning of its development. It is, however, clear that entirely new fields are opening up for the study of the structure of matter. Binnig's and Rohrer's great achievement is that, starting from earlier work and ideas. they have succeeded in mastering the enormous experimental difficulties involved in building an instrument of the precision and stability required." From [[Press Release: The 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics|http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1986/press.html]]
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"We demonstrate for 24 metal oxide (MOx) nanoparticles that it is possible to use conduction band energy levels to delineate their toxicological potential at cellular and whole animal levels. (...) These results demonstrate that it is possible to predict the toxicity of a large series of MOx nanoparticles in the lung premised on semiconductor properties and an integrated in vitro/in vivo hazard ranking model premised on oxidative stress. This establishes a robust platform for modeling of MOx structure–activity relationships based on band gap energy levels and particle dissolution. This predictive toxicological paradigm is also of considerable importance for regulatory decision-making about this important class of engineered nanomaterials." Source: From ''[[Use of Metal Oxide Nanoparticle Band Gap To Develop a Predictive Paradigm for Oxidative Stress and Acute Pulmonary Inflammation|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn3010087]]'' by Haiyuan Zhang, Zhaoxia Ji, Tian Xia, Huan Meng,Cecile Low-Kam, Rong Liu, Suman Pokhrel, Sijie Lin, Xiang Wang, Yu-Pei Liao, Meiying Wang, Linjiang Li, [[Robert Rallo|http://robertrallo.wordpress.com/]], Robert Damoiseaux, Donatello Telesca, Lutz Mädler, Yoram Cohen, Jeffrey I. Zink, and [[Andre E. Nel|http://www1.cnsi.ucla.edu/institution/personnel?personnel_id=8739]].
''Context:''
April 23, 2012. ''[[A Model To Predict Nanoparticle Toxicity|http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/web/2012/04/Model-Predict-Nanoparticle-Toxicity.html]]'' by Jeffrey M. Perkel, Chemical & Engineering News. //"As nanoparticles increasingly make their way into consumer products and the environment, toxicologists want to understand their effects on human health. Ideally, they’d like to develop models that predict a material’s toxicity based on its chemical properties. Now a research team reports the first such model for metal oxide nanoparticles that uses the materials’ electrical and solubility properties"//
April 25, 2012. ''[[Predicting Nanoparticle Toxicology|http://www.bcnp-consultants.com/en/media-news/news/meldung/datum/2012/04/25/predicting-nanoparticle-toxicology.html]]'' by Dr. David Eckensberger. //"This model is an interesting and promising starting point for further activites regarding the prediction of nanomaterials' toxicity"//
July, 2009. ''[[A predictive toxicological paradigm for the safety assessment of nanomaterials|http://www.researchgate.net/publication/50938186_A_predictive_toxicological_paradigm_for_the_safety_assessment_of_nanomaterials]]'' by Huan Meng, Tian Xia, Saji George, Andre E Nel. //"The rate of expansion of nanomaterials calls for the consideration of appropriate toxicological paradigms in the safety assessment of nanomaterials. We advocate a predictive toxicological paradigm for the assessment of nanomaterial hazards. The predictive toxicological approach is defined as establishing and using mechanisms and pathways of injury at a cellular and molecular level to prioritize screening for adverse biological effects and health outcomes in vivo. Specifically as it relates to nanomaterials, a predictive approach has to consider the physicochemical properties of the material that leads to molecular or cellular injury and also has to be valid in terms of disease pathogenesis in whole organisms."//
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<<tiddler Twitter>>
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Boise State researchers have made a remarkable breakthrough in cancer treatment that may provide the “magic bullet” for the debilitating effects of chemotherapy. The interdisciplinary group of researchers applied emerging nanotechnology techniques to traditional cancer research to come up with a highly effective method for the preferential killing of cancer cells while leaving ordinary cells healthy. This nanobiotechnology group is led by Boise State physics professor [[Alex Punnoose|http://www.boisestate.edu/physics/punnoose/]] with strong contributions from biology professors [[Denise Wingett|http://www.boisestate.edu/biology/wingett.htm]] and [[Kevin Feris|http://www.boisestate.edu/biology/feris/FerisLab/Dr.Feris.html]].
“One of the greatest challenges preventing advances in new therapeutic options for treating cancer is the inability of anticancer drugs to effectively differentiate between cancerous and normal healthy body cells,” said Wingett, a cancer researcher. “Many commonly used chemotherapeutic drugs target rapidly dividing cells but suffer from a relatively low therapeutic index, which is the ratio of toxic dose to effective dose.” But the group discovered that ''zinc-oxide nanoparticles can preferentially kill cancer cells without impacting normal cells'', a discovery that could potentially treat the cancer without the side effects caused by chemotherapy.
//“Until now, no group in the world has been able to produce inherent selective cancer-killing ability in nanoparticles,”// Wingett said. “Current chemotherapy drugs typically consist of single molecules and do not provide much room for manipulation of the molecule. But [[nanoparticles]] can be modified so that certain characteristics, like [[cancer-killing|nano-oncology]] attributes, can be accentuated. Because of this, we think there is room for improvement in what we have already demonstrated.”
Wingett said the selectivity of these nanomaterials may be enhanced by linking tumor-targeting proteins such as monoclonal antibodies, peptides, and small molecules to tumor-associated proteins, or by using nanoparticles for drug delivery. In addition to these future directions, the research team is exploring the possibility of altering the nanoparticles to further improve their inherent ability to kill cancer cells while sparing normal healthy body cells.
Source: [[Boise State Cancer Research Breakthrough May Be 'Magic Bullet' for Cancer Treatment|http://news.boisestate.edu/newsrelease/082008/0829cancerresearch.shtml]]. The group’s discovery is described in the paper [[“Preferential Killing of Cancer Cells and Activated Human T Cells Using ZnO Nanoparticles"|http://stacks.iop.org/0957-4484/19/295103]], published in the journal Nanotechnology.
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Australian researchers have invented ''nanotech solar cells that are thin, flexible and use one hundredth the materials of conventional solar cells''.
Printable, flexible solar cells that ''could dramatically decrease the cost of renewable energy'' have been developed by University of Melbourne PhD student Brandon MacDonald in collaboration with his colleagues from University of Melbourne’s [[Bio21 Institute|http://www.bio21.unimelb.edu.au/]] and the [[CSIRO’s Future Manufacturing Flagship|http://www.csiro.au/org/Future-Manufacturing-Flagship-Overview.html]].
Their patented technology is based on inks containing tiny, semiconducting nanocrystals, which can be printed directly onto a variety of surfaces.
By choosing the right combination of ink and surface it is possible to make efficient solar cells using very little material or energy. The solar cells can be used much like current solar panels to provide power to things like lighting on bus shelters.
“The problem with traditional solar cells,” Brandon says, “is that making them requires many complex and energy intensive steps.”
“Using nanocrystal inks, they can be manufactured in a continuous manner, which increases production rate and should make the cells much cheaper to produce.”
Nanocrystals, also known as quantum dots, are semiconducting particles with a diameter of a few millionths of a millimetre. Because of their extremely small size they can remain suspended in a solution.
This solution can then be deposited onto a variety of materials, including flexible plastics or metal foils. It is then dried to form a thin film. Brandon and his colleagues discovered that by depositing multiple layers of nanocrystals they can fill in any defects formed during the drying process.
The result is a densely packed, uniform film, ideal for lightweight solar cells.
The nanocrystals consist of a semiconducting material called cadmium telluride, which is a very strong absorber of light. This means that the resulting cells can be made very thin.
“The total amount of material used in these cells is about 1 per cent of what you would use for a typical silicon solar cell. Even compared to other types of cadmium telluride cells ours are much thinner, using approximately one-tenth as much material,” Brandon says.
The technology is not limited to solar cells. It can also be used to make printable versions of other electronic devices, such as light emitting diodes, lasers or transistors.
For his work Brandon has received the [[2010/11 DuPont Young Innovator’s Award|http://www2.dupont.com/Innovation_Awards/en_AU/news/winners.html]]. Source: [[Printable nanotech solar cells developed|http://newsroom.melbourne.edu/news/n-566]]. This work was detailed in the paper ''[[“Solution-Processed Sintered Nanocrystal Solar Cells via Layer-by-Layer Assembly”|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl201282v]]''<<slider chkSldr [[Solution-Processed Sintered Nanocrystal Solar Cells via Layer-by-Layer Assembly]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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<br>Arved Hübler, Bystrik Trnovec, Tino Zillger, Mozzam Ali, Nora Wetzold, Markus Mingebach, Alexander Wagenpfahl, Carsten Deibel, Vladimir Dyakonov. 2011.'' Advanced Energy Materials. doi: 10.1002/aenm.201100394''
//Polymer/fullerene solar cells are printed on paper using a combination of gravure and flexographic printing techniques. The printed paper photovoltaic cells are free from expensive electrodes made with indium–tin oxide, silver, or gold. Oxidized zinc film is used as the electron-collecting layer.//
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="http://fds.duke.edu/photos/fac/u6156.jpg" title="Mark Wiesner, director of the Center for the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology (CEINT) at Duke University" class="photo" width="20%"/></html>The National Water Research Institute (NWRI) announced recently that environmental engineer Mark R. Wiesner, will be the eighteenth recipient of the NWRI Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize for excellence in water research.
Wiesner was selected as the 2011 recipient because of his ''groundbreaking efforts and leadership in improving water quality through advancements in membrane and nanotechnology research''.
Wiesner's career spans three decades. While still a post-doc, he was among the first American scientists to research the application of low-pressure membranes to water treatment, considered at that time an "emerging" technology. Membranes are thin, porous material used to filter particles from water during the treatment process; state-of-the-art water supply facilities across the globe currently use membranes as part of the water purification process. Wiesner initiated research on the factors controlling membrane performance, and proposed using coagulants as a pretreatment to remove organic matter and prevent membrane fouling (the practice of coagulation as a pretreatment has now become a widely accepted standard for water and wastewater treatment with membranes). Later, he and his students developed cost models that predicted the circumstances in which membrane filtration would be cost-competitive with conventional water treatment technologies. The following year, he edited and co-authored the very first membrane process book for environmental engineers, [[Water Treatment Membrane Processes|http://www.google.com/books?id=vW8ZUzbTKg0C&lpg=SA1-PA1&dq=Mark%20Wiesner%20Water%20Treatment%20Membrane%20Processes&hl=en&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=Mark%20Wiesner%20Water%20Treatment%20Membrane%20Processes&f=false]].
His efforts to improve the performance of water treatment membranes led him to a new area of research: investigating the uses of technology at the molecular level ("nanotechnology"). Initially working in the area of applications of nanochemistry to membrane science, he also explored the use of nanomaterials for environmental remediation, as advanced sorbents in water treatment, and as "smart" disinfectants that inactivate viruses without creating harmful byproducts. His work in developing nanomaterial-based technologies for water treatment led him to consider the possible detrimental effects that these materials might have on human health and the environment – in effect, pioneering the field of environmental implications of nanotechnology.
Since the late 1990s, Wiesner has taken the lead in studying the fabrication, transport, fate, toxicity, and risk of nanoparticles in the environment. He co-edited the textbook, [[Environmental Nanotechnology|http://books.google.com/books?id=NtxFOWRYAg8C&lpg=PR1&dq=Mark%20Wiesner%20Environmental%20Nanotechnology&hl=en&pg=PR1#v=onepage&q&f=false]], in 2007, and currently serves on a National Research Council committee to develop a research strategy for environmental, health, and safety aspects of engineered nanomaterials. ''One of his major accomplishments was the creation of the [[Center for the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology (CEINT)|http://ceint.duke.edu/]]'' at Duke University, where he serves as Director. A multidisciplinary research effort supported by the National Science Foundation and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, CEINT is ''focused on understanding nanomaterial behavior from the nano-scale to the ecosystem-scale and identifying possible risks to human health and the environment''. These achievements, among others, have earned Wiesner recognition as the leading researcher in water treatment and environmental nanotechnology. For more information, visit www.nwri-usa.org/ClarkePrize.htm. Source: From ''[[Mark Wiesner, Pioneer In Environmental Nanotechnology, To Receive The 2011 Clarke Prize|http://www.wateronline.com/article.mvc/Mark-Wiesner-Pioneer-In-Environmental-0001]]''.
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" title="A comparison of the gold standard ELISA technique for capturing biomarkers, left, and Rice's PBNC, right, in a new paper shows the three-dimensional approach to be far superior, according to Rice scientists" src="img/diagnostic_comparison.jpg" width="95%"/></html>Microsponges derived from seaweed may help diagnose heart disease, cancers, HIV and other diseases quickly and at far lower cost than current clinical methods. The microsponges are an essential component of Rice University's Programmable Bio-Nano-Chip (PBNC).
Ultimately PBNCs will enable rapid, cost-effective diagnostic tests for patients who are ailing, whether they're in an emergency room, in an ambulance or even while being treated in their own homes. Even better, the chips may someday allow for quick and easy testing of the healthy to look for early warning signs of disease. Source: [[Microsponges from seaweed may save lives|http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=15346]]. Rice University scientists refine process at heart of diagnostic Bio-Nano-Chip by Mike Williams. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Location of Biomarkers and Reagents within Agarose Beads of a Programmable Nano-bio-chip|http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smll.201002089/abstract]]'' <<slider chkSldr [[Location of Biomarkers and Reagents within Agarose Beads of a Programmable Nano-bio-chip]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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<br>//A nanoprocessor constructed from intrinsically nanometre-scale building blocks is an essential component for controlling memory, nanosensors and other functions proposed for nanosystems assembled from the bottom up. Important steps towards this goal over the past fifteen years include the realization of simple logic gates with individually assembled semiconductor nanowires and carbon nanotubes, but with only 16 devices or fewer and a single function for each circuit. Recently, logic circuits also have been demonstrated that use two or three elements of a one-dimensional memristor array, although such passive devices without gain are difficult to cascade. These circuits fall short of the requirements for a scalable, multifunctional nanoprocessor owing to challenges in materials, assembly and architecture on the nanoscale. Here we describe the design, fabrication and use of programmable and scalable logic tiles for nanoprocessors that surmount these hurdles. The tiles were built from programmable, non-volatile nanowire transistor arrays. Ge/Si core/shell nanowires coupled to designed dielectric shells yielded single-nanowire, non-volatile field-effect transistors (FETs) with uniform, programmable threshold voltages and the capability to drive cascaded elements. We developed an architecture to integrate the programmable nanowire FETs and define a logic tile consisting of two interconnected arrays with 496 functional configurable FET nodes in an area of ~960 μm2. The logic tile was programmed and operated first as a full adder with a maximal voltage gain of ten and input–output voltage matching. Then we showed that the same logic tile can be reprogrammed and used to demonstrate full-subtractor, multiplexer, demultiplexer and clocked D-latch functions. These results represent a significant advance in the complexity and functionality of nanoelectronic circuits built from the bottom up with a tiled architecture that could be cascaded to realize fully integrated nanoprocessors with computing, memory and addressing capabilities.//
''Using design and engineering principles learned from nature, a team of biochemists from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have built – from scratch – a completely new type of protein''. This protein can transport oxygen, akin to human neuroglobin, a molecule that carries oxygen in the brain and peripheral nervous system. Some day this approach could be used to make artificial blood for use on the battle field or by emergency-care professionals.
“This is quite a different way of making novel proteins than the rest of the world,” says senior author [[P. Leslie Dutton|http://www.med.upenn.edu/duttonlab/]], ~PhD, Eldridge Reeves Johnson Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics. “We’ve created an unusually simple and relatively small protein that has a function, which is to carry oxygen. No one else has ever done this before.”
“Our aim is to design new proteins from principles we discover studying natural proteins,” explains co-author Christopher C. Moser, ~PhD, Associate Director of the Johnson Foundation at Penn. “For example, we found that natural proteins are complex and fragile and when we make new proteins we want them to be simple and robust. That’s why we’re not re-engineering a natural protein, but making one from scratch.”
Currently, protein engineers take an existing biochemical scaffold from nature and tweak it a bit structurally to make it do something else. “This research demonstrates how we used a set of simple design principles, which challenge the kind of approaches that have been used to date in reproducing natural protein functions,” says Dutton.
Source: [[Proteins by Design: Penn Biochemists Create New Protein from Scratch|http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/03/proteins-by-design.html]]. This work is detailed in the paper [[Design and engineering of an O2 transport protein|http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v458/n7236/abs/nature07841.html]] by [[Ronald L. Koder|http://www.sci.ccny.cuny.edu/physics/faculty/koder.htm]], [[J. L. Ross Anderson|http://www.med.upenn.edu/duttonlab/AndersonFrameSet.html]], [[Lee A. Solomon|http://www.med.upenn.edu/duttonlab/SolomonFrameSet.html]], Konda S. Reddy, [[Christopher C. Moser|http://www.med.upenn.edu/duttonlab/MoserFrameSet.html]] & [[P. Leslie Dutton|http://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/faculty/index.php/g275/p16536]]. Related post: [[A Revolution in de novo Protein Engineering|http://metamodern.com/2009/03/30/a-revolution-in-de-novo-protein-engineering/]] by Eric Drexler.
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//"I think I can safely say that nobody understands Quantum Mechanics"// Richard Feynman quotes (American theoretical physicist, 1918-1988)
The word quantum is increasingly used in many popular contexts, as is nano. But, how many really understand what this word that came out of a scientific context means in our daily life and our shifting perception of self and the collective consciousness? This installation is a result of a philosophical dialogue about these phenomena between media artist [[Victoria Vesna|http://vv.arts.ucla.edu/]] and nanoscientist [[James Gimzewski|http://www.cnsi.ucla.edu/institution/personnel?personnel%5fid=113179]] who have collaborated on a number of major art | sci works in the past seven years.
The conceptual framework began when Gimzewski was explaining how the Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM), based on the concept of quantum tunneling, works. Tunneling is a process at an atomic level by which the particle wave tunnels through the potential barrier to the other side. These potential barriers or wells are regions of space where there is a sudden increase (barrier) or decrease in the potential or there is a presence of an electric field in the path of the object. Even though scientists understand how quantum tunneling happens, there is no way to intuit or predict what it means for matter to "tunnel" through other matter. Mental constructions and explanations quickly become illogical and are poor models for actual tunneling on the nano level that we recently gained access to.
Typically the way the tunneling events are handled is in a probabilistic or wave-like representation where the particles make many attempts at penetrating the forbidden barrier. The concept of time doesn't exist mathematically in the barrier with the exception of some work by physicist David Bohm who explored the concept of trajectories through the barrier. Tunneling is a problem in modern electronics where the tiny dimensions permit electrical insulators to conduct, but it is also fundamental to the energy of the sun and the hydrogen bomb where nuclear tunneling is behind the whole reaction.
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This quantum tunneling principle generally does not work in our physical human scale where we tend to think of our reality as predictable. Indeed, most of the time we can predict the cause and effect of physical interactions of things and beings. But, when things break down, we have moments when a window opens to a space in our consciousness where these principles just may be applied as the probability of events that impacts our physical space shifts. Indeed, ''when we find ourselves in a non-rational, non-linear space of probabilities, our usual way of thinking and logic falls short and this may be the barrier to the next level in human creativity be it art or science''.
Source: [[Quantum Tunnel|http://www.cnsi.ucla.edu/news/item?item_id=623120]]. Victoria Vesna in collaboration with nanoscientist James Gimzewski. [[MedienKunstLabor|http://www.medienkunstlabor.at/cms/index.php?id=59&L=2]] (Media art laboratory), Graz, Austria
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In a major feat of nanotechnology engineering researchers from Harvard University have demonstrated a laser with a wide-range of potential applications in chemistry, biology and medicine. Called a quantum cascade (QC) laser NanoAntenna, the device is capable of resolving the chemical composition of samples, such as the interior of a cell, with unprecedented detail.
[<img[consists of an optical antenna fabricated on the facet of a quantum cascade laser|http://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/rel/5589_rel.jpg]] “By combining Quantum Cascade Lasers with optical antenna nanotechnology we have created for the first time an extremely compact device that will enable the realization of new ultrahigh spatial resolution microscopes for chemical imaging on a nanometric scale of a wide range of materials and biological specimens,” says Federico Capasso.
The range of applications of QC laser based chemical sensors is very broad, including pollution monitoring, chemical sensing, medical diagnostics such as breath analysis, and homeland security.
Source: [[Harvard University engineers demonstrate quantum cascade laser nanoantenna|http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-10/hu-hue102207.php]]
[[Carbon nanostructures - elixir or poison?|Interactions between buckyballs and biological membranes]]
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[[Finger-pricks a thing of the past|Type 1 diabetes nanosensor and nanovaccine]]
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[[First self-powered nanosensors|Self-Powered Nanosensors]]
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[[Nano: But What does it Look Like?]]
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[[20th anniversary of moving atoms|Positioning single atoms with a scanning tunnelling microscope]]
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[[Next generation camera platform|Next generation camera platform: quantum dot-based image sensors]]
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[[Scientists working with Artists in Nano Science and Technology]]
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[[Nano-periodic system]]
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[[First Atomic Force Microscope on Mars]]
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[[Final clinical trials for Nano-Cancer® therapy]]
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[[‘Magnetricity’ observed and measured for the first time]]
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[[Richard Feynman and Nanotechnology]]
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[[Atom Pinhole Camera Acts as a Shrinking Copy Machine]]
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[[The Chemical Structure of a Molecule Resolved by Atomic Force Microscopy]]
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[[Sniff out lung cancer, renal disease, brain cancer in humans|Diagnosis through breath]]
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[[Using design and engineering principles learned from nature, researchers have built from scratch a completely new type of protein|Proteins by Design]]
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[[Spin Battery: Physicist Develops Battery Using New Source Of Energy]]
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[[Our planet's physical, chemical, and biological processes are influenced or driven by the properties of nanominerals|"Nanominerals" Influence Earth Systems from Ocean to Atmosphere to Biosphere]]
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[["Nanominerals" Influence Earth Systems from Ocean to Atmosphere to Biosphere|Active Nanoparticles]]
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[[Atmospheric Nanoparticles Impact Health, Weather]]
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[[Carbon nanotubes are broken down in the body]]
----
[[Next generation of digital cameras|Next generation camera platform: quantum dot-based image sensors]]
----
[[“Nanomilling” machine achieves resolutions as high as 15 nanometers|New nanopatterning tool]]
----
[[First images of atomic spin]]
----
[[Third generation photovoltaic technology|Millennium Prize for Grätzel cells]]
----
[[Building social and environmental resilience through diversity|Atomic art promotes sustainability]]
----
[[World's first nanoparticle-based cancer treatment to come to market]]
----
[[An Open-Source Scanning Tunneling Microscope|SXM Project: An Open-Source Scanning Tunneling Microscope]]
----
[[Astronomers discovered buckyballs in space for the first time|NASA telescope finds elusive buckyballs]]
----
[[Promoting a radically new way to share scientific knowledge|Liquid Publications: new paradigm for scientific publication and peer review]]
----
/***
|Name|QuoteOfTheDayPlugin|
|Source|http://www.TiddlyTools.com/#QuoteOfTheDayPlugin|
|Documentation|http://www.TiddlyTools.com/#QuoteOfTheDayPluginInfo|
|Version|1.4.1|
|Author|Eric Shulman|
|License|http://www.TiddlyTools.com/#LegalStatements|
|~CoreVersion|2.1|
|Type|plugin|
|Description|Display a randomly selected "quote of the day" from a list defined in a separate tiddler|
!!!!!Documentation
>see [[QuoteOfTheDayPluginInfo]]
!!!!!Revisions
<<<
2008.03.21 [1.4.1] in showNextItem(), corrected handling for random selection so that //initial// index value will randomized correctly instead of always showing first item, even when randomizing. Thanks to Riccardo Gherardi for finding this.
| Please see [[QuoteOfTheDayPluginInfo]] for previous revision details |
2005.10.21 [1.0.0] Initial Release. Based on a suggestion by M.Russula
<<<
!!!!!Code
***/
//{{{
version.extensions.QuoteOfTheDayPlugin= {major: 1, minor: 4, revision: 1, date: new Date(2008,3,21)};
config.macros.QOTD = {
clickTooltip: "click to view another item",
timerTooltip: "auto-timer stopped... 'mouseout' to restart timer",
timerClickTooltip: "auto-timer stopped... click to view another item, or 'mouseout' to restart timer",
handler:
function(place,macroName,params) {
var tid=params.shift(); // source tiddler containing HR-separated quotes
var p=params.shift();
var click=true; // allow click for next item
var inline=false; // wrap in slider for animation effect
var random=true; // pick an item at random (default for "quote of the day" usage)
var folder=false; // use local filesystem folder list
var cookie=""; // default to no cookie
var next=0; // default to first item (or random item)
while (p) {
if (p.toLowerCase()=="noclick") var click=false;
if (p.toLowerCase()=="inline") var inline=true;
if (p.toLowerCase()=="norandom") var random=false;
if (p.toLowerCase().substr(0,7)=="cookie:") var cookie=p.substr(8);
if (!isNaN(p)) var delay=p;
p=params.shift();
}
if ((click||delay) && !inline) {
var panel = createTiddlyElement(null,"div",null,"sliderPanel");
panel.style.display="none";
place.appendChild(panel);
var here=createTiddlyElement(panel,click?"a":"span",null,"QOTD");
}
else
var here=createTiddlyElement(place,click?"a":"span",null,"QOTD");
here.id=(new Date()).convertToYYYYMMDDHHMMSSMMM()+Math.random().toString(); // unique ID
// get items from tiddler or file list
var list=store.getTiddlerText(tid,"");
if (!list||!list.length) { // not a tiddler... maybe an image directory?
var list=this.getImageFileList(tid);
if (!list.length) { // maybe relative path... fixup and try again
var h=document.location.href;
var p=getLocalPath(decodeURIComponent(h.substr(0,h.lastIndexOf("/")+1)));
var list=this.getImageFileList(p+tid);
}
}
if (!list||!list.length) return false; // no contents... nothing to display!
here.setAttribute("list",list);
if (delay) here.setAttribute("delay",delay);
here.setAttribute("random",random);
here.setAttribute("cookie",cookie);
if (click) {
here.title=this.clickTooltip
if (!inline) here.style.display="block";
here.setAttribute("href","javascript:;");
here.onclick=function(event)
{ config.macros.QOTD.showNextItem(this); }
}
if (config.options["txtQOTD_"+cookie]!=undefined) next=parseInt(config.options["txtQOTD_"+cookie]);
here.setAttribute("nextItem",next);
config.macros.QOTD.showNextItem(here);
if (delay) {
here.title=click?this.timerClickTooltip:this.timerTooltip
here.onmouseover=function(event)
{ clearTimeout(this.ticker); };
here.onmouseout=function(event)
{ this.ticker=setTimeout("config.macros.QOTD.tick('"+this.id+"')",this.getAttribute("delay")); };
here.ticker=setTimeout("config.macros.QOTD.tick('"+here.id+"')",delay);
}
},
tick: function(id) {
var here=document.getElementById(id); if (!here) return;
config.macros.QOTD.showNextItem(here);
here.ticker=setTimeout("config.macros.QOTD.tick('"+id+"')",here.getAttribute("delay"));
},
showNextItem:
function (here) {
// hide containing slider panel (if any)
var p=here.parentNode;
if (p.className=="sliderPanel") p.style.display = "none"
// get a new quote
var index=here.getAttribute("nextItem");
var items=here.getAttribute("list").split("\n----\n");
if (index<0||index>=items.length) index=0;
if (here.getAttribute("random")=="true") index=Math.floor(Math.random()*items.length);
var txt=items[index];
// re-render quote display element, and advance index counter
removeChildren(here); wikify(txt,here);
index++; here.setAttribute("nextItem",index);
var cookie=here.getAttribute("cookie");
if (cookie.length) {
config.options["txtQOTD_"+cookie]=index.toString();
saveOptionCookie("txtQOTD_"+cookie);
}
// redisplay slider panel (if any)
if (p.className=="sliderPanel") {
if(anim && config.options.chkAnimate)
anim.startAnimating(new Slider(p,true,false,"none"));
else p.style.display="block";
}
},
getImageFileList: function(cwd) { // returns HR-separated list of image files
function isImage(fn) {
var ext=fn.substr(fn.length-3,3).toLowerCase();
return ext=="jpg"||ext=="gif"||ext=="png";
}
var files=[];
if (config.browser.isIE) {
cwd=cwd.replace(/\//g,"\\");
// IE uses ActiveX to read filesystem info
var fso = new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject");
if(!fso.FolderExists(cwd)) return [];
var dir=fso.GetFolder(cwd);
for(var f=new Enumerator(dir.Files); !f.atEnd(); f.moveNext())
if (isImage(f.item().path)) files.push("[img[%0]]".format(["file:///"+f.item().path.replace(/\\/g,"/")]));
} else {
// FireFox (mozilla) uses "components" to read filesystem info
// get security access
if(!window.Components) return;
try { netscape.security.PrivilegeManager.enablePrivilege("UniversalXPConnect"); }
catch(e) { alert(e.description?e.description:e.toString()); return []; }
// open/validate directory
var file=Components.classes["@mozilla.org/file/local;1"].createInstance(Components.interfaces.nsILocalFile);
try { file.initWithPath(cwd); } catch(e) { return []; }
if (!file.exists() || !file.isDirectory()) { return []; }
var folder=file.directoryEntries;
while (folder.hasMoreElements()) {
var f=folder.getNext().QueryInterface(Components.interfaces.nsILocalFile);
if (f instanceof Components.interfaces.nsILocalFile)
if (isImage(f.path)) files.push("[img[%0]]".format(["file:///"+f.path.replace(/\\/g,"/")]));
}
}
return files.join("\n----\n");
}
}
//}}}
<html>
<div id="hcard-ralph-sperling" class="vcard">
<img style="float:left; margin-right:4px" src="http://www.cin2.es/media/staff/20090331719856117.jpg" width="150" alt="ralph sperling photo" class="photo"/>
<a class="url fn n" href="http://www.cin2.es/english/staff-personnel-list-member.php?miembro=97"> <span class="given-name">ralph</span>
<span class="family-name">sperling</span>
</a>
<div class="org">institut català de nanotecnologia</div>
<a class="email" href="mailto:ralph.sperling.icn(at)uab.es">ralph.sperling.icn(at)uab.es</a>
</div>
<span class="badge"
style="float: left; font: 9px Geneva, Verdana, sans-serif; padding: 0 1em 1px 0;
border: 1px solid #000; background: #D1940C; color: #fff; text-decoration: none;
text-align: center;">
<span style="background: #000; border-right: 1px solid #000; color: #fff; padding: 1px 0.75em;
margin-right: 0.1em;">
›››
</span>
hCard
</span>
</html>
<br>//Nano-size particles show promise for pulmonary drug delivery, yet their behavior after deposition in the lung remains poorly understood. In this study, a series of near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent nanoparticles were systematically varied in chemical composition, shape, size and surface charge, and their biodistribution and elimination were quantified in rat models after lung instillation. We demonstrate that nanoparticles with hydrodynamic diameter (HD) less than ≈34 nm and a noncationic surface charge translocate rapidly from the lung to mediastinal lymph nodes. Nanoparticles of HD < 6 nm can traffic rapidly from the lungs to lymph nodes and the bloodstream, and then be subsequently cleared by the kidneys. We discuss the importance of these findings for drug delivery, air pollution and carcinogenesis.//
Do molecules have beauty? Is it possible to fall in love with one? Based on what Harry Kroto and others have written about buckminsterfullerene, Chris Toumey thinks that the answer to both these questions is yes.
We know that scientific thought is enriched by human qualities such as curiosity, imagination or a stubborn refusal to go along with conventional wisdom. Perhaps the greatest saint of science-as-humanity was Albert Einstein, but countless others have also shown us that science can thrive when humanistic qualities are part of a scientist’s thinking. Moreover, by being able to imagine things that great scientists have imagined, the non-expert can feel connected to the expert and experience the joy of science.
Beauty is one place to seek this connection. There is quite a cottage industry — books, journals, symposiums and so on — dedicated to the idea that nature possesses beauty, that scientists appreciate it as well as anyone, and that scientists sometimes create beauty in their models and theories. Nanotechnology has its fair share of beauty, but one molecule in particular is more beautiful than the rest — buckminsterfullerene^^1^^.
In 1966, David E. H. Jones, writing in New Scientist, speculated about large hollow carbon cages, 100 nm in diameter^^2^^, and in 1970 Eiji Osawa predicted that 60 carbon atoms could form a molecule with the same shape as a football — the truncated icosahedron would have 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons^^3^^. In 1984 researchers at Exxon’s Corporate Research Laboratory detected carbon clusters of various sizes in experiments, including some clusters with more than 40 carbon atoms (see page 50 in ref. 4).
Then came September 1985. Harry Kroto of Sussex University had detected chains of carbon atoms in interstellar space and wanted to create similar structures in the laboratory. Robert Curl brought Kroto to Rice University in Houston where Richard Smalley, Curl and others were making plasmas of carbon atoms by blasting a graphite disk with a laser. The plasma was then subject to a quick blast of helium, enabling clusters of carbon to self-assemble before passing through a series of detectors. The purpose for this apparatus, said Smalley, was "to make measurements so fundamental that theorist stayed awake at night trying to understand them" (ref. 5).
Kroto, Curls, Smalley and two graduate students - Jim Heath and Sean O'Brien - detected a range of carbon structures, with C~~60~~ being the most abundant. And after optimizing the experiment they were able to make samples that were mostly C~~60~~, with a small amount of C~~70~~ and minimal amounts of other varieties.
But how did the 60 carbon atoms fit together? Originally the team thought that the structures contained four flat sheets of carbon atoms (two containing 6 atoms and two containing 24), but this turned out to be problematic. The Rice-Sussex group then drew inspiration from the geodesic domes of the architect Buckminster Fuller, plus some other ideas, and concluded that C~~60~~ must be atruncated icosahedron. Their 1985 article announcing C~~60~~ showed a photo of "a football (in the United States, a soccerball)" to illustrate the shape the imagined^^1^^.
Kroto and co-workers had detected C~~60~~, and they explained why they believed that it had to be an icosahedron^^6, 7^^. They were, of course, correct, but their experiments were not capable of creating enoug C~~60~~ to characterize it sufficiently to convince other scientists. However, in August 1990 a collaboration between researchers at the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg and the University of Arizona in Tucson was able to make enough C~~60~~ to confirm the truncated icosahedron structure and make even more ambitious experiments possible^^8^^. Buckminsterfullerene was now official, and Curl, Kroto and Smalley shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1996.
Subsequent to the Heidelberg-Tucson work, a series of charming articles appeared about the discovery of C~~60~~. The best short memoirs by Kroto^^9^^(wich emphasizes the connections with interstellar space) and Smalley^^10^^ (wich stresses teamwork, imagination, frustration and other human-interest themes), but the Nobel acceptance speeches by Curl^^11^^, Kroto^^12^^and Smalley^^5^^ are also worth reading, as is a 1991 //Scientific American// article by Curl and Smalley^^13^^, and books by Hugh Aldersey-Williams^^3^^and Jim Baggot^^14^^.
Of the central player in this history, Kroto is clearly the scientist most infatuated with the molecule, as the following quotations from references 9 and 12 illustrate. "The story of C~~60~~ cannot be recounted without refererences to its beauty"; the results of Krätschmer and co-workers were beautifully consistent with expectations”; the colour of a solution of C~~60~~ was “an exquisitely delicate magenta”; this molecule possesses “a charismatic quality that few other molecules possess”; “the molecule was so beautiful that it just had to be right”; and the “molecule’s most delightful property lies in the inherent charisma ... which arises from its elegantly simple ... structure”.
As a truncated icosahedron, C~~60~~ is as perfectly round as a sphere of hexagons and pentagons can be (see figure). It is also perfectly symmetrical in the sense that every single atom is a vertex of two hexagons and one pentagon. Moreover, unlike other forms of carbon, there are no dangling bonds that other objects can easily latch on to.
Smalley’s tone was different, but he also had some moving things to say. “This discovery was one of the most spiritual experiences that any of us in the original team of five have ever experienced”, he said in his Nobel lecture, and he concluded by saying that among the many bright personalities who contributed to the discovery of buckminsterfullerene, “the only character of true genius in the story is carbon”. Of course, even before Curl, Kroto and Smalley collected their Nobel prizes, a newer form of carbon — the carbon nanotube — had eclipsed the glory of buckminsterfullerene and, more recently, an even newer form — graphene — has become one of the hottest topics in research.
In elementary school, I once read an article titled The Mathematical Beauty Contest. It praised ellipses and spirals and other shapes for their natural beauty, but it reserved top honours for the author’s personal favourite, the circle. OK, I thought, this thing is beautiful. But a beauty contest for geometric shapes? Aren’t grown-ups supposed to have more serious things to do?
In I Corinthians 13, St Paul wrote that when he was a child, he understood things clearly, but when he became a man he saw “through a glass darkly”. When I quibbled in my childhood about the mathematical beauty contest, I inverted Paul’s aphorism: I was being cynical when a child ought to be more open to the beauty before him. Today I can see better. I can place myself within the pleasures of science by seeing what great scientists have seen. In other words, I can see beauty in nature and beauty in scientific discovery. I can also see why scientists sometimes behave like Immanuel Rath, the professor in The Blue Angel (the film that made Marlene Dietrich famous) who becomes hopelessly infatuated with the sexy siren Lola Lola. Kroto’s fate has been very different from Rath’s, but falling madly in love is still falling madly in love.
What can I say? I’m with Kroto: if it is wrong to love an icosahedral molecule, then I don’t want to be right.
{{twocolumns{
''References''
^^1. Kroto, H. W., Heath, J. R., O’Brien, S. C., Curl, R. F. & Smalley, R. E. Nature 318, 162–163 (1985).
2. Jones, D. E. H. (pen name Daedalus) New Sci. 245 (3 November 1966).
3. Osawa, E. in The Fullerenes (eds Kroto, H. W. & Walton, D. R. M.) 1–7 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1993).
4. Aldersey-Williams, H. The Most Beautiful Molecule (Wiley, 1995).
5. Smalley, R. E. Rev. Mod. Phys. 69, 723–730 (1997).
6. Curl, R. F. & Smalley, R. E. Science 242, 1017–1022 (1988).
7. Kroto, H. W. Science 242, 1139–1145 (1988).
8. Krätschmer, W., Lamb, L. D., Fostiropoulos, K. & Huffman, D. R. Nature 347, 354–358 (1990).
9. Kroto, H. W. Nanotechnology 3, 111–112 (1992).
10. Smalley, R. E. The Sciences 22–28 (March 1991).
11. Curl, R. F. Rev. Mod. Phys. 69, 691–702 (1997).
12. Kroto, H. W. Rev. Mod. Phys. 69, 703–722 (1997).
13. Curl, R. F. & Smalley, R. E Sci. Am. 54–63 (October 1991).
14. Baggott, J. Perfect Symmetry (Oxford Univ. Press, 1994).
^^
}}}
CHRIS TOUMEY
University of South Carolina
NanoCenter, 1212 Greene Street, Columbia,
South Carolina 29208, USA.
e-mail: Toumey@sc.edu
''Source:'' [[Rhapsody in C|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/v3/n11/abs/nnano.2008.324.html]]. November 2008, Nature Nanotechnology, Vol 3. © 2008 Macmillan Publishers Limited. Post by permision of Chris Toumey
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created art>>
<<timeline better:true onlyTag:toRSS sortBy:created maxDays:10 maxEntries:30>>
Known for their wide variety of vibrant [[plumage|Bird feathers colors produced by nanostructures]], birds have evolved various chemical and physical mechanisms to produce these beautiful colors over millions of years. A team of paleontologists and ornithologists has now discovered evidence of vivid iridescent colors in fossil feathers more than 40 million years old. The finding signifies ''the first evidence of a preserved color-producing nanostructure in a fossilized feather''.
"Although fossil feathers have been known for many years, determining their original color has not been done," said H. Richard Lane, a paleontologist and program director in NSF's Division of Earth Sciences. "Discovery of a color-producing nanostructure in a fossil feather opens up the possibility that we may someday be able to determine such colors in fossil birds, as well as in feathered dinosaurs."
"The ‘Holy Grail' is reconstructing the colors of feathered dinosaurs," said Yale graduate student and paper lead author [[Jakob Vinther|http://www.jakobvinther.com/]]. "We are working hard to determine if this will be possible." Source: From ''[[Iridescence Found in 40-Million-Year-Old Fossil Bird Feather|http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=115484&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51]]''.
Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created [[nano before nanotech]]>>
/***
|''Name:''|ReminderPlugin|
|''Version:''|2.3.10 (Jun 28, 2007)|
|''Source:''|http://remindermacros.tiddlyspot.com|
|''Author:''|Jeremy Sheeley(pop1280 [at] excite [dot] com)<<br>>Maintainer: simon.baird@gmail.com|
|''Licence:''|[[BSD open source license]]|
|''Macros:''|reminder, showreminders, displayTiddlersWithReminders, newReminder|
|''TiddlyWiki:''|2.0+|
|''Browser:''|Firefox 1.0.4+; InternetExplorer 6.0|
!Description
This plugin provides macros for tagging a date with a reminder. Use the {{{reminder}}} macro to do this. The {{{showReminders}}} and {{{displayTiddlersWithReminder}}} macros automatically search through all available tiddlers looking for upcoming reminders.
!Installation
* Create a new tiddler in your tiddlywiki titled ReminderPlugin and give it the {{{systemConfig}}} tag. The tag is important because it tells TW that this is executable code.
* Double click this tiddler, and copy all the text from the tiddler's body.
* Paste the text into the body of the new tiddler in your TW.
* Save and reload your TW.
* You can copy some examples into your TW as well. See [[Simple examples]], [[Holidays]], [[showReminders]] and [[Personal Reminders]]
!Syntax:
|>|See [[ReminderSyntax]] and [[showRemindersSyntax]]|
!Revision history
* v2.3.10 (Jun 28, 2007)
** Removed window.story = window backwards compatibility hacks since they were breaking TW 2.2
* v2.3.9 (Apr 26, 2007)
** allow bracketed list format in tags param lets you use tags with spaces
* v2.3.8 (Mar 9, 2006)
**Bug fix: A global variable had snuck in, which was killing FF 1.5.0.1
**Feature: You can now use TIDDLER and TIDDLERNAME in a regular reminder format
* v2.3.6 (Mar 1, 2006)
**Bug fix: Reminders for today weren't being matched sometimes.
**Feature: Solidified integration with DatePlugin and CalendarPlugin
**Feature: Recurring reminders will now return multiple hits in showReminders and the calendar.
**Feature: Added TIDDLERNAME to the replacements for showReminders format, for plugins that need the title without brackets.
* v2.3.5 (Feb 8, 2006)
**Bug fix: Sped up reminders lots. Added a caching mechanism for reminders that have already been matched.
* v2.3.4 (Feb 7, 2006)
**Bug fix: Cleaned up code to hopefully prevent the Firefox 1.5.0.1 crash that was causing lots of plugins
to crash Firefox. Thanks to http://www.jslint.com
* v2.3.3 (Feb 2, 2006)
**Feature: newReminder now has drop down lists instead of text boxes.
**Bug fix: A trailing space in a title would trigger an infinite loop.
**Bug fix: using tag:"birthday !reminder" would filter differently than tag:"!reminder birthday"
* v2.3.2 (Jan 21, 2006)
**Feature: newReminder macro, which will let you easily add a reminder to a tiddler. Thanks to Eric Shulman (http://www.elsdesign.com) for the code to do this.
** Bug fix: offsetday was not working sometimes
** Bug fix: when upgrading to 2.0, I included a bit to exclude tiddlers tagged with excludeSearch. I've reverted back to searching through all tiddlers
* v2.3.1 (Jan 7, 2006)
**Feature: 2.0 compatibility
**Feature AlanH sent some code to make sure that showReminders prints a message if no reminders are found.
* v2.3.0 (Jan 3, 2006)
** Bug Fix: Using "Last Sunday (-0)" as a offsetdayofweek wasn't working.
** Bug Fix: Daylight Savings time broke offset based reminders (for example year:2005 month:8 day:23 recurdays:7 would match Monday instead of Tuesday during DST.
!Code
***/
//{{{
//============================================================================
//============================================================================
// ReminderPlugin
//============================================================================
//============================================================================
version.extensions.ReminderPlugin = {major: 2, minor: 3, revision: 8, date: new Date(2006,3,9), source: "http://remindermacros.tiddlyspot.com/"};
//============================================================================
// Configuration
// Modify this section to change the defaults for
// leadtime and display strings
//============================================================================
config.macros.reminders = {};
config.macros["reminder"] = {};
config.macros["newReminder"] = {};
config.macros["showReminders"] = {};
config.macros["displayTiddlersWithReminders"] = {};
config.macros.reminders["defaultLeadTime"] = [0,6000];
config.macros.reminders["defaultReminderMessage"] = "DIFF: TITLE on DATE ANNIVERSARY";
config.macros.reminders["defaultShowReminderMessage"] = "DIFF: TITLE on DATE ANNIVERSARY -- TIDDLER";
config.macros.reminders["defaultAnniversaryMessage"] = "(DIFF)";
config.macros.reminders["untitledReminder"] = "Untitled Reminder";
config.macros.reminders["noReminderFound"] = "Couldn't find a match for TITLE in the next LEADTIMEUPPER days."
config.macros.reminders["todayString"] = "Today";
config.macros.reminders["tomorrowString"] = "Tomorrow";
config.macros.reminders["ndaysString"] = "DIFF days";
config.macros.reminders["emtpyShowRemindersString"] = "There are no upcoming events";
//============================================================================
// Code
// You should not need to edit anything
// below this. Make sure to edit this tiddler and copy
// the code from the text box, to make sure that
// tiddler rendering doesn't interfere with the copy
// and paste.
//============================================================================
//this object will hold the cache of reminders, so that we don't
//recompute the same reminder over again.
var reminderCache = {};
config.macros.showReminders.handler = function showReminders(place,macroName,params)
{
var now = new Date().getMidnight();
var paramHash = {};
var leadtime = [0,14];
paramHash = getParamsForReminder(params);
var bProvidedDate = (paramHash["year"] != null) ||
(paramHash["month"] != null) ||
(paramHash["day"] != null) ||
(paramHash["dayofweek"] != null);
if (paramHash["leadtime"] != null)
{
leadtime = paramHash["leadtime"];
if (bProvidedDate)
{
//If they've entered a day, we need to make
//sure to find it. We'll reset the
//leadtime a few lines down.
paramHash["leadtime"] = [-10000, 10000];
}
}
var matchedDate = now;
if (bProvidedDate)
{
var leadTimeLowerBound = new Date().getMidnight().addDays(paramHash["leadtime"][0]);
var leadTimeUpperBound = new Date().getMidnight().addDays(paramHash["leadtime"][1]);
matchedDate = findDateForReminder(paramHash, new Date().getMidnight(), leadTimeLowerBound, leadTimeUpperBound);
}
var arr = findTiddlersWithReminders(matchedDate, leadtime, paramHash["tag"], paramHash["limit"]);
var elem = createTiddlyElement(place,"span",null,null, null);
var mess = "";
if (arr.length == 0)
{
mess += config.macros.reminders.emtpyShowRemindersString;
}
for (var j = 0; j < arr.length; j++)
{
if (paramHash["format"] != null)
{
arr[j]["params"]["format"] = paramHash["format"];
}
else
{
arr[j]["params"]["format"] = config.macros.reminders["defaultShowReminderMessage"];
}
mess += getReminderMessageForDisplay(arr[j]["diff"], arr[j]["params"], arr[j]["matchedDate"], arr[j]["tiddler"]);
mess += "\n";
}
wikify(mess, elem, null, null);
};
config.macros.displayTiddlersWithReminders.handler = function displayTiddlersWithReminders(place,macroName,params)
{
var now = new Date().getMidnight();
var paramHash = {};
var leadtime = [0,14];
paramHash = getParamsForReminder(params);
var bProvidedDate = (paramHash["year"] != null) ||
(paramHash["month"] != null) ||
(paramHash["day"] != null) ||
(paramHash["dayofweek"] != null);
if (paramHash["leadtime"] != null)
{
leadtime = paramHash["leadtime"];
if (bProvidedDate)
{
//If they've entered a day, we need to make
//sure to find it. We'll reset the leadtime
//a few lines down.
paramHash["leadtime"] = [-10000,10000];
}
}
var matchedDate = now;
if (bProvidedDate)
{
var leadTimeLowerBound = new Date().getMidnight().addDays(paramHash["leadtime"][0]);
var leadTimeUpperBound = new Date().getMidnight().addDays(paramHash["leadtime"][1]);
matchedDate = findDateForReminder(paramHash, new Date().getMidnight(), leadTimeLowerBound, leadTimeUpperBound);
}
var arr = findTiddlersWithReminders(matchedDate, leadtime, paramHash["tag"], paramHash["limit"]);
for (var j = 0; j < arr.length; j++)
{
displayTiddler(null, arr[j]["tiddler"], 0, null, false, false, false);
}
};
config.macros.reminder.handler = function reminder(place,macroName,params)
{
var dateHash = getParamsForReminder(params);
if (dateHash["hidden"] != null)
{
return;
}
var leadTime = dateHash["leadtime"];
if (leadTime == null)
{
leadTime = config.macros.reminders["defaultLeadTime"];
}
var leadTimeLowerBound = new Date().getMidnight().addDays(leadTime[0]);
var leadTimeUpperBound = new Date().getMidnight().addDays(leadTime[1]);
var matchedDate = findDateForReminder(dateHash, new Date().getMidnight(), leadTimeLowerBound, leadTimeUpperBound);
if (!store.getTiddler)
{
store.getTiddler=function(title) {return this.tiddlers[title];};
}
var title = window.story.findContainingTiddler(place).id.substr(7);
if (matchedDate != null)
{
var diff = matchedDate.getDifferenceInDays(new Date().getMidnight());
var elem = createTiddlyElement(place,"span",null,null, null);
var mess = getReminderMessageForDisplay(diff, dateHash, matchedDate, title);
wikify(mess, elem, null, null);
}
else
{
createTiddlyElement(place,"span",null,null, config.macros.reminders["noReminderFound"].replace("TITLE", dateHash["title"]).replace("LEADTIMEUPPER", leadTime[1]).replace("LEADTIMELOWER", leadTime[0]).replace("TIDDLERNAME", title).replace("TIDDLER", "[[" + title + "]]") );
}
};
config.macros.newReminder.handler = function newReminder(place,macroName,params)
{
var today=new Date().getMidnight();
var formstring = '<html><form>Year: <select name="year"><option value="">Every year</option>';
for (var i = 0; i < 5; i++)
{
formstring += '<option' + ((i == 0) ? ' selected' : '') + ' value="' + (today.getFullYear() +i) + '">' + (today.getFullYear() + i) + '</option>';
}
formstring += '</select> Month:<select name="month"><option value="">Every month</option>';
for (i = 0; i < 12; i++)
{
formstring += '<option' + ((i == today.getMonth()) ? ' selected' : '') + ' value="' + (i+1) + '">' + config.messages.dates.months[i] + '</option>';
}
formstring += '</select> Day:<select name="day"><option value="">Every day</option>';
for (i = 1; i < 32; i++)
{
formstring += '<option' + ((i == (today.getDate() )) ? ' selected' : '') + ' value="' + i + '">' + i + '</option>';
}
formstring += '</select> Reminder Title:<input type="text" size="40" name="title" value="please enter a title" onfocus="this.select();"><input type="button" value="ok" onclick="addReminderToTiddler(this.form)"></form></html>';
var panel = config.macros.slider.createSlider(place,null,"New Reminder","Open a form to add a new reminder to this tiddler");
wikify(formstring ,panel,null,store.getTiddler(params[1]));
};
// onclick: process input and insert reminder at 'marker'
window.addReminderToTiddler = function(form) {
if (!store.getTiddler)
{
store.getTiddler=function(title) {return this.tiddlers[title];};
}
var title = window.story.findContainingTiddler(form).id.substr(7);
var tiddler=store.getTiddler(title);
var txt='\n<<reminder ';
if (form.year.value != "")
txt += 'year:'+form.year.value + ' ';
if (form.month.value != "")
txt += 'month:'+form.month.value + ' ';
if (form.day.value != "")
txt += 'day:'+form.day.value + ' ';
txt += 'title:"'+form.title.value+'" ';
txt +='>>';
tiddler.set(null,tiddler.text + txt);
window.story.refreshTiddler(title,1,true);
store.setDirty(true);
};
function hasTag(tiddlerTags, tagFilters)
{
//Make sure we respond well to empty tiddlerTaglists or tagFilterlists
if (tagFilters.length==0 || tiddlerTags.length==0)
{
return true;
}
var bHasTag = false;
/*bNoPos says: "'till now there has been no check using a positive filter"
Imagine a filterlist consisting of 1 negative filter:
If the filter isn't matched, we want hasTag to be true.
Yet bHasTag is still false ('cause only positive filters cause bHasTag to change)
If no positive filters are present bNoPos is true, and no negative filters are matched so we have not returned false
Thus: hasTag returns true.
If at any time a positive filter is encountered, we want at least one of the tags to match it, so we turn bNoPos to false, which
means bHasTag must be true for hasTag to return true*/
var bNoPos=true;
for (var t3 = 0; t3 < tagFilters.length; t3++)
{
for(var t2=0; t2<tiddlerTags.length; t2++)
{
if (tagFilters[t3].length > 1 && tagFilters[t3].charAt(0) == '!')
{
if (tiddlerTags[t2] == tagFilters[t3].substring(1))
{
//If at any time a negative filter is matched, we return false
return false;
}
}
else
{
if (bNoPos)
{
//We encountered the first positive filter
bNoPos=false;
}
if (tiddlerTags[t2] == tagFilters[t3])
{
//A positive filter is matched. As long as no negative filter is matched, hasTag will return true
bHasTag=true;
}
}
}
}
return (bNoPos || bHasTag);
};
//This function searches all tiddlers for the reminder //macro. It is intended that other plugins (like //calendar) will use this function to query for
//upcoming reminders.
//The arguments to this function filter out reminders //based on when they will fire.
//
//ARGUMENTS:
//baseDate is the date that is used as "now".
//leadtime is a two element int array, with leadtime[0]
// as the lower bound and leadtime[1] as the
// upper bound. A reasonable default is [0,14]
//tags is a space-separated list of tags to use to filter
// tiddlers. If a tag name begins with an !, then
// only tiddlers which do not have that tag will
// be considered. For example "examples holidays"
// will search for reminders in any tiddlers that
// are tagged with examples or holidays and
// "!examples !holidays" will search for reminders
// in any tiddlers that are not tagged with
// examples or holidays. Pass in null to search
// all tiddlers.
//limit. If limit is null, individual reminders can
// override the leadtime specified earlier.
// Pass in 1 in order to override that behavior.
window.findTiddlersWithReminders = function findTiddlersWithReminders(baseDate, leadtime, tags, limit)
{
//function(searchRegExp,sortField,excludeTag)
// var macroPattern = "<<([^>\\]+)(?:\\*)([^>]*)>>";
var macroPattern = "<<(reminder)(.*)>>";
var macroRegExp = new RegExp(macroPattern,"mg");
var matches = store.search(macroRegExp,"title","");
var arr = [];
var tagsArray = null;
if (tags != null)
{
// tagsArray = tags.split(" ");
tagsArray = tags.readBracketedList(); // allows tags with spaces. thanks Robin Summerhill, 4-Oct-06.
}
for(var t=matches.length-1; t>=0; t--)
{
if (tagsArray != null)
{
//If they specified tags to filter on, and this tiddler doesn't
//match, skip it entirely.
if ( ! hasTag(matches[t].tags, tagsArray))
{
continue;
}
}
var targetText = matches[t].text;
do {
// Get the next formatting match
var formatMatch = macroRegExp.exec(targetText);
if(formatMatch && formatMatch[1] != null && formatMatch[1].toLowerCase() == "reminder")
{
//Find the matching date.
var params = formatMatch[2] != null ? formatMatch[2].readMacroParams() : {};
var dateHash = getParamsForReminder(params);
if (limit != null || dateHash["leadtime"] == null)
{
if (leadtime == null)
dateHash["leadtime"] = leadtime;
else
{
dateHash["leadtime"] = [];
dateHash["leadtime"][0] = leadtime[0];
dateHash["leadtime"][1] = leadtime[1];
}
}
if (dateHash["leadtime"] == null)
dateHash["leadtime"] = config.macros.reminders["defaultLeadTime"];
var leadTimeLowerBound = baseDate.addDays(dateHash["leadtime"][0]);
var leadTimeUpperBound = baseDate.addDays(dateHash["leadtime"][1]);
var matchedDate = findDateForReminder(dateHash, baseDate, leadTimeLowerBound, leadTimeUpperBound);
while (matchedDate != null)
{
var hash = {};
hash["diff"] = matchedDate.getDifferenceInDays(baseDate);
hash["matchedDate"] = new Date(matchedDate.getFullYear(), matchedDate.getMonth(), matchedDate.getDate(), 0, 0);
hash["params"] = cloneParams(dateHash);
hash["tiddler"] = matches[t].title;
hash["tags"] = matches[t].tags;
arr.pushUnique(hash);
if (dateHash["recurdays"] != null || (dateHash["year"] == null))
{
leadTimeLowerBound = leadTimeLowerBound.addDays(matchedDate.getDifferenceInDays(leadTimeLowerBound)+ 1);
matchedDate = findDateForReminder(dateHash, baseDate, leadTimeLowerBound, leadTimeUpperBound);
}
else matchedDate = null;
}
}
}while(formatMatch);
}
if(arr.length > 1) //Sort the array by number of days remaining.
{
arr.sort(function (a,b) {if(a["diff"] == b["diff"]) {return(0);} else {return (a["diff"] < b["diff"]) ? -1 : +1; } });
}
return arr;
};
//This function takes the reminder macro parameters and
//generates the string that is used for display.
//This function is not intended to be called by
//other plugins.
window.getReminderMessageForDisplay= function getReminderMessageForDisplay(diff, params, matchedDate, tiddlerTitle)
{
var anniversaryString = "";
var reminderTitle = params["title"];
if (reminderTitle == null)
{
reminderTitle = config.macros.reminders["untitledReminder"];
}
if (params["firstyear"] != null)
{
anniversaryString = config.macros.reminders["defaultAnniversaryMessage"].replace("DIFF", (matchedDate.getFullYear() - params["firstyear"]));
}
var mess = "";
var diffString = "";
if (diff == 0)
{
diffString = config.macros.reminders["todayString"];
}
else if (diff == 1)
{
diffString = config.macros.reminders["tomorrowString"];
}
else
{
diffString = config.macros.reminders["ndaysString"].replace("DIFF", diff);
}
var format = config.macros.reminders["defaultReminderMessage"];
if (params["format"] != null)
{
format = params["format"];
}
mess = format;
//HACK! -- Avoid replacing DD in TIDDLER with the date
mess = mess.replace(/TIDDLER/g, "TIDELER");
mess = matchedDate.formatStringDateOnly(mess);
mess = mess.replace(/TIDELER/g, "TIDDLER");
if (tiddlerTitle != null)
{
mess = mess.replace(/TIDDLERNAME/g, tiddlerTitle);
mess = mess.replace(/TIDDLER/g, "[[" + tiddlerTitle + "]]");
}
mess = mess.replace("DIFF", diffString).replace("TITLE", reminderTitle).replace("DATE", matchedDate.formatString("DDD MMM DD, YYYY")).replace("ANNIVERSARY", anniversaryString);
return mess;
};
// Parse out the macro parameters into a hashtable. This
// handles the arguments for reminder, showReminders and
// displayTiddlersWithReminders.
window.getParamsForReminder = function getParamsForReminder(params)
{
var dateHash = {};
var type = "";
var num = 0;
var title = "";
for(var t=0; t<params.length; t++)
{
var split = params[t].split(":");
type = split[0].toLowerCase();
var value = split[1];
for (var i=2; i < split.length; i++)
{
value += ":" + split[i];
}
if (type == "nolinks" || type == "limit" || type == "hidden")
{
num = 1;
}
else if (type == "leadtime")
{
var leads = value.split("...");
if (leads.length == 1)
{
leads[1]= leads[0];
leads[0] = 0;
}
leads[0] = parseInt(leads[0], 10);
leads[1] = parseInt(leads[1], 10);
num = leads;
}
else if (type == "offsetdayofweek")
{
if (value.substr(0,1) == "-")
{
dateHash["negativeOffsetDayOfWeek"] = 1;
value = value.substr(1);
}
num = parseInt(value, 10);
}
else if (type != "title" && type != "tag" && type != "format")
{
num = parseInt(value, 10);
}
else
{
title = value;
t++;
while (title.substr(0,1) == '"' && title.substr(title.length - 1,1) != '"' && params[t] != undefined)
{
title += " " + params[t++];
}
//Trim off the leading and trailing quotes
if (title.substr(0,1) == "\"" && title.substr(title.length - 1,1)== "\"")
{
title = title.substr(1, title.length - 2);
t--;
}
num = title;
}
dateHash[type] = num;
}
//date is synonymous with day
if (dateHash["day"] == null)
{
dateHash["day"] = dateHash["date"];
}
return dateHash;
};
//This function finds the date specified in the reminder
//parameters. It will return null if no match can be
//found. This function is not intended to be used by
//other plugins.
window.findDateForReminder= function findDateForReminder( dateHash, baseDate, leadTimeLowerBound, leadTimeUpperBound)
{
if (baseDate == null)
{
baseDate = new Date().getMidnight();
}
var hashKey = baseDate.convertToYYYYMMDDHHMM();
for (var k in dateHash)
{
hashKey += "," + k + "|" + dateHash[k];
}
hashKey += "," + leadTimeLowerBound.convertToYYYYMMDDHHMM();
hashKey += "," + leadTimeUpperBound.convertToYYYYMMDDHHMM();
if (reminderCache[hashKey] == null)
{
//If we don't find a match in this run, then we will
//cache that the reminder can't be matched.
reminderCache[hashKey] = false;
}
else if (reminderCache[hashKey] == false)
{
//We've already tried this date and failed
return null;
}
else
{
return reminderCache[hashKey];
}
var bOffsetSpecified = dateHash["offsetyear"] != null ||
dateHash["offsetmonth"] != null ||
dateHash["offsetday"] != null ||
dateHash["offsetdayofweek"] != null ||
dateHash["recurdays"] != null;
// If we are matching the base date for a dayofweek offset, look for the base date a
//little further back.
var tmp1leadTimeLowerBound = leadTimeLowerBound;
if ( dateHash["offsetdayofweek"] != null)
{
tmp1leadTimeLowerBound = leadTimeLowerBound.addDays(-6);
}
var matchedDate = baseDate.findMatch(dateHash, tmp1leadTimeLowerBound, leadTimeUpperBound);
if (matchedDate != null)
{
var newMatchedDate = matchedDate;
if (dateHash["recurdays"] != null)
{
while (newMatchedDate.getTime() < leadTimeLowerBound.getTime())
{
newMatchedDate = newMatchedDate.addDays(dateHash["recurdays"]);
}
}
else if (dateHash["offsetyear"] != null ||
dateHash["offsetmonth"] != null ||
dateHash["offsetday"] != null ||
dateHash["offsetdayofweek"] != null)
{
var tmpdateHash = cloneParams(dateHash);
tmpdateHash["year"] = dateHash["offsetyear"];
tmpdateHash["month"] = dateHash["offsetmonth"];
tmpdateHash["day"] = dateHash["offsetday"];
tmpdateHash["dayofweek"] = dateHash["offsetdayofweek"];
var tmpleadTimeLowerBound = leadTimeLowerBound;
var tmpleadTimeUpperBound = leadTimeUpperBound;
if (tmpdateHash["offsetdayofweek"] != null)
{
if (tmpdateHash["negativeOffsetDayOfWeek"] == 1)
{
tmpleadTimeLowerBound = matchedDate.addDays(-6);
tmpleadTimeUpperBound = matchedDate;
}
else
{
tmpleadTimeLowerBound = matchedDate;
tmpleadTimeUpperBound = matchedDate.addDays(6);
}
}
newMatchedDate = matchedDate.findMatch(tmpdateHash, tmpleadTimeLowerBound, tmpleadTimeUpperBound);
//The offset couldn't be matched. return null.
if (newMatchedDate == null)
{
return null;
}
}
if (newMatchedDate.isBetween(leadTimeLowerBound, leadTimeUpperBound))
{
reminderCache[hashKey] = newMatchedDate;
return newMatchedDate;
}
}
return null;
};
//This does much the same job as findDateForReminder, but
//this one doesn't deal with offsets or recurring
//reminders.
Date.prototype.findMatch = function findMatch(dateHash, leadTimeLowerBound, leadTimeUpperBound)
{
var bSpecifiedYear = (dateHash["year"] != null);
var bSpecifiedMonth = (dateHash["month"] != null);
var bSpecifiedDay = (dateHash["day"] != null);
var bSpecifiedDayOfWeek = (dateHash["dayofweek"] != null);
if (bSpecifiedYear && bSpecifiedMonth && bSpecifiedDay)
{
return new Date(dateHash["year"], dateHash["month"]-1, dateHash["day"], 0, 0);
}
var bMatchedYear = !bSpecifiedYear;
var bMatchedMonth = !bSpecifiedMonth;
var bMatchedDay = !bSpecifiedDay;
var bMatchedDayOfWeek = !bSpecifiedDayOfWeek;
if (bSpecifiedDay && bSpecifiedMonth && !bSpecifiedYear && !bSpecifiedDayOfWeek)
{
//Shortcut -- First try this year. If it's too small, try next year.
var tmpMidnight = this.getMidnight();
var tmpDate = new Date(this.getFullYear(), dateHash["month"]-1, dateHash["day"], 0,0);
if (tmpDate.getTime() < leadTimeLowerBound.getTime())
{
tmpDate = new Date((this.getFullYear() + 1), dateHash["month"]-1, dateHash["day"], 0,0);
}
if ( tmpDate.isBetween(leadTimeLowerBound, leadTimeUpperBound))
{
return tmpDate;
}
else
{
return null;
}
}
var newDate = leadTimeLowerBound;
while (newDate.isBetween(leadTimeLowerBound, leadTimeUpperBound))
{
var tmp = testDate(newDate, dateHash, bSpecifiedYear, bSpecifiedMonth, bSpecifiedDay, bSpecifiedDayOfWeek);
if (tmp != null)
return tmp;
newDate = newDate.addDays(1);
}
};
function testDate(testMe, dateHash, bSpecifiedYear, bSpecifiedMonth, bSpecifiedDay, bSpecifiedDayOfWeek)
{
var bMatchedYear = !bSpecifiedYear;
var bMatchedMonth = !bSpecifiedMonth;
var bMatchedDay = !bSpecifiedDay;
var bMatchedDayOfWeek = !bSpecifiedDayOfWeek;
if (bSpecifiedYear)
{
bMatchedYear = (dateHash["year"] == testMe.getFullYear());
}
if (bSpecifiedMonth)
{
bMatchedMonth = ((dateHash["month"] - 1) == testMe.getMonth() );
}
if (bSpecifiedDay)
{
bMatchedDay = (dateHash["day"] == testMe.getDate());
}
if (bSpecifiedDayOfWeek)
{
bMatchedDayOfWeek = (dateHash["dayofweek"] == testMe.getDay());
}
if (bMatchedYear && bMatchedMonth && bMatchedDay && bMatchedDayOfWeek)
{
return testMe;
}
};
//Returns true if the date is in between two given dates
Date.prototype.isBetween = function isBetween(lowerBound, upperBound)
{
return (this.getTime() >= lowerBound.getTime() && this.getTime() <= upperBound.getTime());
}
//Return a new date, with the time set to midnight (0000)
Date.prototype.getMidnight = function getMidnight()
{
return new Date(this.getFullYear(), this.getMonth(), this.getDate(), 0, 0);
};
// Add the specified number of days to a date.
Date.prototype.addDays = function addDays(numberOfDays)
{
return new Date(this.getFullYear(), this.getMonth(), this.getDate() + numberOfDays, 0, 0);
};
//Return the number of days between two dates.
Date.prototype.getDifferenceInDays = function getDifferenceInDays(otherDate)
{
//I have to do it this way, because this way ignores daylight savings
var tmpDate = this.addDays(0);
if (this.getTime() > otherDate.getTime())
{
var i = 0;
for (i = 0; tmpDate.getTime() > otherDate.getTime(); i++)
{
tmpDate = tmpDate.addDays(-1);
}
return i;
}
else
{
var i = 0;
for (i = 0; tmpDate.getTime() < otherDate.getTime(); i++)
{
tmpDate = tmpDate.addDays(1);
}
return i * -1;
}
return 0;
};
function cloneParams(what) {
var tmp = {};
for (var i in what) {
tmp[i] = what[i];
}
return tmp;
}
// Substitute date components into a string
Date.prototype.formatStringDateOnly = function formatStringDateOnly(template)
{
template = template.replace("YYYY",this.getFullYear());
template = template.replace("YY",String.zeroPad(this.getFullYear()-2000,2));
template = template.replace("MMM",config.messages.dates.months[this.getMonth()]);
template = template.replace("0MM",String.zeroPad(this.getMonth()+1,2));
template = template.replace("MM",this.getMonth()+1);
template = template.replace("DDD",config.messages.dates.days[this.getDay()]);
template = template.replace("0DD",String.zeroPad(this.getDate(),2));
template = template.replace("DD",this.getDate());
return template;
};
//}}}
A team of scientists at Stanford University has tracked the movement of carbon nanotubes through the digestive systems of mice. They've determined that the nanotubes do not exhibit any toxicity in the mice, and are safely expelled after delivering their payload. (see related posts: [[First Direct Images of Carbon Nanotubes Entering Cells]] and [[Nanotube-producing bacteria]]). As a result, the study paves the way toward future applications of nanotubes in the treatment of illnesses. Previous research by the same team demonstrated that nanotubes can be used to fight cancer. The nanotubes do this in two ways. One method involves shining laser light on the nanotubes, which generates heat to destroy cancer cells. Another method involves attaching medicine to the nanotubes, which are able to accurately 'find' cancerous cells without impacting healthy cells.
Source: [[Researchers' nanotube findings give boost to potential biomedical applications|http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2008/january30/tube-013008.html]]
{{twocolumns{
Explore the artworks by media artist Victoria Vesna and nano-scientist Jim Gimzewski in [[MORPHONANO|http://beallcenter.uci.edu/beallDrupal/exhibitions/morphonano]] through May 6, 2012.
MORPHONANO ''marks a decade of an [[artistic collaboration|Scientists working with Artists in Nano Science and Technology]] (2002-2012) of media artist Victoria Vesna and nanoscientist James Gimzewski''. Their work is focused on the idea of change and consciousness at the intersection of space-time and embodiment. Participants interact with the works in mindful ways resulting in rich visual and sonic experiences within a meditative space. By reversing the scale of nanotechnology to the realm of human experience, the artist and scientist create a sublime reversal of space-time.
[[Victoria Vesna|http://victoriavesna.com/]] is a media artist and Professor at the Department of Design | Media Arts at the UCLA School of the Arts and director of the UCLA Art|Sci center. Currently she is Visiting Professor at Art, Media + Technology, Parsons the New School for Design in New York and a senior researcher at IMéRA – Institut Méditerranéen de Recherches Avancées in Marseille, France. Her work can be defined as experimental creative research that resides between disciplines and technologies. She explores how communication technologies affect collective behavior and how perceptions of identity shift in relation to scientific innovation. Her most recent experiential installations -- Blue Morph, Water Bowls, Hox Zodiac, all aim to raise consciousness around environmental issues natural and human-animal relations. Other earlier notable works are Bodies INCorporated, Datamining Bodies, n0time and Cellular Trans_Actions.
[[James Gimzewski|http://www.chem.ucla.edu/dept/Faculty/gimzewski/]] FRS is a distinguished Professor in the Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA. He is director of Pico and Nano core laboratory at the California NanoSynstems Institute (CNSI). He is also scientific director of the Art | Sci center and a senior fellow of IMéRA. He is a satellite co-director and PI of materials nanoarchitectonics at the National Institute of Material Science in Tsukuba, Japan. Until February 2001, he was a group leader at the IBM Zurich Labs, where he was involved in Nanoscale science since 1983. He pioneered research on electrical contact with single atoms and molecules, light emission and molecular imaging using [[STM|Quantum Tunnel installation]]. His accomplishments include the first STM-manipulation of molecules at room temperature, the realization of molecular abacus using buckyballs, the discovery of single molecule rotors and the development of nanomechanical sensors based on nanotechnology, which explore the ultimate limits of sensitivity and measurement. He is a fellow of the Royal Society. Source: From ''[[Exhibition MORPHONANO: Works by Victoria Vesna with James Gimzewski|http://beallcenter.uci.edu/beallDrupal/sites/default/files/pdfs/FINALVictoriaVesnaBeallCenterPressRelease.pdf]]''.
''Context:''
February 13, 2012. [[Morphonano: Interactive sculpture goes nano|http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2012/02/morphonano-interactive-sculpture-goes-nano.html]] by Casey Rentz, New Scientist.
April 15, 2011. [[Celebrating the Metamorphosis: A Review of Blue Morph|http://thefreegeorge.com/thefreegeorge/blue-morph-rpi-troy-art-review/]] by Aubree Cutkomp, The Free George
Fall 2006. [[To Touch is To See: Nanomandala and Coitus Reservatus|http://mfj-online.org/journalPages/MFJ45/Weinbrenpage.html]] by Grahame Weinbren, MFJ
August 2005 [[NANO: An Exhibition of Scale and Senses|http://vv.arts.ucla.edu/publications/newarchive/leonardoCAA/leonardo-caa.pdf]]. by Victoria Vesna and James Gimzewski, Leonardo
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created art>>
<<tiddler Twitter>>
<html><iframe class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="100%" height="268" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLA3B682177A43D40A" frameborder="0"></iframe></html>
}}}
<data>{"video_id":"PLA3B682177A43D40A"}</data>
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State University of New York Chancellor joined New York State Governor for an announcement that New York has entered into investment agreements worth $4.4 billion with five leading international companies ''to create the next generation of computer chip technology''. Investments, to be made over the next five years, will result in the creation and retention of approximately 6,900 jobs
Chancellor said, "I want to commend Governor for having the vision to include public higher education in the revitalization of New York's economy." To support the project, New York State will invest $400 million in the SUNY College for Nanoscale and Science Engineering (CNSE) in Albany, including $100 million for energy efficiency and low cost energy allowances. The state investment in CNSE will be directed entirely to the campus. All tools and equipment acquired through the investment will be owned by CSNE.
Dr. Alain E. Kaloyeros of CNSE, said, "Today's announcement is proof positive that New York is firmly established as the ''global headquarters for the 21st century nanotechnology-driven economy''. Harnessing the power of this unique public-private partnership, this investment promises to usher in a new era of high-paying jobs, exceptional educational opportunities, and unparalleled economic growth for all New Yorkers."
The five companies involved are Intel, IBM, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, TSMC and Samsung. New York State secured the investments in competition with countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
The agreements mark an historic level of private investment in the nanotechnology sector in New York.
This investment will have other beneficial economic impacts in New York. The project will include a private "Made in NY" initiative to support the potential purchase of $400 million in certain tools and equipment from companies around New York State to create, attract, and retain manufacturers and suppliers across the state.
In addition, the companies will support a $15 million fund to increase the role of minority and women owned businesses.
Semiconductors are central to modern devices from computers and cell phones to automobiles and airplanes and the industry is the cornerstone of the "innovation economy." Semiconductors are the nation's largest export industry and generate billions of dollars in revenue. Source: From ''[[New York, SUNY To Host Development of Next Generation Computer Chip Technology|http://www.suny.edu/sunynews/News.cfm?filname=2011-09-27NanoRelease.htm]]''
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''In 1993, Professor Richard E. Smalley envisioned the first nanotechnology center in the world''. Thus, the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) was born. In 2005 after the passing of Professor Smalley, the Rice University Board of Trustees renamed the Institute in his honor: the ''Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology''. Source: [[History : Smalley Institute|http://cnst.rice.edu/history/?ekmensel=c580fa7b_26_28_174_7]]
The pivotal [[discovery of the buckyball|C60: Buckminsterfullerene]] marks the birth of nanoscience and nanotechnology on Rice's Campus. This discovery resulted in Professors Curl, [[Kroto|C60 by Harry Kroto]] and Smalley being awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. After the discovery of the buckyball, Smalley’s research focus turned to carbon nanotubes and the application of their extraordinary properties. Later in his career, Smalley became very passionate about energy and education. He believed that by making affordable, clean energy available to all many of humanity’s other pressing problems like poverty and food supply would be much easier to solve. Smalley spent time not only researching paths to abundant, clean energy he also devoted time to educating politicians and world leaders on the need for and a solution to the energy problem. Smalley believed strongly that one critical aspect to solving the issue of energy was educating the next generation of scientists. He often encouraged young students to consider careers in science and engineering under the slogan “Be a scientist, save the world.”
Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology
Rice University
6100 Main Street
Space Science Building, Suite 301
Houston, TX 77005, United States of America
http://cnst.rice.edu/
{{twocolumns{
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[[December 29, 1959 Presentation at an American Physical Society meeting at Caltech|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_Plenty_of_Room_at_the_Bottom]]: ''[[There is Plenty of Room at the Botom|http://www.its.caltech.edu/~feynman/plenty.html]] by [[Richard Feynman|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman]]''. "//What I want to talk about is the problem of manipulating and controlling things on a small scale... But I am not afraid to consider the final question as to whether, ultimately - in the great future - ''we can arrange the atoms the way we want; the very atoms, all the way down!'' What would happen if we could arrange the atoms one by one the way we want them//"
“Feynman’s 1959 talk, entitled ‘There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom’, was delivered 50 years ago today [december 29, 2009], and the words I’ve quoted above are the first words in the first sentence of the [[first paper|http://www.e-drexler.com/p/04/01/0228drexler1981.html]] I ([[Eric Drexler|http://metamodern.com/about-the-author/]]) wrote, almost 30 years ago, on what later became known as “nanotechnology”. Feynman read and discussed the paper with me before its publication, because it extended his ideas.I’ll start [[here|http://metamodern.com/2009/12/29/theres-plenty-of-room-at-the-bottom%E2%80%9D-feynman-1959/#more-6841]] by saying more about the talk, then about the evolution of the concepts, and finally show how the talk and the concepts have been woven into the history of the rise of nanotechnology.”
February 23, 1983 Speech at NASA' Jet Propulsion Laboratory: ''[[Infinitesimal machines. There is plenty of room at the bottom revisited|http://www.scribd.com/doc/1451541/Feynman-1983]]'' by Richard Feynman.
//''How influential was Richard Feynman’s 1959 talk?''// The answer by researcher [[Chris Toumey|http://scholar.google.es/scholar?q=%22Chris%20Toumey]] in [[Apostolic succession. Does nanotechnology descend from Richard Feynman's 1959 talk?|http://pr.caltech.edu/periodicals/EandS/articles/LXVIII1_2/Feynman.pdf]] (2005) and [[Reading Feynman into Nanotechnology: A Text for a New Science|http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/SPT/v12n3/toumey.pdf]] (2008). A synopsis of his research, in connection with the fiftieth anniversary of Feynman’s talk, has been published, ''[[Plenty of room, plenty of history|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/v4/n12/full/nnano.2009.357.html]]'': "A 1959 lecture by Richard Feynman has become an important document in the history of nanotechnology but, as Chris Toumey reports, there are disagreements about when it became important, and why."
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''Foods produced by nanotechnology should undergo specific risk assessment before being put on the European market and should not be included on the EU's list of novel foods (foods not on the market before May 1997) until then'', according to European Parliament's [[Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee|http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/committees/homeCom.do?language=EN&body=ENVI]].
The Committee voted 4 May that food produced using nanotechnology should be excluded from the novel food list, and thus the EU market, until the possible health effects of nano production can be fully assessed.
An example of nanotechnology in food production is a wax-like nano-coating on fruits and vegetables to extend shelf life. It can also be used in salad dressings and sauces to make them pour more easily. Some of the world's largest food manufacturers - including European companies - are researching nanotechnology for food applications. But, according to the European Commission, there are currently no nano-foods on the EU market. [About the rise of nano foods have been published [[The taste of tiny: Putting nanofoods on the menu|http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627611.100-the-taste-of-tiny-putting-nanofoods-on-the-menu.html?full=true]] by Emma Davies, New Scientist]
Kartika Liotard, a Dutch member of left-leaning GUE/NGL, who is steering the proposals through the EP said, "we have insisted that no food products made by nanotechnology or containing nanoparticles will be put on the market unless they have undergone a validated risk assessment and are proven to be safe." Source: ''[[Novel foods: risk assessment for nano-foods|http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/story_page/067-74271-127-05-19-911-20100507STO74257-2010-07-05-2010/default_en.htm]]''.
Before a novel food is included in the Community list of those accepted in the EU, the opinion of the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies on the ethical and environmental implications must be sought when necessary, said MEPs. The co-decision [[report by Kartika Liotard|http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/envi/pr/810/810811/810811en.pdf]] was approved in committee at the second reading with 42 votes in favour, 2 against and 3 abstentions. The plenary vote is currently scheduled for July (tbc).
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<div class="org">Department of Physiology. Michigan State University </div>
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<html><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/15333737" width="100%" height="225" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/15333737">Roger Malina and questions</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user4050261">Chris Newfield</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p></html>
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<img src="http://sxm4.uni-muenster.de/AFM-gesamt.jpg" width="95%"/>
</html>The emerging Nanotechnology is expected to change our world to a comparable extent as Microtechnology has (introducing integrated circuits, microsurgery and spacecrafts).
''To give everybody an opportunity to make his own "hands on" experience with the Nanoworld'' we provide all information to build up and use some of the standard equipment of this fascinating field of science, starting with the Nobel-Prize-Winner of 1986: the Scanning-Tunneling-Microscope (STM).
[[Scanning tunneling microscopy, developed by Binnig and Rohrer|Positioning single atoms with a scanning tunnelling microscope]] in the early eighties, allows the investigation of molecular and also atomic structures. It is the only technique with such a high resolution, that even works in air and in liquid.
The STM consists of a very fine, electrically conducting tip, which is guided over a sample surface at an extremely small distance. Owing to an applied voltage a current flows between tip and sample, where the variation of the current reveals information about the electronic structure of the surface and can also render a height relief. A computer is used to collect single scan points and calculates a detailed map of the sample surface.
''Today tunneling microscopy is a standard technique in nanoscience, which is not only used to investigate samples at the atomic scale, but can be employed to construct structures atom by atom as well''.
We hope you enjoy the content of the following pages and have fun constructing our scanning tunneling microscope! Source: From ''[[SXM Project. Scanning Probe Microscope construction kit|http://sxm4.uni-muenster.de/]]'' by the [[Interface Physics Group at the University of Münster|http://www.uni-muenster.de/Physik.PI/Fuchs/]]
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<img title="Atomic resolution of HOPG (highly-oriented, pyrolitic graphite: a crystal of graphite that has extremely smooth and flawless surfaces after cleaving). Imaged by Sven Ullrich using the presented set-up" src="http://sxm4.uni-muenster.de/stm-en/HOPG1.jpg" width="95%"/>
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''<<matchTags popup sort:-created context>>'' <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoscience>> ''Scaling up: The future of nanoscience''
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="img/awschalom_belcher_roukes_eigler.jpg" title="Clockwise from top left: David Awschalom, Angela Belcher, Michael Roukes and Don Eigler, four participants and moderators for the Kavli Futures Symposium. Credit: Caltech and Scanpix (Eigler)" class="photo" /></html>//"Fifty-one years after Richard Feynman envisioned nanoscience in his famous address, "Plenty of Room at the Bottom," four extraordinary researchers joined in a roundtable discussion of the future of nanoscience. In the late 1950s, [[Richard Feynman|Richard Feynman and Nanotechnology]] famously imagined a science where researchers and engineers could achieve remarkable feats by manipulating matter and creating structures all the way down to the level of individual atoms. Now, 51 years after Feyman proposed “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom” for science to discover, researchers in nanoscience and nanotechnology gathered to imagine how this young field may change in the next half a century– and in the process, also change our world. They were joined by scientists in other fields whose work is already being transformed by nanoscience. Together, they focused on the great opportunities that lie in scaling up from atomic assembly and individual nanodevices to macroscopic systems and structures with emergent properties and functionality. An assembly of pioneering scientists gathered at the “Plenty of Room in the Middle” Kavli Futures Symposium to focus on four key topics in nanoscience: atomic-scale assembly and imaging, mesoscopic quantum coherence, the “nano/bio nexus” and nanotechnology frontiers."// Read full article at ''[[Feynman's Vision: The Next 50 Years|http://www.kavlifoundation.org/science-spotlights/caltech/kavli-futures-symp-nanoscience]]''.
''<<matchTags popup sort:-created context>>'' <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoscience>> ''Scanning Tunneling Microscope''
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//In 1981, two IBM researchers, [[Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer|Positioning single atoms with a scanning tunnelling microscope]], broke new ground in the science of the very, very small with their invention of the [[scanning tunneling microscope (STM)|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanning_tunneling_microscope]], which was given the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1986.
On 21 February 2011, IBM recognized this discovery as [[one of IBM's 100 Icons of Progress|http://www.ibm.com/ibm100/us/en/icons/microscope/]], as the company celebrates it's Centennial.
This is the original media b-roll developed after the Nobel Prize was announced in 1986// From ''[[YouTube - Original Media B-Roll for IBM Scanning Tunneling Microscope|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FczS5y4mmZc]]''.
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<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" src="http://www.ornl.gov/info/press_releases/photos/300_natnano_battert.jpg" title="A new electrochemical strain microscopy (ESM) technique developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory can map lithium ion flow through a battery’s cathode material. This 1 micron x 1 micron composite image demonstrates how regions on a cathode surface display varying electrochemical behaviors when probed with ESM." alt="image display varying electrochemical behaviors" class="photo"/></html> As industries and consumers increasingly seek improved battery power sources, ''cutting-edge microscopy performed at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory is providing an unprecedented perspective on how lithium-ion batteries function''.
A research team led by ORNL's [[Nina Balke|http://www.cnms.ornl.gov/uec/Newsletter_062010/new-staff-highlights.html]], [[Stephen Jesse and Sergei Kalinin|http://www.asylumresearch.com/Grants/]] has developed a new type of scanning probe microscopy called electrochemical strain microscopy (ESM) to examine the movement of lithium ions through a battery's cathode material. Balke, Jesse and Kalinin are research scientists at ORNL's [[Center for Nanophase Materials Science|http://www.cnms.ornl.gov/]].
"We can provide a detailed picture of ionic motion in nanometer volumes, which exceeds state-of-the-art electrochemical techniques by six to seven orders of magnitude," Kalinin said. Researchers achieved the results by applying voltage with an ESM probe to the surface of the battery's layered cathode. By measuring the corresponding electrochemical strain, or volume change, the team was able to visualize how lithium ions flowed through the material. Conventional electrochemical techniques, which analyze electric current instead of strain, do not work on a nanoscale level because the electrochemical currents are too small to measure, Kalinin explained. "These are the first measurements, to our knowledge, of lithium ion flow at this spatial resolution," Kalinin said.
Lithium-ion batteries, which power electronic devices from cell phones to electric cars, are valued for their low weight, high energy density and recharging ability. Researchers hope to extend the batteries' performance by lending engineers a finely tuned knowledge of battery components and dynamics.
"We want to understand - from a nanoscale perspective - what makes one battery work and one battery fail. This can be done by examining its functionality at the level of a single grain or an extended defect," Balke said. "Very small changes at the nanometer level could have a huge impact at the device level," Balke said. "Understanding the batteries at this length scale could help make suggestions for materials engineering."
Although the research focused on lithium-ion batteries, the team expects that its technique could be used to measure other electrochemical solid-state systems, including other battery types, fuel cells and similar electronic devices that use nanoscale ionic motion for information storage.
"We see this method as an example of the kinds of higher dimensional scanning probe techniques that we are developing at CNMS that enable us to see the inner workings of complex materials at the nanoscale," Jesse said. "Such capabilities are particularly relevant to the increasingly important area of energy research." Source: [[ORNL scientists reveal battery behavior at the nanoscale|http://www.ornl.gov/info/press_releases/get_press_release.cfm?ReleaseNumber=mr20100914-00]]. This work is detailed in the paper [[Nanoscale mapping of ion diffusion in a lithium-ion battery cathode|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nnano.2010.174.html]] by N. Balke, S. Jesse, A. N. Morozovska, E. Eliseev, D. W. Chung, Y. Kim, L. Adamczyk, R. E. García, N. Dudney & S. V. Kalinin. <<slider chkSldr [[Nanoscale mapping of ion diffusion in a lithium-ion battery cathode]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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<html><object width="100%" height="268"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9285524&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9285524&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="100%" height="268"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/9285524">nanolab</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/artsci">Art|Sci Center</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p></html>
NanoLab is a unique program for creative high school students who love both art and science. This program will immerse students in a world renowned research University setting with access to cutting edge science labs and museums. Small groups of students are led by an art-science instructor duo -- giving a larger perspective to the sciences being explored.
A two week summer course including lecture, required screenings, lab visits, field trips and outside study, offered through UCLA's Summer Institute. This introductory studio / lab course explores the creative aspects of scientific research and innovation. Students will gain a broad understanding of the impact of science on contemporary art and popular culture and focus on new sciences - bio and nanotechnology. Emphasis will be on development of proposals and ideas that could serve as prototypes for either an art project or a scientific research study.
The advantage of an artistic approach to new science lies in their ability to approach problems from a more holistic and general approach, to conceive of ways to deal with complexity in ways that don't rely on the usual tried and tested methodology of the scientist or engineer and which, when combined with science, provide a powerful new direction for invention and creation.
Sponsored by UCLA's Art|Sci Center + Lab, the department of Design | Media Arts and the [[California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI)|http://www.cnsi.ucla.edu/]]. The UCLA Art|Sci Center + Lab focuses on multi-disciplinary collaborations addressing social, ethical and environmental issues related to scientific and technological innovation. Source: ''[[SciArt NanoLab 2010|http://artsci.ucla.edu/artsci/summer/]]''. Via [[Leonardo/ISAST cooperation with NanoWiki|Nano and art: Leonardo/ISAST cooperation with NanoWiki]]
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~SciVee is about the free and widespread dissemination and comprehension of science.
~SciVee, created for scientists, by scientists, moves science beyond the printed word and lecture theater taking advantage of the internet as a communication medium where scientists young and old have a place and a voice.
~SciVee is operated in partnership with the Public Library of Science (~PLoS), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC). ~SciVee allows scientists to communicate their work as a multimedia presentation incorporated with the content of their published article. Other scientists can freely view uploaded presentations and engage in virtual discussions with the author and other viewers. ~SciVee also facilitates the creation of communities around specific articles and keywords. Use this medium to meet peers and future collaborators that share your particular research interests.
Source: [[About : SciVee: Pioneering New Modes of Scientific Dissemination|http://www.scivee.tv/]]
[img[SciVee|http://www.scivee.tv/sites/all/themes/scitube/images/about_color.gif]]
"For ages scientific notebooks have been the mainstay of scientific research and have always had one thing in common: paper. Until now that was mostly due to a lack of options. Today as science and computers have become more and more inseparable the appeal of digital notebooks is quite clear. ''Digital notebooks have one huge advantage over their hand-written brethren - search capabilities.'' The ability to easily search for notes rather than paging through 3-ring binder after 3-ring binder is a HUGE timesaver. Digital notebooks do have their shortcomings, primarily the inability to easily write equations and draw diagrams. However, by adding [[LaTeX|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaTeX]] to the mix digital notebooks can handle equations with ease, and scanning in diagrams isn’t too much of a chore either. I’m going to assume some working knowledge of LaTeX, however, if you aren’t familiar with LaTeX don’t worry it isn’t required to use TiddlyWiki. Besides, typesetting simple equations in LaTex is actually very simple.
There are quite a few scientific notebook applications out there, but I recently found a solution that I think quite elegant and possibly the simplest to use. TiddlyWiki is a wiki platform not unlike MoinMoin and DokuWiki. TiddlyWiki has a few advantages over these other wiki solutions, however, primarily its portability and interoperability. TiddlyWiki consists of one simple html file which makes it extremely easy to take your notebook with you on a USB memory stick. In addition, since the only program required is a standard web browser (IE6, IE7, Firefox, etc) you can take notes anywhere there is a computer (no internet required). For example I can take notes from the lab machine running Windows just as easily as I can from my iMac at home." //''[[''From "TiddlyWiki and LaTeX - Scientific Notebooks Made Easy" by Franklin on October 10, 2007|http://www.zaphu.com/2007/10/10/tiddlywiki-and-latex-scientific-notebooks-made-easy/]]''//
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Nature Publishing Group (NPG) announces the 2011 launch of Scientific Reports. ''An online, open access, peer-reviewed publication, Scientific Reports will publish research covering the natural sciences - biology, chemistry, earth sciences and physics''. Scientific Reports is accepting submissions from today, and will publish its first articles in June 2011. More information is available on the Scientific Reports website (http://www.nature.com/scientificreports).
All articles published in Scientific Reports will be open access and subject to an article-processing charge (APC). The 2011 APC rate will be US$1350/GB£890/ EURO1046 per accepted manuscript*. Authors will have a choice of two non-commercial Creative Commons (CC) licenses. NPG will make an annual donation to [[Creative Commons|http://creativecommons.org/about]] equivalent to $20 per APC paid for publication in Scientific Reports.** Authors of the research paper concerned will be eligible for complimentary membership of the Creative Commons network, an international online community of people who support open access and open educational resources.
"Creative Commons is delighted to have NPG's support for our activities," said Cathy Casserly, CEO of Creative Commons. "We welcome the launch of Scientific Reports, and NPG's growing open access offering."
Scientific Reports will publish original research papers of interest to specialists within a given field in the natural sciences. It will not set a threshold of perceived importance for the papers that it publishes; rather, Scientific Reports will publish all papers that are judged to be technically valid and original. To enable the community to evaluate the importance of papers post-peer review, the Scientific Reports website will include most-downloaded, most-emailed, and most-blogged lists. All research papers will benefit from rapid peer review and publication, and will be deposited in PubMed Central.
"Our rationale is to provide authors with a choice of where to publish," said Jason Wilde, Business Development Director at NPG. "Scientific Reports will leverage the tools, technology and experience of NPG, bringing this knowledge and insight to a broad-based, open access publication. Through increased competition and innovation, we hope to give authors great service, functionality and visibility for their research."
Scientific Reports will be led by a team of 15 Editorial Advisory Panel members, supported by an editorial board who will make all editorial decisions. Unlike Nature Communications, Scientific Reports will not have in-house editors, and will not offer the developmental editing associated with the Nature titles.
"This is a completely new venture for NPG," says David Hoole, Director of Intellectual Property Policy and Licensing at NPG. "Scientific Reports adds to our growing portfolio of journals providing open access options, but until now NPG has not offered researchers an open access home for solid scientific research. We continue to see increasing commitment by research funders to cover the costs of open access, and interest from authors in this publishing route." Scientific Reports joins more than 40 titles published by NPG offering an open access option. More information about NPG's open access activities and policies is available in NPG's January 2011 open access position statement (http://www.nature.com/press_releases/statement.html). Source: [[Announcing Scientific Reports, a new open access publication|http://www.nature.com/press_releases/scientificreports.html]]
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[<img[The materials safety data sheet for carbon nanotubes—which provides workers and safety personnel with information on proper handling procedures—treats these substances as graphite, the material used in pencils. But carbon nanotubes are as similar to pencil lead as the soot on my barbeque grill at home is to diamonds|http://www.nanotechproject.org/process/assets/images/5896/118_1.jpg]] Andrew Maynard, a well known toxicologist investigating the potential toxicity of nanostructures waved a packet of carbon nanotubes accusingly at the assembled American politicians during a hearing in Congress. They had arrived in the post along with a safety sheet describing them as graphite and thus requiring no special precautions beyond those needed for a nuisance dust.
Had Dr Maynard's bag split wide open in Congress, scattering his carbon nanotubes into the air, would any harm have been caused? Probably not. But, as an answer, "probably" is not good enough.
Scientists do not mean that nanoparticles are inherently unsafe, only that there is a yawning gap in understanding their effects. Yet safety legislation cannot be expected to work until the products of the
technology are better understood.
Source: [[A little risky business|http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=10171212&fsrc=nwlbtwfree]].
United States House of Representatives, Committee on Science and Technology. Hearing, october 31, 2007: [[Research on Environmental and Safety Impacts of Nanotechnology: Current Status of Planning and Implementation under the National Nanotechnology Initiative|http://science.edgeboss.net/real/science/scitech07/103107.smi]]. Testimony By [[Dr. Andrew Maynard|http://democrats.science.house.gov/Media/File/Commdocs/hearings/2007/research/31oct/Maynard_testimony.pdf]]. Chief Science Advisor Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies and their [[oral testimony|http://www.nanotechproject.org/mint/pepper/tillkruess/downloads/tracker.php?url=http%3A//www.nanotechproject.org/process/assets/files/5896/maynard_oral_testimony_103107.pdf]]. Reflections after the hearing: [[Invest in nano applications, and the risks will take care of themselves?|http://community.safenano.org/blogs/andrew_maynard/archive/2007/11/04/invest-in-nano-applications-and-the-risks-will-take-care-of-themselves.aspx]] by Andrew Maynard and [[U.S. Government Delays Nanotechnology Safety Measures|http://www.nanotechproject.org/news/archive/us_government_delays_nanotechnology/]] by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies
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''Using a novel, real-time imaging system, scientists have tracked a group of near-infrared fluorescent nanoparticles from the airspaces of the lungs, into the body and out again'', providing a description of the characteristics and behavior of these minute particles which could be used in developing therapeutic agents to treat pulmonary disease, as well as offering a greater understanding of the health effects of air pollution.
The aim of this new study, led by investigators at [[Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC)|http://www.bidmc.org/]] and the [[Harvard School of Public Health|http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/]], was to determine the characteristics and parameters of inhaled nanoparticles that mediate their uptake into the body - from the external environment, across the alveolar lung surface and into the lymphatic system and blood stream and eventually to other organs. To do this, the scientists made use of the [[FLARE™ (Fluorescence-Assisted Resection and Exploration) imaging system|http://www.siemens.com/innovation/en/publikationen/publications_pof/pof_fall_2008/frueherkennung/diagnostik.htm]], systematically varying the chemical composition, size, shape and surface charge of a group of near-infrared fluorescent nanoparticles to compare the physiochemical properties of the various engineered particles. The investigators then tracked the movement of the varying nanoparticles in the lungs of rat models over a period of one hour, and also verified results using conventional radioactive tracers.
“The FLARE system enabled us to cut the number of experiments in half while performing direct comparisons of nanoparticles of different sizes, shapes and rigidities,” explains [[Frangioni, whose laboratory developed the FLARE system|http://www.siemens.com/innovation/en/publikationen/publications_pof/pof_fall_2008/frueherkennung/inter_frangioni.htm]] for use in image-guided cancer surgery as well as other applications.
“This study complements our earlier work in which we defined the characteristics of nanoparticles that regulate efficient clearance from the body. With these new findings, which define the characteristics that regulate uptake into the body, ''we’ve now described a complete ‘cycle’ of nanoparticle trafficking - from the environment, through the lungs, into the body, then out of the kidneys in urine and back to the environment'',” said Frangioni. Source: From [[Scientists Chronicle Nanoparticles' Journey From the Lungs Into the Body|http://www.bidmc.org/News/InResearch/2010/November/Nanoparticles.aspx]]. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Rapid translocation of nanoparticles from the lung airspaces to the body|http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nbt.1696.html]]'' by Hak Soo Choi, Yoshitomo Ashitate, Jeong Heon Lee, Soon Hee Kim, Aya Matsui, Numpon Insin, Moungi G Bawendi, Manuela Semmler-Behnke, [[John V Frangioni|http://www.frangionilab.org/]] & [[Akira Tsuda|http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/research/akira-tsuda/]]. <<slider chkSldr [[Rapid translocation of nanoparticles from the lung airspaces to the body]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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Techniques recently invented by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) - which ''allow the real-time, real-space visualization of fleeting changes in the structure of nanoscale matter'' - have been used to image the evanescent electrical fields produced by the interaction of electrons and photons, and to track changes in atomic-scale structures.
[[Four-dimensional (4D) microscopy|http://media.caltech.edu/press_releases/13207]] - the methodology upon which the new techniques were based - was developed at Caltech's Physical Biology Center for Ultrafast Science and Technology. The center is directed by [[Ahmed Zewail|http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1999/]], the Linus Pauling Professor of Chemistry and professor of physics at Caltech, and winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Zewail was awarded the Nobel Prize for pioneering the science of femtochemistry, the use of ultrashort laser flashes to observe fundamental chemical reactions occurring at the timescale of the femtosecond (one-millionth of a billionth of a second). The work "captured atoms and molecules in motion," Zewail says, but while snapshots of such molecules provide the "time dimension" of chemical reactions, they don't give the dimensions of space of those reactions-that is, their structure or architecture.
Zewail and his colleagues were able to visualize the missing architecture through 4D microscopy, which employs single electrons to introduce the dimension of time into traditional high-resolution electron microscopy, thus providing a way to see the changing structure of complex systems at the atomic scale.
In the research, Zewail and postdoctoral scholar Aycan Yurtsever were able to focus an electron beam onto a specific nanoscale-sized site in a specimen, making it possible to observe structures within that localized area at the atomic level.
"Essentially all of the specimens we deal with are heterogeneous," Zewail explains, with varying compositions over very small areas. "This technique provides the means for examining local sites in materials and biological structures, with a spatial resolution of a nanometer or less, and time resolution of femtoseconds."
The new diffraction method allows the structures of materials to be mapped out at an atomic scale. With the second technique, which was coauthored by postdoctoral scholars Brett Barwick and David Flannigan-the light produced by such nanostructures can be imaged and mapped.
"As noted by the reviewers of this paper, this technique of visualization opens new vistas of imaging with the potential to impact fields such as plasmonics, photonics, and related disciplines," Zewail says. "What is interesting from a fundamental physics point of view is that we are able to image photons using electrons. Traditionally, because of the mismatch between the energy and momentum of electrons and photons, we did not expect the strength of the PINEM (photon-induced near-field electron microscopy) effect, or the ability to visualize it in space and time."
Source: From ''[[Caltech Scientists Film Photons with Electrons|http://media.caltech.edu/press_releases/13310]]'' 4D electron microscopy makes it possible to image photons of nanoscale structures and visualize their architecture. This work is detailed in the papers ''[[Photon-Induced Near-Field Electron Microscopy|http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v462/n7275/full/nature08662.html]]'' by Brett Barwick, David J. Flannigan & [[Ahmed H. Zewail|http://www.zewail.caltech.edu/]], and ''[[4D Nanoscale Diffraction Observed by Convergent-Beam Ultrafast Electron Microscopy|http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/326/5953/708]]'' by Aycan Yurtsever and Ahmed H. Zewail.
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In looking at the interaction of nano science and the arts it is interesting to ''look at the interest of scientists in the arts''. These fall into two broad categories:
a) Scientists who have engaged in artistic practice during their scientific career, and this was important to their creativity.
b) Scientists who have collaborated with artists to create art works and this influenced their research practice, as well as creating art work exhibited professionally.
In the first category, Leonardo Co Editor Robert Root Bernstein wrote a note about Nobel prize winning chemist Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin. Dodgkin was a talented amateur artist and botanist who became a world authority on Sudanese flowers, ancient textiles and weaving techniques. She also became an expert on mosaics.
[[DOROTHY CROWFOOT HODGKIN: STRUCTURE AS ART|http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/leon.2007.40.3.259?prevSearch=allfield%253A%2528nano%2529&searchHistoryKey=]]
June 2007, Vol. 40, No. 3, Pages 259-261
© 2007 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
''[[Robert Root-Bernstein: Art Science the Essential Connection|Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin: Structure as Art]]''
Department of Physiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 U.S.A. E-mail: rootbern@msu.edu
Hodgkin credits her drawing practice as being crucial to her development ideas on symmetry groups and chemical structure. At the end her life she drew many drawings.
"What she finished instead were stunning images of natural structures too small for the naked eye to perceive—surely a form of art as creative and inspiring as the mosaics,Celtic knots and architectural innovations she recorded in her earlier years."
''With recent work on mirror neurons, we are developing better ideas of how the human mind constructs mental models, and often this involves kinesthetic mirroring. Drawing and other artistic practice can be strategies for scientific creativity and innovation.''
Derrick de Kerchove in the recent YASMIN discussion on [["Simulation"|http://yasminlist.blogspot.com/2010/02/re-yasmindiscussions-simulation-and_3442.html]] pointed out that it will also force us to at art practice in a new way: "Though still controversial, if the theory ( mirror neurons) turns out to be verified, it may have consequences for the study of media, of performing arts and of the growing practice of simulation in general. The acting profession from ancient Greek theatre to television, cinema and virtual reality could be no more and no less than a biological strategy to introduce new and complex human experience and behavior in society. It would go at some length to explain the manner by which the spectator accesses emotions that are quite literally projected into him or her by the performance."
''As we look at the way that nano scientists and nano technologists are involved in the arts we need to understand the retro active of their art making on themselves and their creativity , as well as the way the art works produced allow viewers to access new domains of the natural world. They in effect are developing new forms of sensuality for sensory awareness mediated by scientific instruments.'' Via [[Leonardo/ISAST cooperation with NanoWiki|Nano and art: Leonardo/ISAST cooperation with NanoWiki]]
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A team of materials scientists and toxicologists announced the formation of a new international research alliance to establish protocols for reproducible toxicological testing of nanomaterials in both cultured cells and animals. ''[[The International Alliance for NanoEHS Harmonization (IANH)|http://www.nanoehsalliance.org/]]'' was unveiled at [[Nanotox 2008|http://www.nanotox2008.ch/]], one of the world's largest biennial [[nanotoxicological research|nanotoxicology]] meetings.
//"When this team of scientists from Europe, the U.S., and Japan are able to get the same results for interactions of nanomaterials with biological organisms, then science and society can have higher confidence in the safety of these materials,"// said [[Kenneth Dawson|http://www.ucd.ie/chem/dawson/index.html]], of University College Dublin and current chair of the IANH team.
Nanotechnology provides the opportunity for enabling new products that could meet a wide range of societal needs, but concerns over potential environmental, health and safety impacts of these materials may limit their adoption. Multiple organizations including the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the [[International Nanotechnology Conference for Communication and Cooperation (INC)|http://www.cnsi.ucla.edu/events/event-category-view?category_id=131813]] //have highlighted the importance of international collaboration ''to accelerate understanding of nanotechnology implications for society''. This alliance, IANH, was established by leading materials and toxicological researchers to address this need//.
Previous studies have identified key gaps in scientific knowledge regarding the biological interactions with nanoparticles and subsequent toxicological responses. Progress in resolving these issues is limited by the lack of testing protocols that enable reproducible assessment of the biological interactions of nanoparticles with cells and animals, and the lack of correlations between interactions observed in cells and in animals. ''IANH is being formed to establish testing protocols that enable reproducible toxicological testing of nanomaterials at the cell and animal levels and to start developing correlations between these two systems''.
This effort was encouraged by the United States National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (~FP7), and the Japanese National Institute for Materials Science.
Source: [[Scientists form alliance to develop nanotoxicology protocols|http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/ru-sfa090808.php]]
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Imagine charging your phone as you walk, thanks to a paper-thin generator embedded in the sole of your shoe. This futuristic scenario is now a little closer to reality. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a way to generate power using harmless viruses that convert mechanical energy into electricity.
The scientists tested their approach by creating a generator that produces enough current to operate a small liquid-crystal display. It works by tapping a finger on a postage stamp-sized electrode coated with specially engineered viruses. The viruses convert the force of the tap into an electric charge.
''This generator is the first to produce electricity by harnessing the piezoelectric properties of a biological material.'' Piezoelectricity is the accumulation of a charge in a solid in response to mechanical stress. The milestone could lead to tiny devices that harvest electrical energy from the vibrations of everyday tasks such as shutting a door or climbing stairs.
It also points to a simpler way to make microelectronic devices. That’s because the viruses arrange themselves into an orderly film that enables the generator to work. Self-assembly is a much sought after goal in the finicky world of nanotechnology. Source: From [[Berkeley Lab Scientists Generate Electricity From Viruses|http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2012/05/13/electricity-from-viruses/]] by Dan Krotz. This work is detailed in the paper ''[["Virus-based piezoelectric energy generation"|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nnano.2012.69.html]]'' by Byung Yang Lee, Jinxing Zhang, Chris Zueger, Woo-Jae Chung, So Young Yoo, Eddie Wang, Joel Meyer, Ramamoorthy Ramesh & Seung-Wuk Lee.
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Chemical reduction of graphene oxide (GO) flakes is widely used for the synthesis of graphene. In this process, the critical stage of reducing GO flakes into graphene requires the exposure of the GO to hydrazine. This reduction process has fundamental limitations for large scale production; in particular because of the hydrazine vapor is highly toxic.
Here the Graphene Research Group at Toyohashi Tech report on the ''synthesis of graphene by reducing graphene oxide using microorganisms extracted from a local river''.
<html><img style="float:center; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/reduced_graphene.jpg" title="Image of reduced GO sheets on a SiO2/Si substrate. (a) Optical microscope image; and (b) higher magnification. Credit: Toyohashi University of Technology" class="photo" width="100%"/></html>The method developed by the Toyohashi Tech team was inspired by a recent report showing that graphene oxide behaves as a terminal electron acceptor for bacteria, where the GO is reduced by microbial action in the process of breathing or electron transport. Notably, the Toyohashi Graphene Research Group method is a hybrid approach, where ''chemically derived graphene oxide flakes are reduced by readily available microorganisms extracted from a river bank'' near the Tempaku Campus of Toyohashi University of Technology, Aichi, Japan. Raman scattering measurements showed that the GO flakes had indeed been reduced.
The approach offers ''a low-cost, highly efficient, and environmentally friendly method for the mass production of high quality graphene'' for the electronics industry. Source: From [[Scientists produce graphene using microorganisms|http://www.tut.ac.jp/english/newsletter/research_highlights/research02.html]]. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Microorganism mediated synthesis of reduced graphene oxide films|http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-6596/352/1/012011]]'' by Y Tanizawa, Y Okamoto, K Tsuzuki, Y Nagao, N Yoshida, R Tero, S Iwasa, A Hiraishi, Y Suda, H Takikawa, R Numano, H Okada, R Ishikawa, A Sandhu
''Context:''
April 1, 2012. ''[[Graphene: It runs right through a river?|http://www.spectroscopynow.com/coi/cda/detail.cda?id=26966&type=Feature&chId=3&page=1]]'' by David Bradley, SpectroscopyNOW. //"We cannot disclose the type of bacteria yet because we are preparing another paper based on this information"//
December, 2007. [[Nanotube-producing bacteria]]. //"the first time nanotubes have been shown to be produced by biological rather than chemical means"//
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Researchers at the University of Sheffield have revolutionised the electron microscope by developing ''a new method which could create the highest resolution images ever seen''.
For over 70 years, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which `looks through´ an object to see atomic features within it, has been constrained by the relatively poor lenses which are used to form the image.
The new method, called electron ptychography, dispenses with the lens and instead forms the image by reconstructing the scattered electron-waves after they have passed through the sample using computers.
Scientists involved in the scheme consider their findings to be ''a `first step´ in a `completely new epoch of electron imaging´''. The process has no fundamental experimental boundaries and it is thought it will transform sub-atomic scale transmission imaging.
Project leader Professor [[John Rodenburg|http://www.rodenburg.org/diffractive.html]], of the University of Sheffield´s Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, said: "To understand how material behaves, we need to know exactly where the atoms are. This approach will enable us to look at how atoms sit next to one another in a solid object as if we´re holding them in our hands.
"We´ve shown we can improve upon the resolution limit of an electron lens by a factor of five. An extension of the same method ''should reach the highest resolution transmission image ever obtained; about one tenth of an atomic diameter. No longer does TEM have to be bound by the paradigm of the lens, its Achilles´ heel since its invention in 1933''."
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px" src="img/in_flask_.jpg" title="Specimens can be viewed in containers instead of slides" class="photo" width="40%"/></html>The technique is applicable to microscopes using any type of wave and has other key advantages over conventional methods. For example, when used with visible light, the new technology forms a type of image that means scientists can see living cells very clearly without the need to stain them, a process which usually kills the cells.
The new method also disposes of the need to put a lens very close to a living sample, meaning that cells can be seen through thick containers like petri dishes or flasks. This means that as they develop and grow over days or weeks, they do not have to be disturbed.
Plans are even being put into place with the European Space Agency to take the new, more robust, microscope technology to the moon in 2018 to examine the structure of moon soil.
Professor Rodenburg added: "We measure diffraction patterns rather than images. What we record is equivalent to the strength of the electron, X-ray or light waves which have been scattered by the object – this is called their intensity. However, to make an image, we need to know when the peaks and troughs of the waves arrive at the detector – this is called their phase.
"The key breakthrough has been to develop a way to calculate the phase of the waves from their intensity alone. Once we have this, we can work out backwards what the waves were scattered from: that is, we can form an aberration-free image of the object, which is much better than can be achieved with a normal lens.
"A typical electron or X-ray microscope image is about one hundred times more blurred than the theoretical limit defined by the wavelength. ''In this project, the eventual aim is to get the best-ever pictures of individual atoms in any structure seen within a three-dimensional object''."
The ground-breaking results were part of a three-year study costing £4.3 million which was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
The investigation was carried out with the help of [[Phase Focus Ltd|http://www.phasefocus.com/about-us.php]], a University of Sheffield spin-out company, and [[Gatan Inc|http://www.gatan.com/company/about/]]. Source: From [[Scientists revolutionise electron microscope|http://www.shef.ac.uk/mediacentre/2012/electron-microscope-ptychography-revolution.html]]. This work is detailed in the paper ''[["Ptychographic electron microscopy using high-angle dark-field scattering for sub-nanometre resolution imaging"|http://www.nature.com/ncomms/journal/v3/n3/full/ncomms1733.html]]'' by M.J. Humphry, B. Kraus, A.C. Hurst, A.M. Maiden & J.M. Rodenburg.
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A team of scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and the Carnegie Institution of Washington has succeeded in "watching" nanoparticles grow in real time. The revolutionary technique allows researchers to learn about the early stages of nanoparticle generation, long a mystery due to inadequate probing methods, and could lead to improved performance of the nanomaterials in applications including solar cells, sensing and more.
''"Nanocrystal growth is the foundation of nanotechnology,"'' said lead researcher Yugang Sun, an Argonne chemist. "Understanding it will allow scientists to more precisely tailor new and fascinating nanoparticle properties."
The way that nanoparticles look and behave depends on their architecture: size, shape, texture and surface chemistry. This, in turn, depends very much on the conditions under which they are grown. "Accurately controlling nanoparticles is very difficult," Sun explained. "It's even harder to reproduce the same nanoparticles from batch to batch, because we still don't know all the conditions for the recipe. Temperature, pressure, humidity, impurities—they all affect growth, and we keep discovering more factors."
In order to understand how nanoparticles grow, the scientists needed to actually watch them in the act. The problem was that electron microscopy, the usual method for seeing down into the atomic level of nanoparticles, requires a vacuum. But many kinds of nanocrystals have to grow in a liquid medium—and the vacuum in an electron microscope makes this impossible. A special thin cell allows a tiny amount of liquid to be analyzed in an electron microscope, but it still limited the researchers to a liquid layer just 100 nanometers thick, which is significantly different from the real conditions for nanoparticle synthesis.
To solve this conundrum, Sun found he needed to use the very high-energy X-rays provided at Sector 1 of Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source (APS), which adjoins the laboratory’s Center for Nanoscale Materials, where he works. The pattern of X-rays scattered by the sample allowed the researchers to reconstruct the earliest stages of nanocrystals second-by-second.
"The key to this breakthrough was the unique ability for us to work with scientists from the Advanced Photon Source, the Center for Nanoscale Materials and the Electron Microscopy Center—all in one place," Sun said. Source: from [[Argonne scientists watch the birth of nanoparticles for the first time|http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2010/news101013a.html]] by Louise Lerner. This work is detailed in the paper [[Nanophase Evolution at Semiconductor/Electrolyte Interface in Situ Probed by Time-Resolved High-Energy Synchrotron X-ray Diffraction|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl102458k?journalCode=nalefd]] by Yugang Sun, Yang Ren, Dean R. Haeffner, Jonathan D. Almer, Lin Wang, Wenge Yang and Tu T. Truong. <<slider chkSldr [[Nanophase Evolution at Semiconductor/Electrolyte Interface in Situ Probed by Time-Resolved High-Energy Synchrotron X-ray Diffraction]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
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[[Hodgkin|Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin: Structure as Art]], who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was one of example of a scientist who credits their art practice as being important to their scientific creativity.
The second category I previously described is [[scientists who collaborate with artists|Scientists as Artists in Nano Science and Technology]] to create art works that prove to be powerful art works as well as influential on the scientist's research practice.
Nano-scientist [[Jim Gimzewski|http://www.chem.ucla.edu/dept/Faculty/gimzewski/]] has articulated the way that nano sciences needs the arts to enable the kind of paradigm changes of concepts needed in an article: Nano-technology the end of materialism published in Leonardo Journal (June 2008, Vol. 41, No. 3, Pages 259-264. Posted Online May 21, 2008).
[[Nanotechnology: The Endgame of Materialism|http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/leon.2008.41.3.259]]
James K. Gimzewski (educator), Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry,
607 Charles E. Young Drive East, Los Angeles, CA 90095, U.S.A. E-mail: gim@chem.ucla.edu.
Abstract: "Imagine that one could arrange atoms in any form one wanted: What would one create? What kind of mind would it take to change the world through this metamorphosis of rearrangement and design? The ultimate endgame of our current technological capability to make material things is determined by our own creativity. The author examines how technological interfaces join the human mind to objects of experience from the nanometric to the planetary scale and theorizes the impact this perceptual condition will have on the personal and collective psyche.
Gimzewski has created a number of works related to nano science and technology with Artist [[Victoria Vesna|http://vv.arts.ucla.edu/]], see examples at :
Gimzewski and Vesna have documented the way that nano science and art can interact in their text:
''[[The Nanomeme Syndrome: Blurring of Fact and Fiction in the Construction of a New Science|http://vv.arts.ucla.edu/publications/publications/02-03/JV_nano/JV_nano_artF5VG.htm]]''.
Their abstract states: "In both the philosophical and visual sense, "seeing is believing" does not apply to nanotechnology, for there is nothing even remotely visible to create proof of existence. On the atomic and molecular scale, data is recorded by sensing and probing in a very abstract manner, which requires complex and approximate interpretations. More than in any other science, ''visualization and creation of a narrative becomes necessary to describe what is sensed, not seen''. Nevertheless, many of the images generated in science and popular culture are not related to data at all, but come from visualizations and animations frequently inspired or created directly from science fiction. Likewise, much of this imagery is based on industrial models and is very mechanistic in nature, even though nanotechnology research is at a scale where cogs, gears, cables, levers and assembly lines as functional components appear to be highly unlikely. However, images of mechanistic nanobots proliferate in venture capital circles, popular culture, and even in the scientific arena, and tend to dominate discourse around the possibilities of nanotechnology. The authors put forward that ''this new science is ultimately about a shift in our perception of reality from a purely visual culture to one based on sensing and connectivity''." Via [[Leonardo/ISAST cooperation with NanoWiki|Nano and art: Leonardo/ISAST cooperation with NanoWiki]]
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created art>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[Roger Malina]]>>
''The first-ever glimpse of nanoscale catalysts in action'' could lead to improved pollution control and fuel cell technologies. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory observed catalysts restructuring themselves in response to various gases swirling around them, like a chameleon changing its color to match its surroundings.
Using a state-of-the-art spectroscopy system at [[Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source|http://www-als.lbl.gov/]], the team watched, for the first time, as nanoparticles composed of two catalytic metals changed their composition in the presence of different reactants. ''Until now, scientists have had to rely on snapshots of catalysts taken before and after a reaction, never during''.
This new window could give scientists the ability to develop cheaper and smarter catalysts that are fine-tuned to drive the chemistry of everyday life. It could also expedite the development of catalysts that mop up all the substances in a reaction except the desired product, the hallmark of “[[green chemistry]]” in which waste byproducts are minimized.
“Now we can dream. By watching catalysts change in real time, we can possibly design smart catalysts that optimally change as a reaction evolves,” said [[Gabor Somorjai|http://newscenter.lbl.gov/press-releases/2007/06/07/gabor-somorjai-wins-priestley-award/]], a renowned surface science and catalysis expert who holds joint appointments with Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division and UC Berkeley’s department of chemistry. He conducted the research with [[Miquel Salmeron|http://stm.lbl.gov/Salmeron_group/aboutprofsalmeron.html]], a pioneer in a field of spectroscopy that enabled this work.
“[[Reaction-Driven Restructuring of Rh-Pd and Pt-Pd Core-Shell Nanoparticles|http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1164170]]” was published online Oct. 9 in Science Express.
Source: [[Secret Lives of Catalysts Revealed|http://newscenter.lbl.gov/press-releases/2008/10/21/catalysts/]]. New window into nanoscale chemistry could help improve pollution control, fuel cell technologies
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{{twocolumns{
''NanoWiki Tweets:''
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<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/7933506835456000 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1289339734/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_7933506835456000' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1289339734/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>Graphene and the Carbon Revolution <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23nanotechnology" target="_new">#nanotechnology</a> <a href='http://t.co/wpQANhI' target='_new'>http://t.co/wpQANhI</a> via <a href="http://twitter.com/nanowiki" target="_new">@nanowiki</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Thu Nov 25 23:07:50 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/7933506835456000'>Thu Nov 25 23:07:50 </a> via <a href="http://twitter.com/tweetbutton" rel="nofollow">Tweet Button</a></span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
}}}
{{twocolumns{
''NanoWiki Tweets:''
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<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/29077951038 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_29077951038' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>2792 <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23graphene" target="_new">#graphene</a> patent applications have been lodged <a href='http://bit.ly/cbR0NK' target='_new'>http://bit.ly/cbR0NK</a> The Graphene IP Goldrush: Commercializing Graphene through Patents<span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Fri Oct 29 11:25:15 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/29077951038'>Fri Oct 29 11:25:15 </a> via web</span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/WINano/status/28894329393 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://a3.twimg.com/profile_background_images/41809547/blob.gif) #ffffff;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_28894329393' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://a3.twimg.com/profile_background_images/41809547/blob.gif) #ffffff;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>The Quantum-Nano-Centre is featured in today's Record <a href='http://bit.ly/cDAen6' target='_new'>http://bit.ly/cDAen6</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23uwaterloo" target="_new">#uwaterloo</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23nanotechnology" target="_new">#nanotechnology</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Wed Oct 27 14:22:18 ' href='http://twitter.com/WINano/status/28894329393'>Wed Oct 27 14:22:18 </a> via <a href="http://www.tweetdeck.com" rel="nofollow">TweetDeck</a></span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/WINano'><img src='http://a0.twimg.com/profile_images/447374832/NanoLogo_icon_normal.jpg' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/WINano'>WINanotechnology</a></strong><br/>WINano</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/28929662855 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_28929662855' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>Spitzer Goes Buck Wild and Finds Buckyballs Floating Between the Stars - NASA Spitzer Space Telescope <a href='http://t.co/K4BHhaY' target='_new'>http://t.co/K4BHhaY</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Wed Oct 27 22:17:33 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/28929662855'>Wed Oct 27 22:17:33 </a> via <a href="http://twitter.com/tweetbutton" rel="nofollow">Tweet Button</a></span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/28674629687 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_28674629687' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>'The future regarding <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23textile" target="_new">#textile</a> engineering is in <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23nanotechnology" target="_new">#nanotechnology</a>' Arun Naik <a href='http://bit.ly/9IbDnZ' target='_new'>http://bit.ly/9IbDnZ</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Mon Oct 25 09:28:51 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/28674629687'>Mon Oct 25 09:28:51 </a> via web</span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/28669285033 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_28669285033' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>Leyendo 'Graphenea pule un mineral más duro que el diamante' <a href='http://t.co/bTviFHa' target='_new'>http://t.co/bTviFHa</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23nanotecnologia" target="_new">#nanotecnologia</a> via <a href="http://twitter.com/expansioncom" target="_new">@expansioncom</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Mon Oct 25 07:33:16 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/28669285033'>Mon Oct 25 07:33:16 </a> via <a href="http://twitter.com/tweetbutton" rel="nofollow">Tweet Button</a></span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/28482603850 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_28482603850' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>Graphene Transistors Do Triple Duty in Wireless Communications <a href='http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/26612/' target='_new'>http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/26612/</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Sat Oct 23 08:14:01 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/28482603850'>Sat Oct 23 08:14:01 </a> via web</span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/#!/ACSNanotation/status/28056815952 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox28056815952 {background:url(http://a3.twimg.com/profile_background_images/53618399/twitter_bg.jpg) #36719c;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}</style> <div class='bbpBox28056815952'><p class='bbpTweet'>Want to learn more about the Nobel-winning discovery, graphene? Watch this entry in the NanoTube video contest: <a href="http://bit.ly/9G0zeu" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/9G0zeu</a><span class='timestamp'><a title='Thu Oct 21 20:12:10 +0000 2010' href='http://twitter.com/#!/ACSNanotation/status/28056815952'>Thu Oct 21 20:12:10</a> via web</span><span class='metadata'><span class='author'><a href='http://twitter.com/ACSNanotation'><img src='http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/511221407/nano_icon_normal.gif' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/ACSNanotation'>ACS Nanotation</a></strong><br/>ACSNanotation</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/#!/PaulAlivisatos/status/28049724478 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox28049724478 {background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287523226/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}</style> <div class='bbpBox28049724478'><p class='bbpTweet'>Discussion this AM with Berkeley Nobel Laureate Y.T. Lee on global sustainability - 3.5 tons CO2 emission per person may be a limit<span class='timestamp'><a title='Thu Oct 21 18:24:06 +0000 2010' href='http://twitter.com/#!/PaulAlivisatos/status/28049724478'>Thu Oct 21 18:24:06</a> via web</span><span class='metadata'><span class='author'><a href='http://twitter.com/PaulAlivisatos'><img src='http://a0.twimg.com/profile_images/461861184/Paul_Alivisatos_Informal_normal.jpg' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/PaulAlivisatos'>Paul Alivisatos</a></strong><br/>PaulAlivisatos</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/28048808835 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_28048808835' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'><a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23Nanotechnology" target="_new">#Nanotechnology</a>: Beyond the Hype <a href='http://bit.ly/czweFt' target='_new'>http://bit.ly/czweFt</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Thu Oct 21 18:10:25 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/28048808835'>Thu Oct 21 18:10:25 </a> via web</span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/techreview/status/28024140363 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://a1.twimg.com/profile_background_images/24819130/Twitter_TR_base.jpg) #990000;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_28024140363' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://a1.twimg.com/profile_background_images/24819130/Twitter_TR_base.jpg) #990000;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>Mass Can Be 'Created' Inside Graphene, Say Physicists <a href='http://bit.ly/dfARMh' target='_new'>http://bit.ly/dfARMh</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Thu Oct 21 13:00:02 ' href='http://twitter.com/techreview/status/28024140363'>Thu Oct 21 13:00:02 </a> via <a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/" rel="nofollow">Tech Review Tweeter</a></span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/techreview'><img src='http://a2.twimg.com/profile_images/326738166/TR_LOGO-Twitter_x182_normal.jpg' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/techreview'>Technology Review</a></strong><br/>techreview</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/28012901197 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_28012901197' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>King Abdullah Institute for Nanotechnology (KAIN) <a href='http://nano.ksu.edu.sa/' target='_new'>http://nano.ksu.edu.sa/</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Thu Oct 21 10:08:55 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/28012901197'>Thu Oct 21 10:08:55 </a> via <a href="http://tweetmeme.com" rel="nofollow">TweetMeme</a></span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/BryonyRoss/status/27936640518 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://a1.twimg.com/profile_background_images/56889818/DSC02892__Large_.JPG) #fafafa;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_27936640518' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://a1.twimg.com/profile_background_images/56889818/DSC02892__Large_.JPG) #fafafa;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>SAFENANO: Australia introduces new notification and assessment procedures for nanomaterials: The Australian Nation... <a href='http://bit.ly/bEM1Sj' target='_new'>http://bit.ly/bEM1Sj</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Wed Oct 20 14:37:09 ' href='http://twitter.com/BryonyRoss/status/27936640518'>Wed Oct 20 14:37:09 </a> via <a href="http://twitterfeed.com" rel="nofollow">twitterfeed</a></span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/BryonyRoss'><img src='http://a0.twimg.com/profile_images/80609240/DSC_0116__Large__normal.JPG' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/BryonyRoss'>Bryony Ross SAFENANO</a></strong><br/>BryonyRoss</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/28008324855 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_28008324855' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>Can Nanotechnology Provide Relief in Rare Earth Resource Squeeze?... <a href='http://bit.ly/bMLCR8' target='_new'>http://bit.ly/bMLCR8</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Thu Oct 21 08:35:14 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/28008324855'>Thu Oct 21 08:35:14 </a> via web</span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/27914041295 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_27914041295' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>RT <a href="http://twitter.com/physorg_com" target="_new">@physorg_com</a> Coming soon: Manufacturing with every atom in its proper place <a href='http://tw.physorg.com/206714166' target='_new'>http://tw.physorg.com/206714166</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Wed Oct 20 09:01:50 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/27914041295'>Wed Oct 20 09:01:50 </a> via web</span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/27866316954 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_27866316954' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>More than 175 companies in Massachusetts describe themselves as <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23nanotechnology" target="_new">#nanotechnology</a> operations <a href='http://t.co/AiIm4wt' target='_new'>http://t.co/AiIm4wt</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Tue Oct 19 20:36:31 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/27866316954'>Tue Oct 19 20:36:31 </a> via web</span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/27852066050 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_27852066050' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>Nobel team reunites for Buckyball Discovery Conference <a href="http://twitter.com/RiceUniversity" target="_new">@RiceUniversity</a> <a href='http://bit.ly/c0Rezb' target='_new'>http://bit.ly/c0Rezb</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Tue Oct 19 17:10:42 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/27852066050'>Tue Oct 19 17:10:42 </a> via web</span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/27820160299 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_27820160299' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>Checking out "Open Access Week 2010: A Message from Phil Bourne" on Open Access Week: <a href='http://ning.it/aPehgG' target='_new'>http://ning.it/aPehgG</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23OAWeek" target="_new">#OAWeek</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Tue Oct 19 10:30:21 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/27820160299'>Tue Oct 19 10:30:21 </a> via web</span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/physorg_com/status/27772699424 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme4/bg.gif) #0099B9;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_27772699424' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme4/bg.gif) #0099B9;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>New evidence of the power of open access <a href='http://tw.physorg.com/206643258' target='_new'>http://tw.physorg.com/206643258</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Mon Oct 18 21:54:30 ' href='http://twitter.com/physorg_com/status/27772699424'>Mon Oct 18 21:54:30 </a> via <a href="http://www.physorg.com" rel="nofollow">PhysOrg.com Status Update</a></span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/physorg_com'><img src='http://a0.twimg.com/profile_images/73468704/physorg-mainlogoHIRES-2extract_sq_normal.jpg' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/physorg_com'>PhysOrg Science News</a></strong><br/>physorg_com</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/27723754711 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_27723754711' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'><a href="http://twitter.com/argonne" target="_new">@argonne</a> <a href='http://bit.ly/bsT6Io' target='_new'>http://bit.ly/bsT6Io</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Mon Oct 18 11:04:36 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/27723754711'>Mon Oct 18 11:04:36 </a> via web</span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/27431565259 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_27431565259' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'><a href='http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7241086.html?' target='_new'>http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7241086.html?</a> - 25 years later, buckyball a big scientific find on small scale<span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Fri Oct 15 11:25:36 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/27431565259'>Fri Oct 15 11:25:36 </a> via web</span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/27430415616 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_27430415616' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>RT <a href="http://twitter.com/2020science" target="_new">@2020science</a> Nanotechnology 2.0: The next ten years of nano risk research <a href='http://bit.ly/anUUa0' target='_new'>http://bit.ly/anUUa0</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Fri Oct 15 11:06:24 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/27430415616'>Fri Oct 15 11:06:24 </a> via <a href="http://tweetmeme.com" rel="nofollow">TweetMeme</a></span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/UB_live/status/27332939942 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://a3.twimg.com/profile_background_images/149268997/rellotge_twitter_2.jpg) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_27332939942' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://a3.twimg.com/profile_background_images/149268997/rellotge_twitter_2.jpg) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>The Faculty of Physics <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23UB" target="_new">#UB</a> hosts the III IRUN Symposium of <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23Nanotechnology" target="_new">#Nanotechnology</a> <a href='http://bit.ly/aU6UHb' target='_new'>http://bit.ly/aU6UHb</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Thu Oct 14 11:49:47 ' href='http://twitter.com/UB_live/status/27332939942'>Thu Oct 14 11:49:47 </a> via <a href="http://www.tweetdeck.com" rel="nofollow">TweetDeck</a></span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/UB_live'><img src='http://a2.twimg.com/profile_images/1133034202/imatge_perfil_twitter_2_normal.jpg' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/UB_live'>UniversitatBarcelona</a></strong><br/>UB_live</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/26924858680 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_26924858680' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>RT <a href="http://twitter.com/euribor_com_es" target="_new">@euribor_com_es</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23Nanotecnolog" target="_new">#Nanotecnolog</a>ía: La próxima burbuja está naciendo. <a href='http://bit.ly/ci7ZjY' target='_new'>http://bit.ly/ci7ZjY</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23economics" target="_new">#economics</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23nanotechnology" target="_new">#nanotechnology</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Sun Oct 10 10:03:10 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/26924858680'>Sun Oct 10 10:03:10 </a> via web</span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/26737535617 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_26737535617' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>Currently reading "The 2010 Nobel Prize for Graphene Nanotechnology" on Metamodern <a href='http://metamodern.com/b/?p' target='_new'>http://metamodern.com/b/?p</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Fri Oct 08 10:59:03 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/26737535617'>Fri Oct 08 10:59:03 </a> via web</span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/26728320546 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_26728320546' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>Currently reading Nobel Prize winner ‘will bring significant benefits to UK economy’ <a href='http://bit.ly/bHxuyV' target='_new'>http://bit.ly/bHxuyV</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Fri Oct 08 07:54:42 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/26728320546'>Fri Oct 08 07:54:42 </a> via web</span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/26652263234 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_26652263234' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>Lloyd's insurance: How can the insurance industry cope with the continuing uncertainty around nanotechnology? <a href='http://bit.ly/bdu7Nh' target='_new'>http://bit.ly/bdu7Nh</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Thu Oct 07 14:15:18 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/26652263234'>Thu Oct 07 14:15:18 </a> via web</span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/26568148104 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_26568148104' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>The American Chemical Society will honor the discovery of fullerenes <a href='http://bit.ly/9XUWmR' target='_new'>http://bit.ly/9XUWmR</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23nanotechnology" target="_new">#nanotechnology</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23chemistry" target="_new">#chemistry</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Wed Oct 06 16:52:16 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/26568148104'>Wed Oct 06 16:52:16 </a> via web</span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/CNSI_UCLA/status/26493881648 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://a1.twimg.com/profile_background_images/32238538/UCLA_Soup.jpg) #a8e85a;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_26493881648' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://a1.twimg.com/profile_background_images/32238538/UCLA_Soup.jpg) #a8e85a;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>First industrial-scale MOF synthesis <a href='http://bit.ly/aPYXTH' target='_new'>http://bit.ly/aPYXTH</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23nanotechnology" target="_new">#nanotechnology</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Tue Oct 05 21:59:38 ' href='http://twitter.com/CNSI_UCLA/status/26493881648'>Tue Oct 05 21:59:38 </a> via <a href="http://www.tweetdeck.com" rel="nofollow">TweetDeck</a></span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/CNSI_UCLA'><img src='http://a0.twimg.com/profile_images/383080684/CNSI_Logo-small_normal.JPG' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/CNSI_UCLA'>CNSI, UCLA</a></strong><br/>CNSI_UCLA</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/#!/Nobelprize_org/status/26442436226 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox26442436226 {background:url(http://a3.twimg.com/profile_background_images/4446299/twitter_bgtone.jpg) #ffffff;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}</style> <div class='bbpBox26442436226'><p class='bbpTweet'>2010 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Andre Geim & Konstantin Novoselov for " two-dimensional material graphene" <a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23nobelprize" title="#nobelprize" class="tweet-url hashtag" rel="nofollow">#nobelprize</a> <a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23physics" title="#physics" class="tweet-url hashtag" rel="nofollow">#physics</a><span class='timestamp'><a title='Tue Oct 05 09:46:23 +0000 2010' href='http://twitter.com/#!/Nobelprize_org/status/26442436226'>Tue Oct 05 09:46:23</a> via <a href="http://www.tweetdeck.com" rel="nofollow">TweetDeck</a></span><span class='metadata'><span class='author'><a href='http://twitter.com/Nobelprize_org'><img src='http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/444654783/twitter_channel_logo_normal.jpg' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/Nobelprize_org'>Nobelprize_org</a></strong><br/>Nobelprize_org</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/26437175302 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_26437175302' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>"Los 'nanoriesgos' no son tan diminutos" <a href='http://bit.ly/9n2YIY' target='_new'>http://bit.ly/9n2YIY</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23nanotecnolog" target="_new">#nanotecnolog</a>ía<span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Tue Oct 05 07:44:48 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/26437175302'>Tue Oct 05 07:44:48 </a> via web</span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/ACCC_/status/26368695518 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://a1.twimg.com/profile_background_images/114799458/AcccColor.jpg) #ffffff;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_26368695518' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://a1.twimg.com/profile_background_images/114799458/AcccColor.jpg) #ffffff;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>Demà, al Parc Científic de Barcelona, presentació de «Nanotecnologia i Bioètica Global» 11.00 h <a href='http://bit.ly/aT0fUF' target='_new'>http://bit.ly/aT0fUF</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23nanotecnologia" target="_new">#nanotecnologia</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Mon Oct 04 14:46:55 ' href='http://twitter.com/ACCC_/status/26368695518'>Mon Oct 04 14:46:55 </a> via web</span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/ACCC_'><img src='http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/404428303/AcccColor_small_normal.jpg' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/ACCC_'>Assoc.Cat.Com.Cient.</a></strong><br/>ACCC_</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
<html><!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/26065113433 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_26065113433' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1287010001/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>Tecnorevolución una nueva exposición para descubrir los avances en tecnologías convergentes <a href='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v' target='_new'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Fri Oct 01 09:46:20 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/26065113433'>Fri Oct 01 09:46:20 </a> via web</span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --></html>
}}}
{{twocolumns{
''NanoWiki Tweets:''
http://nanowiki.info/index.html#NanoWikiTweets
''NanoWiki on Twitter:''
http://twitter.com/nanowiki
''@nanowiki/nanotweet:''
http://twitter.com/#!/list/nanowiki/nanotweet
<html>
<!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/25696067667 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1285137161/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_25696067667' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1285137161/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>New economic model for New York State and beyond? Nanotech's big impact - Times Union <a href='http://bit.ly/cxBrAc' target='_new'>http://bit.ly/cxBrAc</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23nanotechnology" target="_new">#nanotechnology</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23economics" target="_new">#economics</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Mon Sep 27 15:22:44 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/25696067667'>Mon Sep 27 15:22:44 </a> via <a href="http://tweetmeme.com" rel="nofollow">TweetMeme</a></span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet -->
<br>
<!-- http://twitter.com/pdjmoo/status/25645528942 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1284676327/images/themes/theme5/bg.gif) #352726;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_25645528942' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1284676327/images/themes/theme5/bg.gif) #352726;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>THE RISKS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY IN THE FOOD CHAIN (International symposium) <a href='http://ht.ly/2JYg7' target='_new'>http://ht.ly/2JYg7</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23nanotechnology" target="_new">#nanotechnology</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23food" target="_new">#food</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23environment" target="_new">#environment</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Mon Sep 27 01:55:02 ' href='http://twitter.com/pdjmoo/status/25645528942'>Mon Sep 27 01:55:02 </a> via <a href="http://www.hootsuite.com" rel="nofollow">HootSuite</a></span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/pdjmoo'><img src='http://a0.twimg.com/profile_images/309253372/SHAMBO_w_url_normal.jpg' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/pdjmoo'>pdjmoo</a></strong><br/>pdjmoo</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet -->
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<!-- http://twitter.com/Kulinowski/status/25312463238 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://a1.twimg.com/profile_background_images/4388106/QuantumDot_-_Photo_Gallery_Page_2_Image_0002.jpg) #020302;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_25312463238' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://a1.twimg.com/profile_background_images/4388106/QuantumDot_-_Photo_Gallery_Page_2_Image_0002.jpg) #020302;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>I'm a blogging maniac this month. Here's the lineup for my nano-EHS session at the Buckyball Discovery Conference <a href='http://is.gd/foWFE' target='_new'>http://is.gd/foWFE</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Thu Sep 23 14:36:07 ' href='http://twitter.com/Kulinowski/status/25312463238'>Thu Sep 23 14:36:07 </a> via <a href="http://seesmic.com/seesmic_desktop/sd2" rel="nofollow">Seesmic Desktop</a></span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/Kulinowski'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/117677613/PowerOfSmallScreenshot_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/Kulinowski'>Kristen Kulinowski</a></strong><br/>Kulinowski</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet -->
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<!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/25203667156 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox{background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1285137161/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;}</style><div id='tweet_25203667156' class='bbpBox' style='background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1285137161/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;'><p class='bbpTweet' style='background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:16px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;'>Putting carbon dioxide to good use <a href='http://t.co/LpYbLbi' target='_new'>http://t.co/LpYbLbi</a> via <a href="http://twitter.com/AddThis" target="_new">@AddThis</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23climate" target="_new">#climate</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23atmosphere" target="_new">#atmosphere</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23air" target="_new">#air</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23nanotechnology" target="_new">#nanotechnology</a> <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23architecture" target="_new">#architecture</a><span class='timestamp' style='font-size:12px;display:block;'><a title='Wed Sep 22 11:41:10 ' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/25203667156'>Wed Sep 22 11:41:10 </a> via <a href="http://twitter.com/tweetbutton" rel="nofollow">Tweet Button</a></span><span class='metadata' style='display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6;'><span class='author' style='line-height:19px;'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' style='float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px;' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet -->
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<!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/25197829258 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox25197829258 {background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1285137161/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}</style> <div class='bbpBox25197829258'><p class='bbpTweet'>A $1 trillion investment in nanotechnology... <a href="http://bit.ly/cDQAsX" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/cDQAsX</a> <a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23nanotechnology" title="#nanotechnology" class="tweet-url hashtag" rel="nofollow">#nanotechnology</a> <a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23economics" title="#economics" class="tweet-url hashtag" rel="nofollow">#economics</a> <a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23u" title="#u" class="tweet-url hashtag" rel="nofollow">#u</a>.s.a <a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23crisis" title="#crisis" class="tweet-url hashtag" rel="nofollow">#crisis</a><span class='timestamp'><a title='Wed Sep 22 09:48:07 +0000 2010' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/25197829258'>Wed Sep 22 09:48:07</a> via web</span><span class='metadata'><span class='author'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet -->
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<!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/24679564574 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox24679564574 {background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1285137161/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}</style> <div class='bbpBox24679564574'><p class='bbpTweet'>IEEE Spectrum: Stock Investment Advice for Nanotechnology Seems Cruel <a href="http://t.co/kbSLldn" rel="nofollow">http://t.co/kbSLldn</a><span class='timestamp'><a title='Thu Sep 16 16:42:28 +0000 2010' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/24679564574'>Thu Sep 16 16:42:28</a> via <a href="http://twitter.com/tweetbutton" rel="nofollow">Tweet Button</a></span><span class='metadata'><span class='author'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet -->
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<!-- http://twitter.com/BerkeleyLab/status/24605297323 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox24605297323 {background:url(http://a1.twimg.com/profile_background_images/3638262/2826515262_58f29c3c85_b.jpg) #4e7bc6;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}</style> <div class='bbpBox24605297323'><p class='bbpTweet'>RT @<a class="tweet-url username" href="http://twitter.com/KQEDScience" rel="nofollow">KQEDScience</a>: New Science on the SPOT: how @<a class="tweet-url username" href="http://twitter.com/BerkeleyLab" rel="nofollow">BerkeleyLab</a> artist-in-res Kate Nichols uses <a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23nanotechnology" title="#nanotechnology" class="tweet-url hashtag" rel="nofollow">#nanotechnology</a> <a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23art" title="#art" class="tweet-url hashtag" rel="nofollow">#art</a> <a href="http://ow.ly/2EOhg" rel="nofollow">http://ow.ly/2EOhg</a> <a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23QUEST" title="#QUEST" class="tweet-url hashtag" rel="nofollow">#QUEST</a><span class='timestamp'><a title='Wed Sep 15 21:33:08 +0000 2010' href='http://twitter.com/BerkeleyLab/status/24605297323'>Thu Sep 16 12:33:08</a> via <a href="http://www.tweetdeck.com" rel="nofollow">TweetDeck</a></span><span class='metadata'><span class='author'><a href='http://twitter.com/BerkeleyLab'><img src='http://a0.twimg.com/profile_images/732915032/newlogo_normal.jpg' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/BerkeleyLab'>BerkeleyLab</a></strong><br/>BerkeleyLab</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet -->
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<!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/24651958108 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox24651958108 {background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1285137161/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}</style> <div class='bbpBox24651958108'><p class='bbpTweet'><a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23Nanotechnology" title="#Nanotechnology" class="tweet-url hashtag" rel="nofollow">#Nanotechnology</a>: majority of european companies prefer the silence (study) <a href="http://bit.ly/cuhMgM" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/cuhMgM</a> «pourrait leur nuire» <a href="http://bit.ly/b9PaJn" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/b9PaJn</a><span class='timestamp'><a title='Thu Sep 16 10:18:18 +0000 2010' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/24651958108'>Thu Sep 16 10:18:18</a> via web</span><span class='metadata'><span class='author'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet -->
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<!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/24646734539 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox24646734539 {background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1285137161/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}</style> <div class='bbpBox24646734539'><p class='bbpTweet'>commentary about nanotechnology-enabled robot skin<a href="http://bit.ly/c2xQtU" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/c2xQtU</a><span class='timestamp'><a title='Thu Sep 16 08:21:56 +0000 2010' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/24646734539'>Thu Sep 16 08:21:56</a> via web</span><span class='metadata'><span class='author'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet -->
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<!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/24607210244 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox24607210244 {background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1285137161/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}</style> <div class='bbpBox24607210244'><p class='bbpTweet'>Nanotech medicines held up by lack of particle characterization <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100914/full/467264b.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100914/full/467264b.html</a> <a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23nanotechnology" title="#nanotechnology" class="tweet-url hashtag" rel="nofollow">#nanotechnology</a><span class='timestamp'><a title='Wed Sep 15 22:02:45 +0000 2010' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/24607210244'>Wed Sep 15 22:02:45</a> via web</span><span class='metadata'><span class='author'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet -->
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<!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/24482710469 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox24482710469 {background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1285137161/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}</style> <div class='bbpBox24482710469'><p class='bbpTweet'>State-level nano regulation: Yes, indeed, the industry "should have seen it coming" it caused it! <a href="http://t.co/TQ06q1g" rel="nofollow">http://t.co/TQ06q1g</a> <a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23nanotechnology" title="#nanotechnology" class="tweet-url hashtag" rel="nofollow">#nanotechnology</a> <a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23law" title="#law" class="tweet-url hashtag" rel="nofollow">#law</a><span class='timestamp'><a title='Tue Sep 14 15:00:33 +0000 2010' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/24482710469'>Tue Sep 14 15:00:33</a> via <a href="http://twitter.com/tweetbutton" rel="nofollow">Tweet Button</a></span><span class='metadata'><span class='author'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet -->
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<!-- http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/24461190069 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox24461190069 {background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1285137161/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}</style> <div class='bbpBox24461190069'><p class='bbpTweet'>How nanotechnology helps Bluetooth and Wi-Fi work together <a href="http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/networking/?p=2670" rel="nofollow">http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/networking/?p=2670</a><span class='timestamp'><a title='Tue Sep 14 09:20:10 +0000 2010' href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki/status/24461190069'>Tue Sep 14 09:20:10</a> via web</span><span class='metadata'><span class='author'><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'><img src='http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1014192557/nanowiki_normal.png' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/nanowiki'>NanoWiki News</a></strong><br/>nanowiki</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet -->
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<!-- http://twitter.com/annbot/status/24059684492 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox24059684492 {background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1284676327/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}</style> <div class='bbpBox24059684492'><p class='bbpTweet'>Nanotechnology and self-cleaning from plant leaf surfaces <a href="http://dlvr.it/506bG" rel="nofollow">http://dlvr.it/506bG</a><span class='timestamp'><a title='Fri Sep 10 00:52:01 +0000 2010' href='http://twitter.com/annbot/status/24059684492'>Fri Sep 10 00:52:01</a> via <a href="http://dlvr.it" rel="nofollow">dlvr.it</a></span><span class='metadata'><span class='author'><a href='http://twitter.com/annbot'><img src='http://a2.twimg.com/profile_images/1035994578/aobavatar_normal.png' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/annbot'>Annbot</a></strong><br/>annbot</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet -->
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Self-assembly is the autonomous organization of components into patterns or structures without human intervention. Self-assembling processes are common throughout nature and technology. The probably most impressing known auto-organized structures are biological systems, starting with the cell, which replicates its components during mitosis and those components self assemble into a new cell without the intervention of any builder or architect. Decades ago an interesting experiment was carried out. A collection of bacteriophages, the viruses of bacteria, was fragmented into three parts, their single-chain DNA, their capside protein and their attachment protein (to anchor into the target cells), these fractions were isolated purified, lyophilized, and then reconstituted into their physiological serum to spontaneously form viruses which maintained their infective ability.
With the advent of nanoscience and nanotechnology non biological self organization phenomena started being profusely observed among inorganic nanoparticles of the size of proteins over micrometric ranges. These observations recalled the universal molecular assembler concept. A molecular assembler was defined as a "device able to guide chemical reactions by positioning reactive molecules with atomic precision." Some biological molecules such as ribosome fit this definition, since while working within a cell's environment, they receive instructions from messenger RNA and then assemble specific sequences of amino acids to construct protein molecules which conforms the skeleton and function of the cell. Related and much more simple phenomena observed with inorganic nanoparticles are found in extended hexagonal monolayer of nanoparticles or faceted opals, that reached easily journal covers and contents, including the most prestigious ones, specially at the beginning of the past decade and few years before. Bimodal self assemblies 2D and 3D structures appeared latter, and recently, even [[quasicrystal super-structures have been reported|Nano self-assembly of quasicrystals]].
In these days, the intensity of the research –and impact- in the field has in someway decreased, basically because it is difficult to understand, control, predict or design. The deposition conditions from the colloid, the substrate and environment play crucial roles that are not yet mastered or fully understood. While the believe that a fundamental part of the development of nanotechnology will rely on the ability to self assemble molecules –organic and/or inorganic- into complex structures is still valid, we need to collect more data before we can properly model and utilise self-assembly.
To this aim, magnetic nanoparticles present interesting features. The magnetic field is not screened or affected by their colloidal environment and they poses a single dipole whose stability and intensity can be finely tuned with the size and shape of the host nanoparticle. Thus, while in the case of non magnetic nanoparticles the self assembled structures are a result of multiple and complex electromagnetic interactions between the nanoparticles and the solvent and the substrate and other molecular species present in solution, at a certain temperature, entropically driven towards lower energy states. In the case of magnetic nanoparticles, all these contributions also apply but are faded as the magnetic moment of the particle dipole increases in stability and intensity, taking over the control of self assembly, driving the system towards elongated structures satisfying north-to-south dipolar magnetic interactions.
Interesting structures have been observed at the transition where the influence of the magnetic dipolar interaction emerges and modifies the self assembled structures leading, for example, in the case of 6 nm cobalt nanoparticles deposited onto an atomically smooth graphite substrate, to micrometric rice grain structures which evolve towards tens of microns long wires as the diameter of the constituent nanoparticle increases. The observed structures are apparently in contradiction to some basic principles of magnetic dipolar interactions arrangements, suggesting the existence of collective effects among the whole nanoparticles forming the same self assembled structure –the rice grain-, where some of the nanoparticles are placed in higher energy positions (the less desirable ones) for the energetical benefit of the whole structure. Thus uncovering the promising potential of nanoparticle self assembly to tailor the properties of the solids and surfaces.
''[[Dipolar Driven Spontaneous Self Assembly of Superparamagnetic Co Nanoparticles into Micrometric Rice-Grain like Structures|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/la902169s]]'' by Miriam Varón, Luis Peña, Lluis Balcells, Vassil Skumryev, Benjamin Martinez and Victor Puntes
[<img[Figure shows (a) Fabrication of a vertical-nanowire integrated nanogenerator (VING), (b) Design of a lateral-nannowire integrated nanogenerator (LING) array, (c) Scanning electron microscope image of a row of laterally-grown zinc oxide nanowire arrays, and (d) Image of the LING structure. Credit: Zhong Lin Wang|http://gtresearchnews.gatech.edu/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/self-powered-300x212.jpg]] By combining a new generation of piezoelectric nanogenerators with two types of nanowire sensors, researchers have created what are believed to be ''the first self-powered nanometer-scale sensing devices that draw power from the conversion of mechanical energy''. The new devices can measure the pH of liquids or detect the presence of ultraviolet light using electrical current produced from mechanical energy in the environment.
Based on arrays containing as many as 20,000 zinc oxide nanowires in each nanogenerator, the devices can produce up to 1.2 volts of output voltage, and are fabricated with a chemical process designed to facilitate low-cost manufacture on flexible substrates. Tests done with nearly one thousand nanogenerators – which have no mechanical moving parts – showed that they can be operated over time without loss of generating capacity.
“We have demonstrated a robust way to harvest energy and use it for powering nanometer-scale sensors,” said <html><a href="http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid42529855001?bctid=11867918001" title=" Zhong Lin Wang video describes his work on nanoscale devices that convert mechanical energy into power for the nano world">Zhong Lin Wang</a></html>, a Regents professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “We now have a technology roadmap for scaling these nanogenerators up to make truly practical applications.”
For the past five years, Wang’s research team has been developing [[nanoscale generators that use the piezoelectric effect|Piezoelectric nanowire based nanogenerator converts biomechanical energy into electricity]] – which produces electrical charges when wires made from zinc oxide are subjected to strain. The strain can be produced by simply flexing the wires, and current from many wires can be constructively combined to power small devices. The research effort has recently focused on increasing the amount of current and voltage generated and on making the devices more robust.
''The new generator and nanoscale sensors open new possibilities for very small sensing devices that can operate without batteries, powered by mechanical energy harvested from the environment''. Energy sources could include the motion of tides, sonic waves, mechanical vibration, the flapping of a flag in the wind, pressure from shoes of a hiker or the movement of clothing.
“Building devices that are small isn’t sufficient,” Wang noted. “We must also be able to power them in a sustainable way that allows them to be mobile. Using our new nanogenerator, we can put these devices into the environment where they can work independently and sustainably without requiring a battery.” Source: From [[Self-Powered Nanosensors: Researchers Use Improved Nanogenerators to Power Sensors Based on Zinc Oxide Nanowires|http://gtresearchnews.gatech.edu/self-powered-nanosensors/]] by John Toon. This work is detailed in the paper [[Self-powered nanowire devices|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nnano.2010.46.html]] by Sheng Xu, Yong Qin, Chen Xu, Yaguang Wei, Rusen Yang & Zhong Lin Wang
Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created energy>><<matchTags popup sort:-created detection>>
{{twocolumns{
While it is relatively straightforward to build a box on the macroscale, it is much more challenging at smaller micro and nanometer length scales. At those sizes, 3D structures are too small to be assembled by any machine and they must be guided to assemble on their own. And now, interdisciplinary research by engineers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and mathematicians at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island has led to a breakthrough showing that higher order polyhedra can indeed fold up and assemble themselves. With support from the National Science Foundation, Brown University mathematician Govind Menon and Johns Hopkins University chemical and biomolecular engineer David Gracias are developing self-assembling 3-D micro and nanostructures which can be used in a number of applications, including medicine. Source: From ''[[New 3-D Structures Assemble with Remarkable Precision|http://eng.jhu.edu/wse/at-the-school/3d-structures-science-nation]]''.
''Context:''
December 2011. [[Why hollow?... No, why solid!]] by Victor Puntes. //Carving at the Nanoscale//
December 2011. ''[[Researchers find best routes to self-assembling 3-D shapes|http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2011/12/polyhedra]]''. //How to create self-assembling shells, containers or structures//
August 2011. [[Chemists Create Molecular Flasks]]. //Researchers design a self-assembling material that can house other molecules//
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created self-assembly>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomedicine>>
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By emulating nature’s design principles, researchers has created ''nanodevices made of DNA that self-assemble and can be programmed'' to move and change shape on demand. In contrast to existing nanotechnologies, these programmable nanodevices are highly suitable for medical applications because DNA is both biocompatible and biodegradable.
Built at the scale of one billionth of a meter, each device is made of a circular, single-stranded DNA molecule that, once it has been mixed together with many short pieces of complementary DNA, self-assembles into a predetermined 3D structure. Double helices fold up into larger, rigid linear struts that connect by intervening single-stranded DNA. These single strands of DNA pull the struts up into a 3D form—much like tethers pull tent poles up to form a tent. The structure’s strength and stability result from the way it distributes and balances the counteracting forces of tension and compression.
''This architectural principle—known as [[tensegrity|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensegrity]]—has been the focus of [[artists|art]] and [[architects|architecture]] for many years, but it also exists throughout nature''. In the human body, for example, bones serve as compression struts, with muscles, tendons and ligaments acting as tension bearers that enable us to stand up against gravity. The same principle governs how cells control their shape at the microscale.
''“These little Swiss Army knives can help us make all kinds of things that could be useful for advanced drug delivery and regenerative medicine,”'' said lead investigator William Shih, Wyss core faculty member and associate professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at HMS and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. ''“We also have a handy biological DNA Xerox machine that nature evolved for us,”'' making these devices easy to manufacture.
This new capability “is a welcome element in the structural DNA nanotechnology toolbox,” said [[Ned Seeman|Kavli Prize “for unprecedented methods to control matter on the nanoscale”]], professor of chemistry at New York University. Source: From [[Researchers create self-assembling nanodevices that move and change shape on demand|http://hms.harvard.edu/public/news/2010/062110_ingber.html]]. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Self-assembly of 3D prestressed tensegrity structures from DNA|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nnano.2010.107.html]]'' by [[Tim Liedl|http://www.softmatter.physik.uni-muenchen.de/tiki-index.php?page=GroupLiedlHome]], [[Bjorn Hogberg|http://www.bjornhogberg.org/]], [[Jessica Tytell|http://lccb.hms.harvard.edu/people.html]], [[Donald E. Ingber|http://wyss.harvard.edu/viewpage/121/donald-e-ingber]], [[William M. Shih|http://wyss.harvard.edu/viewpage/127/william-shih]]
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanodevice>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomedicine>><<matchTags popup sort:-created self-assembly>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[dna nanotechnology]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created architecture>>
Plants are good at doing what scientists and engineers have been struggling to do for decades: converting sunlight into stored energy, and doing so reliably day after day, year after year. Now some MIT scientists have succeeded in mimicking a key aspect of that process. One of the problems with harvesting sunlight is that the sun's rays can be highly destructive to many materials. Sunlight leads to a gradual degradation of many systems developed to harness it. But plants have adopted an interesting strategy to address this issue: They constantly break down their light-capturing molecules and reassemble them from scratch, so the basic structures that capture the sun's energy are, in effect, always brand new.
That process has now been imitated by [[Michael Strano|http://web.mit.edu/stranogroup/]] and his team of graduate students and researchers. ''They have created a novel set of self-assembling molecules that can turn sunlight into electricity; the molecules can be repeatedly broken down and then reassembled quickly, just by adding or removing an additional solution''. Strano says the idea first occurred to him when he was reading about plant biology. "I was really impressed by how plant cells have this extremely efficient repair mechanism," he says. In full summer sunlight, "a leaf on a tree is recycling its proteins about every 45 minutes, even though you might think of it as a static photocell."
One of Strano's long-term research goals has been to find ways to imitate principles found in nature using nanocomponents. To imitate photosynthesis, Strano and his team produced synthetic molecules called phospholipids that form discs; these discs provide structural support for other molecules that actually respond to light, in structures called reaction centers, which release electrons when struck by particles of light. The discs, carrying the reaction centers, are in a solution where they attach themselves spontaneously to carbon nanotubes. The nanotubes hold the phospholipid discs in a uniform alignment so that the reaction centers can all be exposed to sunlight at once, and they also act as wires to collect and channel the flow of electrons knocked loose by the reactive molecules.
The system Strano's team produced is made up of seven different compounds, including the carbon nanotubes, the phospholipids, and the proteins that make up the reaction centers, which under the right conditions spontaneously assemble themselves into a light-harvesting structure that produces an electric current. Strano says ''he believes this sets a record for the complexity of a self-assembling system''. When a surfactant is added to the mix, the seven components all come apart and form a soupy solution. Then, when the researchers removed the surfactant by pushing the solution through a membrane, the compounds spontaneously assembled once again into a perfectly formed, rejuvenated photocell.
"We're basically imitating tricks that nature has discovered over millions of years" — in particular, "reversibility, the ability to break apart and reassemble," Strano says. The team came up with the system based on a theoretical analysis, but then decided to build a prototype cell to test it out. They ran the cell through repeated cycles of assembly and disassembly over a 14-hour period, with no loss of efficiency.
Strano says that in devising novel systems for generating electricity from light, researchers don't often study how the systems change over time. For conventional silicon-based photovoltaic cells, there is little degradation, but with many new systems being developed — either for lower cost, higher efficiency, flexibility or other improved characteristics — the degradation can be very significant. "Often people see, over 60 hours, the efficiency falling to 10 percent of what you initially saw," he says.
''The individual reactions of these new molecular structures in converting sunlight are about 40 percent efficient, or about double the efficiency of today's best commercial solar cells. Theoretically, the efficiency of the structures could be close to 100 percent'', he says. But in the initial work, the concentration of the structures in the solution was low, so the overall efficiency of the device was very low. They are working now to find ways to greatly increase the concentration. Source: [[New self-assembling photovoltaic technology that repairs itself|http://web.mit.edu/press/2010/self-healing-solar.html]] by David L. Chandler. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Photoelectrochemical complexes for solar energy conversion that chemically and autonomously regenerate|http://www.nature.com/nchem/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nchem.822.html]]'' by Moon-Ho Ham, Jong Hyun Choi, Ardemis A. Boghossian, Esther S. Jeng, Rachel A. Graff, Daniel A. Heller, Alice C. Chang, Aidas Mattis, Timothy H. Bayburt, Yelena V. Grinkova, Adam S. Zeiger, Krystyn J. Van Vliet, Erik K. Hobbie, Stephen G. Sligar, Colin A. Wraight & Michael S. Strano
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created photosynthesis>><<matchTags popup sort:-created energy>><<matchTags popup sort:-created self-assembly>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanophotonics>>
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Nanotechnology is growing worldwide. Huge investments are made by USA, Europe and Japan, new players like China and India are joining. Like other new technologies, nanotechnology is the subject for great hope and fear. Proponents envision revolutionized healthcare, consumer goods and construction industries. Opponents show nightmare scenarios of self‐replicating nano‐scale robots and a new asbestos crisis.
Lacking appropriate means for challenging the arguments, politicians run the risk of
committing to a viewpoint too early. In response to this, and using nanotechnology as the
case in question, the concept of a European Transparency Arena will be discussed at the
seminar. Such an Arena will have the purpose to support the European Parliament in its
decision‐making on issues with a high technological and scientific content. The arguments
of stakeholders will be challenged from different angles, hidden values will be explored and
ethical issues will be discussed.
<html>
<div class="vevent" id="hcalendar-Seminar in the European Parliament"> <a class="url" href="http://karita.se/docs/ep-08/ep-march-5-invitation.pdf"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="20080305">March 5th</abbr> — <span class="summary">Seminar in the European Parliament</span>— at <span class="location">Brussels</span> </a> <div class="description">Nanotechnology threat or opportunity? Who is really in charge of policy making in cutting edge technology?|</div>
</html>
See [[European Commission adopts Code of Conduct for Responsible Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies Research ]]
<br>//Recording a ‘molecular movie’ with atomic spatial resolution on the femtosecond timescale set by atomic motion can be considered the ultimate goal of dynamic real-space imaging. Free-electron X-ray lasers, with their (sub)nanometre wavelength, femtosecond pulse duration and high brilliance, fuel the hope that this may ultimately become possible. Single-shot still pictures with sub-100 nm resolution achieved during femtosecond exposures have recently been demonstrated. A femtosecond time-lapse movie requires a sequence of independent images taken with a controllable time delay. As a key step towards achieving a molecular movie, we demonstrate a holographic imaging approach capable of recording two fully independent images with a variable time delay over the entire femtosecond regime. The concept overcomes the fundamental readout time limitations of two-dimensional area detectors, as two subsequent X-ray holograms of a sample can be superimposed within one detector exposure and yet be unambiguously disentangled to reconstruct two independent images.//
"Out of the box, TiddlyWiki doesn't have a ServerSide back end. In many applications that's a great strength because it means that you can work with TiddlyWiki without having to be connected to the Internet or, because it's SelfContained, installing any software.
In other applications, a ServerSide can be very useful, particularly if you want to edit a TiddlyWiki while it's online, or you need lots of people to be able to edit a TiddlyWiki at the same time. The development Community has come up with several ServerSide implementations that are suitable for a range of applications." Jeremy Ruston, TiddlyWiki creator
{{twocolumns{
Abstract: Nanotechnology—the control of matter at the level of atoms and molecules—has evoked a large body of literature on moral and ethical issues. Almost all of this is expressed in secular voices. Religious commentaries about nanotechnology have been much more rare. And yet survey research indicates that religious belief will be one of the most powerful influences in shaping public views about nanotechnology. This paper argues that it is worth knowing what religious voices have said about nanotechnology, so that we might anticipate additional religious reactions in the future. After that, this paper presents seven cases of religious reactions to nanotechnology from a variety of faiths. This information gives us some insights about how religious individuals and institutions think about this technology, and also insights about how a new technology evokes a variety of hopes and fears.
"I conclude with three observations. First, ''religious belief is likely to be influential in shaping public reactions to nanotechnology, and religious belief about nanotech can be thoughtful and provocative''. Even so, secondly, religious reactions are still distinctly small in numbers compared with reactions expressed in secular voices. This is not to say that religious and secular voices need to compete with each other to see who can produce more commentaries on nanotechnology, but it is regrettable that most religious organizations have disregarded the moral and ethical issues involved with this family of sciences and technologies.
My third observation is that nanotechnology looks different to various religious organizations (which is also true of secular organizations). Some of these religious statements aspire to identify moral or ethical issues that are particular to nanotechnology, but in other cases a generic ethical template is assumed, as if the ethical issues in nanotechnology are new itera- tions of earlier ethical issues from biotechnology or information technology." Source: ''[[Seven Religious Reactions to Nanotechnology|http://www.springerlink.com/content/vuq65w2v3r430671/fulltext.pdf]]'' by [[Chris Toumey|http://www.christoumey.org/?page_id=25]]
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoethics>><<matchTags popup sort:-created concerns>><<matchTags popup sort:-created [[public opinion]]>>
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}}}
The emergence of new and interesting optical, electronic and magnetic properties of nanoparticles is one of the main reasons that motivates researchers to study nanoparticles of different metals, metal oxides and metal-coated-metals for various chemical and biological applications. While the size of a particle in the 1-100 nm regime plays an important role in chemical sensor and drug delivery systems, nanoparticle shape control has also been an important frontier to explore. While size control is more mature, shape control is still primitive. In particular, the synthesis of shape controlled platinum nanocrystals is currently undergoing extensive research due to their unique optical and catalytic properties specially in fuel cell technology.
In fact, nanoparticles of different composition of size and shape are being intensively designed and tested to catalyze the giant number of chemical process which carries civilization, from materials to energy to life sciences, strongly contributing to what has been named Green Chemistry, as proposed by Anastas and Warner in 1988: the utilisation of a set of principles that reduces or eliminates the use or generation of hazardous substances in the design, manufacture and application of chemical products. Not focusing on yield but selectiviy, where the shape of the nanocrystal through exposing different atomic planes can tune the reactivity of a complex reaction with atomic resolution. Thus the shape of the particles is important because it contributes to the high index facets and number of surface and catalytic active sites in the catalytic (as fuel cell) systems. In view of their potential applications, Pt nanoparticles of spherical, cubic, multipod and multiarmed nanostar (e.g., tetrahedral, tetrahexahedral and octahedral) morphology have been studied and reported where the cubic ones seems to be the highly promising.
The observation that different morphologies may be obtained with very similar recipies while same morphologies can obtained with very different recipies, leads us to propose a general mechanism for the shape control of Pt NPs that can be extend to other systems. This mechanism is based on the use of competing reducers to force the rapid nucleation of a fraction of the Platinum precursor and the use of alloying atoms at trace concentrations to tackle with the surface energy during surfactant nanocrystal controlled growth.
''[[Synthesis of Platinum Cubes, Polypods, Cuboctahedrons, and Raspberries Assisted by Cobalt Nanocrystals|http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl100032c]]'' by Stephanie I. Lim, Isaac Ojea-Jiménez, Miriam Varon, Eudald Casals, Jordi Arbiol and Victor Puntes
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created [[green chemistry]]>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoparticles>>
References/backlinks: <<showReferences "$1" [[$2]] "$3">>
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''Donate unused computer time to ''<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:1px" src="http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/images/pb/c4cw_ffffff.jpg" title="Welcome to the Computing for Clean Water project! Dear World Community Grid Members, We really appreciate that you are willing to donate your idle computing time to this ambitious project. Our international team is led by researchers at CNMM, a research centre focused on multidisciplinary aspects of mechanics and based at Tsinghua University in Beijing. With your help, we will be simulating novel filter materials that could help to provide cheap, clean water and even desalinate seawater. The lack of clean drinking water is a major cause of disease and death in many parts of the developing world these days, and with the rise of global population and the erosion of the environment, this situation is getting rapidly worse. Many steps can be taken by individuals and authorities to reduce water consumption and thereby ease the pressure on demand for clean water. But ultimately, to tackle this problem requires discovering cheaper ways to filter and desalinate water. After all, nearly 97% of the world’s water lies in salty oceans and seas. One promising route to making such filters is to use arrays of tubular carbon fibres, each only about a millionth of a millimeter in diameter. As initial experiments and simulations suggest, clean water is unusually easy to extract through such filters. Reducing the pressure needed to force water through filters has a direct impact on the cost of any filtration process, and it is this opportunity that our research will seek to optimize. But to understand the optimal conditions for such filtration, we will require millions of simulations under a very wide range of conditions. This is where your computer will play a key role. We are really looking forward to seeing the results of this project, and sharing the insights we get from it with you. Although what we are doing is quite fundamental science, it can have a significant long-term impact on practical applications, guiding other researchers around the world to develop better filter solutions. As the project moves forward, we will be certain to keep you updated about our findings and publications in this forum. You can also visit the website of CNMM for more information about us: http://cnmm.tsinghua.edu.cn
Professor Quanshui Zheng" alt="Welcome by Professor Quanshui Zheng" class="photo" width="30%"/></html>''[[Computing for Clean Water|CAS@home: nanotechnologies and computing for clean water]] to produce more efficient and effective water filtering''
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[[Nanotechnology: Engines On]]
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With the development of a new silver ink, scientists have paved the way for commercialization and low-cost manufacturing of printable electronics. Printable electronics offers manufacturers a very low-cost way to add "intelligence" or computing power to a wide range of surfaces such as plastic or fabric.
Until now, bringing low-cost electronics to the masses has been hindered by the logistics and costs associated with silicon chip manufacturing; the breakthrough low-temperature silver ink overcomes the cost hurdle, printing reliably on a wide range of surfaces such as plastic or fabric. The printed electronics materials, developed at the [[Xerox Research Centre of Canada|http://www.xerox.com/innovation/business-technology-research/enus.html]], ''enable product manufacturers to put electronic circuits on plastics, film, and textiles''. Printable circuits could be used in a broad range of products, including low-cost radio frequency identification tags, light and flexible e-readers and signage, sensors, solar cells and novelty applications including wearable electronics.
"We will be able to print circuits in almost any size from smaller custom-sized circuits to larger formats such as wider rolls of plastic sheets -unheard of in today's silicon-wafer industry," said Hadi Mahabadi, vice president and center manager of Xerox Research Centre Canada. "We are taking this technology to product developers to enable them to design tomorrow's uses for printable electronics." Source: From [[Xerox Scientists Develop "Silver Bullet" Needed to Replace Silicon Circuits with Low-Cost, Durable Plastic|http://www.xerox.com/go/xrx/template/inv_rel_newsroom.jsp?ed_name=NR_2009Oct27_Xerox_Scientists_Develop_Silver_Ink&app=Newsroom&view=newsrelease&format=article&Xcntry=USA&Xlang=en_US]]
[<img[Xerox scientists have developed a low cost silver ink to print flexible circuitry|http://a1452.g.akamaitech.net/f/1452/2731/24h/cacheB.xerox.com/images/usa/en/n/nr_Xerox_Silver_Ink_150x101.jpg]] Watch as researcher Paul Smith, laboratory manager of the Xerox Research Centre of Canada, explains [[how melting temperature was lowered for new silver conductive ink for printing flexible circuitry||http://a400.g.akamai.net/7/400/14595/v0001/xeroxwebcast.download.akamai.com/14595/wmv/Xerox_Researcher_Discusses_Silver_Conductive_Ink_Melting_Temperature.wmv]]. And providing a tour of his laboratory, [[explaining the different components of printable electronics|http://a400.g.akamai.net/7/400/14595/v0001/xeroxwebcast.download.akamai.com/14595/wmv/Xerox_Researcher_Demos_Printable_Electronics.wmv]].
Related news list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoelectronics>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomaterial>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoparticles>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanomanufacturing>>
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|''Keywords''|search|
!Revision History
!!v0.2.0 (2008-08-18)
* initial release
!!v0.3.0 (2008-08-19)
* added Open All button (renders Classic Search option obsolete)
* sorting by relevance (title matches before content matches)
!!v0.4.0 (2008-08-26)
* added tag matching
!To Do
* tag matching optional
* animations for container creation and removal
* when clicking on search results, do not scroll to the respective tiddler (optional)
* use template for search results
!Code
***/
//{{{
if(!version.extensions.SimpleSearchPlugin) { //# ensure that the plugin is only installed once
version.extensions.SimpleSearchPlugin = { installed: true };
if(!config.extensions) { config.extensions = {}; }
config.extensions.SimpleSearchPlugin = {
heading: "Search Results",
containerId: "searchResults",
btnCloseLabel: "close",
btnCloseTooltip: "dismiss search results",
btnCloseId: "search_close",
btnOpenLabel: "Open all",
btnOpenTooltip: "open all search results",
btnOpenId: "search_open",
displayResults: function(matches, query) {
story.refreshAllTiddlers(true); // update highlighting within story tiddlers
var el = document.getElementById(this.containerId);
query = '"""' + query + '"""'; // prevent WikiLinks
if(el) {
removeChildren(el);
} else { //# fallback: use displayArea as parent
var container = document.getElementById("displayArea");
el = document.createElement("div");
el.id = this.containerId;
el = container.insertBefore(el, container.firstChild);
}
var msg = "!" + this.heading + "\n";
if(matches.length > 0) {
msg += "''" + config.macros.search.successMsg.format([matches.length.toString(), query]) + ":''\n";
this.results = [];
for(var i = 0 ; i < matches.length; i++) {
this.results.push(matches[i].title);
msg += "* [[" + matches[i].title + "]]\n";
}
} else {
msg += "''" + config.macros.search.failureMsg.format([query]) + "''"; // XXX: do not use bold here!?
}
createTiddlyButton(el, this.btnCloseLabel, this.btnCloseTooltip, config.extensions.SimpleSearchPlugin.closeResults, "button", this.btnCloseId);
wikify(msg, el);
if(matches.length > 0) { // XXX: redundant!?
createTiddlyButton(el, this.btnOpenLabel, this.btnOpenTooltip, config.extensions.SimpleSearchPlugin.openAll, "button", this.btnOpenId);
}
},
closeResults: function() {
var el = document.getElementById(config.extensions.SimpleSearchPlugin.containerId);
removeNode(el);
config.extensions.SimpleSearchPlugin.results = null;
highlightHack = null;
},
openAll: function(ev) {
story.displayTiddlers(null, config.extensions.SimpleSearchPlugin.results);
return false;
}
};
config.shadowTiddlers.StyleSheetSimpleSearch = "/*{{{*/\n" +
"#" + config.extensions.SimpleSearchPlugin.containerId + " {\n" +
"\toverflow: auto;\n" +
"\tpadding: 5px 1em 10px;\n" +
"\tbackground-color: [[ColorPalette::TertiaryPale]];\n" +
"}\n\n" +
"#" + config.extensions.SimpleSearchPlugin.containerId + " h1 {\n" +
"\tmargin-top: 0;\n" +
"\tborder: none;\n" +
"}\n\n" +
"#" + config.extensions.SimpleSearchPlugin.containerId + " ul {\n" +
"\tmargin: 0.5em;\n" +
"\tpadding-left: 1.5em;\n" +
"}\n\n" +
"#" + config.extensions.SimpleSearchPlugin.containerId + " .button {\n" +
"\tdisplay: block;\n" +
"\tborder-color: [[ColorPalette::TertiaryDark]];\n" +
"\tpadding: 5px;\n" +
"\tbackground-color: [[ColorPalette::TertiaryLight]];\n" +
"}\n\n" +
"#" + config.extensions.SimpleSearchPlugin.containerId + " .button:hover {\n" +
"\tborder-color: [[ColorPalette::SecondaryMid]];\n" +
"\tbackground-color: [[ColorPalette::SecondaryLight]];\n" +
"}\n\n" +
"#" + config.extensions.SimpleSearchPlugin.btnCloseId + " {\n" +
"\tfloat: right;\n" +
"\tmargin: -5px -1em 5px 5px;\n" +
"}\n\n" +
"#" + config.extensions.SimpleSearchPlugin.btnOpenId + " {\n" +
"\tfloat: left;\n" +
"\tmargin-top: 5px;\n" +
"}\n" +
"/*}}}*/";
store.addNotification("StyleSheetSimpleSearch", refreshStyles);
// override Story.search()
Story.prototype.search = function(text, useCaseSensitive, useRegExp) {
highlightHack = new RegExp(useRegExp ? text : text.escapeRegExp(), useCaseSensitive ? "mg" : "img");
var matches = store.search(highlightHack, null, "excludeSearch");
var q = useRegExp ? "/" : "'";
config.extensions.SimpleSearchPlugin.displayResults(matches, q + text + q);
};
// override TiddlyWiki.search() to sort by relevance
TiddlyWiki.prototype.search = function(searchRegExp, sortField, excludeTag, match) {
var candidates = this.reverseLookup("tags", excludeTag, !!match);
var primary = [];
var secondary = [];
var tertiary = [];
for(var t = 0; t < candidates.length; t++) {
if(candidates[t].title.search(searchRegExp) != -1) {
primary.push(candidates[t]);
} else if(candidates[t].tags.join(" ").search(searchRegExp) != -1) {
secondary.push(candidates[t]);
} else if(candidates[t].text.search(searchRegExp) != -1) {
tertiary.push(candidates[t]);
}
}
var results = primary.concat(secondary).concat(tertiary);
if(sortField) {
results.sort(function(a, b) {
return a[sortField] < b[sortField] ? -1 : (a[sortField] == b[sortField] ? 0 : +1);
});
}
return results;
};
} //# end of "install only once"
//}}}
{{twocolumns{
<html><img style="float:left; margin-right:10px" title="Scanning tunneling microscopy (50 x 50 nm2) of organic molecules. Coloring indicates variable spin orientation. Source: CFN" src="img/tunneling_microscopy_organic_molecules.jpg"/></a></html>Further development of modern information technology requires computer capacities of increased efficiency at reasonable costs. In the past, integration density of the relevant electronic components was increased constantly. In continuation of this strategy, future components will have to reach the size of individual molecules. Researchers from the KIT Center for Functional Nanostructures (CFN) and the Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg (IPCMS) have now come closer to reaching this target.
''For the first time researchers have now succeeded in combining the concepts of spin electronics and molecular electronics in a single component consisting of a single molecule''. Components based on this principle have a special potential, as they allow for the production of very small and highly efficient magnetic field sensors for read heads in hard disks or for non-volatile memories in order to further increase reading speed and data density.
Use of organic molecules as electronic components is being investigated extensively at the moment. Miniaturization is associated with the problem of the information being encoded with the help of the charge of the electron (current on or off). However, this requires a relatively high amount of energy. In spin electronics, the information is encoded in the intrinsic rotation of the electron, the spin. The advantage is that the spin is maintained even when switching off current supply, which means that the component can store information without any energy consumption.
The German-French research team has now combined these concepts. The organic molecule H2-phthalocyanin that is also used as blue dye in ball pens exhibits a strong dependence of its resistance, if it is trapped between spin-polarized, i.e. magnetic electrodes. This effect was first observed in purely metal contacts by Albert Fert and Peter Grünberg. It is referred to as <html><a href="http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2007/press.html" title="Nanotechnology gives sensitive read-out heads for compact hard disks">giant magnetoresistance</a></html> and was acknowledged by the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2007.
The giant magnetoresistance effect on single molecules was demonstrated at KIT within the framework of a combined experimental and theoretical project of CFN and a German-French graduate school in cooperation with the IPCMS, Strasbourg. Source: ''[[Smallest Magnetic Field Sensor in the World|http://www.kit.edu/visit/pi_2011_5785.php]]''. This work is detailed in the paper ''[[Giant magnetoresistance through a single molecule|http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nnano.2011.11.html#supplementary-information]]'' <<slider chkSldr [[Giant magnetoresistance through a single molecule]] [[Abstract»]] [[read abstract of the paper]]>>
''Related news'' list by date, most recent first: <<matchTags popup sort:-created detection>><<matchTags popup sort:-created nanoelectronics>>
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}}}
Physicists at the University of California, Berkeley, have built the smallest radio yet - a single carbon nanotube one ten-thousandth the diameter of a human hair that requires only a battery and earphones to tune in to your favorite station.
"We were just in ecstasy when this worked," said team leader Alex Zettl, UC Berkeley professor of physics. "It was fantastic."
The nanoradio, which is currently configured as a receiver but could also work as a transmitter, is 100 billion times smaller than the first commercial radios, and could be used in any number of applications - from cell phones to microscopic devices that sense the environment and relay information via radio signals. Because it is extremely energy efficient, it would integrate well with microelectronic circuits.
"The nanotube radio may lead to radical new applications, such as radio-controlled devices small enough to exist in a human's bloodstream."
The nanoradio detects radio signals in a radically new way - it vibrates thousands to millions of times per second in tune with the radio wave. This makes it a true nanoelectromechanical device, dubbed NEMS, that integrates the mechanical and electrical properties of nanoscale materials.
In a normal radio, ambient radio waves from different transmitting stations generate small currents at different frequencies in the antenna, while a tuner selects one of these frequencies to amplify. In the nanoradio, the nanotube, as the antenna, detects radio waves mechanically by vibrating at radio frequencies. The nanotube is placed in a vacuum and hooked to a battery, which covers its tip with negatively charged electrons, and the electric field of the radio wave pushes and pulls the tip thousands to millions of times per second.
While large objects, like a stiff wire or a wooden ruler pinned at one end, vibrate at low frequencies - between tens and hundreds of times per second - the tiny nanotubes vibrate at high frequencies ranging from kiloHertz (thousands of times per second) to hundreds of megaHertz (100 million times per second). Thus, a single nanotube naturally selects only one frequency.
Although it might seem that the vibrating nanotube yields a "one station" radio, the tension on the nanotube also influences its natural vibration frequency, just as the tension on a guitar string fine tunes its pitch. As a result, the physicists can tune in a desired frequency or station by "pulling" on the free tip of the nanotube with a positively charged electrode. This electrode also turns the nanotube into an amplifier. The voltage is high enough to pull electrons off the tip of the nanotube and, because the nanotube is simultaneously vibrating, the electron current from the tip is an amplified version of the incoming radio signal. This is similar to the field-emission amplification of old vacuum tube amplifiers used in early radios and televisions, Zettl said. The amplified output of this simple nanotube device is enough to drive a very sensitive earphone.
Finally, the field-emission and vibration together also demodulate the signal.
Zettl won't only be tuning in to oldies stations with his nanoradio. Because the radio static is actually the sound of atoms jumping on and off the tip of the nanotube, he hopes to use the nanoradio to sense the identity of atoms or even measure their masses, which is done today by cumbersome large mass spectrometers.
Source: [[Single nanotube makes world's smallest radio|http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2007/10/31_NanoRadio.shtml]]
Clemson University chemists have developed a method to dramatically improve the longevity of fluorescent nanoparticles that may someday help researchers track the motion of a single molecule as it travels through a living cell.
The chemists are exploiting a process called “resonance energy transfer,” which occurs when fluorescent dye molecules are added to the nanoparticles.
If scientists could track the motion of a single molecule within a living cell it could reveal a world of information. Among other things, scientists could determine how viruses invade a cell or how proteins operate in the body. Such technology also could help doctors pinpoint the exact location of cancer cells in order to better focus treatment and minimize damage to healthy tissue. Outside the body, the technology could help speed up detection of such toxins as anthrax.
The key to developing single-molecule tracking technology may be the development of better fluorescent nanoparticles.
Fluorescent nanoparticles are thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair and are similar in size to protein molecules, to which they can be attached. When illuminated by a laser beam inside a light microscope equipped with a sensitive digital camera, the nanoparticle attached to a protein will light up, allowing scientists to get a precise fix on the position of the protein and monitor its motion inside a cell.
Until now, nanoparticles have been too dim to detect inside cells, but Clemson chemists have developed a novel type of nanoparticles containing materials called conjugated polymers that light up and stay lit long enough for scientists to string together thousands of images, as in a movie.
Source: [[Clemson scientists shed light on molecules in living cells|http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-08/cu-css081607.php]]
//''testing backup when post with a firefox extension''//
Researchers from Helsinki University of Technology (Finland), University of New South Wales (Australia), and University of Melbourne (Australia) have succeeded in building ''a working transistor, whose active region composes only of a single phosphorus atom in silicon.''
The working principles of the device are based on sequential [[tunneling|Quantum Tunnel installation]] of single electrons between the phosphorus atom and the source and drain leads of the transistor. The tunneling can be suppressed or allowed by controlling the voltage on a nearby metal electrode with a width of a few tens of nanometers.
The rapid development of computers, which created the present information society, has been mainly based on the reduction of the size of transistors. We have known for a long time that this development has to slow down critically during the future decades when the even tighter inexpensive packing of transistors would require them to shrink down to the atomic length scales. In the recently developed transistor, all the electric current passes through the same single atom. This allows us to study the effects arising in the extreme limit of the transistor size.
“About half a year ago, I and one of the leaders of this research, [[Prof. Andrew Dzurak|http://www.qcaustralia.org/bio/s