Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Daniel R. Burch MIT researchers are at it again. This time, they are using nano-tweezers to pull on molecules and measure the strength of molecular bonds. According to...
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Have you heard of the NNI? The United States government has a program called the "National Nanotechnology Initiative" that focuses on federal research and development (R&D). This...
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How much can you stretch plastic? Researchers in China are working on super-stretch fibers by electrospinning polyoxymethylene. By using this process, the resulting plastic mats may be 10 times more...
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What does it mean to be a nanotechnology expert? Have you ever wondered what type of education would be required? The application of nanotechnology spans across all industries. For instance,...
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In an advance that sounds like something right out of science fiction, Ulf Leonhardt and Thomas Philbin of the University of St Andrews have determined that a perfect lens (something not created yet...
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Optical tweezers and plasmonics represent the light-based side of nanotechnology, where photons are used to perform useful tasks such as lab-on-a-chip functions and the mechanical manipulation of tiny...
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Researchers at the London Center for Nanotechnology have exploited a hidden magnetic "quantum order" which can be measured to determine the degree of coherence in small systems of atoms. The...
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In a technological advance that brings man and machine closer to each other, Zhong Lin Wang and colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology have built a nanogenerator that uses supersonic...
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Using a special dye molecule, azobenzene, which is two benzene rings linked together, combined with an ultraviolet laser, Berkeley scientists were able to make molecular assemblies change shape at...
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Berkeley scientists have succeeded in injecting a protein-coated quantum dot into a living human cell using a nanotube-tipped atomic force microscope. This is a unique milestone because it represents...
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Is there anything carbon nanotubes can't do? Scientists recently described a way to make large quantities of florescent carbon nanotubes. The image at left shows a vial of nanotubes exposed to an...
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A fascinating nano/bio project currently underway is the Programmable Artificial Cell Evolution project, or PACE, funded by the European Union's Future Emerging Technologies program. PACE...
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Russia is desperate to catch up with the United States in nanotech. To hurry this along, the government is spending billions of dollars, taking up the research risk where private business isn't...
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Dr. Shuichi Takayama, an Associate Professor of Macromolecular Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan, has fabricated nanoscale fluid channels simply by carefully stretching...
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by george elvin on January 16, 2007
Following up on my post about Brian Eno's talk, Before and After Darwin, I look at a work in progress where scientists looking at nature at the nanoscale have made some discoveries that could...
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by george elvin on January 08, 2007
David Berube has put together a nice post entitled, Nano Research Needs Assessment - A Summary of Findings, at NanoHype. It includes links and summaries of 16 documents assessing various research...
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by george elvin on December 08, 2006
Georgia Tech researchers have developed a technique to study how unicellular micro-algae, known as diatoms, create their complex cell walls. They hope to learn how diatoms assemble intricate...
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by george elvin on November 25, 2006
If you're worried about the nanotech military applications described in my last two posts, you may be able to defend yourself with a nano-enabled bullet-proof t-shirt. Nanowerk reports that a...
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by george elvin on November 16, 2006
Lithography-free formation of nanopores in low-cost plastic materials may not sound like a big deal, but it could prove to be a big leap forward in nanotechnology for several reasons. First,...
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by george elvin on October 23, 2006
Nature employs self-assembly to create beautiful structures like the patterns on butterfly wings, the super-adhesive feet of the gecko, and the water-shedding lotus leaf. Now, according to...
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by george elvin on September 18, 2006
A constant challenge in nanotechnology is how to power all those tiny devices. Getting electricity to them the way we power most appliances today, for instance, is extremely impractical. Nanodevices...
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by george elvin on September 17, 2006
If the thought of carbon nanotubes coursing through the bloodstream makes you nervous, you may want to leave the room now. Researchers at Brown University have injected a cocktail of carbon...
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