~Nanogirl News~

Gina Miller (nanogirl@halcyon.com)
Wed, 20 Oct 1999 23:28:47 -0700

~Nanogirl News~
10/20/99
Hello, I am back from the Foresight Conference, and I had a swell time! Gina....

*Electrochemical intercalation of lithium into multiwall carbon nanotubes.
Chemical Physics Letters. Here's the abstract: Electrochemical intercalation of lithium into carbon electrodes containing multiwall nanotubes produced by the arc-electric technique has been carried out in button cells. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and 7Li NMR spectroscopy coupled with electrochemical characterisation allow us to study the structural modifications induced by the intercalation of the alkali metal between the graphene shells and the nature of interactions between lithium species and the host material. Furthermore, direct observation of individual nanotubes by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) reveals that while the lithiated nanotubes are intercalated very inhomogeneously, the electrochemical intercalation process seems to be reversible and to proceed through the graphene walls via structural defects. Here's the full paper (PDF-acrobat reader) I'm unsure if you can view the full paper if you don't sign up, or not. (free and automatic sign up) http://ww3.elsevier.nl/gej-ng/10/15/23/71/17/19/article.pdf

*Peering at a machine that pries DNA apart. Harvard researchers have created
the first atomic-resolution image of a donut-shaped enzyme, or helicase, that unwinds the DNA double helix to expose its genetic letters for DNA replication. Michael Sawaya, postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Tom Ellenberger, associate professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology (BCMP), worked out the X-ray crystallographic structure reported in the October 15 Cell.
http://www.med.harvard.edu/publications/Focus/Oct15_1999/biological_chemistr y.html

*PHYSICS NEWS UPDATE for Oct 19, 99 Topics include: Extra Invisible
dimensions, Wave properties of buckyballs, and striped superconductivity. http://www.hep.net/documents/newsletters/pnu/1999/pnu-453.html

*Errant nerve cells risk a clockwork death. HHMI researchers have discovered
a new fail-safe mechanism that ensures proper wiring of the nervous system. This checkpoint allows the burgeoning nervous system to winnow wayward neurons whose meanderings could cause dangerous miswiring of neural circuitry.
http://www.hhmi.org/news/tessier2.htm

*UIC Engineer Discovers New Diamond Applications. The resulting diamond
shavings may be useful substrates in making computer chips, for example, which could enable more powerful processors. Likewise, such artificial "gems" can be used to make machine components and gears. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/10/991020080444.htm

*Tularik expresses Genentech genes with IPO plans. "Snip" Back in the early
1990s, before the dawn of dot-com companies, biotechnology was the fodder of get-rich-quick stock market fantasies. Of course, not all were successful. For every Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) or Genentech (NYSE: DNA), there were scores of little outfits that never made a dime. As the S&P 500 surged over the past few years, many of these biotech firms had a tough time staying afloat. http://www.herring.com/insider/1999/1020/inv-tularik.html

*Outbursts Result in Controversy - Scientists have different ideas to
explain the behavior of Soft Gamma Repeaters (SGRs). SGRs irregularly give off short blasts of radiation in the gamma ray frequencies. Magnetar theory gives an explanation, but other theories depend on the surrounding stellar environment as well as a central neutron star. http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast20oct99_1.htm

*A safer way of altering genes. Mice engineered to carry an extra artificial
chromosome have successfully passed it to their offspring. This breakthrough by a Canadian company suggests that human germline engineering is fast becoming a practical possibility.
http://www.newscientist.co.uk/ns/19991023/newsstory6.html

*Reducing emissions: Argonne scientist hope their diesel filter can be a
boon to business and the environment. (air separation membrane or chemical filter or variable air composition with polymer membrane.) http://chicagotribune.com/news/metro/dupage/article/0,2669,SAV-9910190253,FF .html

*Carl Sagan: A Life. Join author Keay Davidson today when he joins us for a
chat at 12:30 p.m. ET. Post your questions anytime — and read an excerpt about Sagan’s smoking habits.
http://chat.abcnews.go.com/chat/chat.dll?room=saganbio102199

*Scientists Dig Up Near-Intact Woolly Mammoth. Scientists said Wednesday
they had dug a woolly mammoth from the Siberian permafrost and transported it, virtually intact and still frozen, to a laboratory for study. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/19991020/sc/russia_mammoth_2.html

*Smallest Self-Contained Electrochemical Analyzer. University of Arkansas
researchers have built the world's smallest self-contained electrochemical analyzer, which may one day lead to smaller, faster and more efficient devices in medicine and industry.
http://www.newswise.com/articles/1999/10/ELECTRO.UAR.html

*Net turns 30.Thirty years ago, the first "e-mail" was sent marking the
birth of the internet, now used by more than 200 million people worldwide. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_480000/480102.stm

*Cellular Tensegrity. An astoundingly wide variety of natural systems,
including carbon atoms, water molecules, proteins, viruses, cells, tissues and even humans and other living creatures, are constructed using a common form of architecture known as tensegrity. The term refers to a system that stabilizes itself mechanically because of the way in which tensional and compressive forces are distributed and balanced within the structure. http://www.sciam.com/1998/0198issue/0198ingber.html

*DOE's National Laboratory Pulse is current with highlights including: How
much energy does it take to ionize or dissociate specific molecules? New process promises more reliable micromachines. The production of sub-picosecond pulses of soft X-rays and Recently the PEP II collider at DOE's Stanford Linear Accelerator Center achieved the highest luminosity ever reached by any electron-positron collider. http://www.ornl.gov/news/pulse/pulse_v41_99.htm

*Wake Forest scientists clone gene for inherited kidney stone disease.
Scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine report that they have cloned the gene responsible for an inherited form of kidney stone disease, which may open the way to new treatments. http://www.eurekalert.org/releases/wfmc-wfs101899.html

*(From AIP Physics News Update Directly from the AIP site.) Physics News
Graphics is an archive of figures depicting important physics research topics and concepts. The Latest Image: Nanotube Diode (October 18, 1999) A single carbon nanotube, bestriding three gold electrodes, has been made into a diode by doping one half of the nanotube. http://www.aip.org/physnews/graphics/

*Fall issue Logos vol.17 of Argonne's research magazine is online. Topics
include: Clean diesel work wins R&D 100- Fending off drug-resistant TB strains with biochip technology- Spent nuclear fuel treatment cuts radwaste even more than expected- Energy systems expertise is key to critical infrastructure center- Biochip argeement products introduced by Packard- allergy molecule determined by APS researchers. http://www.anl.gov/OPA/logos17-2/

*Fluorescent Molecular Switch. The prospect of such superfast molecular
computers has come a step closer. An independent chemist has created a molecule (Called SENSI) that is fluorescent when nitrogen is present, but becomes non-fluorescent when nitrogen is replaced by CO2. http://www.newscientist.com/ns/19991016/newsstory5.html

*Brain’s ‘moral compass’ identified. A key part of the brain’s circuitry for
learning moral and social rules lies right behind the forehead, a study suggests.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/324715.asp

*UT South Western researchers discover structure of molecule that repairs
sun and cigarette damage. The crystal structure of an enzyme that hunts down DNA damage caused by sunlight and cigarettes then snaps it up like a Venus' flytrap is described in today's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
http://www.newswise.com/articles/1999/10/DNARPAIR.SWM.html

*In a new challenge to the longstanding belief that adults never generate
new brain cells, biologists at Princeton University have found that thousands of freshly born neurons arrive each day in the cerebral cortex, the outer rind of the brain where higher intellectual functions and personality are centered.
http://www7.mercurycenter.com/premium/nation/docs/brain15.htm

*Is intuition real? Experiments try to prove it. (nothing substantial here.)
http://www.sacbee.com/news/news/local04_19991020.html

*Group wants labels on genetically altered food. Americans should be
informed whenever food they buy contains products from farm crops that contain transplanted genes, a representative of the Consumers Union told a House committee Tuesday. (A board is included on this site for you to post your comments)
http://www.spokane.net/news-story-body.asp?Date=102099&ID=s648133&cat=

*The web site of presidential candidate George W Bush was defaced yesterday
and filled with Marxist propaganda. Evidently in the rush to switch over from Unix to NT the administrators forgot to remove the sample .asp files. Original site: http://www.georgewbush.com/ Screen site of defacement:
http://www.attrition.org/mirror/attrition/1999/10/19/www.georgewbush.com/scr eenshot.jpg
Story (Wired) http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,31986,00.html

"Put all of your knowledge in this brown paper bag, and nobody get's hurt" ~me

Nanogirl
Nanotechnology Industries
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Personal web:
http://www.homestead.com/nanotechind/nothingatall.html nanogirl@halcyon.com