From: Gina Miller (nanogirl@halcyon.com)
Date: Thu Apr 18 2002 - 13:07:45 MDT
Nanogirl News
April 18, 2002
Nanotube-laced epoxy: three times harder, far better at conducting heat. One
of nanotechnology's longstanding promises has become a reality: University
of Pennsylvania scientists have determined that adding a relatively small
number of carbon nanotubes to epoxy yields a compound three-and-a-half times
as hard and far better at heat conductance than the product found in
hardware stores. (EurekAlert 4/15/02)
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-04/uop-net041502.php
CVD process tames carbon nanotube growth. A chemical-vapor deposition
technique has been applied to carbon nanotubes to give them unusual
electronic properties, according to researchers here at Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute. The treated nanotubes could be used by chip makers to
interconnect single-electron transistors with high-efficiency wires. The
group aims to build a nanotube architecture that will exhibit
near-superconducting speeds at room temperature, plus the ability to pack
devices tighter and control quantum effects.
(EE Times 4/16/02)
http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20020416S0014
Molecular Conductivity Takes Shape. Mind the gap. By breaking a tiny gold
bridge (shown in false color), researchers make electrodes for driving
current through a single molecule. Now they have shown a specific way in
which the molecule's shape affects its conductivity. Tomorrow's electronics
could consist of networks of individual molecules carrying tiny electrical
currents--if researchers can determine precisely how a single complex
molecule conducts electricity. In the 29 April print issue of PRL, a German
team shows that an asymmetrically shaped molecule conducts differently
depending on which direction the current flows. That means molecules differ
from wires in the everyday world, which conduct equally well forward or
backward, regardless of their shape. (Physical Review Focus 4/10/02)
http://focus.aps.org/v9/st18.html
ZettaCore's Goal: Memory Powered by Molecules. By making today's computer
memory chips obsolete, molecular memory is considered by many to be the key
enabling technology for the next generation of high-powered, portable
information devices. Such devices will make the ubiquitous access to
information and entertainment as easy as using an ATM card is today.
(Nanotech Planet 4/18/02)
http://www.nanotech-planet.com/features/article/0,4028,6571_1011881,00.html
My, What Magnetic Eyes You Have. The Virginia Polytechnic Institute team
believes its new but controversial technique to repair torn retinas could
prevent blindness in thousands. The procedure consists of injecting
magnetized nanoparticles set in silicone directly into the affected eyeball.
Once the silicone is in place, the ophthalmologist will use external magnets
to position the fluid to the exact location of the tear to seal off any
holes in the retina. (Wired 4/10/02)
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,51545,00.html
Nanobiotech Makes the Diagnosis. Electronic components the size of molecules
could test for diseases and provide personal DNA profiles on demand. Gazing
at an electrical meter, Yi Cui, a graduate student in the Harvard University
lab of chemist Charles Lieber, waits for evidence of a remarkable feat in
simple, ultrasensitive diagnostics. His target is prostate cancer. His new
tool is a microchip bearing 10 silicon wires, each just 10 nanometers
(billionths of a meter) wide. (Technology Review May, 02)
http://www.techreview.com/articles/stikeman0502.asp?p=0
Fantastic Voyage -- Filled buckeyball now a step closer to becoming a
drug-delivery device. Virginia Tech Ph.D. student Erick B. Iezzi has
developed the first organic derivative of a metallofullerene. He has figured
out how to make the metal-filled buckeyballs soluble, bringing them a step
closer to biological applications, such as the delivery of medicine or
radioactive material to a disease site. Iezzi is working with chemistry
professor Harry Dorn, known for having developed a method for
inserting metal atoms inside of fullerenes, creating a novel family of
molecules and the architecture for a new field of chemistry. These
filled fullerenes (metallofullerenes) are now being developed as
improved MRI reagents, and other non-medical applications.
(EurekAlert! 4/9/02)
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-04/vt-fv-032902.php
Also see: Take Three Buckyballs Before meals. (Space Daily 4/10/02)
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/carbon-02e.html
Drexler audiofile online. From: December 18, 2001 American Association for
the Advancement of Science Washington, DC. The War on Terrorism: What Does
it Mean for Science? K. Eric Drexler is a researcher concerned with emerging
technologies and their consequences for the future. In the mid 1980s, he
introduced the term 'nanotechnology' to describe atomically precise
molecular manufacturing systems and their products. Advanced
nanotechnologies will make possible many dreams (and nightmares) first
articulated in the literature of science fiction.
http://www.aaas.org/spp/scifree/terrorism/bios.htm
(Found on Nanodot 4/10/02)
http://nanodot.org/article.pl?sid=02/04/10/1843236&mode=thread&thresholdØË›
Obeying the law. Chip makers are finding ways to extend Gordon Moore's
prediction. Gordon Moore couldn't have been more right. Since 1965, when he
first predicted that the number of transistors on a chip would double every
18 months, the chip industry has kept pace with his forecast. Intel's
original microprocessor, introduced in 1971, had 2,300 transistors; its
upcoming McKinley chip, to be released this year, has more than 220
million. -nanotech mention- (Red Herring 4/10/02)
http://www.redherring.com/insider/2002/0410/2206.html
NanoOpto Secures Additional $4 Million in Venture Financing. Funding Will Be
Used to Accelerate Next Generation Optical Components to the Market.
NanoOpto Corp., which is applying proprietary nano-optics and
nano-manufacturing technology to design and manufacture components for
optical networking, announced today that it has closed on an additional $4
million completing its Series "A"round of venture financing. The new
financing comes from two funds within the Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ)
network, DFJ New England and DFJ Gotham, and the Harris & Harris Group, as
well as matching investments from the existing equity partners, Bessemer
Venture Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, and U.S.
Trust's Excelsior Venture Partners III, LLC. This additional $4 million
brings the total financing raised by NanoOpto to date to $20M. (NanoOpto
4/16/02)
http://www.nanoopto.com/news/pr_4_16_02.html
How does government keep up with radical new technologies such as
nanotechnology and genetic engineering? Very poorly, say two experts
scheduled to speak at the Foresight Senior Associate Gathering: "Exploring
the Edges" conference, April 26-28 in Palo Alto. (KurzweilAI.net 4/17/02)
http://www.kurzweilai.net/news/news_single.html?id=912
Also on KurzweilAI.net: Researcher (Robert A. Freitas) proposes nanorobotic
platelets and phagocytes. (April 15)
http://www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame.html?main=memelist.html?m=18%23460
New European Association Will Try To Move Nano From The Lab To Market. The
European Nanobusiness Association, a group meant to advance Europe's role in
nanotechnology, was launched today. The Brussels-based organization hopes to
spur the large-scale meeting of minds needed to drive the emerging nanotech
economy in Europe.
http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=3493
(SmallTimes 4/17/02)
Hydrogel-Based Nanoparticles Make Photonic Crystals. Researchers at the
Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a family of hydrogel-based
nanoparticles that can be used to form photonic crystals whose optical
properties can be precisely tuned by thermally adjusting the particles'
water content. (UniSci 4/18/02)
http://unisci.com/stories/20022/0418022.htm
Two exceptional undergraduate students in UCLA's College of Letters and
Science are among 68 college students selected nationally by the Council on
Undergraduate Research to present their original research on Capitol Hill in
Washington, D.C., on April 18. The UCLA students are Elena W.Y. Hsieh, a
senior whose research focuses on how a mutant receptor may lead to a rare
form of leukemia, and Gilmer Youn, a senior who conducts research in organic
chemistry and nanotechnology, designing and synthesizing chemical compounds
that function as molecular machines on the nano scale. (Northern Light
4/17/02)
http://library.northernlight.com/FF20020417350000022.html?cb=0&dx=1006&sc=0
doc
Microscopy turning Nanoscopy. Max Planck researchers demonstrate a 15-fold
increase in axial resolution in fluorescence 3-D light microscopy - the
first breakthrough of optical focusing microscopy into the nanometer range.
(Max Planck Society 4/10/02)
http://www.mpg.de/news02/news0207.htm
Conference:
Paving The Road To Nanotechnology. NanoBusiness Spring 2002 produced jointly
by Penton Media and the NanoBusiness Alliance, is taking place May 19-21 at
The Roosevelt Hotel, New York City. http://www.nanobusiness-spring.com/
Other:
Cell transplants used to ward off Parkinson's symptoms. Doctors report they
have had long-term success implanting cells into the brains of Parkinson's
disease patients by passing a needle through the skull.Dr. Ray Watts,
professor of neurology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta,
told the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology on Wednesday
that patients had improved motor function - movement of their arms and
legs - by up to 50 percent using this procedure.(NandoTimes 4/17/02)
http://nandotimes.com/healthscience/v-text/story/366069p-2957913c.html
Journey to the Farthest Planet. Scientists are finally preparing to send a
spacecraft to Pluto, the last unexplored world in the solar system.
(Scientific American Current Feature)
http://www.sciam.com/2002/0502issue/0502stern.html
Supercomputer smashes world speed record. A Japanese supercomputer has
recorded the fastest "floating point" calculation speed of any computer on
the planet. The feat is reported in the latest edition of the Linpack
report, a ranking of supercomputer performance. The Earth Simulator at the
Marine Science and Technology Center in Kanagawa, notched up 35.61
teraflops - that is over 35 trillion "floating point" calculations per
second. (NewScientist.com 4/18/02)
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992184
Gina "Nanogirl" Miller
Nanotechnology Industries
http://www.nanoindustries.com
A Visual Tour of the Future: (new)
http://www.nanogirl.com/ArtisticLicense.html
Personal: http://www.nanogirl.com
Foresight Senior Associate
nanogirl@halcyon.com
"Nanotechnology: Solutions for the future."
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