From: Gina Miller (nanogirl@halcyon.com)
Date: Thu Oct 21 1999 - 00:28:47 MDT
~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-
Key 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
http://www.nanoindustries.com
Personal web:
http://www.homestead.com/nanotechind/nothingatall.html
nanogirl@halcyon.com
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