WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Engineers at Purdue University have shown how researchers might better use tiny hollow fibers called "multi-walled carbon nanotubes" to more precisely measure structures and devices for electronics and other applications.

Findings will appear in the November issue of the journal Nanotechnology.

Researchers attach the tubes to the ends of imaging instruments called atomic force microscopes. Because the tubes are long and slender, their shape is ideal for the emerging field of "nanometrology," which is precisely measuring structures on the scale of nanometers, or billionths of a meter.

Conventional silicon tips used on the microscopes are shaped like inverted traffic cones. They are fine for measuring relatively flat surfaces, but they do not readily penetrate crevices that often exist in tiny devices and structures, said Arvind Raman, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue. The silicon tips also wear out quickly, reducing image resolution, whereas the carbon nanotubes have been shown to retain their accuracy after many hours of use, said mechanical engineering doctoral student Mark Strus...read the wave

Linz, Austria NANOIDENT AG has received the coveted Innovation Award 2005 bestowed by the Austrian federal province of Upper Austria for producing the world's first high-resolution photodetector based on organic semiconductors. This year, a total of 78 companies presenting 88 innovations in three business categories competed for the Innovation Award, which had been advertised for the twelfth time. NANOIDENT's CEO Klaus G. Schroeter comments on winning the award, “Receiving the Upper Austrian Innovation Award strengthens our strategy to establish Europe's first organic semiconductor factory in Linz, thereby positioning Upper Austria as a leading technological base for the newly emerging organic semiconductor industry.“

Driving force for new future markets

At present, the market volume of silicon semiconductors, which has reached its growth limits, equals approximately 150 billion US $, while the turnover potential of organic semiconductors is estimated to exceed 300 billion US $. More than four fifth of this sales figure will be generated in new application areas. For the first time, sensor applications can be realized that utilize large, flexible, ultra-thin or strongly bent photodetectors. These are new performance properties that are extremely appealing to industrial clients. NANOIDENT's Chief Technology Officer Franz Padinger explains, “This opens up excellent opportunities for ourselves and our partners to design new products and position them in highly attractive market segments previously inaccessible by silicon-based sensors.“...read the wave

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke engineers have added a new construction tool to their bio-nanofabrication toolbox. Using an enzyme called TdTase, engineers can vertically extend short DNA chains attached to nanometer-sized gold plates. This advance adds new capability to the field of bio-nanomanufacturing.

"The process works like stacking Legos to make a tower and is an important step toward creating functional nanostructures out of biological materials," said Ashutosh Chilkoti, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering.

The prefix nano means a billionth and refers to the billionth-of-a-meter scale of such structures.

Last year, Chilkoti and his team demonstrated an enzyme-driven process to "carve" nanoscale troughs into a field of DNA strands. By combining this technique with the new method of adding vertical length to the DNA strands, they can now create surfaces with three-dimensional topography...read the wave

W. CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa., Although ASTM International Committee E56 on Nanotechnology was just established this year, it has already begun an ambitious program of developing new standards. Committee E56 is currently developing the following proposed standards, which deal with environmental safety issues, hemolytic properties and particle size measurement. Interested parties are invited to participate in the development of any of these proposed
standards.

WK8985, Guide for Handling Unbound Engineered Nanoparticles in Occupational Settings

Academic, government and industrial laboratories are currently performing nanotechnology research and development and the scope and breadth of this work is expected to grow dramatically. Manufacturing processes involving nanomaterials have begun and commercially available nano-based products have been introduced...read the wave

DuPont and Environmental Defense recently agreed to collaborate on a framework for the responsible development, production, use and disposal of nano-scale materials. Nanomaterials are 1 to 100 nanometers in at least one dimension and exhibit novel properties due to their small size. These materials hold great promise for new applications in materials, energy, medicine and other fields, but more needs to be known about their potential risks.

The intent of this framework is to define a systematic and disciplined process that can be used to identify, manage and reduce potential health, safety and environmental risks of nano-scale materials across all lifecycle stages. This framework will then be pilot-tested on specific nano-scale materials or applications of commercial interest to DuPont.

This agreement will begin to put into action the words of DuPont Chairman and CEO Chad Holliday and Environmental Defense President Fred Krupp in the June 14, 2005 edition of The Wall Street Journal : “An early and open examination of the potential risks of a new product or technology is not just good common sense – it's good business strategy.” ...read the wave

Diamon-Fusion International, Inc. (DFI Nanotechnology), global developer and exclusive licensor of the Diamon-Fusion® patented hydrophobic nanotechnology, has been tested and approved by a US Military (US Army) prime contractor, PAS Armored, Inc., to supply its nanocoating to US Army military vehicles, which will improve safety under the wide range of adverse weathering conditions that such vehicles drive through. “Sand-pitting and erosion under desert-like weather conditions have a very harsh impact on the visibility of military vehicles and Diamon-Fusion® substantially improves visibility, as tested by the US Army”, a Senior Official source reported. PAS Protective Armored Systems has recently acquired a DFI license to fulfill the US Army's new order of heavily customized glass armored systems, which includes the application of the patented Diamon-Fusion® nanocoating.

DFI's nanocoating was specified and will be applied on the US Army's High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). The HMMWV's mission is to provide a light tactical vehicle for command and control, special purpose shelter carriers, and special purpose weapons platforms. The HMMWV is produced in several configurations to support weapons systems, command and control systems, field ambulances and general cargo transport. PAS produces customized protective glass systems for police patrol cruisers, fully armored vehicles, private vehicles and executive transportation. PAS is an industry leader in glass and polymer lamination and specializes in bullet-resistant and security glazing for government, military, institutional and commercial clients...read the wave

TEMPE, Ariz. –How will rapid technological change influence democracy, affect our privacy, and even change human identity itself? The National Science Foundation has awarded $6.2 million to explore such questions at the new Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University. Center researchers will work side by side with scientists who are making nanotechnology a reality to anticipate and understand the societal consequences of this new area of innovation.

The ASU center is the largest in a network of newly funded NSF activities on nanotechnology and society, including a second center at University of California-Santa Barbara and additional projects at Harvard University and the University of South Carolina. The network will support research and education on nanotechnology and social change, as well as provide educational and public outreach activities and international collaborations.

"The Center for Nanotechnology in Society at ASU will be devoted to interdisciplinary studies of nanotechnology with a real social commitment," said ASU President Michael Crow. "It will help us determine the impact of nanotechnology on society and it will allow us to see how society affects the course of nanotechnology research." ...read the wave

SAN FRANCISCO‹ ­ At a time when demand is growing for clean technology and nanotechnology is moving from the lab into practical applications, Antenna Group, Inc. has added six clients to its growing New Industrials practice, embracing emerging technology companies in nanotech, cleantech, advanced materials and energy. The additions are Ecology Coatings, the Foresight Nanotech Institute, HelioVolt, NanoDynamics, Renewable Ventures and SiGNa Chemistry. All are promising ventures in what Antenna founder Melody Haller foresees as a technology trend likely to dominate the next few decades.

As a member of the State of California¹s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Nanotechnology, Haller is seeing traditional industries being reinvented, powered by advances in tools, information and materials science, and responding to a business environment of increasingly constrained resources.

The excitement about both nanotech and cleantech are part of this larger transformation...read the wave

BERKELEY, CA -- A breakthrough in the technology of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), one of the most powerful analytic tools known to science, is opening the door to new applications in microfluidic chips, devices for studying super-tiny amounts of fluids. A team of scientists with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California, Berkeley, has demonstrated a means by which NMR can be made compatible with microfluidic “lab-on-a-chip” devices.

This demonstration holds great promise for biomedical research, the detection of biohazards and toxic chemicals, and other endeavors in which the chemical composition of a fluid must be determined.

“Our novel methodology bypasses the long-standing problem of optimizing the two basic steps of NMR, signal encoding and detection, by physically separating them, and, at the same time, adds an important dimension to the study of fluid flow dynamics with the possibility of time-of-flight measurements,” said Alexander Pines, one of the world’s leading authorities on NMR technology. Pines holds a joint appointment as a chemist with Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division and with UC Berkeley, where he is the Glenn T. Seaborg Professor of Chemistry...read the wave

Biomimetische Systeme aus steifen Polymeren oder Filamenten und quervernetzenden Molekülen sind in der Lage, komplexe Filamentnetzwerke und -bündel auszubilden. Diese Filamentbündel kann man sich als geflochtene Zöpfe auf der Nanoskala vorstellen, deren Eigenschaften im wesentlichen von der Anzahl der verflochtenen Filamente bestimmt werden. Wissenschaftler am Max-Planck-Institut für Kolloid- und Grenzflächenforschung in Potsdam haben jetzt gezeigt, dass sich wegen der thermischen Bewegung der Filamente Bündel erst dann bilden, wenn die Konzentration der vernetzenden Moleküle einen bestimmten Schwellwert überschreitet. Dieser hängt von der Anzahl der Filamente ab, bleibt aber auch für Bündel aus zahlreichen Filamenten endlich. Verringert man die Konzentration der Quervernetzer, separieren sich die Bündel in kleinere Subbündel oder lösen sich in einem abrupten Phasenübergang komplett auf (Physical Review Letters 95, 038102)...read the wave

Frankfurt am Main - Nanostart AG has been able to gain a number of famous US institutional investors and one of Germany's three biggest banks as new shareholders. The US investors include SBI USA, a US fund manager and financial advisory concern, as well as the New York investment managers Williams, Jones & Associates, Inc. It was agreed that no details would be released about the identity of the major German bank, which will be putting equity of its own into Nanostart AG.

With the shareholdings acquired by these leading investors, Nanostart AG has now established itself on the international stage as an attractive investment opportunity in the nanotech segment. The new move is a major success for the Frankfurt-based nanotech investment company, since American investors in particular have in the past focused almost entirely on big listed companies in Germany. Nanostart AG is an exception here, and CEO Marco Beckmann believes it is due to the company's sustained growth: "Despite the difficult economic conditions in Europe – and especially in Germany – we have taken the opportunity over the last months and years to build up a high-quality investment portfolio in the nanotechnology sector. We are extremely pleased that top institutional investors are now confirming that we are on the right path by investing in our company." ...read the wave

Current nanotechnology applications exploit existing knowledge to create advantages for existing products. But in the medium and long term, greatly improved, or even entirely new, technologies and applications are expected to emerge, initiating a new technological cycle.

The objective of the NanoRoadMap (NRM) project, funded under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) is to carry out a long term (ten year) forecasting exercise to provide coherent scenarios and technology roadmaps for nanotechnology applications in three important industrial fields: materials; health and medical services; and energy.

Understanding, observing and controlling the properties of matter with lengths of between 1 and 100 nanometres is a new challenge for the research community and industry. One nano-metre is equal to one billionth of a metre, and is about the size of a small molecule.

Nanotechnology is therefore resulting in a manufacturing revolution, changing the face of industry and, as a general-purpose technology, often combined with non-nanotechnology applications, has a significant impact on almost all industries and areas of society. It could offer better built, longer lasting, cleaner, safer, and smarter products for the home, for communications, for medicine, transportation, energy, agriculture and food, and for industry in general...read the wave

The Australian Cancer Research Foundation is paving the way for the next wave of cancer research with the announcement today of the biggest private grant ever of $5 million to help make cancer history.

The $5 million grant recipient will be decided by a panel of internationally recognised scientists, chaired by Professor Mathew Vadas and including Professor Sir David Lane. It will be awarded to an Australian researcher who provides the most compelling proposal for cancer research including potential cures for cancer, cancer prevention and the treatment of cancer patients.

"This is an exciting announcement for not only the scientific community but everybody who has been touched by cancer. The $5 million grant will be awarded to help fund what we hope will be a quantum leap in the field of cancer research. The ACRF grant will not exclude big picture, far-reaching proposals for seed funding if that's what it's going to take to move into the next wave of cancer research and innovations that matter. Anything is possible," ACRF Chairman Tom Dery said...read the wave

Lausanne, Switzerland-- An international group of researchers from the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), the University of Texas at Austin and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany have demonstrated that Brownian motion of a single particle behaves differently than Einstein postulated one century ago.

Their results, to be published online October 11 in Physical Review Letters, provide direct physical evidence that validates a corrected form of the standard theory describing Brownian motion. Their experiment tracked the Brownian fluctuations of a single particle at microsecond time scales and nanometer length scales, marking the first time that single micron-sized particles suspended in fluid have been measured with such high precision.

A hundred years ago, Einstein first quantified Brownian motion, showing that the irregular movement of particles suspended in a fluid was caused by the random thermal agitation of the molecules in the surrounding fluid...read the wave

HENDERSON, Nev.--(BUSINESS WIRE)- Emergency Filtration Products, Inc. (EFP) (OTCBB: EMFP) has announced that it is planning to increase production of its NanoMask due to a surge in demand. The company has placed an initial order for the production of 500,000 filters from a West Coast based supplier. The filters, which are expected to be manufactured within the next several weeks, will then be shipped to EFP's Henderson, Nevada facility where they will be enhanced with nanoparticles and packaged.

Concurrently, the company expects to receive 50,000 mask shells from Taiwan and has placed an initial order for an additional 100,000 mask shells from its Taiwanese supplier. At the first stage of its production ramp up, EFP expects be able to assemble up to 50,000 masks and nano-enhance 200,000 filters per week. The final assembly will be done in Henderson as soon as EFP receives the filters and mask shells. EFP plans to further increase its production capacity as demand dictates...read the wave

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--International textile giants such as Zegna, Marzotto, and Ziche will be convening next month in Padua, Italy to discuss what they are expecting nanotechnologies to deliver to help make their businesses stay ahead of the competition.

Representatives from these textile companies along with the leading providers of nanotechnology solutions will be part of EuroFutureTex ( www.eurofuturetex.com ) a conference to be held in Padua, Italy on November 8-9, 2005.

The European textile industry has been experiencing major changes in the business environment as a result of the introduction of quota-free trade since the beginning of the year, and the competition from cheaper Asian imports is already having an effect.

As a result, the European textile industry is taking a closer look at the ability of nanotechnologies to innovate, add value and create new products. Current applications range from enhanced properties such as stain resistance to the integration of textile technologies with sensors and electronics to create major new market opportunities...read the wave

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.PRNewswire/ -- DENDRITIC NANOTECHNOLOGIES INC. (DNT), a company that is focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of dendrimer technologies to create a new generation of innovative products for the identification and treatment of human diseases, has entered into one of the first characterization collaborations with the Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory (NCL), an organization established by the National Cancer Institute to foster collaboration between the government and the private sector. The agreement with NCL will focus on the characterization by NCL of DNT's STARBURST(TM) dendrimers as macromolecular dendrimer-based MRI contrast agents for sensitive, non-invasive cardiovascular diagnostics.

DNT's STARBURST and Priostar(TM) dendrimers are "smart" biopharmaceutical nanotechnology platforms that can be used to deliver precise quantities of a drug or contrast agent to a specific location within the human body. DNT's dendrimers will be subjected to an assay cascade consisting of physical characterization, in vitro studies, and in vivo ADME/Tox protocols to determine their absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity. DNT's proprietary dendrimer platform also serves as a targeted diagnostic and therapeutic delivery system for a wide variety of drugs to cancer cells and other diseases. Improved efficacy, enhanced solubility, and lower toxicity have been demonstrated for many existing drugs...read the wave

SANTA BARBARA, CA – The Nanoethics Group today announced that it has been invited to speak at the “Societal Impacts” symposium at the International Congress of Nanotechnology (ICNT), one of the industry’s largest global gatherings. Patrick Lin, Ph.D., research director for The Nanoethics Group, will be the symposium’s first speaker, setting the context for the prestigious event.

Held in San Francisco from October 31 to November 4, 2005, ICNT 2005 brings together the leading minds in nanotechnology from all over the world, including more than 150 speakers from 38 countries as well as Nobel Prize laureates, and offers a rare opportunity to network with top industry professionals and researchers. The event covers a broad spectrum of topics in the emerging field of nanotechnology, from the latest research and development to nanoethics to venture-capital investment and more. ICNT is the annual meeting of the International Association of Nanotechnology, a non-profit association based in Sacramento, California.

Dr. Lin will present a high-level overview of the issues and challenges in studying the societal impact of nanotechnology, including the complexity of evaluating ethical dilemmas, such as balancing out competing rights and obligations, as well a survey of topical areas such as privacy, terrorism, health, economics, politics, environment and others...read the wave

Santa Barbara, California – UC Santa Barbara has been named to collaborate with UCSD and the Burnham Institute, in La Jolla, to apply its acumen in materials science and nanofabrication to the task of creating intelligent nanoplatforms that can deliver payloads of smaller particles to destroy, image or modify tumors, deliver therapies and perform key measurements.

UCSB will receive about $2 million from the National Cancer Institute's grant, a five-year initiative that establishes seven university centers across the country to develop nanotechnology platforms to treat and monitor cancer.

The effort is part of a $144.3 million five-year initiative for nanotechnology research funded by the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Researchers at UCSB will work with chemists at UCSD to make nanoparticles that will be coated with "biolinkers," molecules developed at the Burnham Institute to make the particles attach to specific types of tumor cells...read the wave

For years scientists who have studied areas in the far reaches of space or remote areas on the earth have had a problem with providing power to a variety of sensors and electronic equipment needed to accumulate the data. That problem is now solved, thanks to a partnership between scientists at the University of Missouri-Columbia's Research Reactor (MURR) and Qynergy Corporation, who have devised a power cell that will provide continuous power for years.

MURR scientists and researchers from Qynergy Corporation developed an optimum design of betavoltaic power cells, an alternative power source for electronic devices. The partnership has yielded the highest energy conversion efficiency ever recorded for such cells. This discovery will create new capabilities for applications that require longer power life in compact, low volume containers. The cells have the potential for continuously generating small amounts of electricity for nearly 20 years.

“In our research, we were able to obtain an energy conversion efficiency of 11 percent, while the highest success to date had only been 5 percent,” said David Robertson, associate director of research and education at MURR. “Our previous research at MURR that developed isotopes for radiopharmaceuticals made it an ideal place to develop and produce the isotopes needed for these compact power sources for homeland security, defense and other applications.” ...read the wave

Color displays may one day be used practically everywhere. And this would be possible even where it's unprofitable today for cost reasons, such as on food cartons, medicine packaging or admission tickets. At the Plastics Electronics trade fair in Frankfurt, Siemens developers exhibited extremely thin, miniature color displays that can be printed onto paper or foil. And the displays can be produced at very low cost compared to LCD panels. The first displays will become available on the market in 2007.

The displays show information about products, or even operating instructions for devices, directly on the packaging. A pillbox, for example, could display instructions for how it should be taken and provide this information in several languages with the push of a button. Admission tickets for trade shows could indicate the booths where various exhibitors are located. It's also conceivable that small computer games will be on packages or that equipment boxes will display animations that give users step-by-step operating instructions when a button is pushed...read the wave

De Universiteit Twente gaat de Vietnam National University in Hanoi helpen met de ontwikkeling en bouw van een nanolaboratorium. Het is het tweede grote project in de Vietnamese hoofdstad waaraan Tom Aarnink (faculteit Elektrotechniek, wiskunde en informatica) en Henk van de Wetering (Vastgoed) meewerken.

De Vietnam National University, gevestigd in de hoofdstad Hanoi, is met ruim twintigduizend studenten de grootste universiteit van het land. In de nabije toekomst verrijst zo'n dertig kilometer buiten de stad een compleet nieuwe campus met een enorm high-tech park met een totale oppervlakte van meer dan tweeduizend voetbalvelden.

`Het is een heel creatief proces', vindt Aarnink. `De omstandigheden in Vietnam zijn veel moeilijker dan hier. Het moet natuurlijk voor veel minder geld, maar je hebt ook rekening te houden met natuurlijke omstandigheden.' Van de Wetering vult aan: `De vraag was: hoe kunnen we het best aan hun wensen voldoen? Dat kan met simpele, maar hoogwaardige apparatuur. Je kunt wel in een Rolls Royce gaan rijden, maar waarom zou je dat doen als een Daihatsu ook voldoet?' ...read the wave

Ivan Schuller gestured to a picture of the “home computer of the future,” a room-spanning device from the 1950s and explained how scientists of the era predicted that every American family might one day have such a wonder, thanks to scientific advancement.

“With the teletype interface — none of the young guys know what the hell that means — and the FORTRAN language — one guy's nodding his head, ‘I think that's a language that was invented by the Ancient Egyptians' — this computer will be feasible,” he explained.

Dr. Schuller used the “home computer” to illustrate why science has no business predicting applications for emerging technology. The College of Science invited him to present his findings on nanostructures for a “Frontiers in Science” lecture Thursday, and he said he didn't want such mistakes being made in the growing nanoscience field.

“Basic research pays. Where it pays, it's impossible to predict,” Schuller said...read the wave

Research Triangle Park, NC, ---The National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), awarded the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill one of seven centers of cancer nanotechnology research. These centers are an integral part of a $144.3 million, five-year initiative to develop and apply nanotechnology for the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. The Carolina Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNE) will focus on the application of PRINT TM nanoparticles and nanodevices for cancer therapy and imaging. The CCNE will be headed by principal investigator Professor Rudolph Juliano and co-principal investigator Professor Joseph DeSimone.

PRINT TM particle technology results in unprecedented control over shape, size, and composition of material when manufacturing nanoparticles, resulting in drug delivery systems previously unattainable. The nanodevice technology includes the development of microfluidic chips from an innovative fluoropolymer technology. These chips have a unique combination of high performance features around precision molding, chemical resistance, gas permeability, and more...read the wave

Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco and Georgia Institute of Technology have found a new way to kill cancer cells. Building on their previous work that used gold nanoparticles to detect cancer, they now are heating the particles and using them as agents to destroy malignant cells.

The researchers are a father and son, working together on opposite coasts. Their study findings are reported in the on-line edition of the journal Cancer Letters, found at Sciencedirect.com (quicksearch: El-Sayed nanoparticles).

"In an earlier study we showed how gold nanoparticles could be bound to malignant cells, making cancer detection easier. Now we have examined how the particles' ability to absorb light helps kill those cancer cells," said principal author Ivan El-Sayed, MD, assistant professor of otolaryngology at UCSF Medical Center.

Ivan conducted the study with his father, Mostafa El-Sayed, PhD, director of the Laser Dynamics Laboratory and chemistry professor at Georgia Tech.

Many cancer cells have a protein, known as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), all over their surface, while healthy cells typically do not express the protein as strongly. By conjugating, or binding, the gold nanoparticles to an antibody for EGFR, suitably named anti-EGFR, the researchers were able to get the nanoparticles to specifically attach themselves to the cancer cells...read the wave

PChem Associates' CEO, Dr. Greg Jablonski, announced that PChem's new high speed, conductive ink for flexographic printing is available for shipment. The new ink is ideally suited for high volume production of consumer electronics circuitry in a thickness range of 500 nanometers to 2 microns on a variety of low cost plastic substrates.

Dr. Jablonski stated, “We see a demand for a conductive ink to support high volume print runs of electronic circuitry for consumer electronics. Our customers need inks that can process quickly; that cure to a high level of conductivity at low temperatures. Our silver nanopowder is the perfect platform for this type of application. The unique properties of our silver nanoparticles make them ideal materials for these types of high volume applications. Our nanopowders exhibit properties not found with larger, micron sized metals, enabling our nanopowder based inks to work where other more traditional inks have failed.”...read the wave

SANTA FE -- Imagine being able to paint your roof with enough alternative energy to heat and cool your home. What if soldiers in the field could carry an energy source in a roll of plastic wrap in their backpacks?

Those ideas sound like science fiction þu particularly in the wake of the rising costs of fossil fuel.

But both are on the way to becoming reality because of a breakthrough in solar research by a team of scientists from New Mexico State University and Wake Forest University.

While traditional solar panels are made of silicon, which is expensive, brittle and shatters like glass, organic solar cells being developed by this team are made of plastic that is relatively inexpensive, flexible, can be wrapped around structures or even applied like paint, said physicist Seamus Curran, head of the nanotechnology laboratory at NMSU. Nanotechnology, or molecular manufacturing, refers to the ability to build things one atom at a time...read the wave

Just how much data can we cram onto a hard disk? In a paper appearing online today in Physical Review Letters, EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne) Professor Harald Brune and his colleagues report what they believe to be the ultimate density limit of magnetic recording.

His group created a self-assembled lattice of non-interacting two-atoms-high islands of cobalt on a single-crystal gold substrate. The islands' density -- 26 trillion islands per square inch -- is the highest yet recorded and 200 times the bit density of current computer hard disks. The magnetic properties of the islands are the most uniform ever recorded, and because the islands don't interact with each other, they can each hold one bit of data.

However, it's not a storage medium "ready to use" because these records were posted at the uncomfortably cold temperature of -223 C! Above this temperature, thermal excitation starts to reverse the magnetization and the information in the memory gets volatile...read the wave

NISKAYUNA, N.Y. & BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE Global Research, the centralized research organization of General Electric (NYSE: GE), and the Frangioni Laboratory at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) today announced receipt of a $6.5 million grant from The Cancer Imaging Program of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), to engage in a five-year industrial/academic research collaboration to enhance the imaging of cancerous tumors during surgery.

New breakthroughs in surgical imaging would enable doctors to more clearly identify the location and extent of a tumor during an operation and could ultimately lead to lower cancer recurrence rates in patients, thus improving the quality of care across surgical hospitals. The Frangioni Laboratory has developed an intraoperative imaging system that permits the surgeon to see diseases, such as cancer, using safe, sensitive, but invisible, near-infrared fluorescent light. GE Global Research will leverage its expertise in medical imaging system design and signal processing to increase the sensitivity of the system and to make it compatible with endoscopy and laparoscopy. This will enable deeper visualization into tissue and enable less invasive forms of surgery, decreasing risk and recovery time for patients...read the wave

Opto 2005, the leading photonics and optics tradeshow in France with 150 exhibitors and 6000 visitors, took place from september 27th to 29th in Paris . LovaLite , a young start-up from the Technopole de l'Aube en Champagne , has been awarded the Bronze Photon on the “Innovation Showcase” organised by the magazine “ Photoniques ” and the “French Agency for Photonics and Optics industry”, 3 rd price for the French innovation of the year. 16 companies selected by a prestigious jury were competing for the Golden, Silver and Bronze Photons.

LovaLite was competing with its micro tip in polymer (Apex 500µm; length 30µm) adapted at the end of a micro structured optical fiber developed by PERFOS, which clearly enhance the light transmission in optical systems such as very high speed internet or telecom networks...read the wave

Austin, TX and Mountain View, CA – (– Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS ), a world leader in semiconductor design software, and SEMATECH, the leading semiconductor consortium, has announced a joint program to develop advanced optical proximity correction (OPC) models that will enable the extension of optical lithography.

A key goal of the program, part of SEMATECH's 193 nanometer (nm) Immersion Lithography Extendibility Project, is to facilitate better understanding of the challenges in process nodes beyond 45 nm so that participants can develop software and manufacturing processes that will meet these challenges. The program leverages Synopsys' industry-leading Proteus mask synthesis software.

The program's preliminary modeling results have been strong, indicating that immersion tools using a 1.3 numerical aperture (NA) can be image-corrected for use at the 45-nm half-pitch. The objective is to eventually enable the extension of immersion lithography to the 32 nm half-pitch, and extend models for optical tools with numerical aperture 1.55 and greater...read the wave

The miniscule tip on an atomic-force microscope (AFM) helps researchers both "see" and manipulate the nanoscale environment. Now, engineers have created two novel technologies that enable such tips to write features as small as viruses and to withstand abuse with the resilience of diamond. Eventually, they believe, vast arrays of such nanofountain probes could prove useful for crafting such intricate systems as protein arrays or complex semiconductors.

By taking advantage of the same capillary forces that keep fountain pens flowing, researchers from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., created a specialized structure that channels inks from a tiny reservoir down to a miniscule AFM tip.

Existing "dip-pen" techniques utilize the same inks, which range from pigments for creating patterns to organic materials for creating sensors, but they suffer from difficulties with maintaining a regular ink supply. The new "nanofountain probe" can paint features as small as 40 nanometers and carries its own ink reservoir...read the wave

Newswise — Researchers have caught the first glimpse of nanometer-scale structures at the boundary between droplets of liquid aluminum and the solid face of sapphire. The detailed view provides direct evidence that the sapphire's crystal structure induces the liquid aluminum atoms to line up in an orderly fashion, which is not normally characteristic of liquids. These findings were published online today by the journal Science at the Science Express Web site.

“Basically, this means we need to think about liquid-solid interfaces in a totally different way,” says Professor Wayne D. Kaplan of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, who co-authored the study with Technion Ph.D. student Yaron Kauffmann and colleagues from the Max Planck Institute in Germany.

“The findings have fundamental implications for a variety of processes, including lubrication, the growth of thin crystal layers and ‘wetting,' or how well liquids spread over a solid surface. So many current technological processes depend on our understanding of such phenomena,” Kaplan adds. “For instance, the processes play a key role in building semiconductor chips and other microelectronic devices, soldering materials, and maneuvering liquids through small spaces.” Other applications could include "labs-on-chips," where chemicals or biological fluids are moved through microchannels on a small glass plate, and printing (on fabrics and paper), which also involves the wetting process...read the wave

Plant Research International, part of Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands, together with CatchMabs, have announced a cooperative study to apply iMab technology to detect mycotoxins in food and plant pathogens in plant material. The partners will advance the work for applications at the nano-level.

CatchMabs develops ‘industrial Molecular Affinity Bodies' (iMabs) – proteins capable of making highly specific and exceptionally strong combinations of previously defined molecules. iMabs are very stable proteins, which means they can also be used under extreme conditions.

One of the core activities of Plant Research International is research to improve the health status of our food. The institute develops diagnostic techniques and methods for the detection of pathogens in plants, including fungi and viruses. In the framework of these activities, Plant Research International is one of the partners in the EU project ‘eBIOSENSE'. The goal of this project is to develop a ‘chip' that can be used for the fast detection of both mycotoxins and pathogens in food...read the wave

EVANSTON, Ill., PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ford Motor Company, The Boeing Company and Northwestern University -- three big names in technology development -- today announced their intent to work together to focus on making the future very small.

Ford, Boeing and Northwestern are in final negotiations to form a new alliance to research commercial applications of nanotechnology -- the branch of engineering that deals with things smaller than 100 nanometers and at the molecular level. The agreement, which is expected to become final later this month, is designed to pave the way for future advancements in transportation, including cars that could someday be powered by clean hydrogen rather than gasoline.

"Ford has a long history of research in the field of nanotechnology, and this relationship will strengthen our knowledge for the future," said Dr. Gerhard Schmidt, Ford's vice president of Research and Advanced Engineering. "As our Chairman Bill Ford announced recently, innovation is the compass by which we are setting our company's future direction -- stylish in design, safer for families and first in technology that uses new fuels and offers new services to consumers. In line with this commitment, we are very pleased to be working with Boeing. They have been our long-time partner, and our joint collaboration with Northwestern University underscores just how serious we are about innovating for the future together." ...read the wave

A University of Colorado at Boulder team has developed the first computer-generated model of a tiny, waterwheel-like molecular rotor that has been harnessed to rotate in one direction at different speeds in response to changes in the strength of an electrical field applied from the outside.

The synthetic molecule features a chemical axle with two attached "paddles" carrying opposite electrical charges, which is mounted parallel to a gold substrate surface, said Professor Josef Michl of CU-Boulder's chemistry and biochemistry department. The researchers found that the microscopic rotor -- constructed with a few hundred atoms -- will turn in a desired direction at a selected frequency using an oscillating electrical field concentrated in a tiny area above the molecule.

Such molecular rotors may someday function as nanotechnology machines and be used as chemical sensors, cell-phone switches, miniature pumps or even laser-blocking goggles, he said. A paper by Michl and former CU-Boulder postdoctoral student Dominik Horinek, the Feodr Lynen Fellow of the German Humboldt Foundation, appeared in the Oct. 4 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...read the wave

BUDAPEST, Ungarn, PRNewswire/ -- Thales Nanotechnology, Inc. gab heute bekannt, dass seine Entwicklung vom 'R&D Magazine' als eines der 100 technologisch bedeutendsten und innovativsten neuen Produkte des Jahres 2005 anerkannt wurde. Die preisgekrönte Entwicklung, der H-Cube, ist der erste einer neuen Reihe von Hydrierreaktoren mit stetiger Strömung. Mittels Wasserelektrolyse zur Wasserstofferzeugung macht der schuhkartongrosse H-Cube mit einem Katalysatorpatronensystem und einem Reaktor mit stetiger Strömung die Hydrierung bequem, effizienter und weniger gefährlich. Mit dieser Anlage lassen sich Reaktionen durchführen, die unter normalen Umständen fast unmöglich sind. Das Produkt ist bereits auf dem Markt, und Thales Nanotechnology geht davon aus, dass seine einzigartige Entwicklung die katalytische Hydrierung im kommenden Jahrzehnt revolutionieren wird. "Wir sind sehr froh, dass der 'R&D 100'-Prämierungsausschuss unsere H-Cube-Entwicklung anerkannt hat", kommentierte Dr. Ferenc Darvas, Präsident und Vorsitzender von Thales Nanotechnology...read the wave

UPTON, NY - Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have identified how billionth-of-a-meter sized metal particles — gold-atom clusters within carbon-atom shells — can mesh together to form larger particles and have also found a way to control this process. The results, published in the September 27, 2005, online edition of Nano Letters, may help scientists determine how these “nanoparticles,” which have unique physical, chemical, and electronic properties, could be incorporated into new technologies.

“Nanostructures that consist of a metal nanoparticle trapped within a carbon cage have great technological promise, such as in electronics and biomedical imaging systems, but scientists have more to learn about them,” said Eli Sutter, a scientist at Brookhaven's Center for Functional Nanomaterials and the study's lead author. “For example, knowing how to control the size of the particles is very important because size is strongly linked to properties like electronic structure and melting temperature.” ...read the wave

The first generation of commercial nanotechnology companies -- those whose business is based on manufactured nanoparticles -- is already with us. Here is a quick overview of the cast of characters that make up this first wave of the nanotechnology industry in the UK.

1. Ivory tower tech-heads -- The university spin out company
As state funding for academia decreases and universities seek other ways of bringing in revenue, many are either licensing or selling the results of academic research to private companies, or are setting up their own companies to cash in on academic research discoveries. UK examples of nano spin out companies include...read the wave

The most comprehensive review of the field of Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines (KSRM), the title of a book co-authored by Robert A. Freitas Jr. and Ralph C. Merkle , was published in hardback in late 2004.

The book is still available in print , but KSRM is now freely accessible online .

With 200+ illustrations and 3200+ literature references, KSRM describes all proposed and experimentally realized self-replicating systems that were publicly known as of 2004, ranging from nanoscale to macroscale systems.

The book extensively describes the historical development of the field. It presents for the first time a detailed 137-dimensional map of the entire kinematic replicator design space to assist future engineering efforts. KSRM has been cited in two articles appearing in Nature this year (Zykov et al, Nature 435, 163 (12 May 2005) and Griffith et al, Nature 437, 636 (29 September 2005)) and appears well on its way to becoming the classic reference in this field.

Rising public concern -- over the potential environmental, health and societal hazards of nanotechnology -- threatens to make the issue into a repeat of the GM debate. Potentially trillions of pounds are thus at stake for the many diverse industries involved in the new technology. The PR agency flies, who so spectacularly failed to save GM crops, are beginning to buzz around this new honeypot, sensing a very lucrative feast. They are offering their clients assistance with two key objectives: to maintain governments' evident enthusiasm for nanotech and to win public acceptance of it.

The Nanotech Association (NA), launched in February 2005, brings together a number of key companies from small start-ups to large multinationals. They include: Smith & Nephew and Oxonica. For an industry body with the aim of 'informing and promoting the uses of nanotechnologies' it was a whisper of a launch. And nothing seems to have been heard of it since. Even Nanoforum (see below) failed to print the NA's launch press release until seven months later...read the wave

(PRWEB) The Eurochem NanoTech Paint protection System is a unique solution to repel road grime, dirt, salts, bird lyme and atmospheric fallout from your cars paint work.

Toughseal will dramatically improve the visual effects of your paint and protect it at the same time. The Two step cleaning and protection system contains leading edge nanotechnology and Polyplexin T11 resins, which together creates the performance characteristics that have never been achieved before in the automotive paint protection industry. It will maintain the paint finish and protect from UV fading and salt damage, allowing you to never wax again.

Nanotechnology is probably the most exciting development in modern automotive cleaning chemical science. Nanoparticles are miniscule in size and it is by combining these that we can now create products that perform better than we had ever imagined. The difference can be seen with immediate effect.

Washing your car is now easier than ever before, soaps and water quickly form into a sheeting effect on the painted surface, that will disperse using the fresh water from a hose or the natural aerodynamics of the car when in motion, or just allow to dry naturally. This improved formulation is outstanding – and one application lasts for more than 5 years. It can even withstand many car washes...read the wave

PASADENA, Calif., /PRNewswire/ -- Jim Heath wants to catch cancer earlier and provide more effective monitoring of patients' responses to therapies. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) likes his plan and just awarded him $3.6 million to get started. The first year award from NCI is tentatively expected to continue at the same level for the next five years totaling $18 million.

Heath, the Elizabeth Gilloon Professor and professor of chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, will direct the Nanosystems Biology Cancer Center at Caltech (NSBCC). This center will focus on the development and validation of tools for early detection and stratification of cancer through rapid and quantitative measurement of panels of serum and tissue-based biomarkers.

The new center establishes a collaborative team comprising investigators from Caltech, the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) in Seattle, and UCLA's Institute for Molecular Medicine and Jonnson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Former Caltech professor and ISB founder Lee Hood is a co-Director of the NSBCC, and Michael Phelps, Norton Simon Professor and Chair of the UCLA Molecular & Medical Pharmacology Department, is also a co-Director...read the wave

TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-Nanobac Life Sciences, Inc. (OTCBB:NNBP) ("Nanobac" or "the Company") has announced a $95,000 grant awarded by CDDF to David S. McKay, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Directorate at NASA's Johnson Space Center, for Calcification and Biomineralization and Nanobacteria Research.

The grant will be used to characterize and understand Nanobacteria's calcification and biomineralization properties and focus on nanobacteria as a model for health-threatening calcification and as a model for fossil biosignatures in a search for life. New collaborations are anticipated with JSC Bio-Medical groups, UT Medical Systems, Nanobac Life Sciences (Nanobac), and others. Current theory is that the complex calcification forms produced by these nano-particles not only may have undesirable effects on human health, but may also provide new insights into how fossils form in nature. One goal of NASA's new exploration program is to search for evidence for life, such as fossils on Mars and other planetary bodies...read the wave

Nobel Laureate Sir Professor Harold Kroto from Florida State University, US, was invited to deliver the plenary lecture on "Some New Insights into the Mechanisms of Fullerene and Nanotube Formation". Sir Harold Kroto discussed the exciting birth of C60, a new form of carbon. Its discovery had ignited the scientific community and led to many new fields of research in the nanotechnology world. The plenary lecture attracted around 500 people including professors and students from the University of Averio where the lecture took place.

September 6th saw two short courses offered concurrently on nanostructured materials and thin film characterisation techniques, respectively. The one-day courses were conducted by the renowned speakers Professor Stan Veprek of Germany, Professor Sam Zhang from Singapore, Dr D Lovell of the United Kingdom and Dr J Smith, also from the United Kingdom...read the wave

HOUSTON, Using a method for assessing the premiums that companies pay for insurance, a team of scientists and insurance experts have concluded that the manufacturing processes for five, near-market nanomaterials ‹ including quantum dots, carbon nanotubes and buckyballs ‹ present fewer risks to the environment than some common industrial processes like oil refining. For two of the nanomaterials ­ nanotubes and alumoxane nanoparticles ‹ manufacturing risks were comparable with those of making wine or aspirin.

The study is available online and slated for publication in the Nov. 15 issue of Environmental Science and Technology. It compares the environmental and health risks associated with the production of five nanomaterials ‹ single-walled carbon nanotubes, buckyballs, zinc selenide quantum dots, alumoxane nanoparticles and titantium dioxide nanoparticles ‹ with the risks of making six commonplace products ‹ silicon wafers, wine, high-density plastic, lead-acid car batteries, refined petroleum and aspirin...read the wave

Bremerton, Washington, -- LiftPort Group Inc.a private group has taken one small step toward the prospect of building a futuristic space elevator.

In late September they successfully tested a robot climber – a novel piece of hardware that reeled itself up and down a lengthy ribbon dangling from a high-altitude balloon.

This last test run, is seen as a precursor experiment intended to flight validate equipment and methods to construct a space elevator . This visionary concept would make use of an ultra-strong carbon nanotube composite ribbon stretching some 62,000 miles (100,000 kilometers) from Earth into space...read the wave

ATHENS, Ohio — For almost a decade, scientists thought they understood the surface structure of cubic gallium nitride, a promising new crystalline semiconductor. Research by an interdisciplinary team of nanoscientists from Ohio University and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, however, turns that idea on its head.

Their study published in the Sept. 30 online issue of the journal Physical Review Letters provides a fresh – and they argue, more accurate – look at the surface structure of the crystalline material, which could be used in lasers and other electronic devices.

Nancy Sandler, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Ohio University, and Pablo Ordejón, a Barcelona professor specializing in the algorithm used in the project, calculated several properties using the currently accepted model and obtained new images of the crystal's surface. Experimentalists Hamad Al-Brithen and his Ph.D. adviser Arthur Smith, Ohio University associate professor of physics and astronomy, recently had used scanning tunneling microscopy to capture an image of the surface...read the wave