Month: December 2004

WilliamDye writes "A few weeks ago, the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha announced that it was forming a Center for Drug Delivery and Nanomedicine. The new center was briefly discussed in a recent newspaper article in the Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal-Star. Unfortunately, the use of the term "nanomedicine" at the new center does not appear to be in the realm of what many NanoDot readers would consider to be true Nanomedicine, but as with the current popular usage of the term "nanotechnology", perhaps the present initiatives will eventually lead to the earlier, more powerful concepts."

Christine Peterson has pointed out AzoNano.com which is a new Online Journal of Nanotechnology which is a collaboration between AZoM.com PTY. Ltd. in Australia and The Institute of Nanotechnology in the U.K.

A brief review of the book list seems to suggest their primary focus is on nanomaterials rather than on molecular nanotechnology. For example, Nanosystems and Nanomedicine Vol. I are not included. More…

WillWare writes "I saw the preliminary animation at the October conference. It's an incredible aid to visualizing and discussing the ideas of molecular manufacturing. The DVD can help wealthy, influential people wrap their brains around the feasibility and the benefits and thereby vastly expedite development. Every Nanodot reader is a stakeholder in the future, so it might be smart to put our ideas where Foresight can see them."

The NanoAging Institute writes "There is a nice article mentioning nanomedicine on The New York Time, here is a excerpt from the article:Nanomedicine will probably become the biggest change for humans in our society but when?

There is more extensive discussion on the development of various aspects of nanotechnology for use in medicine as well as cryonics here."

Brian Wang writes "South Korean scientists found a simple way to produce high-purity single-walled carbon nanotubes en masse, the vital materials for nanotechnology, under ambient conditions.

Until now, scientists created the substances at high temperatures ranging from 700 to 2,000 degrees Celsius. But the yield rate was still below 70 percent and purity was between 70 to 95 percent, even after multi-step purification processes.

By contrast, Park's team used the chemical effects of ultrasound and a liquid solution to make nanotubes at atmospheric pressure and room temperature.

The newfound method worked handsomely as it enabled volume production of high-purity nanotubes without a purification process and its yield rate also improved to more than 90 percent. Mass Production of Carbon Nanotube Becomes Possible"

Roland Piquepaille writes "Carbon nanotubes, which can have useful electrical or optical properties, are typically grown using chemical vapor deposition techniques. During this process, amorphous and useless carbon layers are also produced, meaning that a post-growth purification process is needed. Not anymore. According to this article from Technology Research News (TRN), Japanese researchers have successfully used water to get rid of these impurities. The idea of using water to clean carbon nanotubes is so simple that I'm amazed that nobody thought about it before. Anyway, this method, which eliminates the post-growth purification process, still needs some improvements and will not help to mass produce carbon nanotubes before at least five years. You'll find more details and references in this overview. And you'll find even more nanotechnology achievements in this Nanotech News Roundup #1."

Senior Associate Gina Miller brings to our attention a film from a team affiliated with University of Toronto: "N is for Nanotechnology is a new 30 minute documentary that discusses the field of nanotech. You can download the trailer at this website: http://www.knhproductions.ca. You can also click through drawings at the site. I have not figured out where, when, or even if the documentary is going to air or if it will be available for purchase?" The trailer looks promising. óCP

While current work is bulk materials-based, researchers in Texas are setting high goals for future achievements in nanomedicine: ìThe whole idea of being able to develop devices that we can manipulate at the cellular level to perform a function is very compelling"…Rosenblum likens these devices to a kind of miniscule robot ìbecause they are programmed to perform a certain task and report back to us. We can track exactly where they are in the body…We have hurdles to overcome because these are very complex devices…But we think this has the potential to solve crucial problems in cancer diagnosis and care.î

Christine Peterson points out a letter from Greenpeace UK Chief Scientist Doug Parr to the editors of the Times regarding comments from Tracy Brown from Sense About Science asserting that Greenpeace is opposed to nanotechnology. It appears that is not entirely accurate. They may support nanotechnology if a case can be made that the benefits outweigh the risks.

Christine Peterson points to this press release involving the new center.

"The goal is to merge nanotubes and a host of other Tinkertoy-like nanopieces with organic molecules – DNA, proteins or nanomolecular motors – to create sensors or nanomachines small enough to fit on the back of a virus…. While some of the researchers are synthesizing and characterizing various building blocks, others will integrate them and map out system properties, and still others will develop the tools to manipulate and construct new building blocks and systems. Several researchers will pursue the theoretical basics and limits of new devices."

Foresight Senior Associate Tom Kalil "helped meld the diverse group of researchers into a coherent center that captured the attention of the NSF."