Nanopolis writes "Imagine what would happen if you could introduce your break-through technology to thousands of viewers comprised of venture capitalists, banks, investors, brokerage firms, industrial and research players?
Find out by participating in the collaborative Nanopolis encyclopedias. The exclusive multimedia "Exploring Nanotechnology" encyclopedia CD-ROM will be launched within 30 days !
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Roland Piquepaille writes "Laser lights can be used for optical sensing applications, for example to identify unknown gases emitted by an engine. And as these unknown substances react differently to different wavelengths, researchers at the University of Wisconsin at Madison have developed unique wavelength-agile lasers. And I'm amazed by the beauty and the simplicity of their idea. They're using white lasers which produce all colors simultaneously -- but with a twist. The white laser light goes through a 20-kilometers long optical fiber before reaching its target. And because different colors 'travel' at different speeds, this produces independent results for the different wavelengths. The researchers are using spectral resolutions smaller than a thousandth of a nanometer and they are able to get all the results within a millionth of a second. This method could be used to design cleaner engines or data storage applications in a few years. Read more for other details, pictures and references."
Just a reminder that the NSTI Nanotechnology Conference and Trade Show is coming up May 8-12, 2005 at the Anaheim Marriott & Convention Center in Anaheim, California. From the looks of the confirmed speaker list many people who have been mentioned on Nanodot or who have spoken at previous Foresight Insitute Conferences will be there.
Also worth noting is that the super early registration period for the Foresight Institute's 13th annual conference which will be in San Francisco October 22-27th, 2005 ends June 1st. The first two days are essentially what was previously known as the "Senior Associates" conference. The last four days are about busines, policy and R&D progress. This is explained in greater detail in the conference brochure here.
Roland Piquepaille writes "Today, anticancer drugs are delivered to patients in such a way that they can destroy both infected and healthy cells. But now, researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), in Singapore, have designed 'smart' nanocarriers which deliver the drugs exactly where they are needed, reducing side effects and suppressing cancer growth. Their core-shell nanoparticles are both sensitive to temperature -- which has been done before -- and to acidic levels. When these nanocarriers encounter acidic environments such as tumor tissues, they break apart and release the molecules they contain. So far, this technology has only been tested on mice, but the researchers have filed an application patent in the U.S., so expect to see practical applications in a few years. Read more for other details and references. [Additional note for purists: these nanocarriers are "smaller than 200 nm," which doesn't guarantee they fit within the strict definition of nanotechnology. However, if the Advanced Materials journal thinks these are nanoparticles, who am I to argue?]"
It would appear from reports at SpaceDaily and PhysOrg that scientists led by Chongwu Zhou at USC have determined how to grow single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) on specific planes of a sapphire crystal. This may have distinct advantages as it potentially allows one to put the wires down first and the computational elements (currently transistors) down second in the production of nanoelectronics. This is generally the inverse of current microelectronic production methods.
Physorg.com is reporting that scientists led by Xiang Zhang at UCB have a paper in Science documenting the ability to do "optical" imaging in the range of 40-60nm. They are using 365nm UV radiation and a silver film "superlens" with a negative refractive index to transcend the normal diffraction limits of optical imaging. Their results are nearly an order of magnitude smaller than conventional optical microscopy methods. Optical imaging is faster than electron microscope imaging because you don't have to scan the e-beam across the material being imaged.
One application which may push its development would be the direct imaging of semiconductor chips as the pass through the next two generations of photolithography at 65nm and 45-40nm. It is also worth noting that at these dimensions one could probably make a movie recording the motion of Drexler's classical assembler arm performing assembly processes.
Bob Schreib Jr. writes "Dear Sirs, This is a recap of an idea that I have already submitted to pretty much all of the forensic science sites on the web. The idea is UPC-Bullet-Tagging. That is, let's use Nanotechnology techniques from the microchip industry to etch microscopic UPC (Universal Product Codes)onto tiny sections or micro-rods of ceramic or stainless steel, and install them inside of ALL newly-manufactured bullets."
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Science Daily is documenting that Zhiyu Hu and associates, researchers at ORNL has developed a method for binding platinum nanoparticles to glass wool fibers that will enable a nano-catalytic reaction (aren't *all* catalytic reactions "nano-" by definition?) to allow self-combustion of methanol at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 600 deg. C.
A number of sources are reporting (here, here & here) that a group lead by Prof. Massood Tahib-Azar at Case Western Reserve University has developed faster and cheaper methods for growing (and welding?) carbon nanotubes potentially for the purpose of wiring shrinking Microelectronic circuits.
The only problem I see is that although it is widely reported, there appear to be few details on the method(s) other than the fact that they are "growing" the nanotubes from "seeds". In that respect it sounds similar to the methods used to grow silicon nanobridges which were previously discussed on Nanodot.
Nanobreakthrough or nanohype?
Azonano is pointing out here the award of a series of the 2005 NanoVic prizes for innovative nanoscale research in a variety of areas in Australia. These include such areas as surface treatments for wood products, textile applications and solar cell engineering.
They also discuss the NanoSolveTM additive developed by Zyvex that uses carbon nanotubes for the engineering of stronger epoxy composites as well as a number of other developments in various aspects of nanotechnology R&D.
