Our previous post announced a race around a 100 nm course of six NanoCars, each a unique concept created from only several dozen atoms and powered by electrical pulses. The race was run a few weeks later and two winners declared, due to two different tracks being used. From Swiss news “Swiss team wins shortest… Continue reading USA-Austrian and Swiss Nanocars finish first in first Nanocar race
Six NanoCars, each a unique concept created from only several dozen atoms by one of six teams representing six nations, and powered by electrical pulses, will compete to complete a 100 nm course within 38 hours.
A new form of carbon produced by very slowly releasing benzene compressed at 200,000 times atmospheric pressure may be the strongest material possible.
Templates made from polymer nanofibers enable the formation of long-lived silicon nanostructures that store ten times as much charge as do graphite battery terminals.
Electron tunneling drives a conformational change in each wheel of a four-wheel drive, single molecule nanocar, driving it across a copper surface.
In light of our continuing interest in the ways in which nanotechnology will interact with robotics and other emerging technologies, here is an update from IEEE Spectrum on the Boston Dynamics robot project. The earlier version called BigDog was cited here a few years ago, and was impressive enough. The update is a substantially improved… Continue reading Video of very impressive DARPA-funded quadruped robot
Zyvex Technologies announced that its 54-foot boat named Piranha completed a rough-weather sea test near Puget Sound in the Pacific Ocean, demonstrating record fuel efficiency.
The 4th International Conference on carbon nanotechnology and space elevator systems, Dec. 4-5, 2010, is available for remote participation or listening-in.
The brothers Montgolfier invented the hot air balloon upon the observation that smoke rises, and thus they figured that if they could catch it in a bag, the bag would be pulled upward. Hot air ballooning is quite popular today; people think of balloons as being quaint and pretty and natural, or at least more… Continue reading Steam balloons
Just for fun, imagine you could build a tower up to geosynchronous orbital height. If you stepped off the top floor, you’d just hang there, in orbit. If the tower you build is shorter, you’d fall, since (a) you aren’t going quite as fast, and (b) orbital speed is faster as you get lower. However,… Continue reading Towers and orbits
