Category: Nanodot

from the Japan-moves-forward?-downward?-or-is-it-upward? dept.
Senior Associate BrianWang writes: An article at NEC discusses their work on atomic beam holography: "In a recent experiment, the joint research team succeeded in making real-time changes in the patterns of neon atoms by applying a bias voltage to an electrode array controlling the hologram. This experiment was a giant step towards the fabrication of complex, three-dimensional, nanometer-order structures. [emphasis added] The goal of our holographic atom manipulation is the nanofabrication of complex semiconductor structures. The technique will involve directly piling germanium and aluminum atoms on the substrate. In addition to increasing density, the new process will save time by eliminating the resist and etching steps in the lithography process."

from the EuroNanoTalk dept.
It's getting to be possible to attend nanotechnology conferences all the time, with barely enough time to recover in between. Here's a tempting one: Trends in Nanotechnology 2000 in Toledo, Spain. European Commission is participating (read: funding), and everyone on the committees is European, with one exception from Japan. Sensibly, they separate "Nanofabrication: Printing" from "Nanofabrication: Self-Assembly".

from the higher-order-self-assembly dept.
BrianWang and GinaMiller both reported this U of Illinois news release: "By manipulating simple and nonspecific interactions, researchers have discovered a way to make chemicals spontaneously self-assemble into ribbon-like tubules that resemble bacterial cell walls. The micrometer-sized tubules have potential applications in drug delivery systems and as templates for the synthesis of inorganic nanostructured materials." The Science article (abstract and summary free with registration) about this work concludes "The tubules described here…can be thought of as constituting a spontaneously assembled 'artificial' bacterium." CP: An overstatement, but the reseachers get points for vision.

from the really-different-computers dept.
Senior Associate Alison Chaiken (alison) writes "In a recent Science magazine article, Notre Dame electrical engineer Craig S. Lent discusses the possibility of molecular electronics circuits based on the "Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA)" paradigm. (This article, as well as a critical response, should be available with free registration.) The primary thrust of the article is to argue that attempts to implement current-switching molecular electronics that mirror the behavior of silicon circuits are misguided, and that molecular electronics will require a different type of architecture altogether." Read More for additional analysis.

from the it's-a-discovery-not-an-invention-so-no-patents! dept.
Foresight Director of Communications Tanya Jones alerts us that the journal "Nature is openly publishing information on the Human Genome project on its website, rather than restricting this to subscribers only. See their index of relevant papers, news, and application data. Included is asection on bioethics which may shed some light on concerns about the development of nanotechnology and provide us with avenues to achieving consensus on how these technologies may safely be developed. –Tanya "

from the diamonds-not-a-girl's-best-friend dept.
For friends of yours just getting oriented on nanotechnology, here's an interview of Foresight Advisor Ralph Merkle. Based on the interview is a digested article with photos and video clips (Windows Media Player only, unfortunately). One of the less-technical questions: "So what do I give my girlfriend when I want to get married." Merkle: "Diamonds arenít going to be that valuable. Youíre going to have to give something that shows a certain creative input that you provide." After this interview, Merkle left Xerox PARC for nanotech startup Zyvex, which is hiring

from the no-more-need-for-bzzzz-slap dept.
Greg Burch told us about the first stable germ line changes to the species of mosquito that transmits malaria. (Malaria kills an estimated 2.7 million people a year.) Researchers at Imperial College London and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, inserted a fluorescent marker gene in Anopheles mosquitoes. This is a first step toward making anti-malarial changes to the mosquito, such as making it produce antibodies against the malaria parasite. Greg comments: "What a great breakthrough in gene-engineering PR it would be if this line of research would prove fruitful against malaria!"

from the no,-literally-climbing-the-walls dept.
ChrisPhoenix writes "Researchers have discovered how gecko lizards stick to walls and ceilings. They have 500,000 hairs on each foot; each one subdivides into hundreds of 200-micron 'spatulae'. They speculate that these hairs are small enough to use the van der Waals force to adhere to, well, anything–even glass. A single hair will support 20 milligrams. Now they're talking about manufacturing similar stuff for robotics applications. A remaining puzzle: how does the gecko keep its feet clean?"

You can view an SF Chronicle article if you hurry, or some cool pictures and movies on the researchers' web site.

from the turn-left-at-IL2;-you-can't-miss-it dept.
William Dye writes "No doubt most Nanodot readers already know that a complete first-draft map of the human genome will be be announced on Monday. Slashdot posted a discussion article about the matter, based on a CNN story, but if anyone has some thoughts specific to the strong-MNT mindset, Nanodot is probably a better place to start the discussion. Public & private funding, intellectual property issues, lawmakers, ethical concerns, technical details, enormous potential medical benefits, all centered on really really tiny stuff — it's a pretty good testbed for MNT-related ideas."

from the is-that-a-beanstalk-in-your-pocket? dept.
Alison Chaiken tells us of a story in the newsletter Physical Review Focus (from the American Physical Society) about how a U.S. team has now made the most direct measurements yet of the strength of carbon nanotubes. "The results confirm that nanotubes are among the strongest of all known materials, and the measurement technique is likely to lead to a more detailed characterization of nanotubes in the future. (Min-Feng Yu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 5552.)"

Alison adds, "This is the work that Rod Ruoff and his students presented at the 1999 Fall Foresight Conference. " The abstract is online but viewing the full paper (in Physical Review Letters) requires a subscription or purchase.