Over at the Nanotech Briefs’ Nano Test Blog is a post on work by UIUC physicist Paul Selvin showing that myosin VI can act as a molecular transporter: ” ‘We found that, at high enough concentrations, some of the myosin molecules would find one another, they would dimerize, and they would start walking,’ Selvin said…’And,… Continue reading Myosin can act as molecular transporter
The IEEE Virtual Museum, targeted at the general public, has opened its nanotech exhibit. An excerpt: “Even with these real-world applications, the current uses of nanotechnology (other than nano-size particles of various materials) remain very limited…However, researchers are rapidly making progress toward what some think of as true nanotechnologies—self-assembling, molecule size machines to perform all… Continue reading Nanotech exhibit opens at IEEE Virtual Museum
From Livescience: “In another feat in the effort to truly downsize Detroit, the researchers have now installed a miniature, light-powered motor in their diminutive automobile. “The nanocar is about as wide as a strand of DNA. Roughly 20,000 of them could park side-by-side in a lot no wider than a human hair. “Such small devices… Continue reading Nanocar gets nanomotor via US/Dutch collaboration
I’ve mentioned this MIT work before, but there’s a more technical summary available over at Nature.com (free reg req’d): “Ellis-Behnke and colleagues have now taken things a step further by demonstrating the regeneration of functional brain tissue in live animals. They made cuts in the part of the midbrain of hamsters that processes vision, rendering… Continue reading Nanoscale brain repair: more detail from Nature
On April 28, the Center on Nanotechnology and Society at Illinois Institute of Technology — which has a great nanomachine by Damian Allis featured on its home page currently — will sponsor a one-day event titled NanoWorld: Toward a Policy for the Human Future at the National Press Club. The keynote is by Mihail Roco… Continue reading Join Mike Roco and me in DC on April 28
In their Medical Products industry section, Accenture analysts Roland Hengerer and Martin Illsley describe what we can expect from nanotech for medicine: “To give just a sense of the possibilities, scientists and engineers are experimenting with ways to ‘nanostructure’ matter in such a way as to create industrial materials that are 100 times stronger than… Continue reading Accenture on nanotech for medicine
For those of us interested in longer-term nanotechnology issues, CRN has released a set of eleven essays by visionary writers, most of whom will be familiar names from their having participated in Foresight conferences over the years: Kurzweil, Ray – “Nanotechnology Dangers and Defenses” Freitas, Robert A. Jr. – “Molecular Manufacturing: Too Dangerous to Allow?”… Continue reading Long-term nanotech explored in CRN essays
There are few goals that more of us share than that of losing weight, now that the problem of obesity is spreading (sorry) far beyond the US. NutraIngredients.com brings us news of a new nanoscale product for which the manufacturer claims to have scientific evidence of efficacy in weight loss: “AquaNova has developed a new… Continue reading Nanotech finds killer app: weight loss…maybe
Earth & Sky brings us comments on nanosurveillance: “Nanotechnology experts have suggested that nano sensors — tiny devices too small to see with the unaided eye and able to monitor sounds and physical conditions — could be put into paint and sprayed on a wall. “David Guston [Director of the Center for Nanotechnology in Society… Continue reading Nanosurveillance comments from Arizona State, Bell Labs
From Live Science, a summary of a recent paper in PNAS: “Scientists partially restored the vision in blinded hamsters by plugging gaps in their injured brains with a synthetic substance that allowed brain cells to reconnect with one another, a new study reports. “If it can be applied to humans, the microscopic material could one… Continue reading MIT: Nanotech repairs brain damage in hamsters
