Researchers have joined about eight nanoparticles together to make nanostructures resembling segmented worms, and find these survive many hours.
There is hope that nanotechnology in the form of silver nanoparticles will provide protection against drug-resistant bacteria in hospitals, but there is also concern that unregulated use of silver nanoparticles in commercial products will damage the environment.
A while back Senior Associate Stuart Scott let us know that he had been selected to participate in a National Citizen’s Technology Forum process on nanotechnology, sponsored by Arizona State and University of North Carolina, among other schools. Presumably this is funded by the social science budget of the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative, via NSF.… Continue reading National Citizen's Technology Forum held on nanotechnology
Some nanostructures can be improved after fabrication by a new nanotech procedure that transiently and selectively liquifies the structures to remove defects.
We’ve received an invitation to participate in the Center for Nanotechnology in Society’s project to build and critique nanotechnology scenarios. Current topics to edit in the wiki, or you can add your own: * Barless Prisons * Bionic Eyes * Living with a Brain Chip * Disease Detector * Automated Sewer Surveillance * Engineered Tissues
Studies of how molecules are released from nanoparticles when they encounter cancer cells and of how the nanoparticles break down prematurely while circulating in the blood point toward ways to improve the nanotech delivery of therapeutic drugs into cancer cells.
Preliminary theoretical calculations show that it might be possible to develop a nanotech application in which clusters of a few boron atoms connect very small graphene semiconductors to make nanoelectronic devices.
By adding carbon nanotubes to catalytic nanowires, nanotechnology has produced simple nanomotors that can surpass biological motors (somewhat).
Forests of spiraling nanotrees made from lead sulfide nanowires may lead to new nanotech approaches for producing one-dimensional nanostructures based on designed dislocations rather than metal catalysts to control growth.
RNA interference (RNAi) is a way to decrease expression of a specific gene without otherwise affecting the cell, and it therefore could be a very promising treatment for a wide variety of diseases—if it could be reliably delivered into the diseased cell cytoplasm. One possible nanotech solution to this problem takes the form of a… Continue reading Nanotechnology encapsulation delivers RNA interference agents 10-fold more effectively
