Nanotech provides a way to tailor the optical and electronic properties of materials through engineering their nanostructures. Nanotechnology researchers have demonstrated that quantum dots of different sizes will absorb light of different wavelengths, and that an architecture using nanotubes transports electrons better than one using nanospheres, thus making more efficient solar cells possible. In “Catching… Continue reading More efficient solar cells through quantum dot nanotechnology
Here at Foresight we try to present a balanced view of nanotechnology, discussing prospective benefits while also acknowledging potential problems. It would be good if the “first major television series to look at the implications of advances in nanotechnology” did the same. But see the description of the upcoming public television series: Nanotechnology: The Power… Continue reading 1st major nanotechnology TV series sounds rather negative
The use of nanotechnology in treating cancer took a step forward with the demonstration that at least one class of nanoparticles can be manufactured with enough consistency for clinical use.
A developing understanding of non-Watson-Crick interactions places RNA nanotech on a firmer foundation.
It’s very early days as yet, but Japan is moving forward toward the goal of molecular-level machinery to control nanotechnology-based robotic devices for medicine. In the U.S. and Europe, the poorly-informed sometimes ridicule the prospect of such nanotech robots, but visionary goals are apparently okay in Japan. See the report and video at MSNBC from… Continue reading Japan takes lead in medical nanorobots
Bistable rotaxanes might be pressed into service as valves so that nanoparticles only release drugs in desired target areas.
In yet another approach to using scanning probe microscopy to build better computer memories, nanotech draws and erases lines three nm wide.
A new theoretical framework for nanotech seeks to use specially designed nanoparticles to create circuits that could lead to optical information processing and optical communication between nanostructures.
We’ve written here before about the plan to put iron nanoparticles in the ocean as a way to increase growth of plankton, thereby absorbing carbon dioxide. Previously this was to be done by a company called Planktos; now a new company called Climos is making similar plans. There was controversy about Planktos, and no doubt… Continue reading Ocean iron fuss is not about nanotechnology
As a follow-up to Monday’s post on optimizing nanoparticle design for nanotech drug delivery, the same research group has also demonstrated the advantages of a multistage approach in which micrometer-sized mesoporous particles are used to deliver two different nanoparticles in a way that circumvents some of the biological barriers that bedevil attempts to precisely deliver… Continue reading Nanotechnology uses two-stage vehicle to deliver drugs
