The Allen Institute for Brain Science is using nanotech methods to map in which cells in the brain which genes are expressed.
Computational nanotech studies have shown that deliberate introduction of structural defects at specific sites in carbon nanotubes can guide electrons along specific paths, providing a way to fabricate complex electronic circuits from nanotubes.
Molecular dynamics simulations show that electron tunneling through nanoscale rotary motors based on carbon nanotube shafts may enable nanotech motors to rotate more than a million times faster than their biological counterparts.
New nanotech applications may be made possible by the demonstration of a force generated from light that does not require a reflective surface.
A new microscope may facilitate nanotech developments by combining nanometer scale spatial resolution with temporal resolution in the millisecond to femtosecond range.
Re-engineering a simple nanotech device to make it more functional, Chinese scientists have developed an improved DNA tweezers that is able to capture, hold, and release a target molecule in a controlled manner.
Robert A. Freitas Jr. brings to our attention a major step on the road to advanced nanotech, published a couple weeks ago in Science (abstract). He writes: This paper reports purely mechanical-based covalent bond-making and bond-breaking (true mechanosynthesis) involving atom by atom substitution of silicon (Si) atoms for tin (Sn) atoms in an Sn monolayer… Continue reading Mechanosynthesis with AFM as a step toward advanced nanotechnology
Combining electrically conductive polymers, transition metal atoms, and spin-coating to form thin films could lead to solar cells with two major advantages that would make them more efficient at converting light to electricity.
Upon exposure to electrons from an STM tip, pairs of platinum atoms on a germanium surface can be made to pivot on one atom, swinging back and forth like a flipper on a pinball machine.
The recent demonstration of the ability to “fully engineer the electronic band gap of graphene” is a major advance in the top-down approach to nanotech applications that take advantage of the many marvelous properties of graphene.
