X-Message-Number: 23717 From: "Gina Miller" <> References: <> Subject: The Nanogirl News Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 15:52:34 -0800 The Nanogirl News March 22, 2004 Nanoscale Elevator Raises the Bar. Complex device demonstrates progress in designing and building molecular machines. complex nanoscale machine that can shuttle molecules like a tiny elevator has been designed, built and operated. Developed by Italian and American researchers, the tiny, chemically driven machine consists of a platform with three rings, each of which is attached to the leg of a tripod-like structure. At just 2.5 nanometers high and 3.5 nanometers in diameter, the elevator represents a big advance for the construction of molecular machines, experts say. (Betterhumans 3/18/04) http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2004-03-18-4 Also see Chemical & Engineering news: http://pubs.acs.org/cen/topstory/8212/8212notw8.html NEC claims carbon nanotube monopoly, offers licenses. NEC Corp. asserted Wednesday (March 3) that it owns essential patents on carbon nanotubes and, as a result, all companies seeking to make or sell carbon nanotube materials must obtain licenses from NEC. At the same time NEC said it had granted Sumitomo Corp. a non-exclusive license to operate under the basic Japanese patents owned by NEC that cover carbon nanotubes. (EETimes 3/3/04) http://www.eetimes.com/at/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18311183 Solar-powered Molecular Motor Built. Could provide parts for nanoscale machines. The first molecular motor has been created that runs on electricity or light. Developed by Frederick Hawthorne and colleagues from the University of California, Los Angeles, the tiny motor could power machines on a scale smaller than biological motors such as flagella. "Given the existence of biological motors, the interest of chemists in designing molecular motors stems from the challenge not only of making even smaller nanomachines that perform controllable motion, but also of creating systems that can be powered with light or electrical energy, rather than depending on the delivery of ATP," say the researchers. (Betterhumans 3/18/04) http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2004-03-18-3 Single molecules pass doping test. Physicists in the US have moved a step closer to controlling the electronic properties of individual molecules in a condensed matter environment. Michael Crommie and colleagues at the University of California at Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have demonstrated a new way to "dope" single carbon-60 molecules with potassium atoms. The team says its method is the molecular equivalent of the n-type doping that is widely used in the semiconductor industry (R Yamachika et al. 2004 Sciencexpress 1095069). (PhysicsWeb 3/12/04) http://physicsweb.org/article/news/8/3/7 Zyvex Uses SolidWorks Software to Design Nano-Scale Devices for Building and Testing MEMS, Carbon Nanotubes. Nanotechnology pioneer Zyvex Corporation has standardized on SolidWorks(R) software to design and analyze microscopic tools that build and test mechanical devices and materials measuring a fraction of the diameter of a human hair. SolidWorks enables Zyvex to visualize, develop, and troubleshoot nanomanipulators, microgrippers, and microassembly devices used to make and test everything from sensors on ink jets to the materials that will seat the next-generation of computer chips. (BusinessWire 3/22/04) http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040322005145&newsLang=en Yarn spun from nanotubes. Tiny tubes may yield ultrastrong fibres. Scientists have spun long, rope-like fibres from nanotubes. Their environmentally friendly method could be tweaked to make high-strength threads for use in engineering. The long ropes could even lead to futuristic applications such as a space elevator. Alan Windle and colleagues at the University of Cambridge, UK, made their tiny twisted ropes by winding freshly made nanotubes onto spinning rods as they came out of a furnace. The nanotubes are hollow strands of carbon just 30 millionths of a millimetre or so wide - around 5,000 times thinner than a human hair. (Nature 3/12/04) http://www.nature.com/nsu/040308/040308-10.html Max Planck researchers use nanotechnology to visualize cellular processes crucial for the development of new cancer drugs. With the help of semiconductor nanocrystals, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen, Germany, and their collaborators at the Universidad de Buenos Aires are now able to capture movies of signal transmission processes involved in the control of gene expression (Nature Biotechnology, February 2004 issue). This breakthrough is expected to speed up the development of new cancer-curing drugs. (MaxPlanck 3/5/04) http://www.mpg.de/english/illustrationsDocumentation/documentation/pressReleases/2004/pressRelease200403121/index.html Triton's nanotechnology designed to take on tumors. CEO looks to raise $18M second round to get it to clinical trials. Samuel Straface is betting that nanotechnology originally designed to repair military vehicles can be successfully used for something far different: to kill cancer tumors. Straface is president and CEO of Triton BioSystems Inc. in Chelmsford, a 3-year-old biotechnology/medical device company hybrid. And he believes the company's system will essentially fry a tumor without significant side effects, ultimately helping to treat patients in lieu of toxic chemotherapy or radiation. (Boston Business Journal 3/12/04) http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2004/03/15/story7.html Nanotech could be boon to our society, economy. Nanotechnology. What is it? How close is it? Why are so many smart people talking about it? If you're worried about the future of our economy, jobs, and the American way of life, spending a few minutes learning about nanotechnology will open your eyes to an astounding future -- a future worth saving and investing for! (ChicagoSun Times 3/18/04) http://www.suntimes.com/output/savage/cst-fin-terry186.html Evaporation leads to nanotube foams. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, US, have made two-dimensional cellular nanotube foams by evaporating a liquid from an array of multiwalled carbon nanotubes. The foams could have applications as shock-absorbent structural reinforcements and elastic membranes. (nanotechweb 3/10/04) http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/3/3/6/1 Electricity controls nanocrystal shape. Wires, tubes and brushes make it possible to build and maintain the machines and devices we use on a daily basis. Now, with help from a surprising source, these same building blocks can easily be created on a scale 10,000 times smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. Researchers at Argonne have figured out the basics of using electrochemistry to control the architecture of nanocrystals - small structures with dimensions in billionths of meters. Their findings, published in the March 3 edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, provide a practical method of generating large quantities of architecture-controlled nanocrystals, such as superconductors, ferromagnets and noble metals. (Argonne 3/17/04) http://www.anl.gov/OPA/news04/news040317.htm 'Nano-Lightning' Could Be Harnessed to Cool Future Computers. Mechanical engineers at Purdue University are developing a new type of cooling technology for computers that uses a sort of nano-lightning to create tiny wind currents. The researchers have shown that the underlying concept for a "micro-scale ion-driven airflow" device is sound and have recently filed for a patent. "This is a groundbreaking idea," said Suresh Garimella, a professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue who is working on the device with Timothy Fisher, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, Daniel J. Schlitz , who recently earned a doctoral degree from Purdue, and doctoral student Vishal Singhal. Schlitz and Singhal have created Thorrn Micro Technologies Inc. to commercialize the cooling system. Future computer chips will contain more circuitry and components, causing them to generate additional heat and requiring innovative cooling methods. Engineers are studying ways to improve cooling technologies, including systems that circulate liquids to draw heat from chips. Using a liquid to cool electronic circuits, however, poses many challenges, and industry would rather develop new cooling methods that use air, Garimella said. (Ascribe 3/22/04) http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/spew4th.pl?ascribeid=20040322.085256&time=09%2026%20PST&year=2004&public=1 Playing with Nanoblocks. In CRN's construct of a desktop nanofactory, products are built by putting together combinations of predesigned nanoblocks. This is intended to maximize the latent innovation potential in the widespread distribution of low-cost (or free), albeit technically restricted nanofactories. It also could prevent illicit, unwise, or malicious product development. Product design will be made simple by CAD (computer aided design) programs, so simple that a child can do it-and that's no exaggeration. New product prototypes can be created, tested, and refined in a matter of hours instead of months. No special expertise is needed. Just imagination, curiosity, and the desire to create. (CRN 3/04) http://crnano.typepad.com/crnblog/2004/03/playing_with_na.html 2003 Researcher of the Year. The industry's court artist chisels 'tetrapod' masterpiece to harness sun. Nanotech's own Michelangelo has an equally polysyllabic name: Alivisatos. Like the Renaissance sculptor, the modern-day chemist is a master of material and shape - except Alivisatos' materials are semiconductor nanocrystals, not marble or plaster, and his shapes are dots, rods and pyramids. It's no surprise that his colleagues describe his nanocrystals as "visually beautiful." But Alivisatos' ability to control the dimensions and shape of nanocrystals as they grow ensures that they are functional as well. One form of his nanocrystals, called quantum dots, already is marketed as biological markers, while his nanorods are being tested in solar cells. (SmallTimes 3/04) http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=7562 NanoCenter to feature weekly lectures series. Today USC will begin playing host to the S.C. Citizens' School of Nanotechnology, a series of Wednesday night lectures sponsored by the USC NanoCenter at Sumwalt College. The lectures, which will be conducted at 7 p.m. to a group of about 40 participants, will focus on the potential societal importance of nanotechnology in a way potential consumers will be able to understand. The lecturers - Cathy Murphy, Davis Baird, Donna Chen, Robert Best, Jonathan Fletcher and Steve Lynn - represent the departments of chemistry and biochemistry, philosophy and English, as well as the School of Medicine, and are members of the USC faculty nationally respected for its expertise in the field of nanotechnology.(The Gamecock 3/22/04) http://www.dailygamecock.com/news/2004/03/17/News/Nanocenter.To.Feature.Weekly.Lectures.Series-634758.shtml Nano Goes to Wall Street. If we needed a reminder that "nano" is slowly approaching the radars of mainstream investors, then First Trust Portfolios has provided it with the launch of a nanotechnology mutual fund (ticker: FTNATX). This is the first commercial opportunity for those investors looking to dip their toes into the exquisitely small world of nanotechnology. (The Motley Fool 3/16/04) http://www.fool.com/News/mft/2004/mft04031606.htm Foresight Vision Weekend "Putting Feynman's Vision Into Action". Senior Associates Gathering, May 14-16, 2004 in Palo Alto Welcome Reception Friday, May 14, at 7 pm http://foresight.org/SrAssoc/spring2004/index.html PRELIMINARY PROGRAM NOW AVAILABLE: http://foresight.org/SrAssoc/spring2004/program.html (Nanodot 3/19/04) http://nanodot.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/20/015249&mode=nocomment&threshold= Fujitsu to Spend 160 Billion Yen for New Nanotechnology Plant. Fujitsu Ltd. said Friday it will spend 160 billion yen to build a new plant at its factory site in Mie Prefecture to produce logic LSI (large-scale integration) chips employing nanotechnology. The new facility is expected to begin operations in April 2005 and mass production in September 2005. It will be capable of making logic LSI semiconductors with 90 nanometer and 65 nanometer technologies, the Japanese electronics maker said. (The Miami Herald 3/18/04 http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/national/8229275.htm New Mexico Praised for Nanotechnology Research. New Mexico ranks ahead of every state except California and Massachusetts in a business magazine's top-10 list of centers of nanotechnology and microsystems research, development and commercialization. For the second straight year, Small Times magazine, which focuses on tiny technology, ranks New Mexico third in its annual Top 10 Small Tech Hot Spots. The magazine is a source of business information on the small-technology industry. (WJLA ABC 3/19/04) http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0304/133448.html Fujitsu to build new nanotech plant. Fujitsu Ltd said Friday it will spend 160 billion yen to build a new plant at its factory site in Mie Prefecture to produce logic LSI (large-scale integration) chips employing nanotechnology. The new facility is expected to begin operations in April 2005 and mass production in September 2005. It will be capable of making logic LSI semiconductors with 90 nanometer and 65 nanometer technologies, the Japanese electronics maker said. (Japantoday 3/23/04) http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=4&id=292074 EU nanotechnology project to reconstruct human corneas using tissue engineering. A new EU funded project is set to transform eye surgery and dramatically cut the number of experiments conducted on animals by reconstructing a human cornea in vitro. The 'Cornea Engineering' project is adopting a unique approach to corneal replacements - using tissue engineering to create a three dimensional human cornea. This is the first time that this feat will have been attempted in Europe, although similar research is being conducted in the US and Canada. (nanotechwire 3/18/04) http://nanotechwire.com/news.asp?nid=784 California Firm Pearlife's Products Offer Skin Care Based on Nanotechnology. Mention nanotechnology and some might envision the B2 Stealth Bomber. After all, it is nanotechnology that allows the plane's protective shielding to deflect enemy radar so the craft can fly undetected, even at low altitudes. But an Industry-based company is using that same technology in the production of its skin care line. The PearLife Co.'s products -- including the firm's signature Fantastic O's Skin Care facial cream -- are designed not only for cosmetic purposes, but also for protection from radiation generated by computers, televisions and microwave ovens. (Smalltimes 3/04) http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?section_id=45&document_id=7519 Nanoscale Science Institute Founded. This week, Cornell announced the establishment of the Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science. The institute on science at the atomic and molecular level will be funded by a $7.5 million endowment from the Kavli Foundation and its founder, Fred Kavli. "We aim to provide leadership to the scientific community regarding current and future directions of research in nanoscience," said Vice Provost of Research Robert Richardson, the founding director of the KIC, in a news release about the institute. (Cornell 3/17/04) http://cornelldailysun.com/articles/11309/ Bell Labs, mPhase to develop nanotech - based batteries. Bell Labs and mPhase Technologies, Inc. have started working on a joint project to develop nanotechnology-based power cell technology that promises to yield 'smart batteries' with longer life and quicker activation times than current generation power sources in mobile and other industrial applications. Bell Labs, the R&D arm of Lucent Technologies, and the New Jersey Nanotech Consortium at Bell Labs, have already developed prototypes and mPhase (Norwalk, Conn.) is looking to commercialize the nanotech power cell technology. (CommsDesign 3/22/04) http://www.commsdesign.com/news/tech_beat/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=18400604 Nano What? Survey Shows Most People in the Dark. Most Britons have never heard of nanotechnology and have no idea what it is, according to a survey released on Monday. But the majority of the 29 percent of people questioned in the poll who were aware of it think the ultra-small scale technology will have a beneficial effect in the future. The survey was carried out by the Royal Society, an academy of leading scientists, and the Royal Academy of Engineering. ( Bizreport 3/15/04) http://www.bizreport.com/article.php?art_id=6489 'Nanograss' Turns Sticky to Slippery in an Instant. With possible applications in everything from microscopic plumbing to slick boat hulls to switches for optical networks, a new chameleonic material developed at Bell Labs sheds water droplets like a newly waxed sports car, but, at the flick of a switch, turns absorbent like a "quicker picker upper" paper towel. Depending on the chemical structure of a solid, water and other liquids either cling to it - making it wet - or it repels them. Usually a surface is absorbent or repellent, but not both. "What we're trying to do is make a surface which you can control on the fly," said Dr. Tom N. Krupenkin, a scientist at Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs who led the research. "If you can change that on the fly, it opens up applications everywhere." (NYTimes 3/16/04) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/16/science/16NANO.html?ex=1080018000&en=91286109c279493d&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE Gina "Nanogirl" Miller Nanotechnology Industries http://www.nanoindustries.com Personal: http://www.nanogirl.com Foresight Senior Associate http://www.foresight.org Nanotechnology Advisor Extropy Institute http://www.extropy.org Tech-Aid Advisor http://www.tech-aid.info/t/all-about.html Email: "Nanotechnology: Solutions for the future." Content-Type: text/html; [ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=23717