X-Message-Number: 24167
From: "Gina Miller" <>
References: <>
Subject: The Nanogirl News~
Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 17:05:50 -0700

The Nanogirl News
   May 29, 2004



The second volume in the Nanomedicine book series by Robert A. Freitas Jr., 
Nanomedicine, Vol. IIA: Biocompatibility, is now freely available online in its 
entirety at http://www.nanomedicine.com/NMIIA.htm  First published in hardcover 
by Landes Bioscience in 2003, this comprehensive technical book describes the 
many possible mechanical, physiological, immunological, cytological, and 
biochemical responses of the human body to the in vivo introduction of medical 
nanodevices, especially medical nanorobots.


Hollow Nanocrystals and How to Mass Produce Them. Recently Yadong Yin and his 
colleagues in Paul Alivisatos's laboratory were experimenting with ways to 
modify the surfaces of nanocrystals - particles only a few billionths of a meter
in size, comprised of only a few thousand atoms. After exposing cobalt 
nanocrystals to sulfur, they examined the results under a transmission electron 
microscope. (Berkeley Lab Science Beat 5/04)


http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/sb/May-2004/02-MSD-hollow-nanocrystals.html


Chemists make molecular interlocked rings. UCLA chemists have devised an elegant
solution to an intricate problem at the nanoscale that stumped scientists for 
many years: They have made a mechanically interlocked compound whose molecules 
have the topology of the beloved interlocked Borromean rings. In the May 28 
issue of the journal Science, the team reports nanoscience that could be 
described as art. The UCLA group is the first to achieve this goal in total 
chemical synthesis, which research groups worldwide have been pursuing. 
(EurekAlert 5/27/04)
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-05/uoc--cmm052604.php


Nanomagnets tapped to generate microwave fields. A new form of electromagnetic 
interaction in which electron spin changes the magnetic direction of cobalt 
nanomagnets is being explored at Cornell University with an eye toward new types
of memory and signal-processing devices. Experiments have shown that the impact
of spin-polarized electrons causes the nanomagnets to process at high speed so 
that a direct current can produce microwave-frequency oscillations. (EETimes 
5/26/04)
http://www.eetimes.com/at/n/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=21100413


Nanoparticles Illuminate Brain Tumors for Days under MRI. A research team from 
Oregon Health & Science University and the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical 
Center is demonstrating some of the world's first clinical applications for 
nanometer-size particles in the brain. The OHSU scientists have shown that an 
iron oxide nanoparticle as small as a virus can outline not only brain tumors 
under magnetic resonance imaging, but also other lesions in the brain that may 
otherwise have gone unnoticed, according to a study published in the journal 
Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology. 

(Oregon Health & Science University 5/26/04) 
http://www.ohsu.edu/news/2004/052504nano.html


Probing Molecular Surfaces (388 KB PDF). The study of biomolecular structure has
improved through the use of MALDI-ion mobility-orthogonal time-of-flight mass 
spectrometry. A. S. Woods et al. (Today's Chemist at Work 5/04). 
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/tcaw/13/i05/pdf/504woods.pdf


Nanoscale contact optimizes adhesion. Optimal adhesion of geckos and insects 
based on shape optimization and contact surface size reduction, report Max 
Planck researchers in Stuttgart, Germany

The nanometer size of hairs (spatulae) on the feet of geckos and many insects 
may have evolved to optimize adhesion strength, according to new research 
conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research in Stuttgart. The 
scientists discovered that there exists an optimal shape of the contact surface 
of the tip of such hairs which gives rise to optimal adhesion to a substrate via
molecular interaction forces. (Max Planck 5/25/04)


http://www.mpg.de/english/illustrationsDocumentation/documentation/pressReleases/2004/pressRelease20040525/index.html

PDF: 
http://www.mpg.de/english/illustrationsDocumentation/documentation/pressReleases/2004/pressRelease20040525/genPDF.pdf


Ground Broken for Nanotechnology Center at Sandia and Los Alamos Labs. The new 
Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) at the Department of Energy's Los 
Alamos (LANL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) moved closer to reality 
with two groundbreaking ceremonies this week.  The $76 million center is one of 
five new Nanoscale Science Research Centers to be built by the Department of 
Energy's Office of Science to provide researchers with world-class facilities 
for the interdisciplinary study of matter at the atomic scale. (energy.gov 
5/25/04)


http://energy.gov/engine/content.do?PUBLIC_ID=15947&BT_CODE=PR_PRESSRELEASES&TT_CODE=PRESSRELEASE


Scaling Friction Down To The Nano/Micro Realm. An improved method for correcting
nano- and micro-scale friction measurements has been developed by researchers 
at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The new technique 
should help designers produce more durable micro- and nano-devices with moving 
parts, such as tiny motors, positioning devices or encoders.

(ScienceDaily 5/26/04) 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/05/040525060201.htm


DNA Robot Takes Its First Steps. A MICROSCOPIC biped with legs just 10 
nanometres long and fashioned from fragments of DNA has taken its first steps. 
The nanowalker is being hailed as a major breakthrough by nanotechnologists. The
biped's inventors, chemists Nadrian Seeman and William Sherman of New York 
University, say that while many scientists have been trying to build nanoscale 
devices capable of bipedal motion, theirs is the first to succeed. "It's an 
advance on everything that has gone before," says Bernard Yurke of Bell Labs in 
New Jersey, part of the team that made one of the best-known molecular machines 
to date: a pair of "tweezers" also constructed from DNA strands (New Scientist, 
12 August 2000, p 23). (bio.com 
5/6/04)mhttp://www.bio.com/realm/research.jhtml?realmId=5&cid=700001


Twisty Tweezers. Using only a laser beam, researchers can spin a microscopic 
bead, but they can't measure or control the twisting force. Now reports in the 
September 2003 Physical Review A and the 14 May PRL demonstrate that the 
twisting force, or torque, can be measured by analyzing the light passing 
through the object. The PRL paper also shows how to control the torque by 
creating what the authors call an "optical torque wrench." The technique could 
be useful for exploring cellular machinery such as molecular motors or the 
proteins that replicate DNA. 
(Phys. Rev. 5/18/04) http://focus.aps.org/story/v13/st22


Carbon-50 makes its debut. Physical chemists in China have made carbon-50 
molecules in the solid state for the first time. Lan-Sun Zheng and colleagues at
Xiamen University, and co-workers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing
and Wuhan, prepared the molecules - which they describe as a long sought little
sister of carbon-60 - in an arc-discharge technique involving chlorine. The 
result will allow scientists to study the properties of carbon-50 with a view to
exploiting its unusual properties. The method developed by the Chinese team 
also opens the way to making other small, cage-like carbon molecules or 
"fullerenes" (S-Y Xie et al. 2004 Science 304 699).
(PhysicsWeb 4/29/04) http://physicsweb.org/article/news/8/4/14


A Nano Conveyor. Electrified nanotube is used to move molten metal along the 
tube's length. When an electrical current is applied to a multiwalled carbon 
nanotube (MWNT), the structure is transformed into a tiny conveyer belt that 
shuttles molten metal along the length of the tube, according to researchers at 
the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National 
Laboratory [Nature, 428, 924 (2004)]. Physics professor Alex Zettl, postdoc 
Chris Regan, and their coworkers liken the electrified tube to a nanosoldering 
iron that might someday be used to fabricate nanoscale devices. (Chemical & 
Engineering News 5/3/04) http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/8218/8218notw7.html


UCLA Chemists Develop New Coating For Nanoscale Probes. A UCLA-led team of 
chemists has developed a unique new coating for inorganic particles at the 
nanoscale that may be able to disguise the particles as proteins -- a process 
that allows particles to function as probes that can penetrate the cell and 
light up individual proteins inside, and create the potential for application in
a wide range of drug development, diagnostic tools and medications. (bio.com 
4/29/04) http://www.bio.com/realm/research.jhtml?realmId=5&cid=400034


Ion beams put nanotubes on the straight and narrow. Researchers at Rensselaer 
Polytechnic Institute, US, NTT Basic Research Laboratories, Japan, and Yokohama 
National University, Japan, have bombarded single-walled carbon nanotubes with 
ion beams in order to straighten them. They applied the technique to nanotubes 
grown between catalyst-coated pillars, as these often sag. 
(nanotechweb.org 5/18/04) http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/3/5/10/1


Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco Proclaims June 4, 2004 Nanotechnology Day. In
support of Louisiana s groundbreaking research being conducted in the field of 
nanotechnology, Governor Kathleen Blanco declares June 4, 2004, Nanotechnology 
Day, a day of community awareness programs and lectures, culminating in a 
networking luncheon. Louisiana researchers and economic development 
professionals will celebrate and showcase this multi-billion dollar industry to 
the general public, as well as the contributions that Louisiana researchers are 
making at a gathering in the rotunda at LSU s Center for Energy, Coastal, and 
Environmental Studies on Friday, June 4, 8 a.m. until 2 p.m.
(Bayoubuzz 5/28/04) http://www.bayoubuzz.com/articles.aspx?aid=1707


GI Joe Goes Nano. As the casualty count rises in Iraq, the safety of our 
soldiers is paramount in the minds of defense researchers. Nowhere is that more 
evident than at the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, established at the 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2002 with a five-year, $50 million 
grant from the U.S. Army. The ISN is a unique undertaking. It pulls together 44 
MIT faculty and more than 100 students and postdoctoral researchers to interact 
with the Army and industrial partners. The ISN officially opened its doors last 
May, and I expect that this new incubator will bring important lifesaving 
improvements to military science. (Forbes 5/27/04)
http://www.forbes.com/newsletter/2004/05/27/cz_jf_0527soapbox.html


Intel Invests $2B in 65-Nano. Looking for a bit of the luck of the Irish, Santa 
Clara, Calif.-based Intel (Quote, Chart) is adding a bit of its own green to its
holdings in Ireland. The chipmaking giant said is investing $2 billion into 
extended manufacturing facilities at its Fab 24-2 plant to enable 65-nanometer 
process technology (define). Intel invested $2 billion in the original Fab 24 
four years ago. The idea is to extend the company's 15-year record of meeting or
beating Moore's Law (define) and churning out a new process generation every 
two years. (intternetnews 5/19/04)
http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/3356251


The spooky place where art meets science. Stem-cell revelations, nanotechnology 
used to make molecular graffiti -- they're at the Subtle Technologies festival 
of art and science. Ask Jim Ruxton and Tania Thompson what they think about 
artist Georges Braque's subversive remark that "art upsets and science 
reassures," and they immediately spring into a defense of the rationale for 
their little-known, but hugely quirky, festival of art and science called Subtle
Technologies. While there are differences in the two communities, says Ruxton, 
an electrical engineer turned electrical artist/inventor in an artistically loud
pink shirt, today things may be the reverse of Braque's statement. "I don't 
know. I think science upsets a lot of people, and I think that a lot of people 
in the scientific community are looking to art to help interpret what they do to
the general public," he says. (Globeandmail 5/29/04) 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040529/SCIENCE29/TPEntertainment/TopStories


Insurance industry warned of nanotechnology risks.  A major reinsurance company 
has advised insurance companies that they may need to reconsider covering 
products manufactured using nanotechnology until more is known about any 
possible side effects of the technology. 'As a major risk carrier, the insurance
industry can only responsibly support the introduction of a new technology if 
it can evaluate and calculate its inherent risks,' says Swiss Re. 'A risk needs 
to be identified before its consequences can be measured and a decision can be 
reached on the optimal risk management approach.' (Science Blog 5/27/04) 
http://www.scienceblog.com/community/article2803.html

Also at Slashdot: 
http://science.slashdot.org/science/04/05/27/1341220.shtml?tid=126&tid=134&tid=191


A Nanotechnology Turnaround? By Glenn Harlan Reynolds. I've written some 
pessimistic columns on nanotechnology lately. In essence, my concern was that 
the nanotechnology industry was pursuing an ostrich-like strategy, trying to 
deny the potential risks posed by nanotechnology in the hope that nobody would 
notice. The industry was even going so far as to alienate a lot of its natural 
supporters, as it tried to argue that the kinds of advanced nanotechnology that 
might spur popular fears were impossible, and that those who felt otherwise were
(despite being pioneers in the field) some sort of kooks. (TCS 5/26/04) 
http://www.techcentralstation.com/052604D.html


Nanotechnology improving energy options. Nanotechnology could help revolutionize
the energy industry, producing advances such as solar power cells made of 
plastics to environmentally friendly batteries that detoxify themselves, experts
told United Press International...One nanotech firm, mPhase Technologies in 
Norwalk, Conn., is partnering with Lucent Technologies to commercialize 
nanotechnology by creating intelligent batteries, with the intent of bringing 
the devices to the marketplace within the next 12 to 18 months. (United Press 
International 5/24/04)
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040520-044040-2981r


The First Nanochips. As scientists and engineers continue to push back the 
limits of chipmaking technology, they have quietly entered into the nanometer 
realm. For most people, the notion of harnessing nanotechnology for electronic 
circuitry suggests something wildly futuristic. In fact, if you have used a 
personal computer made in the past few years, your work was most likely 
processed by semiconductors built with nanometer-scale features. These immensely
sophisticated microchips--or rather, nanochips--are now manufactured by the 
millions, yet the scientists and engineers responsible for their development 
receive little recognition. (Scientific American 4/04)


http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000CE8C4-DC31-1055-973683414B7F0000&chanID=sa008


China Sets Up Nano Accreditation Board. China has established an accreditation 
committee for nanotechnology, according to the China Daily. (SmallTimes 4/21/04)
http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?section_id=51&document_id=7939


Green Plus in ``Formula'' Fuels Boosts Lukoil Sales in Cyprus; Combination of 
Better Fuel Economy and Lower Emissions Wins Customers. Biofriendly Corporation 
and Lukoil Oil Company announced today that sales of Lukoil's new Formula Fuels 
have increased over 20% since their launch in late February. The fuel, which 
includes gasoline as well as diesel, has been treated with Biofriendly's Green 
Plus liquid fuel combustion catalyst. The catalyst improves combustion, which 
produces better performance, better fuel economy and lower emissions...Under 
development for over 10 years, Green Plus is a new product that employs 
nanotechnology (working at the molecular level) to achieve a breakthrough 
combination of improved fuel economy and reduced emissions. (Businesswire 
4/19/04) 


http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040519005701&newsLang=en


Nanotechnology in Fire Protection can save Life and secure Health...Many 
applications to secure life and health would not be possible without 
nanotechnology and molecular science. New sensors, glass, electronics, optics, 
absorbents, concrete additives, coatings, fire retardancy materials, smart fire 
resistant clothes and new building materials are only some of today's 
applications. In total there are 48 applications today in fire protection . For 
the Olympics 2008 in Beijing the state of science in fire protection 
technologies was defined. Nanochina is a market development that leads several 
segments in nanotechnology materials and electronics from Chinese companies and 
technologies. 

(innovations report 5/17/04) 
http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/studies/report-29292.html


In this article from Backbone Magazine, Douglas Mulhall, author of 'Our 
Molecular Future' tells us about the future of nanomedicine. He thinks that 
medical diagnosis will be the first successful steps, involving nanorobots which
will raise alerts when they detect pre-cancerous cells. And twenty years from 
now, researchers envision that nanomedicine will be a trillion dollar industry. 
Around 2025, you'll pay $1,000 a year for a nanopill that will extend your life 
by suppressing heart attacks, diabetes and other diseases. (Backbone 5/7/04)


http://www.backbonemag.com/php_site/home.php?m_column_id=php_news/wmview.php?ArtID=888

Have a nice weekend. 

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."




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