X-Message-Number: 28655
From: "Gina Miller" <>
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Subject: The Nanogirl News~
Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2006 19:12:49 -0800

The Nanogirl News

November 11, 2006


'Nanorust' Cleans Arsenic From Drinking Water. The discovery of unexpected 
magnetic interactions between ultrasmall specks of rust is leading scientists at
Rice University's Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN)
to develop a revolutionary, low-cost technology for cleaning arsenic from 
drinking water. The technology holds promise for millions of people in India, 
Bangladesh and other developing countries where thousands of cases of arsenic 
poisoning each year are linked to poisoned wells. The new technique is described
in the Nov. 10 issue of Science magazine.(Playfuls 11.11.06) 
http://www.playfuls.com/news_002874_Nanorust_Cleans_Arsenic_From_Drinking_Water.html


Legos give kids a leg up on nanotechnology. The U.S. Patent Office might want to
hear about this: John Hurd and a team of researchers have built a "nanoprobe" 
he says can clean clogged arteries. "The nanoprobe swims through the arteries 
and pushes out all the cholesterol and fat," explained the 9-year-old inventor. 
There is a caveat. The machine is only in the minds of the pint-sized designers 
who have spent eight weeks studying nanotechnology - the science of making 
super-small machines - while crafting robots out of Legos. The Crestwood 
Elementary School fourth-grader is among more than 200 students from Madison, 
Milwaukee and elsewhere in Wisconsin participating in this year's FIRST Lego 
League Badgerland Regional Competition, which starts today at Madison's Memorial
High School.(Wisconsin State Journal 11.11.06) 
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=107020&ntpid=3


Bridging neurons and electronics with carbon nanotubes. New implantable 
biomedical devices that can act as artificial nerve cells, control severe pain, 
or allow otherwise paralyzed muscles to be moved might one day be possible 
thanks to developments in materials science. Writing today in Advanced 
Materials, Nicholas Kotov of the University of Michigan and colleagues describe 
how they have used hollow, submicroscopic strands of carbon, carbon nanotubes, 
to connect an integrated circuit to nerve cells. The new technology offers the 
possibility of building an interface between biology and electronics. (PhysOrg 
Nov. 06) http://www.physorg.com/news82116028.html


New biomedical device uses nanotechnology to monitor hip implant healing, may 
reduce wait times. It is so small, you can barely see it, but a microsensor 
created by University of Alberta engineers may soon make a huge difference in 
the lives of people recovering from hip replacement surgery. The U of A research
team has invented a self-powered wireless microsensor for monitoring the bone 
healing process after surgery -- it is so tiny it can fit onto the tip of a pen.
(EurekAlert 10.17.06)
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-10/uoa-nbd101706.php


Now, a 'DNA machine' that can sound a virus alert. Researchers have made a 'DNA 
machine' from a single molecule that detects a virus by reading its genome, and 
then produces an alarm signal, in the form of a visible glow. Itamar Willner of 
the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and his co-workers say that their DNA device 
can provide a readout within an hour and a half, whereas existing methods for 
identifying viruses or bacteria from their DNA generally require many 
complicated chemical steps. (Nature 11.10.06) 
http://www.nature.com/news/2006/061106/full/061106-19.html


A nanoplasmonic molecular ruler for measuring nuclease activity and DNA 
footprinting. Researchers have a new tool for studying interactions between 
proteins and nucleic acids: a nanoscale optical ruler than can detect small 
changes in the size of a given piece of DNA. This work is reported in the 
inaugural issue of the journal Nature Nanotechnology. (News-medical.net 
10.16.06)
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=20495


Nanoparticle Shows Promise In Reducing Radiation Side Effects. With the help of 
tiny, transparent zebrafish embryos, researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at 
Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Medical College are hoping to prove 
that a microscopic nanoparticle can be part of a "new class of radioprotective 
agents" that help protect normal tissue from radiation damage just as well as 
standard drugs. Reporting November 7, 2006 at the annual meeting of the American
Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology in Philadelphia, they show that 
the nanoparticle, DF-1 - a soccer ball-shaped, hollow, carbon-based structure 
known as a fullerene - is as good as two other antioxidant drugs and the 
FDA-approved drug, Amifostine in fending off radiation damage from normal 
tissue. (Sciencedaily 11.10.06) 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061108154306.htm


Nanoparticle Sheets Form Spontaneously - CdTe nanocrystals mimic proteins. 
Crystalline nanoparticles of cadmium telluride, a semiconducting material used 
to make thin films for solar cells, spontaneously assemble into two-dimensional 
free-floating sheets in water without a template to guide them. Nicholas A. 
Kotov, Sharon C. Glotzer, and their colleagues at the University of Michigan, 
Ann Arbor, report this unexpected finding and explain how it occurs through a 
combination of interactive forces between the nanoparticles-the same way that 
some protein structures form in living systems 'Science 2006, 314, 274'. 
(C&E 10.16.06) http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/84/i42/8442notw7.html


Damage Control. Combination of carbon nanofibers and stem cells can regenerate 
lost neurons in rats. A cocktail of carbon nanofibers and stem cells can heal 
neural tissue in rats damaged by a stroke, according to a recent study. Thomas 
J. Webster, an engineering professor at Brown University, presented the results 
on Sept. 11 at the American Chemical Society national meeting in San Francisco. 
(C&E 9.12.06) http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/84/i38/8438nanofibers.html


MIT materials scientists tame tricky carbon nanotubes. Based on a new theory, 
MIT scientists may be able to manipulate carbon nanotubes -- one of the 
strongest known materials and one of the trickiest to work with -- without 
destroying their extraordinary electrical properties. The work is reported in 
the Sept. 15 issue of Physical Review Letters, the journal of the American 
Physical Society. (MIT 9.15.06) 
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/nanotubes.html


Ancient Hair-Dyeing - A Nanoscience? Scientists have discovered that an ancient 
method used to darken hair, dating back more than 4,000 years, is based on a 
chemical process that takes place at the nanoscale. This may be one of the 
earliest examples of nanoscience at work in a practical application. The 
research team is led by Dr. Philippe Walter, a chemist with the Centre Nationale
de Recherche Scientifique (National Center for Scientific Research) in Paris, 
France. For the past 10 years, he and his group have collaborated with the 
research department at L'Oreal, studying the history of cosmetic science. 
(PhysOrg Nov 06)
http://www.physorg.com/news81427508.html


Nanotechnology: Check out the 2006 Nano Quest Challenge. The first organization 
- inspired by inventor Dean Kamen - and the Lego Group are sponsoring the 2006 
Nano Quest Challenge, and sadly for the rest of us, it seems to be limited to 
kids 9-14 years old, plus 6 to 9-year-olds in the junior league in US and 
Canada. But wait - all the teams need adult guides, so some of us grown-ups have
found a way to get in on this. There are 169 teams competing in California 
alone, and 32 countries are listed on the international page. (Nanodot 10.17.06)
http://www.foresight.org/nanodot/?p=2344


Penn researcher shows that DNA gets kinky easily at the nanoscale. Scientists 
have answered a long-standing molecular stumper regarding DNA: How can parts of 
such a rigid molecule bend and coil without requiring large amounts of force? 
According to a team of researchers from the United States and the Netherlands, 
led by a physicist from the University of Pennsylvania, DNA is much more 
flexible than previously believed when examined over extremely small lengths. 
They used a technique called atomic force microscopy to determine the amount of 
energy necessary to bend DNA over nano-size lengths (about a million times 
smaller than a printed letter). (U of Penn 11.3.06) 
http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/article.php?id=1048


Breaking the nanometer barrier in X-ray microscopy. Argonne National Laboratory 
scientists in collaboration with Xradia have created a new X-ray microscope 
technique capable of observing molecular-scale features, measuring less than a 
nanometer in height. Combining x-ray reflection together with high resolution 
x-ray microscopy, scientists can now study interactions at the nanometer-scale 
which often can exhibit different properties and lead to new insights. Improving
our understanding of interactions at the nanoscale holds promise to help us 
cure the sick, protect our environment and make us more secure. (Eurekalert 
11.9.06) http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-11/dnl-btn110906.php


Carbon Nanotubes You Can Live With. Carbon nanotubes, or CNTs, are hollow wires 
of pure carbon about 50,000 times narrower than the finest human hair but 
stronger than steel. CNTs have enormous potential in a variety of biological 
applications, including medical diagnostics and treatments. There's a problem, 
however, and until now it has been what technologists call a "stopper." For 
reasons not entirely known, CNTs are cytotoxic - contact with them kills cells. 
This is one stopper that may have been solved. A team of researchers with 
Berkeley Lab, the University of California at Berkeley, and the Howard Hughes 
Medical Institute (HHMI) have developed a means of making CNTs biocompatible. 
(Science Berkeley Lab 8.26.06) 
http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/sabl/2006/Jul/01.html


Anti Aging Medical Group Corp. Establishes Collaboration With AlphaRx and 
Leading Neurologists for Alzheimer's Disease. The collaboration has selected a 
well-known compound which in various pre-clinical studies have demonstrated low 
toxicity and proven to be highly effective in reducing brain inflammation, 
protecting neuronal cells, restoring cognitive function and preventing the 
development of Alzheimer's. This has not been a priority by the major 
pharmaceutical companies due to various formulation issues. In addition, the 
collaboration believes its approach of using nanotechnology to deliver such 
compound through the blood brain barrier is viable and will attempt to screen 2 
to 3 formulations in Alzheimer's animal models to determine the right dosage for
human trials. (Marketwire 11.9.06) 
http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=182304


Still Dyeing After 2,000 Years - Ancient formula, now re-created, darkens locks 
with lead sulfide nanoparticles. Nanotechnology may seem like the latest fad in 
beauty products, but a new report suggests that people have been using 
nanomaterials to improve upon nature for at least 2,000 years. According to 
researchers in France, an ancient hair-coloring concoction turns tresses black 
via the formation of lead sulfide nanoparticles within the hair shaft 'Nano 
Lett., DOI: 10.1021/nl061493u'.
(C&E 9.11.06) http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/84/i37/8437notw7.html


Bio-nanotechnology to kill cancer cells. The University of Surrey has been 
awarded a grant of  420,000 to utilize nanotechnology to develop cancer 
treatments. The grant is part of an international project: "Multifunctional 
Carbon Nanotubes for Biomedical Applications (CARBIO)" supported by the European
Union under the Marie Curie scheme. (Nanotechnology 11.6.06)
http://www.nanotechnology.com/news/?id=9329


Nanotech eyed for help with outages. Area residents are still talking about the 
October snowstorm that knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and 
business. So are researchers at the University at Buffalo. Engineers at UB's 
Energy Systems Institute, in fact, have been studying how nanotechnology a 
branch of engineering that designs and builds extremely small electronic 
circuits and devices -- can be used to build a more reliable, efficient power 
system. (SmallTimes 11.6.06)


http://www.smalltimes.com/news/display_news_story.cfm?Section=WireNews&Category=HOME&NewsID=140666


'artist & animator for hire'
Gina "Nanogirl" Miller
Nanotechnology Industries
http://www.nanoindustries.com
Personal: http://www.nanogirl.com/index2.html
Animation Blog: http://maxanimation.blogspot.com/
Craft blog: http://nanogirlblog.blogspot.com/
Foresight Senior Associate http://www.foresight.org
Nanotechnology Advisor Extropy Institute  http://www.extropy.org
Email: 
"Nanotechnology: Solutions for the future."

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