Nanotechnology News – Latest Headlines

Biological electron transfer captured in real time

Two research teams led by Dr. Michael Verkhovsky and Prof. Marten Wikstrom of the Institute of Biotechnology of the University of Helsinki have for the first time succeeded in monitoring electron transfer by Complex I in real time. In the future, this work might, for example, have medical relevance, because most of the maternally inherited so-called mitochondrial diseases are caused by dysfunction of Complex I.

March 3, 2008 Read more

Appelbaum wins NSF Career Award for research on silicon spintronics

Ian Appelbaum, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Delaware, has received the prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation for his pioneering research in the exciting next evolution of electronics known as spintronics.

March 3, 2008 Read more

Surface dislocation nucleation: Strength is but skin deep at the nanoscale

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have found that, while metals tend to be stronger at nanoscale volumes, their strengths saturate at around 10-50 nanometers diameter, at which point they also become more sensitive to temperature and strain rate.

March 3, 2008 Read more

The march of the carbon nanotubes

Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory researchers have surpassed by a surprising margin the Department of Energy's goal for storing hydrogen within a unique material called carbon nanotubes.

March 3, 2008 Read more

Biomass can yield new chemicals, materials

Biomass will be increasingly important in replacing a portion of petroleum as a feedstock for fuel and chemicals, a lecturer at South Dakota State University says.

March 3, 2008 Read more

Rochester Institute of Technology to host new Pollution Prevention Institute

Governor Eliot Spitzer today announced the selection of the Rochester Institute of Technology as the host of the Pollution Prevention Institute, a cutting-edge research and development center to design and test 'green' manufacturing methods and provide technical support to businesses for pollution reduction measures that will help make them more competitive.

March 3, 2008 Read more

Nanomedicine system engineered to enhance therapeutic effects of injectable drugs

In an article featured on the cover of the March issue of Nature Nanotechnology, Mauro Ferrari of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston presented a proof-of-concept study on a new multistage delivery system (MDS) for imaging and therapeutic applications. This discovery could go a long way toward making injectable drugs more effective.

March 3, 2008 Read more

Physicists discover gold can be magnetic on the nanoscale

Physicists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have made important findings regarding gold on the nanoscale. They found that applying an electrical field on a surface-supported gold nanocluster changes its structure from a three-dimensional one to a planar flat structure. In another paper, they relate their discovery that gold in this size regime can be made magnetic through oxygenation of gold nanowires.

March 3, 2008 Read more

From opals to optical chips

Materials known as photonic crystals could form the building blocks of future optical computers and micro-scale communications devices. Scientists have developed a low-cost and versatile way to make photonic crystals, and combined them in ways that bring optical 'transistors' a step closer.

March 2, 2008 Read more

Inspired by Etch A Sketch, team invents technique for switching electrical properties at nanoscale

A University of Pittsburgh-led research team developed a process wherein the ability to conduct electricity can be turned on and off at nanoscale dimensions. This capability holds promise for more powerful and compact information technologies including ultra-high density information storage, reconfigurable logic devices, single-electron devices, and quantum computers.

March 2, 2008 Read more

Nanotechnology goes to D.C.

The Times Union today carries an article on the subject of nanotechnology and Washington lawmakers.

March 2, 2008 Read more

Nanotechnology helps change color of pearl

These pearls in various colors are produced by researchers from the Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University. The researchers use nanotechnology to make pearl in other colors.

March 2, 2008 Read more

State board approves $300M Sematech funding

A state board unanimously approved $300 million on Friday for International Sematech's move to Albany, N.Y., the final step in the oversight process.

February 29, 2008 Read more

UK panel revealed consumer understanding of nanotechnology

In November 2007, Which?, the UK consumer advocat group, commissioned a short survey among the general public which highlighted low levels of awareness for nanotechnologies and how they are being used. Following on from this, Which? undertook an additional research project with consumers - the Citizens' Panel on Nanotechnologies - which was published yesterday.

February 29, 2008 Read more

Quantum corkscrews from twisting electron waves

RIKEN researchers have shown that electron beams, like light, can be twisted into vortices that have useful functions.

February 29, 2008 Read more

New funding charges energy research at UCL and LCN

Professors Neal Skipper and Franco Cacialli, of the London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN) and the Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London (UCL), have been awarded a GBP200,000 laboratory refurbishment grant to help them develop alternative fuel supplies for transport and electricity generation.

February 29, 2008 Read more