Behind the buzz and beyond the hype: Our daily Nanowerk-exclusive nanotechnology feature article. Some stories are more like an introduction to nanotechnology, some are about understanding current developments, and some are advanced reviews of leading edge research.
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Showing spotlights 19 - 24 of 861 in category All (newest first):
Detection at the earliest stage provides the greatest chance of survival for cancer patients. Cancer has a logarithmic growth rate and doctors typically don't see 80% of the life of a tumor. Detection can be done using a number of techniques including standard immunoassays and biopsies. Nanotechnology offers new detection approaches such as targeted contrast agents, nanoscale cantilevers coated with antibodies against tumor markers, and magnetic nanoparticles coated with DNA labeling. But the problem is daunting because there are over 50 common types of cancer and in practice it is difficult to ask people to come to the clinic on a regular basis for cancer screening. Researchers have now proposed a new method for the detection of cancer cells based on measurement of the physical adhesion of silica beads to malignant versus normal cells cultured from human cervix.... nanotechnology article
Spider silk is a fascinating biopolymer that is stronger than steel and more elastic than rubber. Most of the world's 40,000 species of spiders produce a silken thread that possesses a unique combination of mechanical properties: strength (its tensile strength is about five times as strong a steel of the same density), extensibility (up to 30%) and toughness (its ability to absorb a large amount of energy without breaking). Researchers are experimenting with spider silk to design better adhesives; advanced materials that are both stretchy and strong; and to get clues for protein engineering. Yet the impressive performance of spider silk is not limited solely to tensile mechanics. Researchers have now shown that silk also exhibits powerful cyclic contractions that are precisely controlled by changes in humidity, allowing it to act as a high performance mimic of biological muscles.... nanotechnology article
In animal cells, the well known cytoskeletal proteins actin microfilaments and microtubules are accompanied by a third filament system that in humans consist of a family of more than 70 proteins. These fibrous proteins are absent from both plants and fungi, and have been linked to serious human diseases including cancer, muscle dystrophies and rapid aging disease. Their name, intermediate filament, was coined back in 1978 because their diameters - about 10 nanometers - appeared to be intermediate in size between those of microtubules and microfilaments. Their atomistic-level molecular structure remains elusive, and as a consequence, the understanding of the biological role in physiological and disease states is still in its infancy. Researchers now report a breakthrough in explaining the structural and mechanistic origin of the unique mechanical properties of intermediate filaments. By combining atomistic and molecular modeling with experimental studies, the researchers report a multi-scale analysis that showed that the mechanical properties of intermediate filaments are controlled by their characteristic hierarchical makeup.... nanotechnology article
Surface-plasmon resonance is a quantum-electromagnetic phenomenon arising from the interaction of light with free electrons at the planar interface of a metal and a (nonconducting) dielectric material. This resonance arises when the energy carried by photons in the dielectric material is transferred to collective excitations (called plasmons) of free electrons in the metal at that interface. As the free electrons in the metal are coupled to the photons in the polarizable dielectric material, the quantum is called a surface plasmon-polariton (SPP). Typically, a SPP wave is launched on a metal-dielectric interface at one particular frequency. That wave has a certain polarization state. Researchers have now shown theoretically and experimentally that by modifying the dielectric material, novel surface-plasmon-polariton wave behavior can be created with the result that the same interface can independently guide more than one SPP wave.... nanotechnology article
Researchers have developed a self-sensing nanotechnology composite material for traffic monitoring by using piezoresistive multi-walled carbon nanotubes as an admixture. In experiments, they studied the response of the piezoresistive properties of this composite to compressive stress and they investigated with vehicular loading experiments the feasibility of using self-sensing CNT/cement composite for traffic monitoring. This nanocomposite cement has great potential for traffic monitoring use such as in vehicle detection, weigh-in-motion measurement and vehicle speed detection. An interesting aspect of this work is that, from the eventual traffic application's point of view, the pavement itself would become the traffic detection, thus eliminating the need for separate traffic flow detection sensors.... nanotechnology article
Today, in our Application Note series, we are covering Scanning Thermal Microscopy (SThM) - an atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging mode that maps changes in thermal conductivity across a sample's surface. Similar to other modes that measure material properties, SThM data is acquired simultaneously with topographic data. The SThM mode is made possible by replacing the standard contact mode cantilever with a nanofabricated thermal probe with a resistive element near the apex of the probe tip. This resistor is incorporated into one leg of a Wheatstone bridge circuit, which allows the system to monitor resistance. This resistance correlates with temperature at the end of the probe, and the Wheatstone bridge may be configured to either monitor the temperature of a sample or to qualitatively map the thermal conductivity of the sample. ... nanotechnology article
