Nanotechnology News – Latest Headlines

Moral issues raised by synthetic biology subject of Hastings Center Project

Project completes third workshop as news of first synthetic bacterial genome announced.

May 21, 2010 Read more

Nature magazine features Dr. Choi's nano-engineering research

Dr. Chang-Hwan Choi, Mechanical Engineering Professor and Director of the Nano and Microfluidics Laboratory at Stevens Institute of Technology was recently featured in Nature Magazine.

May 21, 2010 Read more

Physicists develop a nanowire quantum interface between light and atoms

The interface is based on an ultra-thin glass fiber and is suitable for the transmission of quantum information. This is an essential prerequisite for quantum communication which shall be used for secure data transmission via quantum cryptography.

May 20, 2010 Read more

Physicists prove Einstein wrong with observation of instantaneous velocity in Brownian particles

A century after Albert Einstein said we would never be able to observe the instantaneous velocity of tiny particles as they randomly shake and shimmy, so called Brownian motion, physicist Mark Raizen and his group have done so.

May 20, 2010 Read more

A library of synthetic bio-membranes for use in nanomedicine, drug delivery

An international collaboration led by chemists and engineers from the University of Pennsylvania has prepared a library of synthetic biomaterials that mimic cellular membranes and that show promise in targeted delivery of cancer drugs, gene therapy, proteins, imaging and diagnostic agents and cosmetics safely to the body in the emerging field called nanomedicine.

May 20, 2010 Read more

Plasmonic promises: First observation of plasmarons in graphene

Scientists working at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have discovered striking new details about the electronic structure of graphene, crystalline sheets of carbon just one atom thick. They found that composite particles called plasmarons play a vital role in determining graphene's properties.

May 20, 2010 Read more

Researchers create first self-replicating, synthetic bacterial cell

Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute published results today describing the successful construction of the first self-replicating, synthetic bacterial cell.

May 20, 2010 Read more

Life after the synthetic cell - opinions from eight leading synthetic-biology pundits

Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute made the much-anticipated announcement today that they have created a replicating 'synthetic cell' - a bacterium with its DNA replaced by a 100% prosthetic genome. Eight leading synthetic-biology pundits reflect on what effect Craig Venter's latest achievement could have on science and society.

May 20, 2010 Read more

Semiconductor manufacturing technique holds promise for solar energy

Thanks to a new semiconductor manufacturing method pioneered at the University of Illinois, the future of solar energy just got brighter.

May 20, 2010 Read more

New catalysts reduce costly platinum use and increase its effectiveness in fuel cells

he newly patented catalysts, as well as a method for making a particular type of catalyst with a thin layer of platinum, could greatly reduce the cost and increase the use of fuel cells in electric vehicles. The catalysts and the technique are available for licensing.

May 20, 2010 Read more

First ever high resolution observations of DNA unfolding

After four years of fine-tuning an effective physical model and massive use of the supercomputer Mare Nostrum, researchers at IRB Barcelona and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) have managed to produce the first realistic simulation of DNA opening at high resolution.

May 20, 2010 Read more

Nanoanalytic instrumentation provides valuable information about 5300-year old Iceman mummy

An AFM system has been used to reveal the nanostructure and mechanics of mummified type I collagen from the 5300-year-old Tyrolean Iceman.

May 20, 2010 Read more

Billigerer Solarstrom dank Nano-Schwamm aus Silizium?

Wissenschaftler im Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf haben einen Weg gefunden, das wenig effektive, amorphe oder nano-kristalline Silizium in Duennschicht-Solarzellen durch einen Nano-Schwamm aus Silizium zu ersetzen.

May 20, 2010 Read more

Understanding light-driven molecular switches

Light-driven molecular switches are already used in technical devices such as LCD displays and storage media. Full comprehension of the processes at a molecular scale is required to increase their efficiency, but this knowledge had not been available to date.

May 20, 2010 Read more

Light-control glass using nanoparticles with a gel electrolyte

Researchers have succeeded in producing gel electrolytes for use in a light-control glass device using nanoparticles of Prussian blue-type complexes. The light-control glass device is based on the electrochromism phenomenon, and its color can be controlled between blue and transparent states by application of an electric current.

May 20, 2010 Read more

The second issue of Nanotech Insights newsletter available

The second issue of Nanotech Insights, a quarterly newsletter dedicated to the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology, is now available from CKMNT.

May 20, 2010 Read more