Nanotechnology News – Latest Headlines

Carbon nanotubes made into conductive, flexible 'stained glass'

Researchers at Northwestern University have used metallic nanotubes to make thin films that are semitransparent, highly conductive, flexible and come in a variety of colors, with an appearance similar to stained glass.

April 9, 2008 Read more

Newly discovered 'superinsulators' promise to transform materials research, electronics design

Superinsulation may sound like a marketing gimmick for a drafty attic or winter coat. But it is actually a newly discovered fundamental state of matter created by scientists.

April 8, 2008 Read more

DVDs and CD-ROMs that thwart global warming

Carbon dioxide removed from smokestack emissions in order to slow global warming in the future could become a valuable raw material for the production of DVDs, beverage bottles and other products made from polycarbonate plastics, chemists are reporting.

April 8, 2008 Read more

Manufactured buckyballs don't harm microbes that clean the environment

Even large amounts of manufactured nanoparticles, also known as Buckyballs, don't faze microscopic organisms that are charged with cleaning up the environment, according to Purdue University researchers.

April 8, 2008 Read more

Making sure the wonder materials don't become the wonder pollutant

Scientists recently analyzed ten commercially made carbon nanotubes to identify the chemical byproducts of the manufacturing process and to help track them in the environment.

April 8, 2008 Read more

Citrate appears to control buckyball clumping but environmental concerns remain

Researchers at Virginia Tech have demonstrated that the hydrophobic behavior of fullerenes can be changed by the addition of citric acid - although the good news and bad news of this recent discovery has yet to be determined.

April 8, 2008 Read more

Needle-size device created to track tumors, radiation dose

Engineers at Purdue University are creating a wireless device designed to be injected into tumors to tell doctors the precise dose of radiation received and locate the exact position of tumors during treatment.

April 8, 2008 Read more

Chinese scientists make breakthrough in the field of optical tweezers

The researchers have been successful in capturing 100-nanometer particles of polystyrene using optical tweezers.

April 8, 2008 Read more

Expert foresees 10 more years of research and development to make solar energy competitive

Despite oil prices that hover around $100 a barrel, it may take at least 10 or more years of intensive research and development to reduce the cost of solar energy to levels competitive with petroleum, according to an authority on the topic.

April 7, 2008 Read more

Winning nanotechnology images from the Science as Art competition

The 2008 MRS Spring Meeting concluded in San Francisco on March 28. As a special feature of the meeting, the MRS conducted the fifth installment of the popular 'Science as Art' competition.

April 7, 2008 Read more

New model could improve self-assembly of nanoparticles

Carnegie Mellon University's Nadine Aubry and colleague Pushpendra Singh of the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) are leading a research team to develop a manufacturing strategy that could improve technologies used in tissue engineering and information technology.

April 7, 2008 Read more

Science officials ask presidential candidates to set a national priority

To confront what they call 'the gravest challenge of our time,' nanoTX USA'08 organizers today dispatched an open letter to senators Clinton, McCain, and Obama on behalf of the scientific community.

April 7, 2008 Read more

A discovery by nanoscientists can change the way we store data on our computers

The discovery of the scientists at Nano-Science Center and the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, Jonas Hauptmann, Jens Paaske and Poul Erik Lindelof, is a step on the way towards a new means of data-storage, in which electricity and magnetism are combined in a new transistor concept.

April 7, 2008 Read more

Physicists saved from drowning in complexities of wetting theory

The relationship between a thin liquid film or drop of liquid and the shape of the surface that it wets is explained with a new simplified mathematical formula published this week in Physical Review Letters.

April 7, 2008 Read more

Nanotechnology possesses dazzling, dangerous potential

Nanotechnology seeks to create new products by harnessing incredibly small substances. While the industry is booming, the potential dangers to humans remain unknown.

April 6, 2008 Read more

As nanotechnology goes mainstream, 'toxic socks' raise concerns

Valued for its antibacterial and odor-fighting properties, nanoparticle silver is becoming the star attraction in a range of products from socks to bandages to washing machines. But as silver?s benefits propel it to the forefront of consumer nanomaterials, scientists are recommending a closer examination of the unforeseen environmental and health consequences of nanosilver.

April 6, 2008 Read more