Nanotechnology News – Latest Headlines

EPA seeks data about nanoscale materials

What are the human health and environmental risks and benefits of nanoscale chemical products? That's what EPA wants to find out with its just-announced Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program (NMSP).

January 28, 2008 Read more

Molecular walker takes baby steps

Locomotion of two-legged DNA walker holds promise for molecular machines.

January 28, 2008 Read more

Call for scientific data on applications of nanotechnology and nanomaterials used in food and feed

The European Commission has requested an initial scientific opinion from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) relating to the risks arising from nanoscience and nanotechnologies on food and feed safety and the environment. The request also asks to identify the nature of the possible hazards associated with actual and foreseen applications in the food and feed area and to provide general guidance on data needed for the risk assessment of such technologies and applications.

January 28, 2008 Read more

The world's lowest noise laser

Researchers in Hanover outsmart quantum physics by organising the photons of a laser beam in an orderly fashion.

January 28, 2008 Read more

Berkeley scientists bring MRI/NMR to microreactors

In a significant step towards improving the design of future catalysts and catalytic reactors, especially for microfluidic 'lab-on-a-chip' devices, researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley, have successfully applied magnetic resonance imaging to the study of gas-phase reactions on the microscale.

January 28, 2008 Read more

Tiny avalanche photodiode detects single UV photons

In a significant breakthrough, researchers at Northwestern University's Center for Quantum Devices (CQD) have demonstrated visible-blind avalanche photodiodes (APDs) capable of detecting single photons in the ultraviolet region (360-200 nm).

January 28, 2008 Read more

Rice wins innovation award for NanoJapan program

NanoJapan, a unique, Rice University-based program that combines a traditional study abroad experience in Japan with a targeted undergraduate research internship in nanotechnology, has been awarded the Institute of International Education's (IIE) prestigious Andrew Heiskell Award for Innovation in International Education.

January 28, 2008 Read more

EPA's voluntary program for nanomaterials still too little, too late

Environmental Defense says lax approach fails to deliver information needed to protect health.

January 28, 2008 Read more

EPA takes first step In filling nanotechnology information gaps

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published today in the Federal Register its plan for the Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The plan takes a positive first step by offering industry, non-governmental organizations and other groups the opportunity to voluntarily submit safety data on engineered nanoscale materials.

January 28, 2008 Read more

Brain Drain: America needs more money for science

Increased funding, training students and teachers in science, math and related fields, and attracting high-skilled immigrants should be the key mantras for America to maintain its competitive edge in a global world, scientists and industry leaders say.

January 28, 2008 Read more

Defense department funds study of carbon nanotube-based drug

The Department of Defense has commissioned a nine-month study from Rice University chemists and scientists in the Texas Medical Center to determine whether a new drug based on carbon nanotubes can help prevent people from dying of acute radiation injury following radiation exposure. The new study was commissioned after preliminary tests found the drug was greater than 5,000 times more effective at reducing the effects of acute radiation injury than the most effective drugs currently available.

January 28, 2008 Read more

Programming biomolecular self-assembly pathways

Nature knows how to make proteins and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) dance to assemble and sustain life. Inspired by this proof of principle, researchers at the California Institute of Technology have demonstrated that it is possible to program the pathways by which DNA strands self-assemble and disassemble, and hence to control the dynamic function of the molecules as they traverse these pathways.

January 26, 2008 Read more

Students' Terra di Aqua cocept: nanotechnology provides clean water in city of the future

In the future, there is no bottled water. Plastic bottles boasting the purest drinking water are relics of the past, and cities create pristine reservoirs using the power of nanotechnology. That is the future according to 16 eighth graders from Gates Intermediate School in Massachusetts.

January 26, 2008 Read more

Kalam: Make India a significant player in nanotechnology

Government and private sector should join hands and carry out focussed research to make India a significant player in nanotechnology, former President A P J Abdul Kalam said on Saturday.

January 26, 2008 Read more

Who are the rising stars in the new generation of chemists?

In Tomorrow's Chemistry Today, Bruno Pignataro has selected the rising stars of the new generation of chemists and compiled their innovative and award-winning research projects in one volume. Read Tomorrow's Chemistry Today and spot a future Nobel Prize winner or a development that may change the face of science.

January 25, 2008 Read more

Nanotechnology-based scanners to speed airport checks

The Telegraph in the UK is carrying a story on how new technology could help improve safety and efficiency at airports.

January 25, 2008 Read more