Nanotechnology News – Latest Headlines

Researchers explore using nanotubes as minuscule metalworking tools

Bombarding a carbon nanotube with electrons causes it to collapse with such incredible force that it can squeeze out even the hardest of materials, much like a tube of toothpaste, according to an international team of scientists

May 25, 2006 Read more

For the future hydrogen economy, a tiny, self-powered sensor

A team of researchers has developed a tiny, inexpensive sensor device that can detect hydrogen leaks and sound the alarm by wireless communication.

May 24, 2006 Read more

New material puts its own spin on electronics

Researchers have developed a novel magnetic semiconductor that may greatly increase the computing power and flexibility of future electronic devices while dramatically reducing their power consumption.

May 24, 2006 Read more

New fuel cell technology expands possibilities

EU researchers set out to develop novel polymeric fuel cells which would operate using hydrogen and/or methanol fuels.

May 23, 2006 Read more

Carbon-based quantum dots could mean greener, safer technology in medicine and biology

Chemists at Clemson University say they have developed a new type of quantum dot that is the first to be made from carbon.

May 23, 2006 Read more

Microfluidics device tracks breast cancer cell movements

Malignant cells are notorious for their ability to break away from a tumor, migrate to other seemingly targeted locations in the body, and establish new tumors, called metastases. The biochemical signals that guide tumor cell migration are poorly understood, but efforts to find those signals should receive a boost thanks to a new microfluidics device designed specifically to track how breast cancer cells move in response to chemical signals.

May 22, 2006 Read more

Quantum dots studied as intracellular monitors, possible therapeutic agents

One of the unique features of nanoscale materials is that they are often of the same size as most biomolecules, and thus can be used to study intracellular biochemistry without themselves having much of an impact on normal cellular function. Now, an international team led by investigators at McGill University has taken advantage of the small size of quantum dots to create a nanoscale device that can report on the oxidative conditions within a cell.

May 22, 2006 Read more

New approaches target nanoparticles to cancer cells

One of the major goals of cancer nanotechnology research is to develop nanoparticles that deliver cancer imaging agents and anticancer drugs specifically to tumors. Two new reports highlight new approaches to creating targeted nanoscale devices for diagnostic and therapeutic applications in cancer.

May 22, 2006 Read more

Nanotube membranes offer possibility of cheaper desalination

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have created a membrane made of carbon nanotubes and silicon that may offer, among many possible applications, a less expensive desalinization.

May 19, 2006 Read more

Casting light on the nano world

Microscopes with 4Pi and STED technology produce images of unprecedented clarity, attaining a resolution up to ten times higher than that of the best light-optical microscopes.

May 18, 2006 Read more

Gold nanoparticles could improve antisense cancer drugs

Using gold nanoparticles combined with DNA, scientists at Northwestern University now have demonstrated a new method for developing antisense drugs that outperform conventional antisense agents.

May 18, 2006 Read more

A cool way to strip hydrogen

Using lasers to clear silicon surfaces could make for cheaper, better computer chips and solar cells.

May 18, 2006 Read more

Just one nanosecond: Clocking events at the nanoscale

As scientists and engineers build devices at smaller and smaller scales, grasping the dynamics of how materials behave when they are subjected to electrical signals, sound and other manipulations has proven to be beyond the reach of standard scientific techniques.

May 18, 2006 Read more

Biological motors sort molecules one by one on a chip

Researchers from the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at Delft University have discovered how to use the motors of biological cells in extremely small channels on a chip

May 16, 2006 Read more

New designs for ultra fast nano-oscillators

Even the smallest devices, assembled at the molecular level, need motors and oscillators. UC Riverside researchers think bundling groups of carbon nanotubes together could make an ultra-efficient and accurate nano-oscillator.

May 16, 2006 Read more

Multifunctional gold nanoparticles show promise in combination therapy

Gold nanoparticles, which can turn light into intense heat, are showing significant promise as targeted nanoscale thermal scalpels capable of killing cancer cells without damaging healthy tissue. Two new reports now suggest that gold nanoparticles may also be able to deliver additional therapeutic payloads to provide a simultaneous two-pronged attack on malignant cells.

May 15, 2006 Read more