Nanotechnology News – Latest Headlines

'Direct writing' of diamond patterns from graphite a potential technological leap

What began as research into a method to strengthen metals has led to the discovery of a new technique that uses a pulsing laser to create synthetic nanodiamond films and patterns from graphite, with potential applications from biosensors to computer chips.

Nov 5th, 2014

Shape of things to come in nanoparticle platelet mimicry

For the first time, researchers have been able to integratively mimic the shape, size, flexibility and surface chemistry of real blood platelets on albumin-based particles. The platelet mimics halt bleeding in mouse models 65 percent faster than nature alone.

Nov 5th, 2014

Measuring nano-vibrations with carbon nanotubes

Scientists report on an experiment in which a carbon nanotube mechanical resonator exhibits quality factors of up to 5 million, 30 times better than the best quality factors measured in nanotubes to date.

Nov 5th, 2014

Breaking down BPA and similar pollutants with sunlight, nanoparticles and graphene

Many pollutants with the potential to meddle with hormones are already common in the environment. In an effort to clean up these pollutants found in the soil and waterways, scientists are now reporting a novel way to break them down by recruiting help from nanoparticles and light.

Nov 5th, 2014

Longhorn beetle inspires photonic crystal ink to fight counterfeiting

Researchers report a new kind of ink that mimics the longhorn beetle's color-shifting ability in a way that would be long-lasting and difficult to copy.

Nov 5th, 2014

Innovative magnetometer for applications such as medical imaging

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed an innovative magnetometer that can replace conventional technology in applications such as neuroimaging, mineral exploration and molecular diagnostics.

Nov 5th, 2014

A nanoscale 'smart bomb' to attack childhood leukemia

Researchers have taken the first steps towards developing a so-called 'smart bomb' to attack the most common and deadly form of childhood cancer - called B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Nov 5th, 2014

Live images from the nano-cosmos

Researchers have observed in real-time how buckyballs arrange themselves into ultra-smooth layers.

Nov 5th, 2014

Winners of the First Heinrich Rohrer Medal

In order to celebrate the great achievements accomplished by the late Dr. Heinrich Rohrer, Nobel Laureate and IBM Fellow and to further promote progress in research and development in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology, an international prize was named after him in 2013 by The Surface Science Society of Japan (SSSJ) in collaboration with IBM Research Zurich, the Swiss Embassy in Japan and his wife Rose-Marie.

Nov 5th, 2014

Are we entering the nano era?

Modern hard drives only require an area of a few square nanometers for each bit of information. To protect ourselves from sunburn we use sunscreens that contain nanoparticles of titanium dioxide or zinc oxide. Is this the beginning of the nano era? Younan Xia from Georgia Institute of Technology pursues this question in his editorial.

Nov 5th, 2014

New study supports the use of a POSS molecule to strengthen aluminum alloys in automobiles

The study results show that TriSilanol POSS, created by silanol bonds at the corners of the POSS molecule, increased both the strength and toughness of A4047 and A359 aluminum alloys. In the A359 sample where POSS was added, elongation to failure increased from 23% to 250% over the control sample. According to the authors, these results hold great promise for the automotive industry.

Nov 5th, 2014