Nanotechnology : %1

Your interpretations of nanotechnology

Admin — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 12:32:10 +0000

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For reference (and fun) we are gatherering your slant on 'Nanotechnology' - Send in your idea of what nanotechnolgy is.

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We are going to list everyones idea on the concept of nanotechnology. Whether funny, off the wall or serious we would love to hear from you. All submissions will get your name and url acknowledged.

Here is one slightly understated submission - 'Nanotechnology is about small things'

So come on nanoviper's lets be hearing form you. You can use the form below. 100 words or less please. http://www.nanovip.com/contact

Read the results - http://www.nanovip.com/node/53670

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Click Here For Nanotechnology Related Downloads

Admin — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 23:53:21 +0000

Nanovip Companies Database
http://www.nanovip.com/nanotechnology-companies/download-databases

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Hub-based Simulation and Graphics Hardware Accelerated Visualization for

Sensitive nanowire disease detectors created

Admin — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:21:30 +0000

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Yale scientists have created nanowire sensors coupled with simple microprocessor electronics that are both sensitive and specific enough to be used for point-of-care (POC) disease detection, according to a report in Nano Letters.

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The sensors use activation of immune cells by highly specific antigens - signatures of bacteria, viruses or cancer cells - as the detector. When T cells are activated, they produce acid, and generate a tiny current in the nanowire electronics, signaling the presence of a specific antigen. The system can detect as few as 200 activated cells.

In earlier studies, these researchers demonstrated that the nanowires could detect generalized activation of this small number of T cells. The new report expands that work and shows the nanowires can identify activation from a single specific antigen even when there is substantial background "noise" from a general immune stimulation of other cells.

Describing the sensitivity of the system, senior author Tarek Fahmy, Yale assistant professor of biomedical engineering, said:. "Imagine I am the detector in a room where thousands of unrelated people are talking - and I whisper, 'Who knows me?' I am so sensitive that I can hear even a few people saying, 'I do' above the crowd noise. In the past, we could detect everyone talking - now we can hear the few above the many."

According to the authors, this level of sensitivity and specificity is unprecedented in a system that uses no dyes or radioactivity. Beyond its sensitivity, they say, the beauty of this detection system is in its speed - producing results in seconds - and its compatibility with existing CMOS electronics.

"We simply took direction from Mother Nature and used the exquisitely sensitive and flexible detection of the immune system as the detector, and a basic physiological response of immune cells as the reporter," said postdoctoral fellow and lead author, Eric Stern. "We coupled that with existing CMOS electronics to make it easily usable."

The authors see a huge potential for the system in POC diagnostic centers in the US and in underdeveloped countries where healthcare facilities and clinics are lacking. He says it could be as simple as an iPod-like device with changeable cards to detect or diagnose disease. Importantly, Stern notes that the system produces no false positives - a necessity for POC testing.

The authors suggest that in a clinic, assays could immediately determine which strain of flu a patient has, whether or not there is an HIV infection, or what strain of tuberculosis or coli bacteria is present. Currently, there are no electronic POC diagnostic devices available for disease detection. "Instruments this sensitive could also play a role in detection of residual disease after antiviral treatments or chemotherapy," said Fahmy. "They will help with one of the greatest challenges we face in treatment of disease - knowing if we got rid of all of it."

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Yale University

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nanitenews.com/Research/Sensitive_nanowire_disease_detectors_created.asp

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CNS-UCSB Helps Land $24 Million National Center to Study Environmental Impacts of Nanotechnology

Admin — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:18:58 +0000

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The Center for Nanotechnology in Society at the University of California at Santa Barbara (CNS-UCSB) helped to win the new University of California Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology

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Santa Barbara, Calif. – The Center for Nanotechnology in Society at the University of California at Santa Barbara (CNS-UCSB) helped to win the new University of California Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (UC CEIN), a five-year, $24 million center co-funded by the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency to study the environmental impacts of nanotechnology. The new center, headquartered at UCLA but involving significant collaboration from UC Santa Barbara researchers, will include a research group on environmental risk perception led by Dr. Barbara Herr Harthorn, Director of the CNS-UCSB and Associate Professor of Feminist Studies, Anthropology & Sociology. CNS-UCSB also will collaborate in the UC CEIN’s novel science journalist program, led by Professor William Freudenburg, a professor in UCSB’s Environmental Studies Program and a member of Harthorn’s team. UC CEIN also includes other researchers in the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, Environmental Studies, Chemistry, and Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology.

“The new centers represent a promising step toward US development of much needed systematic knowledge about the environmental toxicology, ecology, and bioaccumulation of nanoparticles,” said Harthorn. “Characterization of the hazards (and eventually, potential for exposures) associated with nanomaterial development and incorporation in other products is an essential next step in the responsible development of nanotechnologies. CNS-UCSB researchers involved in the UC CEIN and our new collaborators look forward to assessing public perceptions of nanoparticle environmental hazards, and conducting systematic comparative analyses of risk and risk communication, as we work with UC CEIN toxicologists and ecologists to develop empirically based risk communication.”

UC CEIN will be led by UCLA’s chief of nanomedicine, Dr. Andre Nel. It was founded due to growing public, industry, and regulatory agencies’ interest in better understanding the environmental impacts of nanoparticles. Combining interests in understanding nanoparticles’ effects in the environment, NSF and EPA sought out teams of university researchers to conduct such studies in a competition that was run over 2007 and 2008. The presence of CNS-UCSB and its experience as an NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center dedicated to research on the societal impacts of nanotechnologies contributed to the success of the UC CEIN in securing its $24 million award.

Four of the seven Integrated Research Groups (IRGs) in the UC CEIN are based at UC Santa Barbara. Harthorn’s IRG, which builds on her research team’s effort in the CNS-UCSB, also includes UCSB Environmental Studies professor William Freudenburg, University of British Columbia (UBC) environmental risk researchers Terre Satterfield and Milind Kandlikar, and Cardiff University’s social psychologist Nick Pidgeon. In addition to Harthorn’s IRG, the other 3 at UCSB will be led by Arturo Keller, professor of environmental engineering in the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and UC CEIN associate director; Bren professor of microbiology, Patricia Holden; and Bren associate professor of applied marine ecology, Hunter Lenihan. Other researchers include Environmental Studies professor and chair, Josh Schimel; professor and vice chair in the Department of Ecology, Roger Nisbet; EEMB assistant professor, Bradley Cardinale; and Galen Stucky, professor, Chemistry and Material Research Labs. The UC CEIN collaboration will also include researchers at UC Davis, UC Riverside, Lawrence Livermore and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories, Columbia University, Germany's University of Bremen, and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
Funding for the center is part of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), a multi-agency federal program created to encourage development of nanotechnology in the U.S. economy.

Science Background

“Nanoscience involves research to discover new behaviors and properties of materials with dimensions at the nanoscale which ranges roughly from 1 to 100 nanometers(nm),” states the National Nanotechnology Initiative Web site. One nanometer is one billionth of a meter. “Nanotechnology is the way discoveries made at the nanoscale are put to work. Nanotechnology is more than throwing together a batch of nanoscale materials—it requires the ability to manipulate and control those materials in a useful way.”

About CNS-UCSB

The NSF Center for Nanotechnology in Society at UCSB serves as a national research and education center, a network hub among researchers and educators concerned with societal issues concerning nanotechnologies, and a resource base for studying these issues in the US and abroad. The Center addresses education for a new generation of social science and nanoscience professionals, and it conducts research on the historical context of the nano-enterprise, on innovation processes and global diffusion of nanotech, and on risk perception and the public sphere. CNS-UCSB researchers address a linked set of social and environmental issues regarding the domestic US and global creation, development, commercialization, production, consumption, and control of specific kinds of nanoscale technologies. It is one of only two such centers in the country (the other is housed at Arizona State University). The CNS research efforts are led by Dr. Harthorn and her UCSB Co-PIs, Professors Rich Appelbaum, Bruce Bimber, W. Patrick McCray, and Chris Newfield.

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cns.ucsb.edu/news/cns-ucsb-helps-land-24-million-national-center-to-study-environmental-impacts-of-nanotechnology/

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Green Nanotechnology Is Ready To Come Of Age

Admin — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:05:28 +0000

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Alongside renewable energy, green tech is tipped to become employment sector number one in the next decades

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Alongside renewable energy, green tech is tipped to become employment sector number one in the next decades if you believe reports by major organizations covering green jobs. But my hunch is to keep a check of nano technology as well. Because green technology's tendency to thrive on clever solutions to reduce energy usage is all great but it boils down to a rather finite activity. Humans will look for the next challenge and switch their attention to those found in truly greening production of tangible materials. That’s in essence the domain of nanotechnology.

Numbers of the National Science Foundation estimate that by 2015 nanotechnology will be worth $1 trillion in the world economy, employing over 2 million people .

That compares to UN figures indicating that the global green economy of environmental products and services is estimated to double from US$1,370 billion (1.37 trillion) per year to US$2,740 billion (2.74 trillion) by 2020. The comparison makes little sense, I know, but hey, these are figures that are seldomly released so bear with me.

For the time being there has been little reason to be all to obsessed with nanotechnology in a green context. That is because nano-engineered products are both intensely distrusted and overly hyped. We seem to be aware of the technology's potential in a positive sense yet there’s also a tremendous amount of skepticism because toxic substances are often created in the process that ordinary technology can’t handle.

But then again, those few nano-products that actually are green at the core are incredibly laudable. One example is the production of environmentally friendly gold particles, a recent development that the manufacturing marketplace is already wildly enthusiastic about. GreenNano, the new nanotech company that started commercializing eco-friendly gold nano-particles is receiving lots of press attention. The man who heads it all up, Kattesh Katti, is the renowned professor of radiology and physics attached to the University of Missouri's School of Medicine and College of Arts and Science.

Gold nano-particles are used in industrial applications ranging from cancer treatment to automobile sensors to cell phones and hydrogen gas production. The (patent pending) method Katti has invented eliminates synthetic chemicals involved in the production of gold nano-particles. That means that the production process is entirely environmentally friendly.

GreenNano submerses gold salts in water and then adds soybeans. A complex but wholly natural process leads to the creation of gold nano-particles. Sounds almost too good to be true, but more curious things have known to have occurred in the nano-business (including the growth of cell phones on plants).

GreenNano Company is in the midst of developing, commercializing and organizing the supply of gold nano particles for medical and technological applications. In my view the most exciting thing is that the creation, marketing and distribution of the new product is not where the story ends. According to Professor Katti, because the production procedure has changed so profoundly, other researchers are developing new uses for the technology.

In other words, we’re evolving!

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globalwarmingisreal.com/blog/2008/10/10/green-nano-technology-is-ready-to-come-of-age/

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What Is A Career In Biotechnology Like?

Admin — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:33:39 +0000

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Biotechnology is the integration of engineering and technology to the life sciences.

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Biotechnologists frequently use microorganisms or biological substances to perform specific processes or for manufacturing. Examples include the production of drugs, hormones, foods and converting waste products.

There are many sub-branches involved in the biotech industry. A few of the more common branches include; molecular biology, genetic engineering, and cell biology.

A new and exciting sub-branch requiring biotechnologists is the field of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology gives us the capability to engineer the tiniest of objects, things at the molecular level. Nano means a billionth of a specific unit in Greek. Nanotechnology includes the study and manipulation of materials between 1 and 100 nanometers.

To give you an idea, DNA is approximately 2.5 nanometers. Red blood cells are 2.5 micrometers (1,000 times larger). And a sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers thick!

As you can imagine, it is very difficult to scale and mass produce objects within the realm of nanotechnology. Their minute size makes them nearly impossible to manipulate. But scientists and engineers have teamed up to make the seemingly impossible a reality.

Which means those with the proper training will be highly sought after in the future. The National Science Foundation estimates that the U.S. alone will need up to 1 million nanotechnology researchers. It is estimated that the need for nanotechnology workers will reach 2 million by 2015.

Therefore, if you?re considering getting into the field of biotech, you may want to gear your background in nanotechnology if your school offers it or seek employment in this exciting new career field after graduating.

No matter what sub-branch you wind up specializing in, biotechnologists often collaborate with others in the laboratory and bounce ideas off one another. This can create a pleasant work environment; one that involves sharing with others and working together to achieve a great goal.

About the Author: To learn more about a career in the biotech industry, please visit Biotech Career News biotechcareernews.com/

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UAlbany NanoCollege Gives Students a View of Growing Career Opportunities in Nanotechnology

Admin — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:32:05 +0000

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NanoCareer Day brings 300 middle- and high-school students to CNSE's Albany NanoTech

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Albany, NY - Amid the growing number of nanotechnology-related career opportunities in the Capital Region and New York State, more than 300 elementary, middle- and high-school students got an inside look at the high-tech workplace of the future when they participated in NanoCareer Day held today at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering ("CNSE") of the University at Albany.

Students had the unique opportunity to put on cleanroom "bunny suits," conduct experiments to learn the basics of solar cells and fuel cells, and to tour the UAlbany NanoCollege's $4.5 billion, world-class Albany NanoTech Complex, the most advanced research and development enterprise on a university campus anywhere in the world.

Created to lead the effort to begin preparing students for careers in New York's fast-growing nanotechnology industry - while also addressing the national need to stimulate an interest in math and science among America's younger generation - NanoCareer Day gives students unprecedented access to CNSE, ranked in May 2007 by Small Times magazine as the world's number one college for nanotechnology and microtechnology.

"Pioneering programs like NanoCareer Day have taken on increasing importance amid the rapid growth of New York's nanotechnology economy, spurred by the extraordinary leadership, vision and investment of Governor Paterson and Assembly Speaker Silver and led by the globally recognized UAlbany NanoCollege," said Dr. Alain E. Kaloyeros, Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of CNSE. "NanoCareer Day begins the process of educating students about nanotechnology, helping to build a future workforce that is critical to advancing New York's growing nanotechnology sector and vital to strengthening U.S. competitiveness in an increasingly global marketplace."

The National Science Foundation projects the need for two million nanotechnology-savvy workers by 2014, with 20 percent expected to be scientists and the remaining 80 percent consisting of highly skilled engineers, technicians, business leaders, economists and others, with expertise ranging from two-year associate degrees to doctoral degrees.

Participating schools, and their counties, included: Ballston Spa High School (Saratoga); Doane Stuart School (Albany); Cohoes Middle School (Albany); Lynch Literacy Academy (Montgomery); Germantown High School (Columbia); New Scotland Elementary School, Albany City School District (Albany); Schenectady High School (Schenectady); Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School (Saratoga/Schenectady); and, Broadalbin-Perth High School (Fulton).

About CNSE. The UAlbany CNSE is the first college in the world dedicated to research, development, education, and deployment in the emerging disciplines of nanoscience, nanoengineering, nanobioscience, and nanoeconomics. In May 2007, it was ranked as the world's number one college for nanotechnology and microtechnology in the Annual College Ranking by Small Times magazine. CNSE's Albany NanoTech complex is the most advanced research enterprise of its kind at any university in the world: a $4.5 billion, 450,000-square-foot complex that attracts corporate partners from around the world and offers students a one-of-a-kind academic experience. The UAlbany NanoCollege houses the only fully-integrated, 300mm wafer, computer chip pilot prototyping and demonstration line within 65,000 square feet of Class 1 capable cleanrooms. More than 2,000 scientists, researchers, engineers, students, and faculty work on site at CNSE's Albany NanoTech complex, from companies including IBM, AMD, SEMATECH, Toshiba, ASML, Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, Vistec Lithography and Freescale. An expansion currently underway will increase the size of CNSE's Albany NanoTech complex to over 800,000 square feet, including over 80,000 square feet of Class 1 capable cleanroom space, to house over 2,500 scientists, researchers, engineers, students, and faculty by mid-2009. For more information, visit cnse.albany.edu/.

CNSE Contact:
Steve Janack, CNSE Vice President for Marketing and Communications
(phone) 518-956-7322 (cell) 518-312-5009
(e-mail) sjanack@uamail.albany.edu

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Food nanotechnology means what?

Admin — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:30:35 +0000

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A couple of weeks ago I took part in a dialogue meeting in Brussels organised by the CIAA, the Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the EU, about nanotechnology in food.

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A couple of weeks ago I took part in a dialogue meeting in Brussels organised by the CIAA, the Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the EU, about nanotechnology in food. The meeting involved representatives from big food companies, from the European Commission and agencies like the European Food Safety Association, together with consumer groups like BEUC, and the campaigning group Friends of the Earth Europe. The latter group recently released a report on food nanotechnology - Out of the laboratory and on to our plates: Nanotechnology in food and agriculture; according to the press release, this “reveals that despite concerns about the toxicity risks of nanomaterials, consumers are unknowingly ingesting them because regulators are struggling to keep pace with their rapidly expanding use.” The position of the CIAA is essentially that nanotechnology is an interesting technology currently in research rather than having yet made it into products. One can get a good idea of the research agenda of the European food industry from the European Technology Platform Food for Life. As the only academic present, I tried in my contribution to clarify a little the different things people mean by “food nanotechnology”. Here, more or less, is what I said.

What makes the subject of nanotechnology particularly confusing and contentious is the ambiguity of the definition of nanotechnology when applied to food systems. Most people’s definitions are something along the lines of “the purposeful creation of structures with length scales of 100 nm or less to achieve new effects by virtue of those length-scales”. But when one attempts to apply this definition in practise one runs into difficulties, particularly for food. It’s this ambiguity that lies behind the difference of opinion we’ve heard about already today about how widespread the use of nanotechnology in foods is already. On the one hand, Friends of the Earth says they know of 104 nanofood products on the market already (and some analysts suggest the number may be more than 600). On the other hand, the CIAA (the Confederation of Food and Drink Industries of the EU) maintains that, while active research in the area is going on, no actual nanofood products are yet on the market. In fact, both parties are, in their different ways, right; the problem is the ambiguity of definition.

The issue is that food is naturally nano-structured, so that too wide a definition ends up encompassing much of modern food science, and indeed, if you stretch it further, some aspects of traditional food processing. Consider the case of “nano-ice cream”: the FoE report states that “Nestlé and Unilever are reported to be developing a nano- emulsion based ice cream with a lower fat content that retains a fatty texture and ﬂavour”. Without knowing the details of this research, what one can be sure of is that it will involve essentially conventional food processing technology in order to control fat globule structure and size on the nanoscale. If the processing technology is conventional (and the economics of the food industry dictates that it must be), what makes this nanotechnology, if anything does, is the fact that analytical tools are available to observe the nanoscale structural changes that lead to the desirable properties. What makes this nanotechnology, then, is simply knowledge. In the light of the new knowledge that new techniques give us, we could even argue that some traditional processes, which it now turns out involve manipulation of the structure on the nanoscale to achieve some desirable effects, would constitute nanotechnology if it was defined this widely. For example, traditional whey cheeses like ricotta are made by creating the conditions for the whey proteins to aggregate into protein nanoparticles. These subsequently aggregate to form the particulate gels that give the cheese its desirable texture.

It should be clear, then, that there isn’t a single thing one can call “nanotechnology” – there are many different technologies, producing many different kinds of nano-materials. These different types of nanomaterials have quite different risk profiles. Consider cadmium selenide quantum dots, titanium dioxide nanoparticles, sheets of exfoliated clay, fullerenes like C60, casein micelles, phospholipid nanosomes – the risks and uncertainties of each of these examples of nanomaterials are quite different and it’s likely to be very misleading to generalise from any one of these to a wider class of nanomaterials.

To begin to make sense of the different types of nanomaterial that might be present in food, there is one very useful distinction. This is between engineered nanoparticles and self-assembled nanostructures. Engineered nanoparticles are covalently bonded, and thus are persistent and generally rather robust, though they may have important surface properties such as catalysis, and they may be prone to aggregate. Examples of engineered nanoparticles include titanium dioxide nanoparticles and fullerenes.

In self-assembled nanostructures, though, molecules are held together by weak forces, such as hydrogen bonds and the hydrophobic interaction. The weakness of these forces renders them mutable and transient; examples include soap micelles, protein aggregates (for example the casein micelles formed in milk), liposomes and nanosomes and the microcapsules and nanocapsules made from biopolymers such as starch.

So what kind of food nanotechnology can we expect? Here are some potentially important areas:

• Food science at the nanoscale. This is about using a combination of fairly conventional food processing techniques supported by the use of nanoscale analytical techniques to achieve desirable properties. A major driver here will be the use of sophisticated food structuring to achieve palatable products with low fat contents.
• Encapsulating ingredients and additives. The encapsulation of flavours and aromas at the microscale to protect delicate molecules and enable their triggered or otherwise controlled release is already widespread, and it is possible that decreasing the lengthscale of these systems to the nanoscale might be advantageous in some cases. We are also likely to see a range of “nutriceutical” molecules come into more general use.
• Water dispersible preparations of fat-soluble ingredients. Many food ingredients are fat-soluble; as a way of incorporating these in food and drink without fat manufacturers have developed stable colloidal dispersions of these materials in water, with particle sizes in the range of hundreds of nanometers. For example, the substance lycopene, which is familiar as the molecule that makes tomatoes red and which is believed to offer substantial health benefits, is marketed in this form by the German company BASF.

What is important in this discussion is clarity – definitions are important. We’ve seen discrepancies between estimates of how widespread food nanotechnology is in the marketplace now, and these discrepancies lead to unnecessary misunderstanding and distrust. Clarity about what we are talking about, and a recognition of the diversity of technologies we are talking about, can help remove this misunderstanding and give us a sound basis for the sort of dialogue we’re participating in today.

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softmachines.org/wordpress/?p=428

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Students have opportunity to learn about nanotechnology

Admin — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:28:36 +0000

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More than 300 students from all over New York State are getting an up-close look at nanotechnology. Student Hasson Nharris said, "All this crazy technology, it's like, woah, it's amazing."

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UAlbany now hosts a career fair four times a year so students can figure out what high tech is all about.

UAlbany Assistant Professor Kathy Dunn said, "They drive by on the street and they can see that we have this big ship building or these beautiful glass buildings, but they don't know what goes on here. And so, to be able to come inside, I mean, I think that's a huge advantage to us."

The National Science Foundation estimates that by the year 2014, there will be a need for over two million nanotech jobs, and UAlbany is hoping to keep a lot of them here.

Dunn said, "We want to keep them here in New York State. This is a great place to be, and it's great that New York State is investing in this."

Though initially kids in middle school are interested in the field, by the time junior high rolls around, the clean room loses some of its appeal.

Dunn said, "We need to get them interested and to get over that barrier of what they think their peers are going to think about what they do and get them really involved in it. We're losing a lot of great minds by just not getting them hooked at an early enough age."

So to keep the kids interested, they break it down to a level that they can understand - like how does nanotechnology play a role in your video games, your iPod, or even your cell phone?

Dunn said, "Real examples like that where you can say something they know in their everyday life - a flu virus, a human hair, any of those things."

And by giving the kids an all-access view of what it all looks like, it seems to be working.

"This is an awesome place," said Hasson, "and I'm glad to be here."

With AMD bringing in an estimated 1,400 jobs in the year 2012, he just might still be.

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capitalnews9.com

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EPTE Newsletter from Japan: Nanotechnology-Another Trendy Phrase

Admin — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:26:47 +0000

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There are many questionable projects relating to this subject, and I scratched my head and wondered what the phrase "nanotechnology" truly encompasses.

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I recently perused a thick report published by a Japanese marketing research company addressing recent progress with nanotechnology. More than a thousand companies, universities and research organizations dedicate resources toward business applications or R&D activities for nanotechnologies. There are many questionable projects relating to this subject, and I scratched my head and wondered what the phrase "nanotechnology" truly encompasses.

Well, let's break it down. The original designation for "nano" was meant as a prefix to indicate the number of powers used for metric units. Other prefixes are listed below:

* Milli: one thousandth
* Micro: one millionth
* Nano: one billionth
* Pico: one trillionth
* Kilo: thousand times
* Mega: million times
* Giga: billion times
* Tera: trillion times.

Most of these prefixes can be attached to units of length or weight as kilograms, milliliters and micrometers. Storage devices in computer desktops and notebooks increased significantly, and a common term to reference their size is giga bytes. As hard drives continue to increase storage capacities, we will probably be measuring them in "tera bytes" soon. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has an even larger word bank of prefixes to measure even smaller or larger items; however, there are limited chances to use them in the real world, and most are reserved for astronomy or particle physics.

Most assume when an industry uses the phrase "nanotechnology," it is referring to a unit of measure (length), specifically a nanometer. While the dictionary does include nanotechnology, the scale for it has no formal definition; however, from an academic standpoint, its meaning is accepted as smaller than 100 nanometers. Generally, we name the range of 100 nanometers to 1,000 nanometers (one micrometer) "submicron," and do not designate them as nanotechnologies.

Nowadays, the line width of wiring in semiconductor devices decreased to 30 nanometers, and can certainly be considered nanotechnology. However, we do not call the traditional sputtering process and the electroless plating process nanotechnologies even though they generate layers thinner than 100 nanometers. Most plastic resins have a molecule size within the 1 and 100 nanometers range, but are not considered nanotechnologies.

All of the projects listed in the report I mentioned earlier have the tag line "nanotechnologies" associated with them, but many have no direct relationship. A senior research manager from a large chemical company explained to me that any new project needs a chic, swank or trendy name to secure a larger budget and reserve more staffing; "nanotechnologies" fits that bill. This overused phrase is thrown around as a way to procure new projects or business for some companies. Unfortunately, continuous employment seems to be the agenda for researchers and professors at large organizations. Most companies save face by declaring they are contributing to the pursuit of discovering new technologies.

I don't think our printed circuit industry needs to address "nanotechnologies" for a while. The majority within the industry is still considering double digit micrometers, and, recently, some leading manufacturers have hinted at single digit micrometers for the finest trace. It may take a few more years before we start to reach submicron range.

Dominique K. Numakura

DKN Research, dknresearch.com

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Microfluidics Nanotechnology Expert To Speak At National Nano Engineering Conference In Boston November 12-13

Admin — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:53:45 +0000

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Microfluidics, a division of Microfluidics International Corporation (OTCBB: MFLU), has announced that the company's CTO and nationally renowned nanotechnology applications expert

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Microfluidics, a division of Microfluidics International Corporation (OTCBB: MFLU), has announced that the company's CTO and nationally renowned nanotechnology applications expert, Thomai (Mimi) Panagiotou, Ph.D, will be presenting a talk at the 2008 National Nano Engineering Conference, November 12 and 13 at the Colonnade Hotel in Boston, MA. The talk, titled "Scalable Industrial Processing of Nanomaterials Using Microfluidizer® High Shear Fluid Processors," will cover scalable and robust technologies and processes for production, deagglomeration, purification and modification of nanomaterials. In addition, Dr. Panagiotou will moderate the Nanomaterials Session of the conference. Microfluidics, which won the Nanotech Briefs® Nano50™ Technology Award at the 2007 event, will be exhibiting key products from its Microfluidizer high shear processor product line in booth #8 at this year's conference.

Dr. Panagiotou is responsible for the overall direction of Microfluidics' technology and leads the development of Microfluidics Reaction Technology (MRT), an award-winning process-intensification technology to manufacture nanosuspensions from the bottom up. She has co-authored over 60 papers for journals and conference proceedings and is the co-inventor of two patents.

Her presentation at the 2008 National Nano Engineering Conference will discuss how, for many nanotechnology applications, paramount performance can only be achieved if the nanomaterials are deagglomerated and uniformly dispersed in media such as organic solvents, polymer resins, water, etc. In addition, she will explain how Microfluidics' technologies and processes provide solutions when nanoencapsulation, particle exfoliation, mixing in the nanometer scale, and fibril formation and length reduction of fibers are desired.

Dr. Panagiotou will discuss how the heart of the Microfluidics technology is a continuous microreactor, the interaction chamber, which consists of "fixed geometry" microchannels. Flow through the chamber is characterized by high fluid velocities and subsequent impingement of fluid jets to the chamber walls or to one another. This results in the generation of high intensity shear fields, and energy dissipation mechanisms such as turbulence are activated in the microliter-size volumes of the chamber. Under these conditions, mixing of fluids takes place at the nanometer scale, and solid agglomerates disperse or break to give submicron particles.

Microfluidics high shear fluid processors are used for particle size reduction, deagglomeration and dispersion of nanoparticles in liquid media. The scalability of these processors has been demonstrated in many applications.

Dr. Panagiotou will give her presentation on Wednesday, November 12 at 3:45 pm as part of the Nanocomposites Session.

About Microfluidics
Microfluidics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Microfluidics International Corporation, is a supplier of advanced fluid processing equipment and reaction technology for laboratory, pilot scale and manufacturing applications. The equipment enables the manufacture and formulation of numerous nanomaterials and nanoscale products and produces the most uniform and smallest liquid and suspended solid particles available.

Microfluidics has been a worldwide supplier of Microfluidizer® high shear fluid processing systems to the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, chemical, cosmetics/personal care and food industries since 1984. As leader in the field, Microfluidics has enabled numerous companies and institutions to formulate, validate and produce licensed drugs for the worldwide healthcare market.

Companies seeking to produce difficult-to-formulate products or to find better methods of bio-processing can take advantage of complimentary sample testing at one of three Microfluidics facilities. Visit microfluidicscorp.com, email mixinginfo@mfics.com or contact Microfluidics at 800.370.5452 for application information.

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Nanotechnology Mimicks Nature's Adhesive

Admin — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:49:10 +0000

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A Glue Which Uses the Gecko's Remarkable Feet as its Inspiration

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For decades, the remarkable ability of the Gecko lizard to climb effortlessly across any vertical surface (or even upside-down), no matter how smooth (or rough), has both baffled and intrigued scientists. If only humans could harness such adhesive powers, could there finally be an alternative to duct tape and superglue?

Believe it or not, scientists have finally achieved success in this area after several failed attempts.

How Does a Gecko Stick?

By microscopically analyzing the feet of geckos, scientists have come to understand that this lizard's remarkable abilities comes from an unlikely source - tiny (microscopically tiny, in fact) elastic hairs (from 3 to 130 nanometers in length) which split at the ends into even tinier "hooks." Because these hairs are so small, they behave in a manner not dissimilar to Velcro, but on a microscopic level, which allows them to stick to even the smoothest, slickest of surfaces.

It is as a result of these hairs that geckos have the remarkable ability to hang upside from the adhesion of just a single one of their toes!

The Answer: Carbon Nanotubes

Recent advances in nanotechnology (the manipulation of microscopic entities and the creation of structures and materials using nano particles) have allowed a new possibility in this regard. In particular, the answer which has been found by scientists lies in a particular type of nanosctructure called a "carbon nanotube."

The name of this structure is really rather self-explanatory - a carbon nanotube is merely a tube made up of carbon atoms. Carbon has proven itself to be perhaps the most resilient and simple atom to use in nanotechnology because its electron structure is uniquely designed to allow ready and strong bonding with other carbon atoms, which can be used to create large, complex, and useful carbons structures... like tubes.

These nanotubes have now been manipulated in such a way that they essentially mimic the peculiar features of gecko feet, extending microscopically from a surface and then curving into a microscopic "hook."

Using these carbon tubes - which by themselves are considerably stronger than the hairs on gecko feet - scientists have created a dry adhesive (that is, a non-chemical adhesive, like Velcro) which is actually superior to the foot of the gecko, while retaining the features which make it unique: high shear adhesion and low normal adhesion.

Tough as Nails, Easy to Remove

There is an important difference between these two types of adhesion when discussing sticky stuff. One of the qualities which clearly makes gecko feet unique is that while they are clearly very sticky and work incredibly well at keeping the creature stuck to any surface, they also somehow allow the animal to lift their feet back off the wall and walk along easily.

One can imagine that a lizard foot without this quality would be rather useless. Geckos would simply get stuck to the walls forever, unable to move.

The key here is the difference between shear adhesion and normal adhesion. Once again, velcro is a great example of this. When a velcro strap adheres to itself, it provides very strong adhesion indeed, especially when pulled against itself in a way which demonstrates its "shear" strength, but when it is pulled in the right way, such as when pulling apart the velcro on shoes, it actually comes apart rather easily. This is the same sort of phenomenon which is exemplified in gecko feet and, consequently, in the human-created nano adhesive.

The nanotube adhesive created by scientists has proven to maintain incredibly high strength under shear conditions (such as when hanging objects from a wall), but is also very easily removed on such diverse surfaces as PTFE (teflon), rough sandpaper, and glass. It is this fact which makes this product remarkable, and which provides obvious potential for future uses in residential, commercial and industrial uses.

Who knows? Within the next few years carbon nano-tube driven adhesives may become the wave of the future. Look out duct tape!

References:

"Carbon Nanotube Arrays with Strong Shear Binding-On and Normal Lifting-Off." Liangti Qu, Liming Dai, Morley Stone, Zhenhai Xia, Zhong Lin Wang.

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Nanotechnology Improves Food Safety by Detecting Prions

Admin — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:29:43 +0000

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This new tool targets prions, which are the cause of BSE (Mad cow desease).

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Mad cow disease is a fatal neurodegenerative condition in cattle that is related to the human form of a disease that has caused the deaths of nearly 200 people worldwide. Currently, testing for this disease in cattle is a lengthy process that only occasionally results in a correct diagnosis.

With funding from USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) National Research Initiative (NRI), scientists in New York created a new device that may provide a faster, easier, and more reliable way to test for mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

This new tool targets prions, which are the cause of BSE. Prions are abnormally structured proteins that convert normal proteins into an abnormal form. Prions are responsible for forms of the neurodegenerative diseases, such as BSE in cattle, scrapie in sheep, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. If often takes years before the symptoms arise that indicate the disease is present.

There are no rapid tests available to test for the presence of prions in cattle.

The only test currently available for BSE involves multiple steps, requires sacrificing an animal host, and takes time. The process requires infecting an animal with a patient's blood. Then, after a several month incubation period, the animal is sacrificed and scientists look for prions during the animal's autopsy. This method produces the correct diagnosis only 31 percent of the time.

A better method of prion detection is necessary to allay public fears, ensure the safety of the nation's food supply, and enhance international trade.

Harold Craighead and colleagues at Cornell University have developed nanoscale resonators, which are tiny devices that function like tuning forks by changing pitch with increased mass.

Craighead's group, in collaboration with Richard Montagna at Innovative Biotechnologies International, Inc., modeled the device after a similar idea used to detect bacterial pathogens. When prions bind to the resonator's silicon sensor, it changes the vibrational resonant frequency of the device. In experimental trials, the sensor detected prions at concentrations as low as two nanograms per milliliter, the smallest levels measured to date.

Currently, the resonator only detects prions in a saline solution. Efforts are now underway to use the resonator to detect prions in more complex solutions, such as blood.

"The real challenge is going to be to build an automated device that can take blood from a cow in the field and give a rapid response as to whether prions are present," Craighead said. "At the moment we only test cows when they fall over, but that is a late stage of the disease. It would be ideal to test cows a lot earlier. Resonators could be one path to doing this."

Scientists hope the new device will soon be used to detect prions in food items to ensure food safety and quality for the national food supply.

CSREES funded this research project through the NRI Nanoscale Science and Engineering for Agriculture and Food Systems program. Through federal funding and leadership for research, education and extension programs, CSREES focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people's daily lives and the nation's future. For more information, visit csrees.usda.gov.

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Nanotechnology centre to come up in AMU

Admin — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:31:37 +0000

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For setting up the centre, the Department of Science and Technology (DST), governed by the Government of India has just allocated over Rs.24 million

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Aligarh, Oct 9 (IANS) The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) will set up a state-of-the-art Nanotechnology centre to facilitate advanced research and studies in material sciences, a university official said Thursday.

'For setting up the centre, the Department of Science and Technology (DST), governed by the Government of India has just allocated over Rs.24 million,' AMU spokesperson Rahat Abrar told IANS.

'At present, there are only 20 seats in the Nanotechnology course which is being offered by AMU at the postgraduate level. With the setting up of the centre, the varsity would be able to enrol more students in the course,' Abrar added.

Nanotechnology, the science of understanding the structure and behaviour of materials at atomic or molecular level, is an emerging field across the globe, varsity officials said.

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newstrackindia.com

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Midwest Insurance Company Excludes Nanotechnology from its Policies

Admin — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:29:56 +0000

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We believe the decision to exclude “nanotubes and nanotechnology” was not well thought out.

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I have to admit that I saw this tidbit a week or two ago over at Nanodot and found it to be so outlandish that I thought it fell into too-ridiculous-to-comment category.

But people kept sending me the links to the news story usually accompanied with some slack-jawed, bewildered comment.

It is bewildering. First, who is this Des Moines, IA-based Continental Western Insurance Group? I have never heard of the insurer, but I am not a Midwest farm. If someone would like to enlighten me as to the nanoparticle producers they currently insure (or should I say, used to insure), I would welcome the information.

Second, excluding “nanotechnology”?! Okay, you could make some poorly informed, taking hearsay over science decision that nanoparticles, or even more precisely carbon nanotubes, have exhibited some similarities to asbestos, albeit with research still inconclusive. But nanotechnology?

What is that supposed to be exactly? Will that include STMs and AFMs, key tools in nanotechnology? Will that include the GMR effect used in your computer so you can store 100 gigabytes of family photos?

I have to commend the Nanobusiness Alliance in being extremely restrained in their response:

We believe the decision to exclude “nanotubes and nanotechnology” was not well thought out. Treating nanotechnology as if it is monolithic makes no sense. A technology itself does not have risks and benefits — only the embodiments of the technology in the form of products do. Furthermore, the definitions were sufficiently broad that almost any business to be subject to the exclusion. This is the first exclusion. We hope that it will be reconsidered or pulled back altogether once the insurer understands the implications of the general-purpose exclusion they created. But, we must also educate insurers so that they do not make ill informed policy like this in the future.

The Nanobusiness Alliance is absolutely correct and at the same time generous to a fault. Instead, I am afraid this is just a further example of how just a small seed of misinformation can lead to dangerous stupidity.

The question I can’t seem to resolve is what was the point of the announcement? I keep pondering what possible purpose it served: giving notice to the Midwest nanoparticle industry to not knock on Continental Western’s door when looking for a policy? Or demonstrating what a forward thinking, risk adverse trailblazer the company is to its current customers?

If it’s the former, well I am not sure that they are turning away much business, and the little that they are will find the insurance they need. If it was the latter, it probably would be a safe bet that the current customers probably didn’t know about nanotechnology never mind care about its toxicological issues.

Bewildering, indeed.

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Europe embraces nanotechnology to wean the world from fossil fuels

Admin — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:26:49 +0000

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Nanotechnologies can be used to develop sustainable energy systems while reducing the harmful effects of fossil fuels as they are gradually phased out over the next century.

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Nanotechnologies can be used to develop sustainable energy systems while reducing the harmful effects of fossil fuels as they are gradually phased out over the next century. This optimistic scenario is coming closer to reality as new technologies such as biomimetics and Dye Sensitized solar Cells (DSCs) emerge with great promise for capturing or storing solar energy, and nanocatalysis develops efficient catalysts for energy-saving industrial processes. Europe is ready to accelerate development of these technologies, as delegates heard at a recent conference, Nanotechnology for Sustainable Energy, organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF) in partnership with Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung in Österreich (FWF) and the Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck (LFUI).

The conference focused on solar rather than other sustainable energy sources such as wind, because that is where nanotechnology is most applicable and also because solar energy conversion holds the greatest promise as a long-term replacement of fossil fuels. Solar energy can be harvested directly to generate electricity or to yield fuels such as hydrogen for use in engines. Such fuels can also in turn be used indirectly to generate electricity in conventional power stations.

“The potential of solar power is much, much larger in absolute numbers than that of wind,” said Professor Bengt Kasemo from Chalmers University of Technology and the chair of the ESF conference. However, like wind, the potential of solar power generation varies greatly across time and geography, being confined to the daytime and less suitable for regions in higher latitudes, such as Scandinavia and Siberia. For this reason there is growing interest in the idea of a global electricity grid according to Kasemo.

“If solar energy is harvested where it is most abundant, and distributed on a global net (easy to say – and a hard but not impossible task to do) it will be enough to replace a large fraction of today’s fossil-based electricity generation,” said Kasemo. “It also would solve the day/night problem and therefore reduce storage needs because the sun always shines somewhere.”

In the immediate future, solid state technologies based on silicon are likely to predominate the production (manufacture) of solar cells, but DSC and other “runners ups” are likely to lower costs in the long term, using cheaper semiconductor materials to produce robust flexible sheets strong enough to resist buffeting from hail for example. Although less efficient than the very best silicon or thin film cells using current technology, their better price/performance has led the European Union to predict that DSCs will be a significant contributor to renewable energy production in Europe by 2020.

The DSC was invented by Michael Grätzel, one of the speakers and vice chair at the ESF conference. The key point to emerge from the ESF conference, though, is that there will be growing choice and competition between emerging nanotechnology-based solar conversion technologies. “I think the important fact is that there is strong competition and that installed solar power is growing very rapidly, albeit from a small base,” said Kasemo.”This will push prices down and make solar electricity more and more competitive.”

Some of the most exciting of these alternatives lie in the field of biomimetics, which involves mimicking processes that have been perfected in biological organisms through eons of evolution. Plants and a class of bacteria, cyanobacteria, have evolved photosynthesis, involving the harvesting of light and the splitting of water into electrons and protons to provide a stream of energy that in turn produces the key molecules of life. Photosynthesis can potentially be harnessed either in genetically-engineered organisms, or completely artificial human-made systems that mimic the processes, to produce carbon-free fuels such as hydrogen. Alternatively, photosynthesis could be tweaked to produce fuels such as alcohol or even hydrocarbons that do contain carbon molecules but recycle them from the atmosphere and therefore make no net contribution to carbon dioxide levels above ground.

Biomimetics could also solve the longstanding problem of how to store large amounts of electricity efficiently. This could finally open the floodgates for electrically-powered vehicles by enabling them at last to match the performance and range of their petrol or diesel-based counterparts. One highlight of the ESF conference was a presentation by Angela Belcher, who played a major role in pioneering nanowires made from viruses at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US. Bizarre as it sounds, there is a type of virus that infects E.coli bacteria (a bacteriophage) capable of coating itself in electrically-conducting materials such as gold. This can be used to build compact high capacity batteries, with the added advantage that it can potentially assemble itself, exploiting the natural replicating ability of the virus. The key to the high capacity in small space lies in the microscopic size of the nanowires constructed by the viruses – this means that a greater surface area of charge carrying capacity can be packed into a given volume.

However, commercial realisation of biomimetic and other emerging technologies lies far in the future. But meantime, as delegates heard from several speakers at the ESF conference, nanotechnology has an important contribution to make, improving the efficiency of existing energy-generating systems during the transition from fossil fuels. For example, Robert Schlögl outlined how nano-scale catalysts can be used to improve the efficiency of engines or systems consuming fossil fuels.

Inspired by such presentations, delegates at the conference were unanimous in calling for a follow up. “The conference was regarded as a real success and a new proposal for a conference in 2010 (chaired by Grätzel) will soon be submitted,” said Kasemo. “In particular the conference inspired and educated young people, such as doctors, students, postdocs, young researchers, who will be the ones to realise the potential of nanotechnology for sustainable energy.”

The ESF-FWF conference in Partnership with LFUI on NANOTECHNOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY was held at the Universitätszentrum Obergurgl, near Innsbruck in Austria during June 2008.

Media contact:
Mr. Thomas LauE-Mail - http://www.esf.org/contact/contacts-email-form/cid/167927.html

Science contact:
Professor Bengt KasemoE-Mail - http://www.esf.org/contact/contacts-email-form/cid/16152.html

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esf.org

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Small farmers could be killed off by nanotechnology

Admin — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:22:09 +0000

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Despite the many benefits of nanotechnology on electronics, medicines, and foods, a non-government organization is now seeing the pains such technology could bring.

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Davao City (8 October) -- Despite the many benefits of nanotechnology on electronics, medicines, and foods, a non-government organization is now seeing the pains such technology could bring.

In the field of nano agriculture, it is believed that it could hurt small-scale farmers who supply the world with small-scale raw materials.

ETC Group or the Action Group on Erosion, Technology, and Concentration executive director Pat Mooney, in his briefing with members of the Davao media, Mooney shared the impacts it could cause the world especially those in the Third World.

With the advent of nanotechnology or the manipulation of matter at the level of atoms and molecules, ETC has seen how such technology would change every step of the food chain as well as the people involved in the process.

Mooney explained that the highly-developed countries lead the world market, however, they still recognize and get raw materials from other countries like the Third World.

But with nanotechnology, where the power and manipulation is at the hands of the scientifically-advanced, the group is seeing a rapid change in the world's economy.

The expert disclosed Kraft Foods' move of coming up with a product that would automatically change clear water to any kind of drink like soda, coffee, or tea in just a matter of click on the microwave machine.

"This product will soon flood the grocery stores and would eventually kill all other beverage products as well as the farmers who provide the raw materials," he said.

ETC is now mindful on the world's $3 trillion food retail market, agricultural export markets valued at $544 billion, and the livelihood of some 2.6 billion farming people.

It is believed that the poor and marginalized are seldom in a position to foresee or adjust quickly to abrupt economic changes.

"Among the most vulnerable will be small-scale farmers and agricultural workers who produce raw commodity exports in the developing world.

Mooney visited Philippines to talk to different sectors in the community and share vital information needed by the public to prepare them for the big changes in the world market.

In the field of nano-foods, huge companies have started to invest on their research department to explore nano-scales by enhancing the taste and adding health benefits without having to add production cost.

An example cited is a beverage that claims no sugar in it but actually adds an enzyme that is capable in blocking some bitter taste buds.

He urged the government to share these information to the Filipino people and let them start preparing for the coming changes.

"The technology is moving so fast and yet our policymakers are so left behind. The people deserve to know all these," he said.

The world now estimates about 800 manufacturer-identified consumer products that use nanotechnology. These are already being sold in the world market in the absence of regulation and monitoring.

Data showed that the nanotech market for food and processing alone is estimated to be in excess of $2 billion and projected to surge to more than $20 billion by 2010. (PIA)

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By Mai Gevera
pia.gov.ph

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Nanotechnology Boost for Christmas Lights

Admin — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:20:17 +0000

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This new technology gives us a wide range of colors for holiday and decorative lighting.

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Holiday Creations/Diogen Lighting, Inc. and Evident Technologies, Inc. today announced the signing of an exclusive licensing and purchase agreement to enable a new type of LED to be commercialized in the seasonal light strand market in the US and Canada. The technology is centered on semiconductor nanocrystals, also known as quantum dots, and allows for never-before-seen colors and new design possibilities for the fast growing LED decorative light strand market.

"As consumers become more aware of the energy savings afforded by LED lights, they are switching from the traditional incandescent lights. The problem with current LEDs is that their color selection is limited. Imagine if you only had five colors to choose from for painting, coloring or decorating," stated John Hayes, CEO, Holiday Creations/Diogen Lighting."This new technology gives us a wide range of colors for holiday and decorative lighting. We are excited to be able to offer these colorful new products to our customers immediately for sale in retail stores beginning in 2009."

Traditional LEDs are energy efficient, but are fundamentally limited to a handful of colors like, red, blue, yellow and green. Phosphors can be used to alter the color but the color pallet is still limited. Evident's quantum dot technology removes these limitations, and enables LEDs to emit any color, including high quality white light. Dotstrand™ Energy Efficient Lights are colorful strands utilizing these quantum dot LEDs and are distinctive for their attractive retail packaging design.

"We chose Holiday Creations (holidaycreations.com) as our partner for this technology because they are a progressive, forward-thinking, market leader with an established track record. We are eager to see their new line of light strand products and the dotstrandTM brand in US and Canadian retail stores," said Clint Ballinger, CEO Evident Technologies.

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azobuild.com

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The New Plastic

Admin — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:18:02 +0000

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Nanotechnology is in your home! This is why you don't know it.

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Strange as it may seem today, Baby Boomers grew up marveling at plastic. They flocked to Disneyland in 1957 to see The House of the Future, a pod-shaped structure made entirely of this stuff that would change their lives. A decade later, they filled theaters to see The Graduate, a film whose most famous scene has Ben, a recent Princeton graduate, receiving career advice from Mr. McGuire, a middle-aged family friend:

Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you - just one word.

Ben: Yes sir.

Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?

Ben: Yes I am.

Mr. McGuire: 'Plastics.'

Ben: Exactly how do you mean?

Mr. McGuire: There's a great future in plastics.

Today we're on the cusp of another technological change on par with plastic. Like Ben, the Ivy League graduates of today need to know one word, just one word to make it big: nanotechnology. Only, they don’t know that word. Lots of skeptical, serious people think nanotech will bring us everything from stain proof clothing, to skin cream that removes wrinkles (really), to oil drills that don’t damage the ground. Maybe, someday, even an elevator to the moon or a TV screen that rolls up like a yoga mat.

But the companies that are already doing amazing things with nanotech are intentionally hiding it.

Why?

Before I get to that, here’s a quick explanation of nanotechnology: It basically means “really small stuff.” Imagine scientists peering through a microscope at atoms and molecules. These days, they have the ability to tinker with tinier particles than ever before. It’s hard to picture an atom, so instead imagine a mosaic on a 10’ x 10’ wall. It’s as if scientists used to working only with 1’ square tiles to make their mosaic have just gotten a shipment of thousands of much smaller tiles just a couple of centimeters in width.

The counterintuitive thing about these miniscule particles is that they behave very strangely. Take silver. Silver is a natural antimicrobial. Prior to antibiotics, it was used in surgery to minimize infection. But coat a piece of Tupperware with nanosilver—technically that means silver so small that it’s at a scale of a billionth of a meter—and the silver acts differently. Not only does it kill bacteria, it has a higher level of toxicity.

So who are these companies hiding the magic of nanotech?

Ecology Coatings is one. It’s a company that makes car paint. The special thing about this paint is that, thanks to nanotechnology, it produces a fraction of the toxic waste and uses up to 99% less manufacturing energy than other coatings. It’s enough to make any CEO proud—no surprise that Ecology Coatings touted its product as “liquid nanotechnology.”

Later, however, the company hired a PR Firm that specializes in advising big companies that use nanotech. Antenna Marketing’s CEO, Melody Haller, positions these companies so that they attract the right attention from investors.

Her advice: cut out any mention of nanotechnology.

A major reason is that questions remain about nanotech's impact on the environment, consumer health and product safety. There is evidence, for example, that carbon nanotubes cause permanent, progressive lung damage when inhaled. And nanosilver (another commonly used nanoparticle) kills fish when it gets into water.

Some companies are hedging their bets by using nanotechnology without drawing attention to its presence, just in case more safety concerns, or even the perception of them, arise. After all, using "nano" in a company or product name could one day be “as injurious as a company that included the word ‘asbestos,’” says Ed Moran, Director of Product Innovation at Deloitte.

It's a major reversal.

A few years ago, plenty of companies hopped on the “nano” bandwagon, using the word in advertisements and product names. In some cases, the word "nano" was used to brand products that didn’t even contain nano-scale particles! Apparently, marketers imagined that the word would trickle into the mainstream to mean something vaguely cool, mysterious and futuristic. But those vague associations don't make for a particularly meaningful branding concept. You may have bought the iPod nano, but probably not because of its name.

Now PR folks have gone so far as to invent a new investment sector for companies that use nanotechnology: Cleantech. It’s a word meant to suggest an innovative, environmentally friendly product that won’t be associated with “nano” if it loses its good name.

For products like car paint and earth drills, which mainly don’t come into contact with the human body, that might not seem like a big deal. The problem is that nanotech is being used in plenty of products that do come into contact with the human body, and the same PR hedging is taking place there.

Take the Sharper Image. It makes the FresherLonger food storage containers and Contour-Foam Silver Slippers, both of which kill bacteria due to nanosilver. The company used to proudly advertise their use of nanosilver in their catalog and on their website, but they no longer do. The same goes for Blue Lizard sunscreen, face creams, and countless other lotions and sunscreens, which use nano-scale titanium dioxide to create opacity.

This dearth of information prevents consumers from making informed decisions about what to buy, though it is also true that few Americans know what’s good about nanotechnology, what’s bad, or why anyway. As Nature magazine notes, scientists are more concerned about the potential negative effects of this emerging technology than the public.

The future of the word "nanotechnology" depends largely on whether the government decides to regulate the industry. Companies needn't test or even disclose nano particles in their products at the moment. Business groups argue that this is as it should be: nanotechnology should be treated like any other chemical, they argue, and it would be too difficult for the EPA to require specific testing because the definition of nanotechnology is so broad. For now, they say, voluntary disclosure of any alarming findings is the best method of regulation.

Some consumer groups are taking an opposing position, arguing that regulation is needed as soon as possible. They’ve even created a regulatory agenda that could guide government oversight of nanotechnology, but they don’t expect anyone to even look at it until after a new president takes office.

In the meantime, this is a technology that, Ed Moran says, will likely go the way of electricity – integrated into most consumer goods and therefore no longer touted as an investment sector in its own right. The word “nano” in a product or company name will one day be as quaint as, for example, “General Electric,” a company that switched to GE.

Recent reports that nanoscale particles are being used in food suggest we may wind up inhabiting a world where nanotech is more ubiquitous than electricity.

When that happens, will companies that use nanotech reveal as much only when they see fit? Will the Melody Hallers and Antenna Marketing companies of the world still be the ones at the helm of the public information campaign?

Absent government mandates for greater transparency, it's very likely that advertising professionals will remain the de facto purveyors of information. To uncover what’s going on, we’ll have to sift through the muck of PR banners.

By Alex Schmidt

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culture11.com

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Rice research gets high marks

Admin — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:16:56 +0000

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Leads nation in industry impact for quality of its patents

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Rice University has leapt to the forefront of American research universities for the impact on industry of its accumulated patents, according to a company that analyzes intellectual property.

The Patent Board, a Chicago firm that ranks companies for the prowess of their properties, raised Rice to No. 1 in the "Industry Impact" category on its first public ranking of research universities.

"The results of this Patent Scorecard are very gratifying, and confirm the impression I developed over my first year regarding the work of Rice faculty," said Vice Provost for Research Jim Coleman. "My sense has been that Rice researchers are working at the cutting edge of their fields, and that their discoveries are having a large impact on technological innovation. The Patent Board's analysis confirms that impression."

To judge Rice's impact, the company gathered and analyzed references to universities and their patents in data from government and industry sources, said Christine Wren, spokeswoman for the Patent Board. The category "quantifies how influential a company's patent portfolio is on the development of technologies in other companies, compared to the rest of the industry," according to the firm's Web site.

Nanotechnology patents springing from Rice gained the most attention. The scorecard noted that while Rice has "the lowest volume of patents, they are influential, which is not surprising considering the majority is nanotechnology related." It specifically cited research into optically activated nanoshells being used in human cancer trials by Houston's NanoSpectra Biosciences Inc., a company founded on Rice technology.

"Rice has only been doing the patent game really seriously for the last decade," said Wade Adams, director of Rice University's Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, "and this is a real testimony to the inventiveness of the nanotechnology faculty and students here at Rice, as well as the aggressiveness of the university in the tech transfer office in getting the patents issued and doing it in a way that they're rated the most powerful of all the portfolios. That's a fantastic achievement."

The Patent Board has been performing such rankings for years, but decided to go public with the list for the first time this year, said Wren. The Patent Scorecard for Universities, which tracks 122 institutions, will now be published every September. She also noted the company has been supplying data to the National Science Foundation since 1972.

Contact: David Ruth
druth@rice.edu
713-348-6327
Rice University

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eurekalert.org

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Microfluidics Nanotechnology Expert To Speak At National Nano Engineering Conference In Boston November 12-13

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