Nanotechblog

If you are a big time nanotechnology fan then you would certainly like this nanotechnology luggage collection from Capistrano Light Luggage Collection which features Nano-Tex Fabric. This can be regarded as a first in the luggage history where nanotechnology is being used in the luggage line. This technology has been used in the luggage line for offering better protection against stains and outdoor elements.

Up till now it was a huge problem for people to keep their luggage clean after repeated use and a lot of research was undertaken where finally the company settled for nanotechnology for creation of light weight fabric which offered better protection against stains and other dirt elements.

Probably you won’t have to struggle hard to keep your luggage clean and you will always be able to maintain the new look of the luggage even when it has been used several times. I am quite lazy so probably I would surely get one for myself.

Via nanowerk

Since nanotechnology works at such a fundamental level there is a very little chance that it would not have an impact of technological nature. Nanotechnology can affect storage and consumption, energy generation and transmission and a number of other fields too though some of them would be incremental and a number of them may be even revolutionary.

At the lower level you have the anti fouling paint for tidal power, further in the case of wind power benefits could be garnered in the form of improvements in the strength to weight of the materials used in blades. At the extreme end it could create an impact on solar energy. It is being said that any developments undertaken would involve nanotechnology therefore the future holds great promise for nanotechnology.

There are two things which would make nanotechnology a revolution - one is its availability and other is economics. Nanotechnology is now all set to transform the planet earth.

Via renewableenergy

Since nanotechnology does not have any regulatory body as of now it is being said that this technology might be heading the biotechnology route and may even meet a similar fate. There seems to be no serious effort for creating awareness among the public and it is being commercialized without involving any public opinion. Since it does not have any regulatory body there is a chance that risks posed by this technology might increase.

There seems to be frustrating silence being maintained on this issue and it is expected that public furor would start soon and this might put the future of this technology in jeopardy. It seems that if some concrete step is not taken a public backlash seems imminent.

Professor Bruce Bimber, Center for Nanotechnology in Society, University of California stated:

We have to pay attention to nanotechnology before it hits us on the head.

I wholly agree with what the professor says and its high time that some concrete action is taken soon.

Via azonano

Here comes the world’s first certifiable risk management and monitoring system for nanotechnologies.- this is Certifiable Nanospecific Risk management and Monitoring System or CENARIOS developed as a result of partnership between TUV Munich and Innovation Society. The system deals with risk related information from technology and science and it can be applied to technology risk with high level of uncertainty and research data.

With this independent certification one gets an up to date safety standard for risk management system and a focused foresight tool for decision making.

Three modules are covered in this approach:

Module 1: Hazard and risk assessment provides current product- and process specific Risk-Evaluation and positioning.

Module 2: A 360 degree risk-monitoringsystem screens relevant developments and trends in science, regulation, technology and market.

Module 3: Issue-Management and Communication provides the necessary tools to deal with potential crises.

With the risk management system getting certified as per the predefined auditing scheme of TUV Munich be assured about a trustworthy standard for risk management processes.

Via nanowerk

This development will surely restore vision for millions of blind people around the world. In order to make this possible University of Texas researchers have been able to achieve the first direct electrical link between nerve cells and photovoltaic nanoparticle films. This will ensure that unique properties of nanoparticles could be applied to varied light stimulated signaling devices which include the possibility of development of nanoparticle based artificial retina.

The researchers applied a process created by Professor Nicholas Kotov in which two types of ultra thin films are build - one created from mercury -tellurium nanoparticles and other from PDDA. After that ordinary clay was added along with a coating of amino acid and on top of that cultured neurons were placed.

The researchers further described the process:

When light shines on them, the mercury-tellurium nanoparticle film layers produce electrons, which then move up into the PDDA film layers and produce an upward-moving electrical current. As you build up the layers of this, you get better capabilities to absorb photons and generate voltage. When the current reaches the neuron membrane, it depolarizes the cell to the point where it fires, and you get a signal in the nerve.

The researchers stated that though this study had a bright future but creation of artificial retina was still far off.

Via nanowerk

Danone, a French beverage company is working with the Queen’s University for developing new polymer nanocomposites which will result in stronger plastic packaging along with reduced material waste. All this will be possible with the aid of nanotechnology which will help in manipulation and control of matter at near atomic scales for creation of new materials and devices.

Nanocomposite materials have been found out to bring a marked improvement in material performance along with increment in mechanical and gas barrier properties.Nanocomposites have been found to result in more effective products and the improved performance results in products getting manufactured with less material which leads to reduction in processing energy and raw material.

The research is expected to focus on the processing route with the aid of which nanoparticle polymer mixture turns into final product. Certainly Danone is all set to benefit from nanotechnology.

Via nanowerk

Regarded as one of the biggest developments in the history of humans was the invention of the wheel which took place thousands of year ago. Scientists have been toiling for a number of years for designing of molecular machines equipped with wheels and a group of European researchers have been able to operate the first molecular rack with a pinion of 1.2nm in diameter. The molecular wheel is expected to revolutionize machinery built on nanoscale. On earlier occasions too nanowheel rotation has been claimed but it was not demonstrated.

Up till now manipulation of single molecules with STM had resulted in hopping motion of the molecules but research conducted by German and French researchers can be regarded as the first instance of rolling molecular wheel.

Dr. Leonhard Grill stated:

This is on one hand fascinating as it shows that rolling, a motion that is of fundamental importance in the macroscopic world, is also possible at the atomic scale. On the other hand it opens the way to design a new class of nanomachines that are equipped with wheels.

The research has been focused on single functionalized molecules on surface and a paper on the research has been published too.

Via nanowerk

Researchers had been struggling for almost ten years for building a tabletop X ray laser which could be implemented for biological and medical imaging but now a research team at the University of Colorado has created a new technique for generation of laser like X ray beams. It took almost fifty years for the researchers to figure out how a cost effective and X-ray laser could be built which could offer super high imaging resolution.

This development is expected to benefit other fields too such as biology and medicine too. With higher resolution it would be possible to detect an even small cancer which is not possible in normal circumstances. Powerful laser was used for plucking an electron from an atom of argon and then was slammed into the same atom. This resulted in a direct beam of X-rays.

One of the problems which was being encountered was that X-ray waves did not march out in steps and in order to counter this problem the researchers sent out some weak pulses of visible light in the gas in the opposite direction of the laser beam for generation of X-rays. The beam was found out to manipulate the electrons and this lead to the strengthening of the beams by more than a hundred times.

Via nanowerk

People traveling in oceans and seas know that Streptomyces avermitilis which is a microscopic fungus is quite poisonous to acorn barnacles and other crustaceans and it has been noted that when some of this fungus is added to the paint for hulls of vessel it clears the surface from any barnacles. A study conducted by Goteborg University has proved this theory.

Just a small amount of the fungal extract is needed for affecting the nervous system of the barnacles and their growth on ship has been found out to lead to higher fuel consumption and emissions. The researchers have been working on anti foul paint which prevents organisms from attaching on to the surface.

The researchers were able to discover how the microscopic fungus could affect the barnacles and only around 0.1% mixture of pure fungal extract was sufficient for preventing the growth of acorn barnacles. It has been found out that the fungal extract is toxic only on the painted surface and when the paint is dissolved in water it does not pollutes it. The work of the scientists is based on the theory that fungal extract leads to the paint imitating the natural defense of the fungus against being eaten. This is an amazing discovery which would surely benefit the shipping industry.

Via nanowerk

Nanotechnology researchers of UC Berkeley have been successful in trapping molecules between sheets of gold and ultrafine gold tip of scanning tunneling microscope. The gold surface was heated and measured with the aid of microscopic tip. This showed that organic molecules could be used for generating electricity from heat. The research is still in the initial stages and a lot of work remains to be done in this aspect.

Arun Majumdar, Professor, mechanical engineering, UC Berkeley stated:

Ninety percent of the world’s electricity is generated by thermal-mechanical means and a lot of the heat is wasted. One and a half times the power that is generated is actually wasted.

If everything goes as per the plan then thermoelectric devices based on the molecules could emerge as an important source of power and reduce green house gas emissions with efficient fossil use.

Via foresight