Technology Update
Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), United States, have developed a new technology for monitoring cellular interactions at the nanoscale that provides detail never before achieved.
The countries of Russia and China have set targets to increase bilateral trade to US$200 billion by 2020. It is expected to reach US$70 billion by the end of this year.
Ozone is a very dangerous air pollutant formed when nitrogen oxide from exhausts is irradiated with UV light, and releases an oxygen atom, which then reacts with an oxygen molecule to form ozone.
Researchers from Stanford University, United States, have found that wrapping sulfur nanoparticles in graphene sheets can result in a promising cathode material for rechargeable lithium-sulfur batteries that could be used for powering electric vehicles on a large scale.
Researchers at the University of Monash, Australia, have found that a combination of two ordinary materials – graphite and water – could produce energy storage systems that perform at the same level as lithium ion batteries.
Scientists at Rice University, United States, have developed a cable that could eventually replace the country’s copper-based grid, making an efficient electric grid of the future possible.
A top nanotechnology expert, Chad Mirkin, director of the International Institute of Nanotechnology at Northwestern University, United States, speaking before a U.S. Senate science subcommittee this week, said that while America has been at the forefront of nanotechnology for more than a decade, other countries are rapidly catching up.
Materials developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States, now make it possible to produce photovoltaic cells on paper or fabric, almost as easily as printing a document.
Roger Highfield, the magazine editor of New Scientist, in this article, asks: Whatever happened to nanotechnology in the United Kingdom?
Researchers at the National Nanotechnology Center (NANOTEC), Thailand, have discovered that using microfluidization has an effect on the structure and thermal properties of cassava starch-water suspension.
Scott E. Rickert, Chief Executive of United States-based NanoFilm, Ltd., says the recent focus on nanotechnology safety and the environment is not a death knell for nanotechnology, just growing pains.
Dr. Andrew Maynard, director of the Risk Science Center at the University of Michigan, United States, in the journal Nature, argues that regulatory definitions of nanomaterials will do more harm than good.
Researchers from the National Institute for Nanotechnology in Alberta and the University of Alberta have successfully constructed nanostructured titania within the pores of a silicon substrate, which could be significant in areas from catalysis to tissue engineering. http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/46190
President Obama met with the seven U.S. recipients of the 2010 Kavli Prize to acknowledge their contributions to astrophysics, neuroscience, and nanoscience – specifically, for their development of unprecedented methods to control matter at the nanoscale. http://uanews.org/node/40200
Nanocrystalline diamond coatings, the process of using diamond coatings to improve the performance of micro tools, has emerged as a promising trend in nanotechnology since diamond coatings applied at extremely thin levels will help make micro-machining more efficient. http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=238574
With the emergence of nanotechnology, the material properties of concrete, including Alkali Silica Reactivity mitigation, allow engineers and architects to use the concrete in applications that were once impossible. http://www.rdmag.com/News/2011/06/Materials-Testing-Processing-Student-strengthens-concrete-with-nanosilica/
An emerging Wisconsin company has developed a nanotechnology drug delivery system that uses polymeric micelles, a nanoscale capsule used to efficiently transport combination drugs to fight cancerous tumors. http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=238575
The European Commission (EC) has published an orientation paper that details its proposed Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, and Materials (NMP) research priorities for 2012.
Researchers in Japan say they have discovered vast deposits of rare earth minerals in the seabed of the Pacific Ocean floor. Such minerals are used in many high technology appliances.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled this week that China violated global rules by restricting exports of nine raw materials used in the manufacture of high technology products.
Scientists from the Universities of Sheffield and Cambridge, United Kingdom, have announced a scientific advance in renewable energy that promises a revolution in the ease and cost of using solar cells.
