Technology Update

Researchers at Stanford University, United States, have demonstrated that a set of metamaterials can enable solar cells to use a band of the solar spectrum that would otherwise go to waste.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are under investigation for a variety of applications in biomedicine, some of which would involve the carbon nanotubes coming in contact with blood.

Geoengineering experts last week gathered to assess proposals for manipulating the earth to avoid climate disaster.  The meeting was convened by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and was closed to the public. 

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), an organization that works to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems, has released a report, “Racing Ahead: U.S. Agri-Nanotechnology in the Absence of Regulation.” 

This new policy brief, “Agriculture, Food, and Water Nanotechnologies for the Poor”, by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), says that advances in nanotechnology present new opportunities to improve the livelihoods of the poor, but also create new risks. 

A new free access journal, “Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology Journal”, was launched this week by Open Access publisher InTech. 

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, United States, have developed a tiny doughnut-shaped laser sensor that detects very small particles, such as viruses, salt and soot. 

Engineers at Oregon State University, United States, have discovered a way to create successful copper, indium, gallium and selenium (CIGS) solar devices with inkjet printing, in such a way that raw material waste is reduced by 90 percent, significantly lowering the cost of producing solar energy cells. 

The Canada-based nanotechnology commentary blog Frogheart has compiled a comprehensive roundup of information about current nanotechnology regulatory frameworks. 

A discovery made by researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and the Australian National University, both in Australia, may mean a simple tap from your finger could be enough to charge your portable device. 

Public interest groups, including Friends of the Earth, the International Center for Technology Assessment and Consumers Union, say the United States Food and Drug Administration’s newly released sunscreen rules fail to meaningfully consider the risks posed by nanoscale ingredients. 

Researchers at Brown University, United States, have devised a new technique that uses gold nanoparticles to spot cancerous tumors in the liver. 

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, United States, have developed a self-cleaning technique that could allow solid oxide fuel cells to be powered directly by coal gas at operating temperatures as low as 750 degrees Celsius. 

Ordinary sand can be transformed into a “super sand” with five times the filtering capacity of regular sand, for improved purification of drinking water. 

The west African nation of Gambia is working with the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) to improve its agriculture sector, particularly the production of its main export, groundnuts. 

Nanotechnology is at the midpoint of its development, according to Ning Xi, a professor at Michigan State University, United States, and president of the Nanotechnology Council for IEEE. 

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, United States, have developed a method of disguising nanoparticles as red blood cells by collecting membranes from a red blood cell and wrapping it around a biodegradeable polymer nanoparticle stuffed with a cocktail of small molecule drugs. 

Researchers at the German chemical group BASF have found that dust from materials containing nanoparticles and nanotubes is no finer than that from conventional materials. 

Research conducted at the University of Texas at Dallas, United States, and funded by the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), found that nanotubes may not be as toxic as previously reported elsewhere. 

Nanoparticles have the potential to revolutionize steps all along the path from farm to table, yet at a recent Institute of Food Technologists annual conference, while nanotech’s potential was discussed openly in many of the scientific sessions, it was almost completely absent from the exhibition hall. 

Researchers in Turkey have manufactured the longest and thinnest nanowires ever produced by using a novel method to shrink matter 10-million fold.