News for April 2009

News Archive

“Nanobombs” shock cancer cells

In the realm of science fiction, the idea of tiny nanorobots that can enter the human body and seek out and destroy unwanted elements has been prevalent.

How stiff are your joints? How stiff are your joints?

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) can detect osteoarthritis several months before conventional morphology-based diagnostic techniques.

Nanoparticles deliver the goods and leave without a trace Nanoparticles deliver the goods and leave without a trace

Researchers have come up with a new type of non-toxic nanoparticle

Nanoscale capacitors pack in the power

Feynman's famous 1959 proclamation “There's plenty of room at the bottom” largely referred to the untapped storage ability for information at the nanoscale.

Smarter implants Smarter implants

One of the major obstacles preventing the development of implantable biosensors, artificial kidneys, and other “active” medical devices has been the reduction in device function after implantation.

Better photocells from bigger Buckyballs Better photocells from bigger Buckyballs

Much research activity is presently devoted to organic photovoltaic devices (OPV), in particular ones comprising polymers as donors and a variety of C60 fullerenes with organic molecules attached as acceptors.

Whose choice is it anyway? Whose choice is it anyway?

When deciding upon a particular project, do not simply consider benefits and costs, but do ask “whose benefits and whose costs?

Nanostructured origami Nanostructured origami

Using the art of origami a group of scientists [MIT tech talk (2009) 53, 4] and [Arora, et al., J. Microelec. Syst. (2009) 18, 98] have successfully fabricated a functional microscale super capacitor, which is essentially a nanostructured 3D device.

Single molecules cooling off

Until now it has been virtually impossible to record meaningful and reproducible data from single non-bonded molecules.

Silicon nanocrystals to order Silicon nanocrystals to order

Silicon nanocrystals are particularly useful for applications in nanoelectronic, optoelectronic and biological disciplines, and their production has become increasingly important.

Better photocells from bigger Buckyballs

Scientists have developed a novel fullerene species