Different engines: The return of the mechanical computer

Now, mechanical computers are back. Teams of scientists across the U.S. are building new versions, though they’re a bit smaller. In fact, the moving parts in these “nanomechanical” computers may eventually be smaller than the smallest silicon transistors.

The research is being funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which hopes to develop computers that can survive in hot spots where conventional semiconductors would fry, such as inside weapons. Researchers say that the tiny mechanical computers will be far more energy-efficient than traditional semiconductors, will produce less heat and will withstand big voltage spikes that can burn out ordinary processors.

Source: Computer World.

Molecular Machine Takes Control

For years, nanotechnology has held out the hope of molecular-scale contraptions that can manufacture custom-made drugs or revolutionize the way computer chips work.

Now researchers in Japan say they have taken a big step toward that nano goal by creating the first molecular machine that can do parallel processing.

Source: MSNBC.

How long did you want that space elevator cable?

Many of you have recently read that a research team at the University of Illinois led by Min-Feng Yu has developed a process to grow nanowires of unlimited length. The same process also allows for the construction of complex, three-dimensional nanoscale structures.

Via Lifeboat Foundation.

Tiny Robot Walks Using Rat Heart Muscle

Scientists in Korea have designed a crablike robot that is smaller than the thickness of a fingernail and powered by contractions of cardiac tissue.

Source: Discover Magazine.

The Future of Nanomaterials

Although the underlying concepts of nanotechnology were thought up in 1959, only during the 1990s were the first tentative steps taken toward identifying and developing nanomaterials. “Between the end of the first decade of the 21st century and 2025, a number of gamechangers will need to occur if nanotech is to advance significantly,” von Stackelberg says. These gamechangers include:

• A shift from “passive” to “active” nanotech. In the coming decades, nanotech will likely make the transition from simple nanomachines—particles, crystals, rods, tubes, and sheets of atoms—to more complex ones that contain valves, switches, pumps, and motors.
• Nanoscale tools. To work at the nanoscale, new tools will be needed to allow researchers and technicians to see, measure, and manipulate individual atoms and molecules. “One promising approach uses dynamic light scattering, a technique that measures how much nanoparticles jiggle when hit with laser light,” von Stackelberg shares. “Many scientists agree that this method has the potential to do rapid, accurate measurement, and is expected to be operational by 2010.”
• Nanofabrication. Currently, manufacturing processes for nanomaterials are extremely expensive, produce only small amounts of material, and generate a significant amount of impurities and waste, von Stackelberg says. “But consider this: Assembly of nanodevices today is at the same stage as the automobile industry was before Henry Ford developed the assembly line.”

Source: Nanotechwire.

Quest for Immortality: De Grey, Bostrom and Sandberg

The World’s Smallest Piston

Tomorrow’s nanosized machines may share something in common with the workhorses of yesteryear. A team of Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley scientists have developed a four-legged molecule that moves up and down like a tiny piston, powered only by a beam of light.

Source: Science@Berkley Lab.

Nanotechnology risks - where are we today?

Fadeel, an Associate Professor of Toxicology at the Karolinska Institute’s Division of Biochemical Toxicology, is first author of a review paper that summarizes the Stockholm Symposium (There’s plenty of room at the forum: Potential risks and safety assessment of engineered nanomaterials).

Fadeel’s review covers five major areas below:
Materials and methods: The importance of standardization
While a unified procedure to classify all nanomaterials and their applications seems unlikely, there is nevertheless an urgent need for answering some outstanding questions especially in connection to the biological effects of novel nanomaterials and the possible health and environmental problems they may cause. The two most obvious requirements concern the comparability of the methods used for monitoring of adverse effects and the materials that are subject to such investigations. Therefore, there is a need for standardized toxicological assays as well as reference materials to classify the measured effects and compare them with those from other laboratories in other countries.

Human studies of engineered nanoparticles: A comparison with air pollution
The researchers conclude that the hypothesis that systemic access of ultrafine insoluble particles may induce adverse reactions in the cardiovascular system, and other organs, leading to the onset of cardiovascular disease in human subjects, requires careful consideration. Moreover, other, not generally recognized routes of exposure to engineered nanomaterials, including the putative uptake of inhaled nanoparticles into the brain via the olfactory nerve also need to be considered, although the relevance of such clearance pathways for human exposure remains to be established.

Single-walled carbon nanotubes: Understanding and controlling their toxicity
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are some of the most researched nanoparticles. Their increasing use in industry has prompted a number of toxicology studies. The participants at the symposium discussed numerous studies that deal with some form of human health and biocompatibility of CNTs, especially single-walled CNTs.

Risk assessment of engineered nanomaterials:
The researchers pointed out that there is a strong likelihood that the biological activity of nanoparticles will depend on physico-chemical parameters not routinely considered in toxicity screening studies. One consequence of this would be that the regulation of human occupational exposures, which is currently based on airborne mass concentration, need to be reconsidered in light of these findings.

Regulation of the nanotechnologies: Identifying knowledge gaps
Several important ‘knowledge gaps’ were identified and discussed at the Nobel Forum minisymposium, and efforts to address these issues will be required to ensure science-based decision making and implementation of existing legislations: (i) nomenclature, definitions, and standards; (ii) hazard characterization; (iii) exposure and effects assessment; (iv) environmental fate, transport, and persistence; and (v) measurement, sampling, and monitoring of nanomaterials.

Source: Nanowerk.

Nanotechnology key to space elevator

A space elevator is one of those ideas from 1950s-style futurism that are so whacky they might just work.

Nanowerk via Wall Street Journal.

Beyond Batteries: Storing Power in a Sheet of Paper

Along with its ability to function in temperatures up to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and down to 100 below zero, the device is completely integrated and can be printed like paper. The device is also unique in that it can function as both a high-energy battery and a high-power supercapacitor, which are generally separate components in most electrical systems. Another key feature is the capability to use human blood or sweat to help power the battery.

Source: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.