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.

Rewritable Holographic Memory

A genetically engineered microbial protein could mean better data storage.

By using lasers to etch data onto microbial proteins, researchers at the University of Connecticut may have demonstrated a way to produce rewritable holographic memory. Holographic memory stores data in three dimensions instead of two and could make data retrieval hundreds of times faster. The first holographic-memory systems have recently come to market, but they do not yet feature discs rewritable in real time.

Source: Technology Review.

Scientist float levitation theory

St Andrews scientists have discovered a new way of levitating tiny objects - paving the way for future applications in nanotechnology.

Theoretical physicists at the University of St Andrews (UK) have created `incredible levitation effects’ by engineering the force of nature which normally causes objects to stick together by quantum force. By reversing this phenomenon, known as `Casimir force’, the scientists hope to solve the problem of tiny objects sticking together in existing novel nanomachines.

Source: PhysOrg.

Embedded: A Benign Way to Nanowire Living Cells

One day it may be possible for physicians to use electrical stimulation to guide the development of embryonic stem cells into neurons, heart cells, lung cells, breast cells, muscles, and other specific cell types. Researchers with Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley, in collaboration with researchers at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease (GICD) in San Francisco, have taken a critical first step toward that goal.

Source: Berkley Lab.

Automation of Nanotech Manufacturing May Be Ahead

In an assist in the quest for ever smaller electronic devices, Duke University engineers have adapted a decades-old computer aided design and manufacturing process to reproduce nanosize structures with features on the order of single molecules.

The new automated technique for nanomanufacturing suggests that the emerging nanotechnology industry might capitalize on skills already mastered by today’s engineering workforce, according to the researchers.

Source: Duke University.

The Risk Governance of Nanotechnology: Recommendations for Managing a Global Issue

Short Description:
This document reports on the discussions undertaken at the Conference “The Risk Governance of Nanotechnology: Recommendations for Managing a Global Issue” held at the Swiss Re Centre for Global Dialogue on the 6th and 7th of July 2006. Stakeholders from industry, government, research and civil society gathered to give feedback on the International Risk Governance Council (IRGC)White Paper1 on Nanotechnology Risk Governance and to explore how its recommendations could be implemented.

From the “Summary of Frame Two NGO Workshop” presented by yours truly (page 49 of paper version, page 51 of PDF):

Military offence applications are particularly concerning because, unlike nuclear arms, verification difficulties mean there is no clear point at which opponents reach stability in the process of escalation and proliferation. Existing arms treaties may not apply to nanotechnology-based weapons, and there are important intellectual property, commercial confidentiality, and national security issues involved in addressing this challenge…

Finally, while current attention is focused on near-term concerns, questions raised by Frame Two nanotechnologies are more difficult, particularly with respect to fourth-generation, atomically-precise manufacturing of macroscale products. The risk governance process must move faster to address longer-term political, military, and civil liberties issues in time.

Source: Swiss Re via Nanowerk via Foresight.

Antique engines inspire nano chip

The blueprint for a tiny, ultra-robust mechanical computer has been outlined by US researchers.

Source: BBC.