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A new type of electron microscope allows nanotech researchers to look at the nanostructures they produce and identify individual atoms and how they are bonded to other atoms. In “Nanotech Puts Cancer In The Cross Hairs” at Forbes.com, Josh Wolfe describes the approaches of a number of companies developing nanotechnology-based treatments for cancer. Although only a snapshot of an area of intense activity, this overview highlights a number of the important issues. Unfortunately, when it comes to treating cancer, modern medicine is still in [...] All this week, NanoBusiness Vice President Aatish Salvi debates nanotechnology with the Center for Technology Assessment’s George Kimbrell over at the LA Times online. An excerpt from the former: By combining the features of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and an atomic force microscope (AFM)–two of the most useful nanotech tools–in a single instrument, IBM scientists have measured the forces necessary to move single cobalt atoms and single carbon monoxide molecules across metal surfaces. Researchers at IBM are developing DNA nanotechnology to assemble nanoelectronic components into arrays in a bid to replace current lithographic methods of making computer chips. A properly sized nanoparticle linked to a peptide that binds specifically to cartilage proved an effective drug delivery method when injected into the knees of mice. Stanford University scientists have achieved new, detailed understanding of how a polymer folds into a unique three-dimensional structure by using an “optical trap” to precisely unfold a functional RNA molecule. Japanese scientists have succeeded in chemically attaching proteins specifically to the tips of multiwalled carbon nanotubes, avoiding contaminating attachments to the sides of the nanotubes. Among the most useful tools for nanotechnology are various scanning probe tips for surface modification. An interview by Nanotechnology.com of the director of the Center for Nanoscale Chemical-Electrical-Mechanical Manufacturing Systems got our attention. I’d give you a URL for this interview but it doesn’t seem to be on the web, only in email. An excerpt: Fibers made from zinc oxide nanowires can generate electrical current from low frequency mechanical motion, like body movements. After several months of public consultation, the European Commission has announced a Code of Conduct for Responsible Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies Research. SME has let us know that Foresight members get a discount to their upcoming Nanomanufacturing conference in the Boston area on April 22-23, which features three sessions of special interest: As a step toward advanced nanotechnology, general methods for producing complex nanoscale structures in three dimensions are useful stepping stones from current nanotech to atomically precise functional nanosystems. In a virtuoso demonstration of nanotechnology, researchers used a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to build walls of carbon monoxide molecules to confine electrons on a copper surface so that they resonate like a drum. Two stories report new tools that should accelerate nanotech development by providing scientists with faster determination of molecular structures. Reason magazine, which generally takes positions in favor of technology and free enterprise, has a cover story on nanotechnology (full text not posted yet, check link later) which speculates that the U.S. may be more open to nanotech than Europe: This nanotech electronic device is not nanoscale, but all of the transistors are made from parallel arrays of thousands of nanotubes to demonstrate the potential of single-walled carbon nanotubes in advanced electronics. Longtime Nanodot readers and Foresight members know that our goal here at Foresight is to maximize the benefits and minimize the downsides of nanotechnology. Our friends over at the Wilson Center’s Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies share that goal, as shown in their mission statement: French nanotech researchers have used theory to increase the precision of carving with electron beams enough to remove individual atoms from single walled carbon and boron nitride nanotubes. |
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