Nanotube Oscillator Might Weigh a Single Atom
Roland Piquepaille writes "Recent developments in nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) have typically used vibrating silicon rods so small that they oscillate at radio frequencies. But now, Cornell University researchers have replaced the silicon rod by a carbon nanotube. This new electromechanical oscillator might be capable of weighing a single atom. The oscillator consists "of a carbon nanotube from one to four nanometers in diameter and about one-and-a-half micrometers long, suspended between two electrodes above a conducting silicon plate." Such an oscillator, tunable from 3 to 200 MHz, could be used in future cell phones, which have to change frequently their operating frequencies. The only problem is that the current production of carbon nanotubes is too small for such a huge market. Read more for additional details and references."
September 21st, 2004 at 7:15 AM
Nanotube clocks
I wonder how stable such an oscillator would be. In a vacuum environment there is nothing to obstruct the tube's motion, so it is likely that the oscillations would be uniform. A small, accurate clock would have a large market, from watches to computer clocks. A good clock is also a requirement for a timed nanoplague. Imagine being able to create a nanoscale, self-replicating timebomb, that can be seeded into the target population. With only a few seeds in the victum's body, the immune system will not even notice anything, allowing for maximum infection potential. Then the simultaneous "detonation", which can simply consist of synthesizing some poison, like HCN in the blood, would kill off a great number of people, perhaps even the entire world. Such a perfect weapon this would be; undetectable until it strikes (the reason we don't all die from plague is that the victums know they are sick and try to avoid infecting others), completely untraceable (regular diseases are often easy to trace to an index case, and thus, to whoever infected him, read Robin Cook's "Outbreak" for an example of the technique), easily vaccinated against (like Anthrax, which happens to be the only biological weapon the terrorists have used, possibly for this very reason), impossible to treat (because everyone is sick simultaneously, there is no one to be a doctor), and 100% lethal (even Ebola only kills ~95% of the victums). Science gives us such exciting things…
September 22nd, 2004 at 9:07 PM
Troll troll troll
FP: Fuck Piquepaille. I see he's infested this place too, not just Slashdot, with his blog spamming. Go away Trolland!
September 24th, 2004 at 3:51 AM
CNT mass production
There is actually a way to mass produce BN nanotubes: http://wwwrsphysse.anu.edu.au/nanotube/pdf/171896. pdf and CNT mass production shouldn't be far behind: http://wwwrsphysse.anu.edu.au/nanotube/pdf/cntapa0 3.pdf