TechBlog

In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn’t shine.

Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy source, because storing extra solar energy for later use is prohibitively expensive and grossly inefficient. With this announcement, MIT researchers have hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar energy.

Continue reading ‘Major Discovery - From MIT Primed To Unleash Solar Revolution’ »

Brent Christner, LSU professor of biological sciences, in partnership with colleagues in Montana and France, recently found evidence that rain-making bacteria are widely distributed in the atmosphere. These biological particles could factor heavily into the precipitation cycle, affecting climate, agricultural productivity and even global warming. Christner and his colleagues published their results on Feb 29 in the journal Science.

Brent Christner, LSU assistant professor of biolo-

gical sciences, collecting precipitation samples in Antarctica. (Credit: Brent Christner Continue reading ‘Evidence Of ‘Rain-making’ Bacteria Discovered In Atmosphere And Snow’ »

Future nanomanufacturing processes will rely on two basic principles: a combination of chemical synthesis and self-assembly on one hand and robotic nanofabrication on the other. While the former is a controlled ‘natural’ process relying on chemistry and self-organization principles of nature (read more: How falling spaghettis could lead to more complex nanotechnology self-assembly), the latter will be an industrial process similar in concept to today’s automated manufacturing assembly lines.

Micromanufacturing

Continue reading ‘A Gripping Tale for Nanomanufacturing’ »

Lab-on-a-Chip

Color coding: This prototype of a new paper diagnostic test from Harvard University analyzes the glucose (left well) and protein (right well) content of urine; the top well is a control for the glucose assay. The beige part of the test paper has been treated with a hydrophobic polymer that channels the liquid into the wells. In this test, the paper was dipped in an artificial urine solution that contained glucose and a protein extracted from cow blood.

By taking advantage of the natural movement of liquid through paper, researchers at Harvard’s Whitesides Research Group may have found a way to make microfluidics technology much cheaper. The result could be disposable diagnostic tests simple and abundant enough for use in the developing world.

The field of microfluidics deals with the precise manipulation of tiny quantities of liquid. One of its most promising applications is the so-called lab-on-a-chip, which can work with much smaller fluid samples than larger devices require, potentially allowing for more portable diagnostic tools. But existing microfluidic chips are generally made from comparatively expensive materials like silicon, glass, or plastic and have tiny pumps and valves that can be difficult to manufacture.

Continue reading ‘Lab-on-a-Chip Made of Paper’ »

The same nanotech approaches being explored to deliver drugs exactly to the cells where they are needed also provide a technology base that might lead to permanent enhancements of human metabolism. Excerpts from “Cell ‘organs’ get plastic upgrades“, by Tamsin Osborne at NewScientist.com news service:

Human cells could have their metabolisms upgraded without altering their genes by inserting tiny plastic packages of enzymes, Swiss researchers have shown. They hope the technique could allow advanced cancer therapies, or even upgrade a person’s metabolism.

Continue reading ‘Artificial organelles: nanotechnology beyond simple drug delivery’ »

A major advantage of nanotech drug delivery is that multiple drug molecules can be combined on one nanoparticle so that one nanoparticle binds more strongly to the drug target than would the isolated drug molecules. Attaching 12 molecules of an HIV drug to a 2.0 nm diameter gold nanoparticle enabled the drug to prevent HIV infection in cultured patient cells. From a North Caroline State University News Release
“Failed HIV Drug Gets Second Chance with Addition of Gold Nanoparticles“:

Researchers at North Carolina State University have discovered that adding tiny bits of gold to a failed HIV drug rekindle the drug’s ability to stop the virus from invading the body’s immune system.

Continue reading ‘Nanotechnology combines multiple molecules of drug to prevent HIV infection’ »

Cleveland Botanical Garden and Kent State University’s Liquid Crystal Institute today officially launched a pioneering research project to explore the potential of liquid crystal technology for creating more sustainable, energy-efficient greenhouses.

At an event held on Wade Oval, the Garden and the University unveiled the two greenhouses that will be used in the first phase of the project. One contains liquid crystal panels and the other, a control, has plain glass. A demonstration revealed how the panes “switch” to manage the amount of sunlight that enters the greenhouse.

Continue reading ‘Smart - Greenhouse Research Partnership Unveiled’ »

The tiniest endoscope yet takes 30 two-megapixel images per second and offloads them wirelessly. See how it works inside the body in an animation

Sayaka Endoscope Capsule: In situ, in your gut Photo by Medi-Mation

Continue reading ‘How It Works: The Endoscope Camera in a Pill’ »

We encounter valves every day, whether in the water faucet, the carburetor in our car, or our bicycle tire tube. Valves are also present in the world of nanotechno. A team of researchers headed by J. Fraser Stoddart and Jeffrey I. Zink at the University of California, Los Angeles, has now developed a new nanovalve. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, the scientists reveal what is special about it: In contrast to prior versions, which only function in organic solvents, this valve operates in an aqueous environment and under physiological conditions—prerequisites for any application as a gate for nanoscopic drug-transport agents, which need to set their cargo free at the right place and time.In order for pharmaceuticals to affect only the target diseased organ, suitable nanopackaging is required to bring the drug to the target area and release it only there. One example of a good nanoscopic packaging agent is a tiny sphere of porous silica. Its pores can be filled with the drug and closed with tiny controllable valves.

The scientists attached stem-shaped molecules onto the surface of the porous spheres and filled the pores with guest molecules. At neutral to acidic pH values, they stacked cucurbituril molecules onto these “stems”. Cucurbituril is a fat, ring-shaped molecule reminiscent of a pumpkin that has both ends hollowed out. The resulting supramolecular structure, which resembles a skewered pumpkin and is known to chemists as a pseudorotaxane, blocks the pores, so that the guest molecules cannot exit. The nanovalve is closed.

If the pH value is raised into the basic range, however, the interaction between the “pumpkins” and the “skewers” is weakened, and the pumpkins come off, opening the pores. Now the valves are open and the guest molecules can exit.

Continue reading ‘Switchable nanovalves pH-sensitive pseudorotaxane as reversible gate for drug nanotransporter’ »

It seems size does matters after all. But for flying snakes, smaller is better, according to University of Chicago researchers. Scientists described the effects of size and behavior of flying snakes, and found that the smaller animals were better gliders.

“Despite their lack of wing-like appendages, flying snakes are skilled aerial locomotors,” said lead scientist and author Jake Socha, Ph.D., who has been studying these unique creatures for the past eight years.

Chrysopelea paradisi, commonly known as the paradise tree snake. (Copyright Jake Socha / Courtesy of University Of Chicago Medical Center

Continue reading ‘University Of Chicago Researchers Reveal Secrets Of Snake Flight’ »