Purdue University researchers have a simpler method for optical invisibility using a “tapered optical waveguide” design instead of metamaterials. The research team used their specially tapered waveguide to cloak an area 100 times larger than the wavelengths of light shined by a laser into the device, an unprecedented achievement. Previous experiments with metamaterials have been …
This weeks news makes it a tough week to deny technology acceleration or an eventual technological Singularity. It is looking far more certain that a very powerful three dimensional DNA/RNA/Protein Nanotechnological capability is emerging and that nanotechnology will be integrated with carbon nanotubes and nanoparticle metal and can be used to bootstrap precise control and …
Tough and soft: Highly porous, spongelike materials self-assemble by calcium ion condensation of DNA-wrapped carbon nanotubes (SWNTs-DNA; see picture, IL=ionic liquid). The toughness, modulus, and swellability of the electrically conductive sponges can be tuned by controlling the density and strength of interfiber junctions. The sponges have compliances similar to the softest natural tissue, while robust …
Douglas et al. report a method for designing and constructing three-dimensional nanostructures from DNA. a, The computer-aided design process begins with a block of tubes arranged in a honeycomb lattice. b, A template for the desired DNA structure is designed by removing sections of the tubes, just like carving a sculpture from a block. The …
20 pages of supplemental information in regards to sheets of nanoparticles being created using DNA by researchers at Cornell University. – A densely-packed DNA ligand layer around the nanoparticles is required to achieve a high degree of order. – a high degree of order was only observed in a low-salt condition (< 5 mM NaCl), …
Nanoscale reversible mass transport computer memory has been demonstrated by Zettl Research Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California at Berkeley. In separate but related research in Japan, Daisuke Takagi at NTT Basic Research Laboratories in Atsugi, Japan, decided to replace the metal nanoparticles (the seeds for growing carbon nanotubes) with a densely …
Network World has coverage of a 57 page DARPA project report. Some of the highlights: DARPA’s Structural Amorphous Metals (SAM) program is building a new class of bulk materials with amorphous or “glassy” microstructures that have previously unobtainable combinations of hardness, strength, damage tolerance and corrosion resistance. Calcium-based SAM alloys are being developed for ultralight …
Petrobank’s canadian oil production averaged 22,085 barrels per day (bpd), up 59 per cent from 13,889 bpd in the first quarter of 2008. Petrobank credited the gains to its Bakken properties in southeast Saskatchewan that account for more than 85 per cent of its production and reserves. The Bakken remains profitabl for Petronbank at today’s …
On the left the new Sharp LCD Optical touchpad on their new laptops and on the right an image from Microsoft’s vision of the future where computer mice are replaced with dynamical optical interfaces. The Sharp optical sensor is a new type of LCD with three major features. It supports handwriting, enables touch operations, like …
An early demonstration model of the St Andrews air cell. Air enters and leaves via the porous circular membrane in the centre (Image: Peter Bruce/EPSRC) The team’s prototype device has a capacity-to-weight ratio of 4000 milliamp hours per gram – eight times that of a cellphone battery. Even a 10-fold improvement is possible, but tweaking …
In technology that promises to one day allow drug delivery to be tailored to an individual patient and a particular cancer tumor, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have developed an efficient system for delivering siRNA into primary cells. The work will be published in the May 17 in the …