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Better Catalysts for Fuel Cells 2007-06-09 05:40:00 Nano geometry: This 24-sided platinum nanoparticle could lead to cheaper alternative energy. Credit: Zhong Lin Wang, Georgia Tech Better Catalysts for Fuel CellsNanoparticles with a completely new shape may lead to cheaper catalysts that could make many experimental-energy technologies more practical.New nanoparticles with a totally original shape, made by researchers at Georgia Tech, in Atlanta, and Xiamen University, in China, and described in the current issue of Science, could lead to cheaper catalysts for making and using alternative fuels. The 24-sided platinum nanoparticles have surfaces that show up to four times greater catalytic activity compared with commercial catalysts.If researchers can make even smaller nanoparticles with this same efficient shape, it could significantly reduce the amount of platinum used. Reducing the amount of this expensive metal--it currently sells for about $1,300 per ounce--would make applications such as fuel cells more affordable. Reducing the
See-Through Transistors 2007-06-09 05:31:00 Transparent transistors: Arrays of fully transparent transistors made with indium-oxide nanowires are fabricated on a plastic substrate (red lines mark the array regions). The transistors, made by researchers at Purdue University and Northwestern University, could be an important step toward bright, flexible, and completely see-through displays. Credit: Sanghyun Ju and Chulwoo Son, Purdue University See-Through TransistorsTransparent transistors made from nanowires could mean bright and clear OLED displays. Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays are currently found on mobile phones and digital cameras. But in the future, manufacturers expect bigger, bendable, and completely transparent versions. They envision bright maps on visors and windshields, television screens built into eyeglasses, and roll-up, see-through computer screens. And although the OLEDs themselves can be transparent, to make a clear display, the transistors that control each display's OLED, or pixel, need to be
Colorful Lasers from Q Dots 2007-06-09 05:22:00 Crystal light: A semiconductor nanocrystal made by researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory is able to amplify light. Electrons get trapped in the cadmium-sulfide core while positively charged holes move to the zinc-selenide shell. This keeps the particles from interacting and annihilating each other, letting the nanocrystal amplify light, which is a crucial requirement in making a nanocrystal laser. Credit: LANL ColorfulLasers
from Q DotsA new type of nanometer-size semiconductor crystal that can amplify light marks an important step toward cheap, tunable lasers.By Prachi Patel-PreddQuantum dots--tiny semiconductor crystals 2 to 10 nanometers in size--emit bright, fluorescent light in different hues. Scientists can make them using simple, inexpensive chemical processes and change the emitted color easily just by tweaking the size of the nanocrystals. While quantum dots have found use in medical imaging and are close to being used in photovoltaic cells and LEDs, researchers
Nanoglue for Electronics 2007-06-09 05:11:00 Nano superglue: Organic molecules made of a chain of carbon and hydrogen atoms with sulfur (blue) at one end and silicon (green) at the other hold together copper and silicon dioxide. The molecules organize themselves and line up next to each other, and their adhesive strength increases at very high temperatures of up to 700 ºC. Credit: Rensselaer/G. Ramanath Nanoglue for ElectronicsResearchers have found organic molecules that can act as an effective and cheap glue to stick together tiny electronic components. Researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, NY, have found that certain nanometer-long organic molecules can bond two surfaces that normally don't stick together well. Surprisingly, the adhesive power increases when the nanoglue is exposed to very high temperatures.The molecules could be used as an inexpensive, easy-to-apply glue in a variety of applications. For example, the nanometer-thick glue could be used to hold together tiny electronic components, as
Practical Nanowire Devices 2007-06-09 05:01:00 Blowing bubbles: Pumping nitrogen gas into a mixture of nanowires and an epoxy polymer forms a large bubble with very thin sides. As the bubble inflates, the nanowires line up facing the same direction. A metal ring stabilizes the bubble until it’s large enough to come into contact with two silicon wafers. Once in contact, the thin film of nanowires transfers to the wafers. The nanowire-coated wafers can then serve as the base for electronic devices. Credit: Charles Lieber, Harvard Practical
Nanowire Devices
A way to align nanowires could lead to better sensors and flexible displays. Researchers at Harvard University and the University of Hawaii have developed an easy way to align nanowires and carbon nanotubes over areas 100 times larger than is possible using existing methods. The researchers are also able to fabricate the nanowires on a number of different surfaces. The advance potentially paves the way to mass production of electronics devices based on these promising nanostructu
Key Nanotech Patents Licensed 2007-06-09 04:35:00 Cellular printing: A rubberlike stamp containing microscale features was used to create specific shapes (a square and a triangle) that control the locations and spacing of cells. Credit: Whitesides Laboratory Key Nanotech Patents
LicensedNano Terra has acquired a massive patent portfolio covering technologies developed by Harvard's George Whitesides. In one of the largest nanotechnology patent deals to date, a startup based in Cambridge, MA, called Nano Terra has licensed rights to more than 50 patents from Harvard University. The wide-ranging set of patents--the result of research done in the Harvard chemistry lab of George Whitesides--covers everything from techniques for designing materials that assemble themselves into microscopic lenses and data storage devices, to tools for patterning complex nanoscale circuits over large, irregularly shaped surfaces.Nano Terra says that it will use the massive intellectual-property portfolio as the basis for a business strategy that will mark
Transforming the Psychiatrist's Office 2007-06-09 04:28:00 Brain waves: Electrodes are applied to a volunteer’s forehead and temples to record brain activity from the part of the frontal cortex involved in mood. The device, currently in clinical trials, is designed to quickly predict if patients will respond to an antidepressant. Credit: Aspect Medical Systems Transforming the Psychiatrist's OfficeNew technologies for treating depression could make the couch obsolete. The iconic symbol of the psychiatrist's office--the psychoanalyst's couch--could soon be supplemented with new medical devices that can help doctors treat patients or objectively assess how treatment is progressing. Two experimental devices--one to treat patients with drug-resistant depression, and one that can quickly assess if a particular medication is working--are currently in late-stage clinical development. They could transform psychiatry from a specialty practiced largely with a prescription pad into one that more closely resembles a typical medical specialty."Psychia
Electrifying Stem Cells 2007-06-09 04:24:00 Bed of nails: Embryonic stem cells cultured on an array of silicon nanowires (above) can grow and develop into muscle cells. The mouse cells in this scanning electron microscopy image are about 10 microns across. Credit: University of California, BerkeleyElectrifying Stem CellsSilicon nanowires may guide stem-cell development.Creating tissues from stem cells is a finicky process. Researchers are still figuring out how best to coax them into becoming a particular cell type so that they can create tissues for patients with failing organs. Now they have a new tool for prodding stem cells: conductive nanowires, arranged like a bed of nails. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have now demonstrated that mammalian stem cells can grow and develop into beating muscle cells on such an array.Berkeley chemist Peidong Yang says that there has been extensive research into using chemical and mechanical stimuli--including treatment with growth factors and confinement to polymer sca
Computerized Vest Helps Diagnose Mental Disorders 2007-06-09 03:46:00 Behavioral monitor: A room furnished with 10 engaging stimuli (but no chairs) is being used to study patients with mental disorders. Subjects are directed to the room but are given no instructions except to wait for the experimenter. This image was taken with a camera embedded in the room’s ceiling (top). The LifeShirt device seen in the bottom image is a computerized vest with sensors that record the physiological functions of a patient and an accelerometer that quantifies motor activity. Credit: University of California, San Diego, Department of Psychiatry Computerized Vest Helps Diagnose
Mental DisordersA study being conducted by psychiatric researchers is using a novel device to monitor patients' behavior and create a new method for diagnostics. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), are using a novel device to study the behavior of patients with mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The device, called a behavioral-pattern monitor
A Better Picture of the Brain 2007-06-09 03:38:00 Sharper image: Siemens has developed a prototype brain imager that simultaneously performs MRI and PET. The image above, taken with the new machine, shows a brain tumor (in red). Credit: Siemens A Better Picture
of the Brain
A new imager that performs simultaneous MRI and PET scans could, among other applications, speed up the study of Alzheimer's disease. Siemens has developed a prototype brain-imaging machine that can perform magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) simultaneously. This will save patients in clinical trials time and allow researchers to make more-accurate correlations between activity at different regions of the brain and at the cellular level. The device is the first to combine MRI, which gives information about the structure of the brain and about blood flow to brain regions, with PET, which allows researchers to monitor metabolic activity at the cellular level. The combined imaging method may help research into the basis of Alzheime
Space Tech Peers Inward 2007-06-09 03:16:00 Visible walls: An image produced by ArterioVision software shows the exact thickness of the inner layers of the carotid artery wall (highlighted in red) by automatically detecting the boundaries between brightness levels in the interior of the vessel (dark region at top) and in the muscle (lighter area below) more accurately than traditional, manual methods. Credit: NASA/JPLSpace
Tech Peers
InwardImaging software originally designed for planetary probes now finds arterial problems. Computer software developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has made it possible to peer into the human body with greater accuracy. The new noninvasive imaging technology, an outgrowth of JPL's work on processing images from distant planets, makes it possible to pinpoint potential problems in arteries long before they produce any detectable symptoms.The software system, called ArterioVision, is designed to work with ultrasound equipment that most hospitals already have to produce accurate images
How to Heal Wounds Faster 2007-06-09 02:58:00 Helping healing: Researchers have found that after six months, wounds treated with a subject's own blood-based gel (bottom) healed faster than those treated with traditional antibiotic ointment (top). Credit: David HomHow to Heal Wounds FasterA platelet-rich gel derived from one's own blood could speed up the healing of wounds and cuts.Researchers at the University of Cincinnati say that a topical gel derived from a patient's own blood may help prevent infection while speeding up the healing process. The finding could mean that, in the not too distant future, a concentrated "cocktail" of a person's own blood could be used to help dress wounds, particularly in patients with diabetes or other disorders that slow the healing process.Blood's healing effects lie in its platelets--sticky, disc-shaped molecules that naturally flock to the site of a wound, binding to blood-vessel walls to stop bleeding. These platelets are thought to contain elevated levels of growth factors that, when r
Supplying the World's Energy Needs with Light and Water 2007-06-05 09:51:00 Supplying the World
's EnergyNeeds
with Light and WaterA leading chemist says that a better understanding of photosynthesis could lead to cheap ways to store solar energy as chemical fuel. While researchers and technologists around the world scramble to find cleaner sources of energy, some chemists are turning to nature's own elegant solution: photosynthesis. In photosynthesis, green plants use the energy in sunlight to break down water and carbon dioxide. By manipulating electrons and hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon atoms in a series of complex chemical reactions, the process ultimately produces the cellulose and lignin that form the structure of the plant, as well as stored energy in the form of sugar. Understanding how this process works, thinks Daniel Nocera, professor of chemistry at MIT, could lead to ways to produce and store solar energy in forms that are practical for powering cars and providing electricity even when the sun isn't shining.What's needed are breakthroughs in ou
The Case for Burying Charcoal 2007-06-05 09:46:00 The Case for BuryingCharcoal
Research shows that pyrolysis is the most climate-friendly way to consume biomass. Several states in this country and a number of Scandinavian countries are trying to supplant some coal-burning by burning biomass such as wood pellets and agricultural residue. Unlike coal, biomass is carbon-neutral, releasing only the carbon dioxide that the plants had absorbed in the first place.But a new research paper published online in the journal Biomass and Bioenergy argues that the battle against global warming may be better served by instead heating the biomass in an oxygen-starved process called pyrolysis, extracting methane, hydrogen, and other byproducts for combustion, and burying the resulting carbon-rich char.Even if this approach would mean burning more coal--which emits more carbon dioxide than other fossil-fuel sources--it would yield a net reduction in carbon emissions, according to the analysis by Malcolm Fowles, a professor of technology management at t
Solar Power at Half the Cost 2007-06-05 09:39:00 Solar
Power at Half the CostA new roof-mounted system that concentrates sunlight could cut the price of photovoltaics. Solar Power at Half the CostAA new mechanism for focusing light on small areas of photovoltaic material could make solar power in residential and commercial applications cheaper than electricity from the grid in most markets in the next few years. Initial systems, which can be made at half the cost of conventional solar panels, are set to start shipping later this year, says Brad Hines, CTO and founder of Soliant Energy, a startup based in Pasadena, CA, that has developed the new modules.Concentrating sunlight with mirrors or lenses on a small area cuts the costs of solar power in part by reducing the amount of expensive photovoltaic material needed. But while concentrated solar photovoltaic systems are attractive for large-scale, ground-based solar farms for utilities, conventional designs are difficult to mount on rooftops, where most residential and commercial cust
Cheaper, Cleaner Ethanol from Biotech Corn 2007-06-05 09:33:00 Cutting costs: A Michigan State University technician works with transgenic corn plants that could help lower the cost of making ethanol from plant stems and leaves. Credit: Mariam Sticklen, Michigan State University Cheaper, Cleaner Ethanol from Biotech CornThe genetically-modified plants break down their own cellulose, making it possible to use waste biomass to produce ethanol.Researchers have genetically engineered transgenic corn plants that produce enzymes that can turn their leaves and stems into sugar by breaking down cellulose. The plants could lower the cost of creating ethanol from these sources, making such biofuel more competitive with that produced from corn kernels, the primary source of ethanol in the United States today.Cellulosic sources of ethanol, such as waste biomass and switchgrass, are attractive because they are cheap and abundant. But converting cellulose, a complex carbohydrate, into sugars that can be fermented to make ethanol is more expensive than converti
Lithium-Ion Batteries That Don't Explode 2007-06-05 09:28:00 Battery saver: Strips of this thin white film could be key to preventing battery fires of the sort that forced the recall of millions of batteries last year. The material, which separates electrodes inside a battery, changes structure to prevent overheating. Credit: Courtesy ExxonMobil Chemical Lithium
-Ion Batteries That Don't Explode
A new material prevents overheating, making lithium-ion batteries safer for use in vehicles.A new polymer material could prevent the type of battery explosions that led to last year's massive recalls of lithium-ion laptop batteries. (See "Safer Lithium-Ion Batteries.") By making such batteries safer, the new material could help clear the way for the widespread use of lithium-ion batteries in hybrid and electric vehicles.Lithium-ion batteries are used in laptops because they're small and light compared with the alternatives. In cars they could replace the nickel metal hydride batteries used in hybrids now, saving room and improving fuel economy by redu
Running Cars on Hydrogen 2007-06-05 09:20:00 Running Cars on Hydrogen Made from StarchA new way to make hydrogen from corn or potatoes could make fuel-cell vehicles more practical.Using a stew of enzymes culled from several organisms, researchers have developed a way to convert starch, available from numerous sources including corn and potatoes, into hydrogen gas at low temperatures and pressures. The method produces three times more hydrogen than an older enzymatic method does, suggesting that it might be practical to use such enzymes to produce hydrogen for fuel-cell vehicles.While fuel-cell vehicles are appealing because they emit no pollutants, it's been a challenge to find clean and affordable ways to produce, transport, and store hydrogen to fuel them. Most commonly, hydrogen is extracted from fossil fuels. Making hydrogen by electrolyzing water is energy intensive and can be expensive. The new system improves on other experimental methods for creating hydrogen from biomass by using low temperatures, making it potentially
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