Blog @ NanoVic - Nanotechnology Blog

I’ve joked with friends at how I’d love the RFID chip from my Oyster card (tube ticket for those outside the UK) embedded in my wrist, so I could just wave over the touch pads at the entrance and exits to tube stations and stroll on through instead of rummaging through my bag for it at the gate each time. But someone back in Australia has already out-geeked me here by inserting a microchip in his arm which acts as keyless entry to his house.

Picture:Joe Armao from SMH article

New scientist also reported this week a new way for humans and computers to talk to each other called MUCI – Muscle computer interface. With MUCI a sensor (in this case an arm-band) is able to recognise gestures via changes in the forearm muscles and convert them into instructions.

I know, we already have keys that work perfectly well to open houses, and a keyboard already exists to interface what your muscles (in your hands) are saying to a computer, but it’s just the sheer nerdy gadgetry (well, actually lack of gadgetry) that makes these things so fascinating!

Forget manipulating your chromosomes to make you better, faster, stronger…. What about just manipulating DNA to make you smile?

This image (credit to Paul Rothemund) shows a shape made by researchers from DNA. It was created a couple of years ago by researchers developing what has been termed Structural DNA Nanotechnology (SDN), but which might be easier to think of as DNA orgagami. It’s been known for decades that due to the way DNA molecules bind (via complementary base-pairing), it should be easy enough to engineer nanoscale shapes.

The company Nanorex developed the current method of using a very long DNA molecule as a base scaffold for attaching shorter DNA chains. The results are quite amazing and you can see some great examples of shapes and images here.

Nanorex have just announced at the recent 5^th Annual Foundations of Nanoscience conference in Utah the public release of their open-source software NE1 (Nano Engineering 1) for SDN research and education.

Holidaying in the city of Wollongong last week, I heard about the up-coming Asia Pacific Symposium on Nanobionics. Scheduled for 22-26 June 2008, the symposium aims to bring together clinicians, scientists, engineers and mathematicians in a collaborative environment to discuss the nanotechnology revolution and its impact on nanobionics. The Symposium will be hosted by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, which is headquarted at the University of Wollongong but which has additional nodes at Monash University, St Vincent’s Hospital and The Bionic Ear Institute. The program is diverse and looks very interesting, and includes a plenary presentation by Dr Graeme Clarke, the inventer of the cochlear implant. The bionic eye, one of the hot topics to emerge from the recent 2020 summit in the ACT, will be considered in a presentation by Associate Professor Gregg Suaning (University of New South Wales), entitled ‘Implantable Bionics: Considerations for Restoring Vision to the Blind’ . To learn more about the symposium visit www.electromaterials.edu.au

Test your nano-IQ with this short Nanotechnology Quiz from NanoWerk.

It contains 20 questions with answers and explanations that will inform you about the origins, uses and products of nanotechnology. Well, with my measly 12/20, I was informed anyway…maybe you will already know all of the answers….

One issue that arises as we get older is being able to maintain independence to enable us to stay in our own home.  With my parents now into their twilight years it was with interest I read this article on a “Smart Spaces Center” to be set up by PSU to look into ways to assist elderly people to live safely, comfortably and independently in their own homes for as long as possible. 

Several kinds of “smart spaces” have been defined: personal, living, information and societal.  “Smart information spaces” is where nanotechnology comes in.  “Nanotechnology, information technology and biomedical advances can revolutionize the way people age – if these advances are implemented seamlessly and humanely,” it was noted. “Sensors in our garments, and perhaps even in our bodies, could constantly monitor heart rate and body temperature”.  These technologies could be incorporated into home environments to provide information on medical problems and care, financial questions, and safety and security concerns, as well as opportunities for social networking .  The sensors in garments aspect is interesting as NanoVic was involved in a project in 2007 called “ReSkin / Wearable Technologies”.  The programme, involving artists, explored interactive clothing and design pieces, one of which was an indicator in a garment that responded to the wearer’s respiration.

Hopefully this study can address some of these issues so that by the time I get to that age I can stay at home longer - just so I may continue to annoy my family!  But in all seriousness, I have seen the effects of someone who was placed into full-time care and it was sad to see them lose their passion for living due to the loss of independence.

After experiencing my first proper snowfall in London, which oddly occurred just last week when we’re already halfway through spring and into daylight savings time, I spotted an article on New Scientist that may help in these types of icy conditions.

A French company called Eurovia has developed a thermochromic paint that changes colour when conditions are icy on roads. At temperatures below one degree centigrade the paint changes from transparent to a dark pink colour. The developers hope that this will help improve road safety and make gritting roads more efficient during icy weather.

The paint uses the property of thermochromism- the ability to change colour dependent on temperature. I’m sure a lot of people (myself included) are most familiar with thermochromism in gimmicky products like the hypercolour t-shirt fad of the 90s, or mood rings. The pigments that cause the colour shift are sensitive to UV radiation, so there will probably be more work needed to make the ice-detector paint more durable for road use.

A new material has been developed that has been shown to heal spinal cord injuries in mice. The work has recently been published in the Journal of Neuroscience by Professor Samuel Stupp and his group at Northwestern University and describes a liquid material, which contains molecules that self-assemble into hollow, cylindrical nanofibers in vivo. These nanofibers then act as a scaffold by trapping cells, which facilitates growth of nerve fibers. The surface of the nanofibers also contains a material that inhibits the formation of scar tissue that can otherwise block nerve fibers and prevent their growth.

The liquid has been injected directly into the spinal cord of animals, restoring function to their previously paralyzed hind legs. The material then breaks down into nutrients in the body within three to eight weeks. I find these kinds of nanomaterials very exciting and worthwhile and can’t wait to see them in clinical use.

A recent newsletter from AZoNano.com features a round-up of movies that use principles of the ’small’ and nanotechnology  in their story lines. Apart from old favourites I Robot and Terminator 2 (and the cancelled screen adaption of Prey by Michael Crichton) nanotechnology in the movies seems to be fairly thinly spread. We’ve tried extending this list in the past, but it has not been a fruitful search. AZo Nano suggests Star Trek. Pictured is an example of  the Borg. Apparently the Borg originate from medical nano-machines, but you’ll have to trust Wikipedia for that!

The origins of the Borg seem to be cross-over with biotechnology, an area replete with film examples.  In fact Biotechnology Australia was able to compile a report on the portrayal of cloning in the movies and examine how this related to public attitudes on cloning.

Perhaps this leads us back to the myriad of technologies, applications, risks and benefits that fall under the term ‘nanotechnology’. It is our experience in education and public awareness that discussing the applications and then considering the technologies make most sense for most people. Nanotechnology on its own does not grip the imagination. Our search for nano-related movies will have to be much broader to capture the applications that might use nanotechnology. Anything else from Star Trek???

The ABC Science Show hosted by Robyn Williams is my favourite podcast for brisk strolls around the neighbourhood. This week the show has a nano focus, with topics as follows: 

• Green at work
• Quantum dots and nanowires
• Gene radar
• Nanotechnology in energy generation and use of resources
• Solar cells
• Regeneration of nerves
• New smart materials
• Surface chemistry
• Calcivirus delivers vaccines in humans

Can’t wait to have a listen!

Found a great picture posted up on the Wired Science blog, showing an electron micrograph taken by scientist Geoff Brennecka. Intending to take photos of a tantalum oxide crystal, the person before him on the microscope hadn’t quite managed to get rid of some polystyrene beads, which ended up sticking to the edge of his sample. Result? Looks like someone falling off the edge of a cliff!

Image courtesy of the Materials Research Society

The image recently won second place at the Materials Research Society Spring 2008 Science as Art competition in San Francisco. I can’t seem to find this year’s images posted yet, but you can see winning entries from previous years here.