Sarah has authored the following posts:
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ICONN2008: Eric Isaacs on energy
Eric Isaacs (Argonne National Laboratories, USA) got our brains ticking over at ICONN2008 with his presentation on the role of nanotechnology in energy creation. While we all know that solar energy is greatly underutilised, the problem is that currently its mode of collection is very inefficient - the best on record is 32% efficiency (at [...]
Filed in Consumer Products, Energy, Nanomaterials | 29 Feb 2008 | no comments -
ICONN2008: Hot Off the Press
In breaking news….I stand here at the ICONN2008 internet cafe filled with new knowledge and great excitement regarding recent developments in nanotechnology. One of the hottest topics at the conference so far is the use of nanotechnology for energy generation and storage. A presentation by Micheal Gratzel (Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne, Switzerland) this morning was [...]
Filed in Energy, Learning, Nanomaterials | 27 Feb 2008 | no comments -
Super strength from hydrogen bonds.
Despite its beautiful, floating appearance in the narrow walkways of your garden, spider silk is stronger than steel and can be extended 30-50% of its length before it breaks. Unraveling the secrets behind the strength of spider silk is attracting a lot of research dollars - if we could replicate it synthetically, imagine the impact [...]
Filed in Mol. Manufacturing, Nanomaterials | 18 Feb 2008 | no comments -
Boron: new kid on the nanotechnology block
Lovers of carbon nanotubes as I know you all are, it’s time to move over and make way for boron……or so say Jun Ni and his research team in Beijing, China. Boron is the 5th element in the periodic table, having the chemical symbol B (carbon, C, is the 6th element). As would be expected from [...]
Filed in Electronics, Energy, Mol. Manufacturing, Nanomaterials | 31 Jan 2008 | no comments -
Nano-enabled prosthetic skin on ‘bionic’ limbs
Integrated and functional artificial limbs and body parts: it’s something our parents turned on the TV to dream about (think of The 6 Million Dollar Man). Incredibly, in 2008 these ‘bionic’ limbs are a reality, with several prototypes being developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the USA. Nanotechnology will have [...]
Filed in Consumer Products, Health, Nanomaterials, Social Impacts | 15 Jan 2008 | no comments -
Will nanotechnology help the developing world?
The premier journal Nature Nanotechnology has published two free online papers as part of a global effort to raise awareness and stimulate research into poverty and human research. The articles discuss how nantoechnology might impact on countries of the developing world. The first publication, entitled Nanotechnology and the Challenge of Clean Water, presents the [...]
Filed in Environment, Government, Health, Nanomaterials, Social Impacts, Water | 05 Nov 2007 | one comment -
Self-contained nanoscale solar cell created from silicon
Try to imagine the best way to power nanoscale electronics; for consistency and practicality, a nanoscale battery would be ideal. To that end, scientists at Harvard University have developed the first self-contained nanoscale solar cell, in the form of a coaxial silicon nanowire. Constructed from concentric layers of crystalline silicon doped with boron or phosphorus, [...]
Filed in Consumer Products, Electronics, Nanomaterials | 31 Oct 2007 | no comments -
Nano revives the radio star
Remember the 1980s song Video Killed the Radio Star? Hold that thought…a new nano application suggests that radio shouldn’t quite yet be regaled to yesteryear. Peter Burke and Chris Rutherglen of the University of California have constructed a wireless radio detector from carbon nanotubes. The newly developed nano ‘demodulator’ was successfully used to transmit classical [...]
Filed in Consumer Products, Electronics, Nanomaterials | 25 Oct 2007 | no comments