The Bewilderness

Mapping the memristor

Next generation memory that could replace flash and DRAM memory is already being worked upon. The memristor was first described by Leon Chua in a 1971 paper. Hewlett Packard's breakthrough is the mapping of the chemical and electrical processes by which memristors actually operate. Other modes of memory have only a few iterations left before they fall away and memristors are lined up as a potential replacement.

Some good news on cell manipulation

Often, bottlenecks can appear across many areas of technology and are apparently resolved by a transformative technique or process. The latest achievement may overcome the obstacles researchers face inserting foreign elements into cells. Through the use of nanowires, scientists at Harvard University have systematised this difficulty:

[Hongkun] Park's lab recently discovered that cells can be grown on beds of vertical silicon nanowires without apparent damage to the cells. The cells sink into the nanowires and within an hour are impaled by the tiny spikes. Even resting on this bed of needles, cells continue to grow and divide normally. This setup makes it possible to directly interface with the cell's interior through the nanowires.

Early days, but a good sign that cell manipulation could become far easier in a few years.

Daily gene sequencing comes closer

A breakthrough in nanotech sequencing gives hope for cheap and reliable gene profiling. Oxford Nanopores have published their new technique in Nature Nanotechnology which will replace cumbersome methods using fluorescent labeling. The result will be productive:

"The science of nanopore DNA sensing is now accurate and reliable enough to support a breakthrough industrial technology," said Professor Hagan Bayley, founder of Oxford Nanopore and an author of the paper. "The simplicity and versatility of nanopores as a sensing system has intrigued academic researchers for nearly two decades.  We anticipate that with the fast pace of the science, nanopore devices will soon be used for the measurement of DNA and many other molecules." The paper does not describe a prototype device to carry out this new form of sequencing.

Another Nanotech Report

A new report by Lux International has contributed to the engagement of nantechnology and national top dog. This is structured through the selection of winners, losers and runners up, all competing in a  race to maintain their lead.  What are the criteria that allow Lux to qualitatively determine the race?

To construct its assessment, Lux Research collected extensive data on nanotechnology funding and other key metrics, such as patents and publications, and drew on site visits conducted over the course of the year in Taiwan, South Korea, China, Japan, Germany, the U.K., France, and Israel. The study found that:

Government spending on nanotechnology grew to $6.4 billion in 2006, up 10% from $5.9 million in 2005. The U.S. leads on this metric, with $1.78 billion from federal and state governments, followed by Japan with $975 million and Germany with $563 million. However, at purchasing power parity (PPP) - a factor which corrects for the lower costs of goods and services in many nations - China reaches second place, with funding equivalent to $906 million.

Corporations spent $5.3 billion on nanotech R&D in 2006, a 19% increase over 2005, with the U.S. leading the way at $1.93 billion, followed by Japan with $1.70 billion at PPP. Developing nations are further behind on corporate spending, but some saw strong growth - China's estimated corporate nanotech funding reached $165 million at PPP, up 68% from its 2005 total.

Among publications on nanoscale science and engineering topics since 1995, the largest number, over 43,000, come from the U.S. China is in second place with more than 25,000 - and added over 6,000 publications in 2006, more than twice as many as third-place Japan. International patent activity also swelled, growing 31% in 2006 to reach 10,105 patents from the countries studied. The U.S. holds the lion's share, with 6,801 patents; Germany is in second place with 773.

We should remember that all the criteria used here are indicative of the spending circle where politicians, grant funding and  academics follow the Holy Grail. This report will tell us less than qualitative step changes which could come from any nation and will spread rapidly through technology transfer. What are the milestones in nanotechnology that allow us to recognise valuable breakthroughs when they occur rather then the tired reiteration of national comparisons.
  

Nanotech: Developing Molecular Factories

British science has always surprised, even in these days of state-sponsored decline, as the sciences and  mathematics are abandoned  for the ease of pseudo academia and the people's targets. Now, a workshop has produced an interdisciplinary IDEAS factory, aiming at the development of a molecular manufacturing facility.

Nanofactories will use vast arrays of tiny machines to fasten single molecules together quickly and precisely, allowing engineers, designers and potentially anyone else to make powerful products at the touch of a button. In a single week of intense interdisciplinary work, an "IDEAS Factory on the Software Control of Matter" produced three ground-breaking research proposals that bring the nanofactory concept closer to reality. The project was sponsored by the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), a national science agency that also will fund the proposals.

One of the less well-known  aspects of nanotechnology is its interdisciplinary nature , ranging widely across the scientific professions and accepted categories, in patents and investment. This is one  development to monitor.

Nanotech: The Matter Compiler - UK Funding

One of the holy grails of nanotechnology is the Drexlerian path towards a matter compiler, building objects atom by atom, through computer aided software. Often, we hear about the decline of British science, so it is welcome to see a visionary waste of public money:

Twenty to thirty lucky researchers will gather on January 8-12, 2007, to brainstorm how to do this, after which the U.K. government will spend about US$ 3 million on the best of the ideas discussed. 

The organiser of this discussion is Philip Moriarty from the University of Nottingham, and it is aided by Richard Jones of Soft Machines.

Nanotech Risk Assist

The nanotechnological revolution has differed from previous technological revolutions through the incorporation of risk assessments at an early level. This partially reflects the wider public interest in new sciences that has built over the last thirty years, and a regulatory apparatus designed to ensure that medium term and long-term risks are mitigated.

To this end, DEFRA have set up system of reporting for nanotechnologgical developments in the food industry on a voluntary basis.

"There is currently very little information available on the potential risks that these materials may pose to the environment and human health," Defra stated. " The scheme is designed, together with a programme of government research, to address this knowledge deficit."

      

In launching the voluntary reporting scheme, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it wanted to work toward assessing any potential risks posed by the products of nanotechnologies.

Industry, research organisations and others are included in the list of those being asked to report on their work. The scheme is voluntary and will run for a period of two years.

      

Michael Pitkethly, chairman of the UK's Nanotechnologies Industry Association (NIA), said the scheme is important to ensuring that industry has appropriate controls in place for engineered materials at the nanoscale.

"The safety of these materials is of paramount importance to the NIA and the scheme aligns with the NIA's advocacy of a measured and responsible approach and has our full support," he stated.

The voluntary scheme developed by DEFRA reflects agendas that are taking place in other countries as well. The UK Council for Science and Technology hopes to publish a review on nanotechnology in Spring 2007.

Nanotech: Look Over Your Shoulder

Forbes was citing Robert Cresanti, Undersecretary for Technology at the Department of Commerce, on the dangers of underestimating China's advances in nanotech:

'China is one of the players that is gaining on us. We are wise to take a look at what they are doing that's been successful, and see how it might apply to improve our system,' the newspaper said, citing Robert Cresanti, undersecretary for technology at the US Department of Commerce.

    Cresanti, who is in Beijing to meet with Chinese policymakers, said China's gains were obvious.
'We saw labs today full to the rafters with scientists and machinery. There has also been a dramatic increase in the quality and quantity of papers on nanotechnology published by Chinese scientists,' he said.

And Europe? Well FP7, the latest round of funding won't help...

Another Use for Carbon Nanotubes

The CCLRC (Council for the Central Laboratory for the Research Councils) runs a number of laboratories including Daresbury, Rutherford Appleton and Chilbolton Observatory. Daresbury has run a research project in tandem with  US universities to improve the versatility of body armour through the application of nanoparticles.

Current body armour relies on a stiff and relatively heavy layer of ceramic material to absorb ballistic impact.

This makes body armour heavy and unwieldy.

The CCLRC Daresbury Laboratory team are evaluating new nanocomposite materials, which can be woven into fabrics to provide greater flexibility as well as better ballistic protection.

They are working together with researchers from Tuskegee and Florida Atlantic universities in the USA.

The scientists have found that incorporating spherical nanoparticles of silicon or titanium dioxide or carbon nanotubes in a plastic or epoxy matrix offers improved ballistic resistance together with greatly improved flexibility.

Another use for Carbon Nanotubes.

Nanotech: Nascent Self-Assembling

Here is a new article on a self-assembly technique for nanoparticles: an important step towards a Drexlerian vision:

The fabrication of ultrafine structures beyond the limits of conventional lithography is a topic of tremendous importance and is expected to play a significant role in the realization of futuristic nanotechnology. It is also equally important to develop functional material systems of ultrafine dimensions in order to achieve this goal. An important step towards realization of nanodevices is self-organized nanopatterning of functional structures. A new technique, which might be called ‘chemical lithography’, enables the regular assembly of optically active nanoparticles on a silicon surface.

This could be used to establish self-organised structures.

"We believe that our approach can be universal and extendable to more specific functionalities, such as particles emitting at a particular wavelength or some specific magnetic properties" says [Kuniyil] Prabhakaran. "This method has the potential to deliver tailored functional nanoarchitectures. Such a bottom-up approach will play a major role in realizing completely self-assembled nanodevices."