Nanotechnology Basics Home > Introduction > Nanotechnology Basics Nanotechnology Basics Last Updated: Friday, 14-Jun-2013 09:28:04 PDT What is Nanotechnology? Coined as "nano-technology" in a 1974 paper by Norio Taniguchi at the University of Tokyo, and encompassing a multitude of rapidly emerging technologies, based upon the scaling down of existing technologies to the next level of precision and miniaturization. Foresight Nanotech Institute Founder K. In the future, "nanotechnology" will likely include building machines and mechanisms with nanoscale dimensions, referred to these days as Molecular Nanotechnology (MNT). Click image for larger version. This image was written using Dip-Pen Nanolithography, and imaged using lateral force microscopy mode of an atomic force microscope. It uses a basic unit of measure called a "nanometer" (abbreviated nm). There are one billion nm's to a meter. Some of the most promising potential of nanotechnology exists due to the laws of quantum physics. "We know it's possible.
Virtual Terrain Project CU researchers propose rewilding Carl Buell for Cornell University/Nature Could this be the Great Plains in 100 years? Artist Carl Buell provided this fanciful depiction of a rewilding scene. If Cornell University researchers and their colleagues have their way, cheetahs, lions, elephants, camels and other large wild animals may soon roam parts of North America. "If we only have 10 minutes to present this idea, people think we're nuts," said Harry Greene, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell. Greene and a number of other highly eminent ecologists and conservationists have authored a paper, published in the latest issue of Nature (Vol. 436, No. 7053), advocating the establishment of vast ecological history parks with large mammals, mostly from Africa, that are close relatives or counterparts to extinct Pleistocene-period animals that once roamed the Great Plains." During the Pleistocene era -- between 1.8 million to about 10,000 years ago -- North America's ecosystems were much more diverse.
A beautiful but creepy vision of the "smart glass" future Two things: First, considering the touchscreen maps at my local shopping centres ae almost always down or only half work, and smeared with public finger goop, the maintenance factor would be huge in this kind of world. They'd always need constant repairs, cleaning, and upgrading. And the other thing is, though the touchscreen concept works okay at a small handheld level, if every single button you push has no tactile response, that satisfaction of a physical reaction to pressing a button, it can get quite exhausting for the fingers. I can see the small scale, and informative aspect, like temperature gauges on mirrors and windows, or dashboard info on car windscreens, but this kind of epic interactivity just wouldn't work. These are one of those ideas that are good in theory, but in practice have drawbacks that may not be able to be overcome.
Turbulence Discovery Could Lead to Better Planes | Wired Science With just a single measurement, a new model may deftly describe turbulent fluid flows near an airplane wing, ship hull or cloud, researchers report in the July 9 Science. If the long-sought model proves successful, it may lead to more efficient airplanes, better ways to curb pollution dispersal and more accurate weather forecasts. Fluid dynamicist Alexander Smits of Princeton University calls the new model “a very significant advance” that opens up a new way of thinking about chaotic, energy-sapping turbulence. Turbulence is a problem that extends far beyond a bumpy plane ride. Fluid flowing past a body — whether it’s air blowing by a fuselage or water streaming across Michael Phelps’s swimming suit — contorts and twists as it bounces off an edge and interferes with incoming flows, creating highly chaotic patterns. In their new study Marusic and his colleagues measured forces in a giant wind tunnel, both near and away from a wall. Image: zoagli/Flickr
Silicon Chips Wired With Nerve Cells Could Enable New Brain/Machine Interfaces It's reminiscent of Cartman's runaway Trapper Keeper notebook in that long-ago episode of South Park, but researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison may be scratching the surface of a new kind of brain/machine interface by creating computer chips that are wired together with living nerve cells. A team there has found that mouse nerve cells will connect with each other across a network of tiny tubes threaded through a semiconductor material. It's not exactly clear at this point how the nerve cells are functioning, but what is clear is that the cells seem to have an affinity for the tiny tubes, and that alone has some interesting implications. To create the nerve-chip hybrid, the researchers created tubes of layered silicon and germanium that are large enough for the nerve cells' tendrils to navigate but too small for the actual body of the cell to pass through. What isn't clear is whether or not the cells are actually communicating with each other they way they would naturally.
14 Concept Appliances That Need To Be Made | My Bad Pad Concept appliances give us a peek into the future. They are often aesthetically pleasing and offer interesting and unique features; however, it is a rare concept appliance that makes it off of the drawing board and into the showroom. Unrealistic designs, high production costs and lack of consumer demand are often the reason for many ideas to be scrapped. Yet, here are 14 interesting concept appliances that have made it to the model stage and look so good that we hope they go into development soon. The iBasket is a hamper/washer/dryer combo. The transparent iBasket stores your dirty clothes. Why do consumers need the iBasket? The iBasket saves time and energy as you’ll never have to transfer your clothes from the hamper to the washer to the dryer again. Features: Transparent body Built-in air refresh system that removes the smell of dirty clothes Wi-Fi enabled to help you monitor it from your PC or laptop The one drawback to the iBasket is that it is very small. A short video about AgBot.
Why some scientists think reality might be a hologram Have you ever wished that your life was actually a hologram, like Keanu Reeves’s in the The Matrix? Craig Hogan, a particle astrophysicist at the University of Chicago and Fermilab (dedicated to the study of the science of matter, space and time), is testing an interesting theory: whether our world is really two-dimensional and only appears three-dimensional, like a hologram on a credit card. “There are a lot of mathematical ideas about how reality works, but we need experiments to guide us about what is really happening,” says Hogan in an interview with the Star. Hogan is heading a team of researchers trying to test what has become known as the holographic theory. Based on mathematical formulas and the study of black holes and string physics, some physicists have hypothesized that reality is a hologram. “It is as if we’re virtual human beings living on a two-dimensional world,” he said. “We just don’t understand the coding for it,” adds Hogan. Asked how he explains his work, he laughs.
Is This The Future of Touchscreen Tech? Day of Glass 2 Video Will Blow Your Mind Gorilla Glass manufacturer Corning has unveiled a follow-up YouTube video to its wildly successful "A Day Made of Glass," providing another look into what the future could be like with the growth of glass touchscreen interfaces, from innovative chalkboards and activity tables in classrooms to uses for it in hospitals. Corning released two versions of "A Day Made of Glass 2" — one with a narrator and another, abbreviated version without commentary — the video follows the life of young Amy and her family as they go through their day using various products made of glass. Amy does classwork on a glass tablet, controls the temperature of the car from the backseat and even attends a field trip at the Redwood Forrest with an interactive signage that brings learning to life. Her teacher also works with students on interactive touchscreen activity tables. Corning expects these activity tables to be rolled out in the near future. "You can expect more from us though," Flaws said.
British Amputee Cat First to Get Bone-Grafted Exoprosthetic Paws When Oscar the cat lost both his hind paws in a farming accident, it was feared he'd have to trundle around in one of those wheeled-cat apparatuses. But Noel Fitzpatrick, a neuro-orthopedic veterinary surgeon in Surrey, pioneered a groundbreaking technique instead, installing weight-bearing bone implants to create a bionic kitty. Custom-engineered metal implants -- called intraosseous transcutaneous amputation prosthetics (ITAPs) -- are fastened directly to Oscar's little ankle bones, inside his fuzzy little legs. "The real revolution with Oscar is [that] we have put a piece of metal and a flange into which skin grows into an extremely tight bone," Fitzpatrick told BBC News. "We have managed to get the bone and skin to grow into the implant and we have developed an 'exoprosthesis' that allows this implant to work as a see-saw on the bottom of an animal's limbs to give him effectively normal gait."
Finding the Top Bot: High School Students (and Their Robots) Take the Prize at Tech Challenge [Slide Show] NEW YORK—Despite the rain and cold this past weekend, dozens of robots took the field to compete in the New York City FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) regional championship at the Javitz Center in Manhattan. The tournament tested the skills and determination of 48 teams of high school students who have spent the past several months building, programming and otherwise preparing their bots to face off in a friendly game of HotShot! The objective of HotShot! was straightforward enough—build a robot from a kit of about 1,200 parts that can shoot plastic balls into goals in and around a 13.7-square-meter playing field. The winning teams were those that scored the most goals in each two-and-a-half minute round. This being a tournament developed and hosted by Dean Kamen's FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) organization, the competition involved more than the ball game itself. FTC organizers emphasize that the program's goals extend well beyond even technology.