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Eco-friendly ‘pre-fab’ self-assembling nanoparticles could revolutionize nano manufacturing

August 14, 2014

Pre-assembly of molecules and polymer chains from the<br /> molecular scale to form nanoscale "pre-fab" building modeules will<br /> allow making large, mesoscale assemblies for devices. In this way<br /> the mesoscale patterns can utilize the improved electronic properties<br /> in the pre-assembled modules.

University of Massachusetts Amherst scientists have developed a breakthrough technique for creating water-soluble nano-modules and controlling molecular assembly of nanoparticles over multiple length scales.

The new method should reduce the time nanotech manufacturing firms spend in trial-and-error searches for materials to make electronic devices such as solar cells, organic transistors, and organic light-emitting diodes.

“The old way can take years,” says materials chemist Paul Lahti,… read more

Topics: Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Blood-brain-barrier disruption with high-frequency pulsed electric fields

August 14, 2014

A cortical microvessel stained for blood–brain barrier protein ZO-1 (credit: Nathan S. Ivey/Wikimedia Commons/)

A team of researchers from Virginia Tech and Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences have developed a new technique for using pulsed electric energy to open the blood-brain-barrier (BBB) for treating brain cancer and neurological disorders.

Their Vascular Enabled Integrated Nanosecond pulse (VEIN pulse) procedure consists of inserting minimally invasive needle electrodes into the diseased tissue and applying multiple bursts of 850-nanosecond pulsed electric… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Robot-assisted ultrasound imaging supported in two research studies

August 13, 2014

Telerobotic ultrasound

Two recent research studies “lift robotic imaging and telemedicine to the next level,” says Sherif F. Nagueh, MD, Medical Director of the Echocardiography Laboratory at the Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center in Houston, Texas in JACC-Imaging.

In Germany, Partho P. Sengupta, MD, of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai used a small, lightweight robotic-arm connected to a personal computer in Munich to do… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Biomed/Longevity

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Implanted neuronal stem cells generate neurons and synapses, becoming a functioning part of mouse brain

August 13, 2014

Part of a brain slice in which a transplanted induced neural stem cell is fully integrated in the neuronal network of the brain (blue) to develop into a complex and functional neuron (credit: University of Luxembourg)

Scientists at the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) of the University of Luxembourg have grafted induced neuronal stem cells (iNSC) into the brains of mice, with long-term functionality and stability, for the first time. Six months after implantation, the new neurons, reprogrammed from skin cells, became fully and functionally integrated into the brain, creating synapses and glial cells.

This successful implantation of neurons raises… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Nanocubes of magnetic material align into DNA-like helical structures

Research could lead to future novel self-assembled materials
August 12, 2014

SEM image of a well-defined double helix (credit: Weizmann Institute of Science)

Weizmann Institute scientists have found that given the right conditions, cube-shaped nanoparticles self-assemble into unexpectedly beautiful and complex helical structures.

The scientists describe their research in the journal Science.

Rafal Klajn, PhD, and postdoctoral fellow Gurvinder Singh, PhD, of the Institute’s Organic Chemistry Department used nanocubes of an iron oxide material called magnetite, which has magnetic properties.

Together with the research group of… read more

Topics: Nanotech/Materials Science

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Infrared-based haptic ‘buzz’ device found to work as well as vision in experiment

August 12, 2014

University of Cincinnati psychology grad student Luis Favela has tested the ability of blind people* to navigate a house-like structure using a device called the Enactive  Torch.

Favela found the device enables the visually impaired to judge their ability to comfortably pass through narrow passages, like an open door or busy sidewalk, as well as if they were actually seeing such pathways themselves.

The… read more

Topics: Electronics | Human Enhancement

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3D sketching system ‘revolutionizes’ design interaction and collaboration

University of Montreal researchers present their Hyve-3D system at SIGGRAPH 2014 conference
August 12, 2014

hyve3d-3

University of Montreal researchers have developed a collaborative 3D sketching system called Hyve-3D (Hybrid Virtual Environment 3D), which they presented at the SIGGRAPH 2014 conference in Vancouver this week.

“Hyve-3D is a new interface for 3D content creation via embodied and collaborative 3D sketching,” said lead researcher Professor Tomás Dorta of the university’s School of Design.

“The system is a… read more

Topics: VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

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How to synthesize structurally pure carbon nanotubes using molecular ‘seeds’

By smoothing nanotube irregularities, a new process could lead to smaller, faster-switching next-generation electronic and electro-optical components
August 11, 2014

Scanning tunneling microscopy images the precursor, the «folded» end cap, and the resulting carbon nanotube, together with the corresponding structural models. (Credit: Empa/Juan Ramon Sanchez Valencia)

Researchers at Empa and the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research have succeeded in “growing” single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with a single predefined structure, with identical electronic properties.

The CNTs self-assembled out of tailor-made organic precursor molecules on a platinum surface, as reported by the researchers in the journal Nature.

With a diameter of roughly one nanometer, SWCNTs should be considered as quantum… read more

Topics: Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Lower-cost high-brightness LEDs possible with ‘wonder material’ perovskite

August 11, 2014

LEDs made from perovskite (credit: Zhi-Kuang Tan)

Researchers from the University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich have demonstrated a new hybrid form of perovskite* materials, using them to make high-brightness LEDs that the researchers say will be cheaper and easier to manufacture in the future.

The materials could also be used in flexible color displays.

The results are published in the journal Nature… read more

Topics: Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

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New microhairs bend in magnetic field, directing water against gravity

Potential uses include waterproofing, anti-glare "smart windows” for buildings and cars, and rain-resistant clothing
August 11, 2014

The new material designed by MIT researchers is a flexible polymer "skin" coated with microhairs (white lines) that tilt in response to a magnetic field.

MIT engineers have fabricated a new elastic material coated with microscopic, hairlike structures that tilt in response to a magnetic field.

Depending on the field’s orientation, the microhairs can tilt to form a path through which fluid can flow; the material can even direct water upward, against gravity.

Each microhair, made of nickel, is about 70 microns high and 25 microns wide — about one-fourth the… read more

Topics: Nanotech/Materials Science

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Robot folds itself up, walks away

Sophisticated machines that build themselves, inspired by a child's toy and origami
August 10, 2014

robots arise

Engineers at Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), Wyss Institute, and MIT have developed a robot that assembles itself into a complex shape in four minutes flat, then folds itself up and crawls away — all without human intervention.

The design was based on the principle of Shrinky Dinks (the classic children’s toy that shrinks a plastic-paper composite in a rigid form when… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Electronics

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Using Bayesian statistics to rank Wikipedia entries

Algorithm outperforms a human user by up to 23 percent in correctly classifying quality rank of articles, say researchers
August 8, 2014

(Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Computer scientists in China have devised a software algorithm based on Bayesian statistics that can automatically check a Wikipedia entry and rank it by its quality.

Bayesian analysis is commonly used to assess the content of emails and determine the probability that the content is spam or junk mail, and if so, filter it from the user’s inbox if the probability is high.

Writing in the… read more

Topics: Social Networking/Web

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Small epigenetic DNA modifications predict brain’s threat response

Stress may be passed down through generations, studies suggest
August 8, 2014

Threat-related amygdala reactivity associated with serotonin transporter epigenetic modification (credit: Yuliya S Nikolova/Nature Neuroscience)

The tiny addition of a chemical mark called called a methyl group atop a gene that is well known for its involvement in clinical depression and posttraumatic stress disorder can affect the way a person’s brain responds to threats, according to a new study by Duke University researchers.

The study results, published August 3 in Nature Neuroscience, go beyond genetics to help explain why some… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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An ultralight but tough new foam made from graphene

Could find use in supercapacitor and battery electrodes and for hydrogen or other gas absorption
August 8, 2014

An electron microscope image of foam created at Rice University shows layers of graphene oxide stacked to form a three-dimensional structure with the help of hexagonal boron nitride linkers. (Credit: Ajayan Group/Rice University)

Rice University researchers have developed a new ultralight but tough nanofoam called “GO-0.5BN” from atom-thick sheets.

The finding is an update to a previous computer-simulation study of “pillared boron nitride (PBN)” reported in July by KurzweilAI.

The Rice team has now actually produced and tested the material. The nanostructure’s floors and walls are made of graphene oxide that self-assembles with the assistance of hexagonal boron… read more

Topics: Nanotech/Materials Science

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IBM launches functioning brain-inspired chip

Operates at 46 billion “synaptic operations” per second per watt; 100 trillion "synapses" planned, matching the approximate number in the human brain
August 7, 2014

IBM neurosynaptic chip (credit: IBM)

IBM announced today, August 7, the first computer chip to achieve one million programmable “neurons,” 256 million programmable “synapses,” and 46 billion “synaptic operations” per second per watt — simulating the function of neurons and synapses in the brain.*

Neurosynaptic. At 5.4 billion transistors, this low-power, production-scale “neurosynaptic” (brain-inspired) chip (the size of a postage stamp), is one of the largest CMOS chips ever built, IBM says.… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Computers/Infotech/UI

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