Nanotechnology Quintuples Heating Capacity of Solar Water Heaters -- Renewable Energy Magazine (9/1/2010)

Researchers at the University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil, have developed a solar heating system that uses nanotechnology to heat water to five times the temperature of a conventional system, while also permitting the collector surface area to retain up to 98 percent of heat from solar radiation. The surfaces of the collectors are comprised of aluminum films coated with several thin layers of metal oxides. The water can reach temperatures of 300ºC, which, according to Luiz Carlos de Lima, a doctor of metallurgical and materials engineering, "[W]ith that level of heating, it is possible, for example, to convert water into steam, allowing you to use turbines to generate electricity more efficiently." Lima's research, in collaboration with that of Marta de Moraes Bueno, has given rise to the founding of Nano Select, the first company in Brazil to develop selective surfaces for solar collectors using nanotechnology. The company recently won the Technological Innovation prize awarded by the FINEP, the Brazilian Innovation Agency that funds scientific and technological studies. The new technology is expected to be launched onto the market at an industrial scale during the first six months of 2011. The article can be viewed online at the link below.

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Pakistan's Science Minister Attacks Funding Cuts -- SciDev.Net (9/1/2010)

The Pakistan government has cuts its funds for the Pakistan Ministry of Science and Technology's 2010-2011 budget by almost half, causing the science minister, Muhammad Azam Khan Swati, to criticize his own government. Swati said "[I]t is high time that the government recognises the importance of the crucial role of science and technology and higher education and takes necessary steps to allocate more funds for these sectors. Science and technology need more attention to ensure the country's socio-economic development." Funds have decreased from US$40.3 million last year to US$19.2 million this year. Several nanotechnology research laboratories set up by the former science minister, Atta-ur-Rahman, in 2003, are now in limbo due to lack of funds. According to Noor Muhammad Butt, former chairman of the Pakistan National Commission on Nanoscience and Technology, the ending of these nanoscience projects would be "great setback to the progress of nanotechnology in Pakistan." The article can be viewed online at the link below.

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Nanotechnology: Small wonders -- Nature (9/1/2010)

This article takes an in-depth look at the United States National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI)'s first 10 years - to find out where the money went and what the initiative plans to do next. It begins with the history of the NNI, formally announced by U.S. President Bill Clinton in 2000, and looks at what has been accomplished to date: the creation of more than 70 nano-related academic or government centers across the U.S.; new interdisciplinary collaborations between physical, biomedical and social scientists; and, the fostering of a whole new system of investors, analysts and start-up companies devoted to commercializing laboratory discoveries. The cumulative funding for the NNI of more than US$12 billion places it among the largest U.S. civilian technology investments since the Apollo Moon-landing program. Since the NNI's inception, the number of U.S. nano-related publications and patent applications has increased by an average of 17 percent and 30 percent, respectively, every year from 2000 onwards. Many observers say, however, that the most important pay-off of the initiative has been psychological - the government stamp of approval of nanotechnology legitimized the field and made it look less costly and risky for venture capitalists. The article also discusses some of the setbacks for the NNI - notably the slow response to considering nanotechnology's environmental, health and safety (EHS) risks. According to Andrew Maynard, director of the Risk Science Center at the University of Michigan, from the beginning of the NNI, he "...had a sense that the people driving the process really didn't fully understand how you begin to approach risk and uncertainty with new products. So there was a certain degree of naivety there." As for the future of the NNI, the next decade is expected to be the decade of "applications", including three signature initiatives for 2011: applications for solar energy; nanoelectronics for 2020 and beyond; and, sustainable nanomanufacturing. The article can be viewed online at the link below.

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Nanotech on Farmers' Fields -- Silicon Nutrition (8/31/2010)

A plant nutrition study that addresses nano-sized plant nutrients is now available from the Landbouwkundige Uitgeverij G.C. van den Berg (Veenendaal, The Netherlands). This publication looks at the many scientific studies and patent publications from the last decade regarding this innovative technology, and compiles articles published in Beneficial Nutrients News. A patent scan is also included in the publication. The document is available for purchase and can be viewed online at the link below.

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NANO Magazine - Issue 7 -- Research and Markets (8/31/2010)

The August 2010 issue of NANO Magazine explores new technologies for energy generation, disease prevention and water purification that have the potential to change the developing world and save millions of lives. Articles include: “Nanotechnology in the Developing World”, by the Chief Executive of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, which explores developments and potentials in nanotechnology; “Water for All”, about a group of Australian researchers looking for ways to clean water through nanotechnology; and, “HIV- Under the Microscope”, which looks at ways that nanotechnology is being utilized to achieve better ways of investigating, manipulating and treating a disease in which 60 percent of its sufferers live in developing countries. Other articles include one addressing solar power and another that explores nanotechnology in South Africa. The article, and a link to purchase the magazine, can be found online at the link below.

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Advances Offer Path to Shrink Computer Chips Again -- The New York Times (8/31/2010)

Scientists at Rice University and Hewlett-Packard, both in the United States, are reporting this week that they can overcome a fundamental barrier to the continued rapid miniaturization of computer memory, an advance that could allow manufacturers to pack even more power into ever smaller devices like laptops, smart phones and digital cameras. Experts have been fearing a slowdown in the pace of miniaturization due to the limits of physics and finance, but these developments show that such a slowdown is unlikely, at least for now. Researchers at Rice have succeeded in building a reliable small digital switch that they could shrink to a significantly smaller scale than is possible using conventional methods. Such switches are essential parts of computer memory, and single chips based on this technology could eventually store as much as today's highest capacity disk drives. The advance is based on silicon oxide, one of the basic building blocks of today's chip industry, ensuring an easier move toward commercialization. Hewlett-Packard announced, separately, that the company will enter into a commercial partnership with a major semiconductor company to produce a related technology. Both Rice and H.P. are making what are called "memristors" - switches that retain information without a source of power. According to Richard Doherty, president of the Envisioneering Group, a consumer electronics market research company, "[T]here are a lot of new technologies pawing for attention. When you get down to these scales, you're talking about the ability to store hundreds of movies on a single chip." The article can be viewed online at the link below.

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Medical Nanotech Could Find Unconventional Oil -- New Scientist (8/30/2010)

Conservative estimates of oil remaining in United States oil fields amounts to at least 360 billion barrels, according to Iraj Ershaghi, a petroleum engineer at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and nanotechnology could be a way to exploit oil reserves that conventional methods cannot reach. Oil fields are usually deemed exhausted when all the free-flowing oil has been extracted, but often still harbor plenty of oil, sometimes twice as much as has been pumped conventionally. This leftover oil is clinging to the grains in sedimentary rock or confined to small porous structures in the rock. Locating and extracting this residual oil can be tricky. This article explores several ways that nanotechnology could help, including a method that involves sprinkling the water flushed through old oil fields with nanoparticles. James Tour at Rice University, also in the U.S., has devised nanoparticles coated with a hydrocarbon-loving compound that will be stripped away by oil if the nanoparticles encounter any significant deposits. "If you get the nanoparticle back and it has none of these chemicals, then you'll know it has seen a lot of oil below," Tour says. Ayusman Sen of Pennsylvania State University is working to develop nanoparticles that don't need to be pumped under pressure, but can spread through the naturally occurring brine in an oilfield by exploiting the saline gradient between the fresh water they're pumped in, and the brine in the oilfield. Both these methods still, however, need a way to determine where in the reservoir they were when they saw the oil. Nanotechnology could also make the eventual extraction more efficient, perhaps by using the technology to free oil and extract it from oil-filled pores. The article can be viewed online at the link below.

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A Simple Filter Could Make LCDs More Efficient -- MIT Technology Review (8/30/2010)

Liquid-crystal displays (LCDs), which are used in everything from televisions to cell phones, use several layers of optical devices to colorize, polarize, and shutter light from a backlight, with inefficiencies emerging at every step. LCDs drain batteries in portable electronics and ramp up electric bills in homes, but now a new type of color filter could significantly increase the energy efficiency of LCDs. Researchers at the University of Michigan, United States, have developed a new optical film that colors and polarizes the light passing through the LCD more efficiently, promising to boost the overall efficiency by more than 400 percent. The researchers, led by L. Jay Guo, a professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences, use a color filter that is a three-layer sandwich of an insulating material between two layers of aluminum. The entire stack, which is less than 200 nanometers thick, is etched with periodic slits, like a grate. The new grating transmits more light and polarizes the light very efficiently. The overall filter is also simpler to make than current LCDs. The team is now working to make the filters "production worthy" so they are compatible with the machinery used to mass-produce displays. Their work was published in the journal Nature Communications. The article can be viewed online at the link below.

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