New Florence. New Renaissance.

Carbon Nanotube Yarn

Dr. Ray Baughman of UT Dallas' NanoTech Institute explains the operation of a new type of super-strong carbon nanotube yarn, which could one day help power robots, make intelligent textiles and more.

 

Photomicrography

Gallery of a Nikon sponsored contest including the first prize winner a 20x magnification of a green lacewing larva at Popular Science

Tiniest 3-D world map

“IBM scientists working across three countries have created the smallest-ever 3D map of the world -- so tiny that 1,000 maps could fit on a grain of salt.

The team also created a scale model of the Matterhorn, well known to Europeans and Disney World visitors. The famous mountain is recreated in molecular glass, reaching 25 nanometers high -- a scale of 1 to 5 billion.”

Popular Science

Graphene: The wonder nano material

“First, it was the soccer-ball-shaped molecules dubbed buckyballs. Then it was the cylindrically shaped nanotubes. Now, the hottest new material in physics and nanotechnology is graphene: a remarkably flat molecule made of carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal rings much like molecular chicken wire.

Not only is this the thinnest material possible, but it also is 10 times stronger than steel and it conducts electricity better than any other known material at room temperature. These and graphene's other exotic properties have attracted the interest of physicists, who want to study them, and nanotechnologists, who want to exploit them to make novel electrical and mechanical devices.”

Nanotechnology Today

Smart Material d3o

“d3o was first introduced during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, giving downhill skiers' millimeter-thin aerodynamic bodysuits a thin, flexible layer of protection. The protection comes d3o's ability to stiffens on impact as the molecules lock together--the harder the hit, the tighter the lock, with the molecules instantaneously return to their original state after impact.”

“Now, it can be found in 107 products made by 22 different companies, ranging from iPod cases to polo kneepads.”

Popular Science

Bucky - carbon nanotube - paper

"Imagine flying an airplane, watching a television or using a laptop computer made, at least in part, from a paper 500 times stronger and 10 times lighter than steel. It's no ordinary paper; it's "buckypaper"—a nanotechnology material that looks like carbon paper and is made out of tube-shaped carbon molecules 50,000 times thinner than a human hair. The material's strength, however, comes when it's stacked and pressed together to form a composite, giving it the ability to conduct electricity like copper and disperse heat like steel."

Popular Science

NanoArt Festival

"NanoArt is a new art discipline at the art-science-technology intersections. It features nanolandscapes (molecular and atomic landscapes which are natural structures of matter at molecular and atomic scales) and nanosculptures (structures created by scientists and artists by manipulating matter at molecular and atomic scales using chemical and physical processes). These structures are visualized with powerful research tools like scanning electron microscopes and atomic force microscopes and their scientific images are captured and further processed by using different artistic techniques to convert them into artworks showcased for large audiences."

The Second Annual NanoArt Festival is scheduled for all of November in Stuttgart, Germany

Clothes that clean themsleves

"Researchers at Monash University, in Victoria, Australia, have found a way to coat fibers with titanium dioxide nanocrystals, which break down food and dirt in sunlight. The researchers, led by organic chemist and nanomaterials researcher Walid Daoud, have made natural fibers such as wool, silk, and hemp that will automatically remove food, grime, and even red-wine stains when exposed to sunlight."

MIT Technology Review

"Nano-prospecting"

"Currently, even with the most advanced recovery techniques, only about 40 percent of the oil and gas in reservoirs can be recovered. The hope is that by injecting novel sensors into these reservoirs, it will be possible to more accurately map them in 3-D, increase the amount of fuel extracted, and minimize the environmental impact."

"What is needed is a means of mapping the pore structure and the voids between formations, he says, and to do this, researchers need sensors that are smaller than the pores. So the aim is to create micro- or nanosensors that can not only pass through the pores, but also form mesh network to create detailed, 3-D maps of the structure of rock formations."

MIT Technology Review

NanoArt

"NanoArt is a new art discipline related to the micro or nanosculptures (molecular sculptures) created by artists or scientists through chemical or physical processes and visualized with powerful research tools like scanning electron or atomic force microscopes. The scientific images of these structures are captured and further processed using different artistic techniques to convert them into artworks showcased for large audiences."

Interesting art gallery by Romanian born artist and scientist Cris Orfescu