Nano - Nanotechnology - Molecular Machines

Controlling matter at the nano scale. Making small stuff do big things. Self Assembly.



Nano is One Billionth or one thousand million. 10^(-9); Ten to the Minus Nine Meters. Very Small.

Nano-Meter is 10 to the minus 9 meters. Hair is a hundred thousand nanometers thick. One billionth of a meter. 

Nano-Particle is 1 millionth of a millimeter (1.0 × 10-6 millimeters). Size Dependent Properties.

Nano-Crystal is a material particle having at least one dimension smaller than 100 nanometres (a nanoparticle) and composed of atoms in either a single- or poly-crystalline arrangement.

Micrometre is an SI derived unit of length equalling 1×10−6 metre (SI standard prefix "micro-" = 10−6); that is, one millionth of a metre (or one thousandth of a millimetre, 0.001 mm, or about 0.000039 inch). (Symbol: μm).

Scientific Notation is a way of expressing numbers that are too big or too small to be conveniently written in decimal form. It is commonly used by scientists, mathematicians and engineers, in part because it can simplify certain arithmetic operations. On scientific calculators it is usually known as "SCI" display mode. Written as 1 × 10 to the Minus 9 Power. - Power of 10.

Giga-Meter is the size of the orbit of the moon around earth.

Atoms - Tiny Machines - Molecular Machines - Self Replicating - Quantum Mechanics - Graphene

Nano-Alloy is an alloy consisting of dispersed nanoparticles of two or more metals.

Nano-Engineering is the practice of engineering on the nanoscale. It derives its name from the nanometre, a unit of measurement equalling one billionth of a meter. Nano-Engineering.

Nano-Structure is a structure of intermediate size between microscopic and molecular structures. Nanostructural detail is microstructure at nanoscale.

Nano-Dot can refer to several technologies which use nanometer-scale localized structures. Nanodots generally exploit properties of quantum dots to localize magnetic or electrical fields at very small scales. Applications for nanodots could include high-density information storage, energy storage, and light-emitting devices. Store Dot.

Quantum Dot are tiny semiconductor particles a few nanometres in size, having optical and electronic properties that differ from larger particles due to quantum mechanics. They are a central topic in nanotechnology. When the quantum dots are illuminated by UV light, an electron in the quantum dot can be excited to a state of higher energy. In the case of a semiconducting quantum dot, this process corresponds to the transition of an electron from the valence band to the conductance band. The excited electron can drop back into the valence band releasing its energy by the emission of light. This light emission (photoluminescence) is illustrated in the figure on the right. The color of that light depends on the energy difference between the conductance band and the valence band.

Researchers Control Multiple Wavelengths of Light from a Single Source. KAIST researchers have synthesized a collection of nanoparticles, known as carbon dots, capable of emitting multiple wavelengths of light from a single particle. Additionally, the team discovered that the dispersion of the carbon dots, or the interparticle distance between each dot, influences the properties of the light the carbon dots emit. The discovery will allow researchers to understand how to control these carbon dots and create new, environmentally responsible displays, lighting, and sensing technology.

Theory describes quantum phenomenon in nanomaterials. Theoretical physicists have developed mathematical formulas that describe a physical phenomenon happening within quantum dots and other nanosized materials. The formulas could be applied to further theoretical research about the physics of quantum dots, ultra-cold atomic gasses, and quarks. Normally, electrical resistance drops in metals as the temperature drops. But in metals containing magnetic impurities, this only happens down to a critical temperature, beyond which resistance rises with dropping temperatures. Ultra-thin designer materials unlock quantum phenomena.

Nanostitches enable lighter and tougher composite materials. In an approach they call 'nanostitching,' engineers used carbon nanotubes to prevent cracking in multilayered composites. The advance could lead to next-generation airplanes and spacecraft.

Discovery unravels how atomic vibrations emerge in nanomaterials. Advances in microscopy reveal source of phonons’ puzzling behavior. Hoglund employed microscopy techniques to answer questions raised in experimental results Hopkins published in 2013, reporting on thermal conductivity of superlattices, which Hoglund likens to a Lego building block. You can achieve desired material properties by changing how different oxides couple to each other, how many times the oxides are layered and the thickness of each layer," Hoglund said. Hopkins expected the phonon to get resistance as it traveled through the lattice network, dissipating thermal energy at each interface of the oxide layers. Instead, thermal conductivity went up when the interfaces were really close together. "This led us to believe that phonons can form a wave that exists across all subsequent materials, also known as a coherent effect," Hopkins said. "We came up with an explanation that fit the conductivity measurements, but always felt this work was incomplete."

Nanoengineers 3-D print biomimetic blood vessel networks.

Micro-Fabrication is the process of fabricating miniature structures of micrometre scales and smaller. Historically, the earliest microfabrication processes were used for integrated circuit fabrication, also known as "semiconductor manufacturing" or "semiconductor device fabrication.

Scaling up nano for sustainable manufacturing. A research team has developed a high-performance coating material that self-assembles from 2D nanosheets, and which could significantly extend the shelf life of electronics, energy storage devices, health & safety products, and more. The researchers are the first to successfully scale up nanomaterial synthesis into useful materials for manufacturing and commercial applications. The new nanosheet material overcomes the problem of stacking defects by skipping the serial stacked sheet approach altogether. Instead, the team mixed blends of materials that are known to self-assemble into small particles with alternating layers of the component materials, suspended in a solvent. To design the system, the researchers used complex blends of nanoparticles, small molecules, and block copolymer-based supramolecules, all of which are commercially available.

Nano-Lithography is the branch of nanotechnology concerned with the study and application of fabricating nanometer-scale structures, meaning patterns with at least one lateral dimension between 1 and 100 nm.

Nanoparticles can save historic buildings. The silicate nanoparticles come together to form such colloidal crystals when they dry in the rock and thus jointly create new connections between the individual mineral surfaces. This increases the strength of the natural stone.

Hardest substance known is ultrahard nanotwinned cubic boron nitride.

Nano-Medicine

Nano-Medicine is the medical application of nanotechnology. Nanomedicine ranges from the medical applications of nanomaterials and biological devices, to nanoelectronic biosensors, and even possible future applications of molecular nanotechnology such as biological machines. Current problems for nanomedicine involve understanding the issues related to toxicity and environmental impact of nanoscale materials (materials whose structure is on the scale of nanometers, i.e. billionths of a meter). Frozen organs could be brought back to life safely one day with the aid of nanotechnology, with Improved tissue cryopreservation using inductive heating of magnetic nanoparticles. Vitamin Absorption.

Nano-Materials takes a materials science-based approach to nanotechnology, leveraging advances in materials metrology and synthesis which have been developed in support of microfabrication research. Materials with structure at the nanoscale often have unique optical, electronic, or mechanical properties.

Self-Healing Material are a class of smart materials that have the structurally incorporated ability to repair damage caused by mechanical usage over time. Nano-Machines.

Scientists have designed a new nano material that can reflect or transmit light on demand with temperature control (youtube).

Terminator’-style material heals itself (youtube)

Materials may lead to self-healing smartphones. The key to self-repair is in the chemical bonding. Two types of bonds exist in materials. There are covalent bonds, which are strong and don’t readily reform once broken; and noncovalent bonds, which are weaker and more dynamic. For example, the hydrogen bonds that connect water molecules to one another are non-covalent, breaking and reforming constantly to give rise to the fluid properties of water. “Most self-healing polymers form hydrogen bonds or metal-ligand coordination, but these aren’t suitable for ionic conductors,” Wang says.

Modifying The Genes Of Plants using Carbon Nanotubes.

Light-Activated Nanoparticles can supercharge current Antibiotics.

Formation of non-spherical polymersomes driven by hydrophobic directional aromatic perylene interactions. UNSW Sydney scientists have developed a way to control the shape of polymer molecules so they self-assemble into non-spherical nanoparticles - an advance that could improve the delivery of toxic drugs to tumours.

Drugs in the Water Supply.

Light-based 'tractor beam' assembles materials at the nanoscale. Researchers have adapted a light-based technology employed widely in biology -- known as optical traps or optical tweezers -- to operate in a water-free liquid environment of carbon-rich organic solvents. The optical tweezers act as a light-based 'tractor beam' that can assemble nanoscale semiconductor materials precisely into larger structures. Unlike the tractor beams of science fiction, which might grab massive spaceships, these optical tweezers can trap materials that are nearly one billion times shorter than a meter.

Researchers develop new method to increase effectiveness of nanomedicines. New technique uses complement inhibitor Factor I to prevent proteins from attacking treatment-carrying nanoparticles. Researchers have discovered a new, more effective method of preventing the body's own proteins from treating nanomedicines like foreign invaders, by covering the nanoparticles with a coating to suppress the immune response that dampens the therapy's effectiveness.

Nano-Chemistry is the combination of chemistry and nanoscience. Nanochemistry is associated with synthesis of building blocks which are dependent on size, surface, shape and defect properties. Nanochemistry is being used in chemical, materials and physical, science as well as engineering, biological and medical applications. Nanochemistry and other nanoscience fields have the same core concepts but the usages of those concepts are different.

Researchers will find the structure of the smallest building blocks in Nano-Chemistry.

Nanomaterial-Based Catalyst are usually heterogeneous catalysts broken up into metal nanoparticles in order to speed up the catalytic process. Metal nanoparticles have a higher surface area so there is increased catalytic activity because more catalytic reactions can occur at the same time. Nanoparticle catalysts can also be easily separated and recycled with more retention of catalytic activity than their bulk counterparts. These catalysts can play two different roles in catalytic processes: they can be the site of catalysis or they can act as a support for catalytic processes. They are typically used under mild conditions to prevent decomposition of the nanoparticles at extreme conditions. Nanocatalyst: effect of size reduction. Catalytic technologies are critical to present and future energy, chemical process, and environmental industries.

Nano-Electronics

Nanoelectronics refers to the use of nanotechnology in electronic components. The term covers a diverse set of devices and materials, with the common characteristic that they are so small that inter-atomic interactions and quantum mechanical properties need to be studied extensively. Some of these candidates include: hybrid molecular/semiconductor electronics, one-dimensional nanotubes/nanowires (e.g. Silicon nanowires or Carbon nanotubes) or advanced molecular electronics. Recent silicon CMOS technology generations, such as the 22 nanometer node, are already within this regime. Nanoelectronics are sometimes considered as disruptive technology because present candidates are significantly different from traditional transistors.

Nano Electronics

Molecular Lego for Nanoelectronics - Building Blocks (cellls)

Supersonic phenomena, the key to extremely low heat loss nano-electronics.

‘Incomprehensible’ birth of Supercrystal formation explained ultra-fast electronics using tiny nanocrystals.

Using Nanocrystal Networks for Artificial Intelligence applications in a Machine Learning device.

Nanotechnology is manipulation of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale.

Nano Technologies (gov) - Nano Archive

Nanowire “Inks” Enable Paper-Based Printable Electronics. Highly conductive films make functional circuits without adding high heat. Silver nanowire films conduct electricity well enough to form functioning circuits without applying high heat, enabling printable electronics on heat-sensitive materials like paper or plastic.

Captured on video: DNA Nanotubes build a bridge between two molecular posts Johns Hopkins researchers have coaxed DNA nanotubes to assemble themselves into bridge-like structures arched between two molecular landmarks on the surface of a lab dish.

Dopant is a trace impurity element that is inserted into a substance (in very low concentrations) to alter the electrical or optical properties of the substance. In the case of crystalline substances, the atoms of the dopant very commonly take the place of elements that were in the crystal lattice of the base material. The crystalline materials are frequently either crystals of a semiconductor such as silicon and germanium for use in solid-state electronics, or transparent crystals for use in the production of various laser types; however, in some cases of the latter, noncrystalline substances such as glass can also be doped with impurities.

Nano-Magnet is a submicrometric system that presents spontaneous magnetic order (magnetization) at zero applied magnetic field (remanence).

Scientists Discover a 2-D Magnet. Magnetism in the 2-D world of monolayers materials that are formed by a single atomic layer.

Graphene

Graphene is a one-atom-thick planar sheet of carbon atoms that are densely packed in a honeycomb crystal lattice; it is a basic structural element of graphite and fullerenes, which  is a form of carbon having a large molecule consisting of an empty cage of sixty or more carbon atoms.

Graphene is an allotrope of carbon in the form of a two-dimensional, atomic-scale, hexagonal lattice in which one atom forms each vertex. It is the basic structural element of other allotropes, including graphite, charcoal, carbon nanotubes and fullerenes. It can also be considered as an indefinitely large aromatic molecule, the ultimate case of the family of flat polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Graphene has many unusual properties. It is about 200 times stronger than the strongest steel. It conducts heat and electricity very efficiently and is nearly transparent. Graphene also shows a large and nonlinear diamagnetism, even greater than graphite, and can be levitated by Nd-Fe-B magnets. Graphene, a lightweight, thin, flexible material, can be used to enhance the strength and speed of computer display screens, electric/photonics circuits, solar cells and various medical, chemical and industrial processes, among other things. It is comprised of a single layer of carbon atoms bonded together in a repeating pattern of hexagons. Isolated for the first time 15 years ago, it is so thin that it is considered two-dimensional and thought to be the strongest material on the planet. Vikas Berry, associate professor and department head of chemical engineering, and colleagues used a chemical process to attach nanomaterials on graphene without changing the properties and the arrangement of the carbon atoms in graphene. By doing so, the UIC scientists retained graphene's electron-mobility, which is essential in high-speed electronics. The addition of the plasmonic silver nanoparticles to graphene also increased the material's ability to boost the efficiency of graphene-based solar cells by 11 fold (11 times the original amount), Berry said. The research, funded by the National Science Foundation (CMMI-1030963), has been published in the Journal Nano Letters. Instead of adding molecules to the individual carbon atoms of graphene, Berry's new method adds metal atoms, such as chromium or molybdenum, to the six atoms of a benzoid ring. Unlike carbon-centered bonds, this bond is delocalized, which keeps the carbon atoms' arrangement undistorted and planar, so that the graphene retains its unique properties of electrical conduction. The new chemical method of annexing nanomaterials on Graphene will revolutionize graphene technology by expanding the scope of its applications.

Materials Science - Crystals - Pencils - Polymers - Bio-Plastics - Material Science

Taming "Wild" Electrons in Graphene. Scientists at Rutgers University-New Brunswick have learned how to tame the unruly electrons in graphene, paving the way for the ultra-fast transport of electrons with low loss of energy in novel systems.

Graphene enables High-Speed Electronics on Flexible Detector Materials for Terahertz Frequencies.

Graphene enables clock rates in the terahertz range. Researchers pave the way for graphene-based nanoelectronics of the future. Speed - Terahertz.

A Potential Source of Clean, Limitless Energy (youtube) - Rippling Graphene Sheets May Be the Key to Clean, Unlimited Energy. The next generation of smart devices could be powered by nano-scale power generators. Called a Vibration Energy Harvester, this development provides evidence for the theory that two-dimensional materials could be a source of usable energy.

Band Gap formation of 2D materialin graphene: Future prospect and challenges.

Electronic properties of Graphene. Graphene is a semimetal whose conduction and valence bands meet at the Dirac points, which are six locations in momentum space, the vertices of its hexagonal Brillouin zone, divided into two non-equivalent sets of three points. The two sets are labeled K and K'. The sets give graphene a valley degeneracy of gv = 2. By contrast, for traditional semiconductors the primary point of interest is generally Γ, where momentum is zero. Four electronic properties separate it from other condensed matter systems.

Team makes High-Quality Graphene with Soybeans.

Engineers create Artificial Graphene in a Nanofabricated Semiconductor Structure.

Hydrocarbon Chain is an organic molecule consisting of nothing else but carbon and hydrogen atoms arranged in a chain. The carbon atoms are interconnected to each other by covalent bonding. And each carbon atom in the chain is bonded to one or up to three hydrogen atoms.

Graphite is a crystalline form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a hexagonal structure. It occurs naturally in this form and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Under high pressures and temperatures it converts to diamond. Graphite is used in pencils and lubricants. It is a good conductor of heat and electricity. Its high conductivity makes it useful in electronic products such as electrodes, batteries, and solar panels.

Mixing Graphite with Bacteria to make materials manipulated on the scale of atoms or molecules that exhibit unique properties. Paving the way for future products and applications.

Researchers control the properties of graphene transistors using pressure. Researchers have developed a technique to manipulate the electrical conductivity of graphene with compression, bringing the material one step closer to being a viable semiconductor for use in today's electronic devices.

Magnetic surprise revealed in 'magic-angle' graphene. Magnets and superconductors don't normally get along, but a new study shows that 'magic-angle' graphene is capable of producing both superconductivity and ferromagnetism, which could be useful in quantum computing. When two sheets of the carbon nanomaterial graphene are stacked together at a particular angle with respect to each other, it gives rise to some fascinating physics. For instance, when this so-called "magic-angle graphene" is cooled to near absolute zero, it suddenly becomes a superconductor, meaning it conducts electricity with zero resistance.

Reinforcing graphene with embedded carbon nanotubes 'rebar' makes the 2D nanomaterial more than twice as tough as pristine graphene.

Nano-Graphene are strips of graphene with ultra-thin width (<50 nm). Graphene ribbons were introduced as a theoretical model by Mitsutaka Fujita and coauthors to examine the edge and nanoscale size effect in graphene.

Scientists Drill into White Graphene to create Artificial Atoms. By drilling holes into a thin two-dimensional sheet of hexagonal boron nitride with a gallium-focused ion beam, scientists have created artificial atoms that generate single photons, which work in air and room temperature. Patterned on a microchip and working in ambient conditions, the atoms could lead to rapid advancements in new quantum-based technology.

Olympicene ange potential applications include sophisticated sensors, information and energy storage, solar cells and high-tech LEDs.

Measuring the Temperature of Two-Dimensional Materials at the Atomic Level.

Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Monolayers are atomically thin semiconductors of the type MX2, with M a transition metal atom (Mo, W, etc.) and X a chalcogen atom (S, Se, or Te). One layer of M atoms is sandwiched between two layers of X atoms. They are part of the large and new family of the so-called 2D materials, name used to emphasize their extraordinary thinness. For example a MoS2 monolayer is only 6.5 Å thick. The key feature of these materials is the interaction of large atoms in the 2D structure as compared with first-row transition metal dichalcogenides, e.g., WTe2 exhibits anomalous giant magnetoresistance and superconductivity. Integrated Circuits.

Paper-based Supercapacitor uses metal nanoparticles to boost energy density. Using a simple layer-by-layer coating technique, researchers have developed a paper-based flexible supercapacitor that could be used to help power wearable devices. The device uses metallic nanoparticles to coat cellulose fibers in the paper, creating supercapacitor electrodes with high energy and power densities -- and the best performance so far in a textile-based supercapacitor.

The observation of an abnormal state of matter in a 2-D magnetic material is the latest development in the race to harness novel electronic properties for more robust and efficient next-generation devices. Neutron scattering has helped researchers investigate a graphene-like strontium-manganese-antimony material that hosts what they suspect is a Weyl semimetal phase. The properties of Weyl semimetals include both magnetism and topological semimetal behavior, in which electrons -- or charge carriers -- are nearly massless and immune to conduction defects. Neutron scattering at the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) helped investigate a graphene-like strontium-manganese-antimony material (Sr1-yMn1-zSb2) that hosts what researchers suspect is a Weyl semimetal phase. Examining a small, high-quality crystal grown at Tulane University, the team was able to determine the magnetic structure of Sr1-yMn1-zSb2, using neutrons at the Four-Circle Diffractometer instrument at the High Flux Isotope Reactor. Neutrons are ideal tools for identifying and characterizing magnetism in almost any material, because they, like electrons, exhibit a flow of magnetism called "spin. We discovered two types of ferromagnetic orders and found the experimental proof of the time-reversal symmetry breaking, likely creating a Weyl state in Sr1-yMn1-zSb2. This makes this system a wonderful candidate to study the effect of the time-reversal symmetry breaking on the electronic band structure.

Unexpected quantum effects in natural double-layer graphene. At temperatures just above absolute zero of minus 273.15 degrees Celsius, the electrons in the graphene can interact with each other -- and a variety of complex quantum phases emerge completely unexpectedly. For example, the interactions cause the spins of the electrons to align, making the material magnetic without any further external influence. By changing the electric field, researchers can continuously change the strength of the interactions of the charge carriers in the double-layer graphene. Under specific conditions, the electrons can be so restricted in their freedom of movement that they form their own electron lattice and can no longer contribute to transporting charge due to their mutual repulsive interaction. The system is then electrically insulating.

Aromaticity is used to describe a cyclic (ring-shaped), planar (flat) molecule with a ring of resonance bonds that exhibits more stability than other geometric or connective arrangements with the same set of atoms. Aromatic molecules are very stable, and do not break apart easily to react with other substances. Organic compounds that are not aromatic are classified as aliphatic compounds—they might be cyclic, but only aromatic rings have special stability (low reactivity).

3D Graphene Material can be molded into any shape and supports 3,000 times its own weight before springing back to its original height. Nano-Tube.

Lab turns trash into valuable graphene in a flash. 'Green' process promises pristine graphene in bulk using waste food, plastic and other materials.

Ultrafast lasers map electrons 'going ballistic' in graphene, with implications for next-gen electronic devices. Research reveals the ballistic movement of electrons in graphene in real time. The observations could lead to breakthroughs in governing electrons in semiconductors, fundamental components in most information and energy technology.

Nano- Shell or rather a nanoshell plasmon, is a type of spherical nanoparticle consisting of a dielectric core which is covered by a thin metallic shell (usually gold). These nanoshells involve a quasiparticle called plasmon which is a collective excitation or quantum plasma oscillation where the electrons simultaneously oscillate with respect to all the ions.

Braiding a Molecular Knot with Eight Crossings. Knots may ultimately prove just as versatile and useful at the nanoscale as at the macroscale. However, the lack of synthetic routes to all but the simplest molecular knots currently prevents systematic investigation of the influence of knotting at the molecular level. We found that it is possible to assemble four building blocks into three braided ligand strands. Octahedral iron(II) ions control the relative positions of the three strands at each crossing point in a circular triple helicate, while structural constraints on the ligands determine the braiding connections. This approach enables two-step assembly of a molecular 819 knot featuring eight nonalternating crossings in a 192-atom closed loop ~20 nanometers in length. The resolved metal-free 819 knot enantiomers have pronounced features in their circular dichroism spectra resulting solely from topological chirality.

Researchers Sew Atomic Lattices Seamlessly Together. In electronics, joining different materials produces “heterojunctions”—the most fundamental components in solar cells, LEDs or computer chips. The smoother the seam between two materials, the more easily electrons flow across it; essential for how well the electronic devices function. But they’re made up of crystals—rigid lattices of atoms, which may have very different spacing—and they don’t take kindly to being mashed together.

Carbon Plate-Nanolattices. Plate-based carbon nanolattice proves stronger than diamond.

A template for fast synthesis of nanographenes. New combined synthesis method an exciting breakthrough in the construction of nanographene libraries. Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM), Nagoya University. Development of a new APEX reaction means that large numbers of nanographenes can be easily synthesized using a commercially available hydrocarbon as a template. Nanographenes are the part structures of graphene, which is a sheet of carbon atoms around 3 nanometers thick with particular potential for use in semiconductor development, having electron mobility several hundred times better than current generation materials. Graphene was first isolated in 2004, a discovery which received the 2010 Nobel Prize in physics, making it a very new material which is currently the subject of a great deal of research.

Stretching changes the electronic properties of graphene. The electronic properties of graphene can be specifically modified by stretching the material evenly, say researchers. These results open the door to the development of new types of electronic components. Graphene consists of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. The material is very flexible and has excellent electronic properties, making it attractive for numerous applications -- electronic components in particular.

Exploding and weeping ceramics provide path to new shape-shifting material. Discovery could lead to improvements in medical devices and electronics.

Two-Photon Polymerization: A New Approach to Micromachining.

Chemists find new path to make strong 2D material better for applications. Scientists at Rice make hexagonal-boron nitride, a 2D material much stiffer than steel and an excellent conductor of heat, much simpler to modify for applications through a new chemical process. Two-dimensional h-BN, an insulating material also known as "white graphene," is four times stiffer than steel and an excellent conductor of heat, a benefit for composites that rely on it to enhance their properties. Those qualities also make h-BN hard to modify. Its tight hexagonal lattice of alternating boron and nitrogen atoms is highly resistant to change, unlike graphene and other 2D materials that can be easily modified -- aka functionalized -- with other elements.

Inventing the world's strongest silver. A team of scientists has made the strongest silver ever -- 42 percent stronger than the previous world record. It's part of a discovery of a new mechanism at the nanoscale that can create metals much stronger than any ever made before -- while not losing electrical conductivity. Toughest Material on Earth.

Mussel-inspired defect engineering enhances the mechanical strength of graphene fibers. A research group applied polydopamine as an effective infiltrate binder to achieve high mechanical and electrical properties for graphene-based liquid crystalline fibers.

Better than graphene' material development may improve implantable technology. Researchers tweaked borophene to interact with cells and other biological units in unique ways. Borophene is a very interesting material, as it resembles carbon very closely including its atomic weight and electron structure but with more remarkable properties.

Limpet Teeth rely on an organ called the radula, which contains iron-mineralized teeth. Although limpets contain over 100 rows of teeth, only the outermost 10 are used in feeding. These teeth form via matrix-mediated biomineralization, a cyclic process involving the delivery of iron minerals to reinforce a polymeric chitin matrix. Upon being fully mineralized, the teeth reposition themselves within the radula, allowing limpets to scrape off algae from rock surfaces. As limpet teeth wear out, they are subsequently degraded (occurring anywhere between 12 and 48 hours) and replaced with new teeth. Different limpet species exhibit different overall shapes of their teeth. Strength: Looking into limpet teeth of Patella vulgata, Vickers hardness values are between 268 and 646 kg m−1 m−2, while tensile strength values range between 3.0 and 6.5 GPa. As spider silk has a tensile strength only up to 4.5 GPa, limpet teeth outperforms spider silk to be the strongest biological material. These considerably high values exhibited by limpet teeth are due to the following factors: The first factor is the nanometer length scale of goethite nano-fibers in limpet teeth; at this length scale, materials become insensitive to flaws that would otherwise decrease failure strength. As a result, goethite nanofibers are able to maintain substantial failure strength despite the presence of defects.

Nanofiber are fibers with diameters in the nanometer range. Nanofibers can be generated from different polymers and hence have different physical properties and application potentials. Examples of natural polymers include collagen, cellulose, silk fibroin, keratin, gelatin and polysaccharides such as chitosan and alginate. Examples of synthetic polymers include poly(lactic acid) (PLA), polycaprolactone (PCL), polyurethane (PU), poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV), and poly(ethylene-co-vinylacetate) (PEVA). Polymer chains are connected via covalent bonds. The diameters of nanofibers depend on the type of polymer used and the method of production. All polymer nanofibers are unique for their large surface area-to-volume ratio, high porosity, appreciable mechanical strength, and flexibility in functionalization compared to their microfiber counterparts. There exist many different methods to make nanofibers, including drawing, electrospinning, self-assembly, template synthesis, and thermal-induced phase separation. Electrospinning is the most commonly used method to generate nanofibers because of the straightforward setup, the ability to mass-produce continuous nanofibers from various polymers, and the capability to generate ultrathin fibers with controllable diameters, compositions, and orientations. This flexibility allows for controlling the shape and arrangement of the fibers so that different structures (i.e. hollow, flat and ribbon shaped) can be fabricated depending on intended application purposes. Using an innovative melt processing method, which is appropriate for the industrial mass production, scientists and engineers at the University of Minnesota, have been able to make nanofibers as thin as only 36 nm. Nanofibers have many possible technological and commercial applications. They are used in tissue engineering, drug delivery, cancer diagnosis, lithium-air battery, optical sensors and air filtration.

First functional semiconductor made from graphene. The technology could allow for smaller and faster devices and may have applications for quantum computing. Researchers have created the first functional semiconductor made from graphene, a single sheet of carbon atoms held together by the strongest bonds known. The breakthrough throws open the door to a new way of doing electronics. The team's measurements showed that their graphene semiconductor has 10 times greater mobility than silicon. In other words, the electrons move with very low resistance, which, in electronics, translates to faster computing.

Carbon Nano-Tubes

Carbon Nanotube are allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical nanostructure. These cylindrical carbon molecules have unusual properties, which are valuable for nanotechnology, electronics, optics and other fields of materials science and technology. Owing to the material's exceptional strength and stiffness, nanotubes have been constructed with length-to-diameter ratio of up to 132,000,000:1, significantly larger than for any other material. Carbon nanotubes can be either metallic or semiconducting along the tubular axis, and can be single-walled or multi-wall tubes. Carbon nanotubes come in three types, configurations or variants, which are Armchair, Zigzag and Chiral. Carbon Nanotubes were created by accident. Carbon Nanotubes are 20 times stronger then steal. Carbon Nanotubes are also a semi-conductor. The thickness of a Carbon Nanotube is 1/1,000th of a single strand of hair. Batteries.

Optical Properties of Carbon Nanotubes refers to the absorption, photoluminescence (fluorescence), and Raman spectroscopy of carbon nanotubes. Spectroscopic methods offer the possibility of quick and non-destructive characterization of relatively large amounts of carbon nanotubes.

Nano-Tubes Built from Protein Crystals: Breakthrough in biomolecular engineering. Researchers at Tokyo Tech have succeeded in constructing protein nanotubes from tiny scaffolds made by cross-linking of engineered protein crystals. The achievement could accelerate the development of artificial enzymes, nano-sized carriers and delivery systems for a host of biomedical and biotechnological applications.

Nanotubes Assemble! Rice introduces Teslaphoresis Carbon nanotubes in a dish assemble themselves into a nanowire in seconds under the influence of a custom-built Tesla coil created by scientists at Rice University. Self Assembly phenomenon called Teslaphoresis.

Buckminsterfullerene is a type of fullerene with the formula C60. It has a cage-like fused-ring structure (truncated icosahedron) that resembles a soccer ball, made of twenty hexagons and twelve pentagons, with a carbon atom at each vertex of each polygon and a bond along each polygon edge. A buckyball is a molecule called Buckminsterfullerene. Composed of 60 Carbon Atoms formed in the shape of a hollow ball. Buckminster Fullerene (C60) 1985 (wiki). Bubbles.

Fullerene is an allotrope of carbon in the form of a hollow sphere, ellipsoid, tube, and many other shapes. Spherical fullerenes, also referred to as Buckminsterfullerenes or Bucky Balls, resemble the balls used in association football. Cylindrical fullerenes are also called carbon nanotubes (buckytubes). Fullerenes are similar in structure to graphite, which is composed of stacked graphene sheets of linked hexagonal rings. Unless they are cylindrical, they must also contain pentagonal (or sometimes heptagonal) rings.

Bravais Lattice is an infinite array (or a finite array, if we consider the edges, obviously) of discrete points generated by a set of discrete translation operations described in three dimensional space.

Crystal Structure is a description of the ordered arrangement of atoms, ions or molecules in a crystalline material. Ordered structures occur from the intrinsic nature of the constituent particles to form symmetric patterns that repeat along the principal directions of three-dimensional space in matter.

Perovskite structure is any material with the same type of crystal structure as calcium titanium oxide.

Nano News - Harvard

Nanoscale Heat Engine Beyond the Carnot Limit (Nano Engine made from a Single Atom)

Institute for Integrative Nanosciences (IIN)
Jonathan Trent 
Nano Hub
The Nano Research
Nanowerk
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Understanding Nano

Oxygen Gas-Filled Micro-Particles Provide Intravenous Oxygen Delivery

Carbon Nanotube Field-Effect Transistor (wiki)
Utility Fog (wiki)

Gene Chip Analysis Microarray technology is a powerful tool for genomic analysis. It gives a global view of the genome in a single experiment.

DNA Microarray, also commonly known as DNA chip or biochip, is a collection of microscopic DNA spots attached to a solid surface. Scientists use DNA microarrays to measure the expression levels of large numbers of genes simultaneously or to genotype multiple regions of a genome

Positive Curvature Nano-carbon (ball) - Zero Curvature (flat) - Negative curvature (schwartzites) - Schwarzite is any of a family of analogs of Graphene, having negative Gaussian curvature, that form three-dimensional lattices.

Cheap, Small Carbon Nanotubes

Carbon Fiber - Graphene

Nanoscale 'Conversations' Create Complex, Multi-Layered Structures New technique leverages controlled interactions across surfaces to create Self-Assembled Materials with unprecedented complexity.

How we're harnessing nature's hidden superpowers: Oded Shoseyov (video and interactive text)

Nanocellulose nano-structured cellulose. This may be either cellulose nanofibers or CNF, also called microfibrillated cellulose or MFC, nanocrystalline cellulose or NCC, or bacterial nanocellulose, which refers to nano-structured cellulose produced by bacteria. CNF is a material composed of nanosized cellulose fibrils with a high aspect ratio (length to width ratio). Typical lateral dimensions are 5–20 nanometers and longitudinal dimension is in a wide range, typically several micrometers. Bio-Plastics.

Newly developed microlattices are lighter and 100 times stronger than regular polymers.

Resilin is an elastomeric protein found in many insects. It is part of what enables insects of many species to jump or pivot their wings efficiently. It was first discovered by Torkel Weis-Fogh in locust wing-hinges. Nanocellulose with Resilin can make incredible durable touch screens for smartphone.

Self Replicating Machines - Self Assembly

Self-Replicating Machine is a type of autonomous robot that is capable of reproducing itself autonomously using raw materials found in the environment, thus exhibiting self-replication in a way analogous to that found in nature, like with snow flakes and sea shells.

Spontaneous Generation - Synchronicity - Symmetry

Robot developed for Automated Assembly of designer Nano-Materials. Engineers have developed a robot that can identify, collect, and manipulate two-dimensional nanocrystals. The robot stacked nanocrystals to form the most complex van der Waals heterostructure produced to date, with much less human intervention than the manual operations previously used to produce van der Waals heterostructures. This robot allows unprecedented access to van der Waals heterostructures, which are attractive for use in advanced electronics.

Meta-Materials - Materials

New Nanoparticle Superstructures made from Tetrahedral Pyramid-Shaped Building Blocks.

Scientists Develop Proteins that Self-Assemble into supramolecular complexes. Novel Artificial Protein Complexes Constructed from Protein Nano-Building Blocks.

Physicists discover how particles self-assemble. Laws of nature can be harnessed to create 'smart materials'. A team of physicists has discovered how DNA molecules self-organize into adhesive patches between particles in response to assembly instructions. Its findings offer a 'proof of concept' for an innovative way to produce materials with a well-defined connectivity between the particles.

Self-Assembly of Block Copolymers - Arrays (auto assembler) - Folding Proteins

Assembly Theory is a framework for quantifying selection and evolution. When applied to molecule complexity, its authors show it to be the first technique that is experimentally verifiable, unlike other molecular complexity algorithms that lack experimental measures.

Model shows how intelligent-like behavior can emerge from non-living agents. A new model describes how biological or technical systems form complex structures equipped with signal-processing capabilities that allow the systems to respond to stimulus and perform functional tasks without external guidance. Little nanobots become self-organized and self-aware.

Swarm intelligence caused by physical mechanisms. Researchers studied swarm behavior of microswimmers. Seemingly spontaneously coordinated swarm behavior exhibited by large groups of animals is a fascinating and striking collective phenomenon. Experiments conducted on laser-controlled synthetic microswimmers now show that supposed swarm intelligence can sometimes also be the result of simple and generic physical mechanisms. A team of physicists found that swarms of synthetically produced Brownian microswimmers appear to spontaneously decide to orbit their target point instead of heading for it directly.

How charged macromolecules self-assemble, dipole-dipole interactions give life its shape. In a discovery with wide-ranging implications, researchers recently announced that uniformly charged macromolecules -- or molecules, such as proteins or DNA, that contain a large number of atoms all with the same electrical charge -- can self-assemble into very large structures. This finding upends our understanding of how some of life's basic structures are built.

Stem Cells Organize Themselves into Pseudo-Embryos.

Simple bacteria found to organize in elaborate patterns. Researchers have discovered that biofilms, bacterial communities found throughout the living world, are far more advanced than previously believed. Scientists found that biofilm cells are organized in elaborate patterns, a feature that previously only had been associated with higher-level organisms such as plants and animals.

Computer Scientists at Caltech create Reprogrammable Molecular Computing System. They have designed DNA molecules that can carry out reprogrammable computations, for the first time creating so-called algorithmic self-assembly in which the same "hardware" can be configured to run different "software."

Nucleation in thermodynamics is the first step in the formation of either a new thermodynamic phase or structure via self-assembly or self-organization within a substance or mixture. Nucleation is typically defined to be the process that determines how long an observer has to wait before the new phase or self-organized structure appears. For example, if a volume of water is cooled (at atmospheric pressure) below 0 °C, it will tend to freeze into ice, but volumes of water cooled only a few degrees below 0 °C often stay completely free of ice for long periods (supercooling). At these conditions, nucleation of ice is either slow or does not occur at all. However, at lower temperatures nucleation is fast, and ice crystals appear after little or no delay.

Cannibalistic Materials Feed on Themselves to Grow New Nanostructures. Scientists have induced a two-dimensional material to cannibalize itself for atomic 'building blocks' from which stable structures formed. The findings provide insights that may improve design of 2-D materials for fast-charging energy-storage and electronic devices. After a monolayer MXene is heated, functional groups are removed from both surfaces. Titanium and carbon atoms migrate from one area to both surfaces, creating a pore and forming new structures.

Researchers quickly harvest 2-D Materials, bringing them closer to commercialization. Efficient method for making single-atom-thick, wafer-scale materials opens up opportunities in flexible electronics.

Soft Robots that grow like plants. Engineers discover new process for synthetic material growth. Soft robots can navigate hard-to-reach places like pipes or inside the human body. Researchers have developed a new, plant-inspired extrusion process that enables synthetic material growth, and the creation of a soft robot that builds its own solid body from liquid to navigate hard-to-reach places and complicated terrain.

Heterojunction is the interface that occurs between two layers or regions of dissimilar crystalline semiconductors. These semiconducting materials have unequal band gaps as opposed to a homojunction. It is often advantageous to engineer the electronic energy bands in many solid-state device applications, including semiconductor lasers, solar cells and transistors ("heterotransistors") to name a few. The combination of multiple heterojunctions together in a device is called a heterostructure, although the two terms are commonly used interchangeably. The requirement that each material be a semiconductor with unequal band gaps is somewhat loose, especially on small length scales, where electronic properties depend on spatial properties. A more modern definition of heterojunction is the interface between any two solid-state materials, including crystalline and amorphous structures of metallic, insulating, fast ion conductor and semiconducting materials.

Universal Constructor is a complex machine that is capable of constructing both microscopic and macroscopic objects. Universal Constructors rearrange substances on the molecular and atomic level, and can essentially create any physical object in this way, including biological organisms.

Convergent Assembly is to make bigger things by assembling them from smaller things.

Engineering Living ‘Scaffolds’ for Building Materials. Berkeley Lab researchers take cues from nature to form living materials with unprecedented control and versatility.

Automated 3D Bio-Assembly of Micro-Tissues for Bio-Fabrication of Hybrid Tissue Engineered Constructs.

Researchers Automate MicroRobotic Designs using a method that requires only a 3D Printer and 20 minutes.

Understanding interfaces of hybrid materials with machine learning. Using machine learning methods, researchers can predict the structure formation of functionalized molecules at the interfaces of hybrid materials. Now they have also succeeded in looking behind the driving forces of this structure formation. The production of nanomaterials involves self-assembly processes of functionalized (organic) molecules on inorganic surfaces. This combination of organic and inorganic components is essential for applications in organic electronics and other areas of nanotechnology. Fields.

Nanosized blocks spontaneously assemble in water to create tiny floating checkerboards. Researchers have engineered nanosized cubes that spontaneously form a two-dimensional checkerboard pattern when dropped on the surface of water. The work presents a simple approach to create complex nanostructures through a technique called self-assembly.

Self-Assembling system uses Magnets to mimic specific binding in DNA. Physicists are using the binding power of magnets to design self-assembling systems that potentially can be created in nanoscale form.

Designing with DNA. Software lets researchers create tiny rounded objects out of DNA: Here's why that's cool. Marvel at the tiny nanoscale structures emerging from labs, and it's easy to imagine you're browsing a catalog of the world's smallest pottery: itty-bitty vases, bowls, and spheres. But instead of making them from clay, the researchers designed these objects out of threadlike molecules of DNA, bent and folded into complex three-dimensional objects. These creations demonstrate the possibilities of a new open-source software program.

DNA origami folded into tiny motor. First nanoscale electromotor created using Frontera, Expanse, Anvil supercomputers. Scientists have created a working nanoscale electomotor. The science team designed a turbine engineered from DNA that is powered by hydrodynamic flow inside a nanopore, a nanometer-sized hole in a membrane of solid-state silicon nitride. The tiny motor could help spark research into future applications such as building molecular factories or even medical probes of molecules inside the bloodstream.

Shrinking hydrogels enlarge nanofabrication options. Intricate, 2D and 3D patterns printed. Researchers have developed a strategy for creating ultrahigh-resolution, complex 3D nanostructures out of various materials.

Smarticles Ensemble Experiment

Bacterial Factories could Manufacture high-performance Proteins for space missions. Scientists report a new method that takes advantage of engineered bacteria to produce spider silk and other difficult-to-make proteins that could be useful during future space missions.

Nano Machines

Molecular Machine or nano-machine, is any discrete number of molecular components that produce quasi-mechanical movements (output) in response to specific stimuli (input). The expression is often more generally applied to molecules that simply mimic functions that occur at the macroscopic level. The term is also common in nanotechnology where a number of highly complex molecular machines have been proposed that are aimed at the goal of constructing a molecular assembler. Molecular machines can be divided into two broad categories; synthetic and biological.

Tiny Machines - Micro-Electronics

Nanogenerator is a type of technology that converts mechanical/thermal energy as produced by small-scale physical change into electricity. A Nanogenerator has three typical approaches: piezoelectric, triboelectric, and pyroelectric nanogenerators. Both the piezoelectric and triboelectric nanogenerators can convert mechanical energy into electricity. However, pyroelectric nanogenerators can be used to harvest thermal energy from a time-dependent temperature fluctuation. Nanogenerators are referred as a field that uses displacement current as the driving force for effectively converting mechanical energy into electric power/signal, disregarding if nanomaterials are used or not.

Miniaturization is the trend to manufacture ever smaller mechanical, optical and electronic products and devices. Examples include miniaturization of mobile phones, computers and vehicle engine downsizing. Small Homes.

Molecular Assembler is a "proposed device able to guide chemical reactions by positioning reactive molecules with atomic precision". A molecular assembler is a kind of molecular machine. Some biological molecules such as ribosomes fit this definition. This is because they receive instructions from messenger RNA and then assemble specific sequences of amino acids to construct protein molecules. However, the term "molecular assembler" usually refers to theoretical human-made devices. (diamondoid nanofactory). Bio-Mimicry.

Biochip is a miniaturized laboratory that can perform hundreds or thousands of simultaneous biochemical reactions. Biochips enable researchers to quickly screen large numbers of biological analytes for a variety of purposes, from disease diagnosis to detection of bioterrorism agents. Medical Sensors.

Molecular Biology concerns the molecular basis of biological activity between biomolecules in the various systems of a cell, including the interactions between DNA, RNA and proteins and their biosynthesis, as well as the regulation of these interactions. Writing in Nature in 1961.

Molecular Engineering is the design and testing of molecular properties, behavior and interactions in order to assemble better materials, systems, and processes for specific functions. This approach, in which observable properties of a macroscopic system are influenced by direct alteration of a molecular structure, falls into the broader category of “bottom-up” design.

Biomolecular Engineering is the application of engineering principles and practices to the purposeful manipulation of molecules of biological origin. Biomolecular engineers integrate knowledge of biological processes with the core knowledge of chemical engineering in order to focus on molecular level solutions to issues and problems in the life sciences related to the environment, agriculture, energy, industry, food production, biotechnology and medicine.

Brownian Motor are nanoscale or molecular machines that use chemical reactions to generate directed motion in space. The theory behind Brownian motors relies on the phenomena of Brownian motion, random motion of particles suspended in a fluid (a liquid or a gas) resulting from their collision with the fast-moving molecules in the fluid. On the nanoscale (1-100 nm), viscosity dominates inertia, and the extremely high degree of thermal noise in the environment makes conventional directed motion all but impossible, because the forces impelling these motors in the desired direction are minuscule when compared to the random forces exerted by the environment. Brownian motors operate specifically to utilise this high level of random noise to achieve directed motion, and as such are only viable on the nanoscale.

Programmable Matter is matter which has the ability to change its physical properties (shape, density, moduli, conductivity, optical properties, etc.) in a programmable fashion, based upon user input or autonomous sensing. Programmable matter is thus linked to the concept of a material which inherently has the ability to perform information processing.

World's first 'Molecular Robot' capable of Building Molecules.

Nanofactory is a proposed compact molecular manufacturing system. (Self Replication).

Micro-Electrom-Mechanical Systems is the technology of microscopic devices, particularly those with moving parts. It merges at the nano-scale into nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) and nanotechnology. MEMS are also referred to as micromachines in Japan, or micro systems technology (MST) in Europe. MEMS are made up of components between 1 and 100 micrometers in size (i.e., 0.001 to 0.1 mm), and MEMS devices generally range in size from 20 micrometres to a millimetre (i.e., 0.02 to 1.0 mm), although components arranged in arrays (e.g., digital micromirror devices) can be more than 1000 mm2. They usually consist of a central unit that processes data (the microprocessor) and several components that interact with the surroundings such as microsensors. Because of the large surface area to volume ratio of MEMS, forces produced by ambient electromagnetism (e.g., electrostatic charges and magnetic moments), and fluid dynamics (e.g., surface tension and viscosity) are more important design considerations than with larger scale mechanical devices. MEMS technology is distinguished from molecular nanotechnology or molecular electronics in that the latter must also consider surface chemistry. Neural Networks.

Nano-Robotics is creating machines or robots whose components are at or close to the scale of a nanometre.

Microbotics mobile robots with characteristic dimensions less than 1 mm. Micro-Robotics.

Swarmalation' used to design active materials for self-regulating soft robots. Engineers have designed a system of self-oscillating flexible materials that display a distinctive mode of dynamic self-organization. In addition to exhibiting the swarmalator behavior, the component materials mutually adapt their overall shapes as they interact in a fluid-filled chamber. These systems can pave the way for fabricating collaborative, self-regulating soft robotic systems. Autonomous coupled oscillations of two active sheets (youtube).

Nano-Bot can probe inside human cells. Magnetic 'tweezers' could help diagnose and fight cancer.

Shape-morphing microrobots deliver drugs to cancer cells. Chemotherapy successfully treats many forms of cancer, but the side effects can wreak havoc on the rest of the body. Delivering drugs directly to cancer cells could help reduce these unpleasant symptoms. Now, in a proof-of-concept study, researchers have made fish-shaped microrobots that are guided with magnets to cancer cells, where a pH change triggers them to open their mouths and release their chemotherapy cargo.

Robotic Sperm are biohybrid microrobots consisting of sperm cells and artificial microstructures.

Microgripper is a microscopic device used to grasp and manipulate microscale objects safely.

Robotics (robots) - Micro-Mechanics.

Mechanosynthesis is a term for hypothetical chemical syntheses in which reaction outcomes are determined by the use of mechanical constraints to direct reactive molecules to specific molecular sites. There are presently no non-biological chemical syntheses which achieve this aim. Some atomic placement has been achieved with scanning tunnelling microscopes.

Autodoping during the deposition of epitaxial Silicon layers from the gas phase (I). Autodoping from the gas phase.

Utility Fog is a hypothetical collection of tiny robots that can replicate a physical structure. As such, it is a form of self-reconfiguring modular robotics.

Planting the seed for DNA nanoconstructs that grow to the micron scale. Nanobiotechnologists have devised a programmable DNA self-assembly strategy that solves the key challenge of robust nucleation control and paves the way for applications such as ultrasensitive diagnostic biomarker detection and scalable fabrication of micrometer-sized structures with nanometer-sized features.

Nanobiotechnology are terms that refer to the intersection of nanotechnology and biology. Given that the subject is one that has only emerged very recently, bionanotechnology and nanobiotechnology serve as blanket terms for various related technologies. This discipline helps to indicate the merger of biological research with various fields of nanotechnology. Concepts that are enhanced through nanobiology include: nanodevices (such as biological machines), nanoparticles, and nanoscale phenomena that occurs within the discipline of nanotechnology. This technical approach to biology allows scientists to imagine and create systems that can be used for biological research. Biologically inspired nanotechnology uses biological systems as the inspirations for technologies not yet created. However, as with nanotechnology and biotechnology, bionanotechnology does have many potential ethical issues associated with it. A ribosome is a biological machine. The most important objectives that are frequently found in nanobiology involve applying nanotools to relevant medical/biological problems and refining these applications. Developing new tools, such as peptoid nanosheets, for medical and biological purposes is another primary objective in nanotechnology. New nanotools are often made by refining the applications of the nanotools that are already being used. The imaging of native biomolecules, biological membranes, and tissues is also a major topic for nanobiology researchers. Other topics concerning nanobiology include the use of cantilever array sensors and the application of nanophotonics for manipulating molecular processes in living cells. Recently, the use of microorganisms to synthesize functional nanoparticles has been of great interest. Microorganisms can change the oxidation state of metals.[citation needed] These microbial processes have opened up new opportunities for us to explore novel applications, for example, the biosynthesis of metal nanomaterials. In contrast to chemical and physical methods, microbial processes for synthesizing nanomaterials can be achieved in aqueous phase under gentle and environmentally benign conditions. This approach has become an attractive focus in current green bionanotechnology research towards sustainable development.

Acoustic propulsion of nanomachines depends on their orientation. Microscopically tiny nanomachines which move like submarines with their own propulsion -- for example in the human body, where they transport active agents and release them at a target: What sounds like science fiction has, over the past 20 years, become an ever more rapidly growing field of research. However, most of the particles developed so far only function in the laboratory. Propulsion, for example, is a hurdle. Some particles have to be supplied with energy in the form of light, others use chemical propulsions which release toxic substances. Neither of these can be considered for any application in the body. A solution to the problem could be acoustically propelled particles. Johannes Voß and Prof. Raphael Wittkowski from the Institute of Theoretical Physics and the Center for Soft Nanoscience at the University of Münster (Germany) have now found answers to central questions which had previously stood in the way of applying acoustic propulsion. The results have been published in the journal ACS Nano. Ultrasound is used in acoustically propelled nanomachines as it is quite safe for applications in the body.

Tiny Machines

Tiny machines are already living in Humans, Naturally. Humans also consist of trillions of electrochemical machines that somehow coordinate their intricate activities in ways that allow our bodies and minds to function with the required reliability and precision. 400 million ribosomes could fit in a single period at the end of a sentence. DNA.

Adenosine Triphosphate the "molecular unit of currency" of intracellular energy transfer.

Drew Berry: Animations of Unseeable Biology (video) 

Your Amazing Molecular Machines (youtube, Veritasium)

Engineers develop first method for Controlling Nano-Motors with simple Visible Light as the Stimulus.

Nano-Robot built entirely from DNA to explore cell processes. Constructing a tiny robot from DNA and using it to study cell processes invisible to the naked eye... You would be forgiven for thinking it is science fiction, but it is in fact the subject of serious research. This highly innovative 'nano-robot' should enable closer study of the mechanical forces applied at microscopic levels, which are crucial for many biological and pathological processes.

Fantastic Voyage is a 1966 American science fiction film about a submarine crew who shrink to microscopic size and venture into the body of an injured scientist to repair the damage to his brain.

Molecular Machines - Cell Communication

Microtubule are a component of the cytoskeleton, found throughout the cytoplasm. These tubular polymers of tubulin can grow as long as 50 micrometres and are highly dynamic. The outer diameter of a microtubule is about 24 nm while the inner diameter is about 12 nm. They are found in eukaryotic cells, as well as some bacteria, and are formed by the polymerization of a dimer of two globular proteins, alpha and beta tubulin.

Janet Iwasa: How Animations can help Scientists Test a Hypothesis (video)

Receptor-Mediated Endocytosis is a process by which cells absorb metabolites, hormones, other proteins - and in some cases viruses - (endocytosis) by the inward budding of plasma membrane vesicles containing proteins with receptor sites specific to the molecules being absorbed.

Films - Videos
The Human Robot - vpro backlight (youtube timeline 33 min. mark)
Siddhartha Mukherjee: Soon we'll cure diseases with a cell, not a pill (video)
This tiny particle could roam your body to find tumors - Sangeeta Bhatia (video and Interactive Text)
Programming of Life - Intelligent Design or Evolution? (youtube)

Drug-Delivering Micro-Motors treat their first Bacterial Infection in the Stomach

Meet the Tiny Cellular Machines in Cells that Massacre Viruses by chopping their genetic material into bits

Section 18.3Myosin: The Actin Motor Protein

Motor Protein are class of molecular motors that are able to move along the surface of a suitable substrate. They convert chemical energy into mechanical work by the hydrolysis of ATP. Flagellar rotation, however, is powered by proton pump.

Kinesin protein walking on microtubule (youtube)

Fantastic Vesicle Traffic (youtube)

Protein is synthesized by ribosomes along the Endoplasmic Reticulum, modified in the Golgi apparatus and packaged into vesicles.

A fresh look inside the Protein Nano-Machines. Proteins perform vital functions of life, they digest food and fight infections and cancer. They are in fact nano-machines, each one of them designed to perform a specific task. A protein is a chain made of twenty different kinds of amino acids with elaborate interactions, and, unlike standard physical matter. The blueprint for protein synthesis is written in long DNA genes, but we show that only a small fraction of this huge information space is used to make the functional protein.

Micromotors push around single cells and particles. A new type of micromotor powered by ultrasound and steered by magnets can move around individual cells and microscopic particles in crowded environments without damaging them. In one demonstration, a micromotor pushed around silica particles to spell out letters. Researchers also controlled the micromotors to climb up microsized blocks and stairs, demonstrating their ability to move over three dimensional obstacles.

Flagellar Motor is called the MotAB, which is a bacterial motor that powers bacterial chemotaxis. Chemotaxis is the movement of an organism or entity in response to a chemical stimulus. Chemotaxis is a versatile process that allows bacteria to swim toward energy-rich molecules, find preferred niches for infection, avoid harmful species, change speeds, and fully stop to form biofilms. Chemotaxis requires a small motor to turn a flagellum—a hairlike appendage on bacteria that spins to provide propulsion, like a boat motor. Rotating the flagellum clockwise or counterclockwise at different rates allows bacteria to move toward or away from different stimuli.

Flagellum is a hairlike appendage that provides motility for a particular type of cell. Certain plant and animal sperm cells, from fungal spores (zoospores), and from a wide range of microorganisms have a flagellum that protrudes from its outer shell. Many protists with flagella are known as flagellates.

Scientists build tiny biological robots from human cells. The multicellular bots move around and help heal wounds created in cultured neurons. Scientists have created tiny moving biological robots from human tracheal cells that can encourage the growth of neurons across artificial 'wounds' in the lab. Using patients' own cells could permit growth of Anthrobots that assist healing and regeneration in the future with no nead for immune suppression.

Plug and play Nanoparticles could make it easier to tackle various biological targets. Engineers have developed modular nanoparticles that can be easily customized to target different biological entities such as tumors, viruses or toxins. The surface of the nanoparticles is engineered to host any biological molecules of choice, making it possible to tailor the nanoparticles for a wide array of applications, ranging from targeted drug delivery to neutralizing biological agents.

Root Hair is one of the fastest growing cells in the plant.

Machines that you swallow and then poop out. Pill-Cam minimally invasive tool that gives your doctor a direct view of the inside of your colon.

Vital Sense - Vitals (physical health) - Human Energy

Building Blocks of Life (cells) - Self-Replicating Machine (dna)

Mass Produce Cell-Sized Robots about 10 micrometers across that could be used for industrial or biomedical monitoring or to search out disease while floating through the bloodstream. Syncells is short for synthetic cells. Autoperforation.

Scientists build tiny biological robots from human cells. The multicellular bots move around and help heal 'wounds' created in cultured neurons. Scientists have created tiny moving biological robots from human tracheal cells that can encourage the growth of neurons across artificial 'wounds' in the lab. Using patients' own cells could permit growth of Anthrobots that assist healing and regeneration in the future with no nead for immune suppression.

Living computers: RNA circuits transform cells into Nano-Devices. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is used to create logic circuits capable of performing various computations. In new experiments, Green and his colleagues have incorporated RNA logic gates into living bacterial cells, which act like tiny computers. Logic gates known as AND, OR and NOT were designed. An AND gate produces an output in the cell only when two RNA messages A AND B are present. An OR gate responds to either A OR B, while a NOT gate will block output if a given RNA input is present. Combining these gates can produce complex logic capable of responding to multiple inputs. Using RNA toehold switches, the researchers produced the first ribocomputing devices capable of four-input AND, six-input OR and a 12-input device able to carry out a complex combination of AND, OR and NOT logic known as disjunctive normal form expression. When the logic gate encounters the correct RNA binding sequences leading to activation, a toehold switch opens and the process of translation to protein takes place. All of these circuit-sensing and output functions can be integrated in the same molecule, making the systems compact and easier to implement in a cell.

Mechanism of the Toehold Switch (youtube)

Enzymes are like those Giant Robots. They grab one or two pieces, do something to them, and then release them. Once their job is done, they move to the next piece and do the same thing again. They are little protein robots inside your cells. The robot that was designed to move a car door can't put brakes on the car. The specialized robot arms just can't do the job. Enzymes are the same. They can only work with specific molecules and only do specific tasks. Because they are so specific, their structure is very important. If only one amino acid of the enzyme is messed up, the enzyme might not work. It would be as if someone unplugged one of the cords in a robot.

Living Robots built into new Life-Form using Frog Cells. Tiny xenobots assembled from cells promise advances from drug delivery to toxic waste clean-up. Xenobots are self-healing micro-robots. A xenobot is a biological machine under 1 millimeter  or 0.039 inches wide, small enough to travel inside human bodies. They are made of skin cells and heart cells, stem cells harvested from frog embryos. Xenobots are named after the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis).

Bacteriophage pictured above is a virus that infects and replicates within a bacterium. Bacteriophages are composed of proteins that encapsulate a DNA or RNA genome, and may have relatively simple or elaborate structures. Their genomes may encode as few as four genes, and as many as hundreds of genes. Phages replicate within the bacterium following the injection of their genome into its cytoplasm. Bacteriophages are among the most common and diverse entities in the biosphere.

Tiny swimming robots treat deadly pneumonia in mice. Engineers have developed microscopic robots, called microrobots, that can swim around in the lungs, deliver medication and be used to clear up life-threatening cases of bacterial pneumonia. In mice, the microrobots safely eliminated pneumonia-causing bacteria in the lungs and resulted in 100% survival. By contrast, untreated mice all died within three days after infection.

Robotic drug capsule can deliver drugs to gut. A new drug capsule can help large proteins such as insulin and small-molecule drugs be absorbed in the digestive tract. The capsule has a robotic cap that spins and tunnels through the mucus barrier when it reaches the small intestine, allowing drugs carried by the capsule to pass into cells lining the intestine.

Mystery solved about the Machines that move your Genes. Congestion causes the mass of tubes and motors that form chromosome-dividing spindles to move at full speed instead of slowing to a crawl, new research reveals. Fleets of microscopic machines toil away in your cells, carrying out critical biological tasks and keeping you alive. The spindle divides chromosomes in half during Cell Division, ensuring that both offspring cells contain a full set of genetic material. The spindle is made up of tens of thousands of stiff, hollow tubes called microtubules connected by biological motors. Microtubules are only propelled forward when connected to a neighbor pointed in the opposite direction. Previous observations, however, showed microtubules cruising at full speed even when linked only to neighbors facing the same way. The microtubules are so entangled with one another that even those not actively launched forward get dragged along at full speed by the crowd. The findings will help scientists better understand the cellular machinery that segregates chromosomes during cell division and why this process sometimes goes wrong. If a spindle does its job incorrectly, it can introduce errors such as missing or extra chromosomes. Microtubules are long, stiff polymer rods akin to drinking straws, each with a 'minus' end and a 'plus' end. Molecular motors latch onto and move along microtubules using a pair of molecular 'feet.' Kinesin motors, for instance, have two pairs of feet, one at either end. Kinesin molecules can attach to two different microtubules, with each pair of feet marching from the minus end to the plus end of each microtubule. If the plus and minus ends of both microtubules are aligned, the two pairs of feet walk in the same direction and the microtubules don't move relative to one another. If the microtubules are anti-aligned, the feet move in opposite directions, causing the microtubules to slide past one another. The collective motion of all the microtubules determines the spindle's growth and form. Their theory predicts that the microtubules line up, with every microtubule facing one of two opposing directions. Where microtubules of opposite orientation mingle, they are propelled forward as expected. Microtubules elsewhere, the theory states, are so entangled with their neighbors that they too are pulled along for the ride. Every microtubule, therefore, moves at precisely the speed of the walking motors regardless of its place in the crowd. Experiments conducted by the researchers using microtubules and abundant kinesin motors matched these predictions.

Films about Nano Technologies

Nano, the Next Dimension (youtube, 27:03)

Dr. Wade Adams: Nanotechnology and the Future of Energy (youtube, 30:41 ) 
FORA.tv Technology Season 2 Episode 16 | Aired: 10/25/2012

World's Smallest Electric Motor: Sykes Group Tufts (youtube, 6:47)

Single Atom Transistor (youtube, 2:52) 

The Nano Revolution: More than Human (2012, 52:59)
Scanning Tunneling Microscope
Nanoremediation

Metallic microlattice 'lightest structure ever' (youtube, 1 minute).
Metallic Microlattice

NanoCar Race, the first-ever race of Molecule-Cars (youtube)

Gary Greenberg: The Beautiful Nano Details of our World (youtube, 12:06)

Sizes - Scales

Size is the physical magnitude of something that shows how big something is or how small something is, which depends on your frame of reference. Size is the magnitude or the dimensions of a thing. Size can be measured as length, width, height, diameter, perimeter, area, volume, or mass.

Scale of the Universe from Big to Small (youtube) - Scale of the Universe from Small to Big (youtube) - Our Universe is extremely large but also extremely small.

Dimensions in Space - Imaging Machines - Microscopes - Microscopy - Quantum Mechanics

Infinitesimal are things so small that there is no way to measure them. The Universe is not as big as it is small. We have an easier time measuring how big the Universe is than we do measuring how small the Universe is. Gravitational Constant.

Planck Length is a unit of length, equal to 1.616229(38)×10−35 metres.

Femtometre is an SI unit of length equal to 10−15 metres, which means a quadrillionth of one. 1000 attometres = 1 femtometre = 1 fermi = 0.001 picometre = 1×10−15 metres. 1000000 femtometres = 10 ångström = 1 nanometre For example, the charge radius of a proton is approximately 0.84–0.87 femtometres while the radius of a gold nucleus is approximately 8.45 femtometres. 1 barn = 100 fm2.

Atomic Scale is the size of atoms below one nanometer. Nanoscale is between one and one hundred nanometers, and the atomic scale is below one nanometer.

Nanoscopic Scale refers to structures with a length scale applicable to nanotechnology, usually cited as 1–100 nanometers. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter. The nanoscopic scale is (roughly speaking) a lower bound to the mesoscopic scale for most solids. For technical purposes, the nanoscopic scale is the size at which fluctuations in the averaged properties (due to the motion and behavior of individual particles) begin to have a significant effect (often a few percent) on the behavior of a system, and must be taken into account in its analysis. The nanoscopic scale is sometimes marked as the point where the properties of a material change; above this point, the properties of a material are caused by 'bulk' or 'volume' effects, namely which atoms are present, how they are bonded, and in what ratios. Below this point, the properties of a material change, and while the type of atoms present and their relative orientations are still important, 'surface area effects' (also referred to as quantum effects) become more apparent – these effects are due to the geometry of the material (how thick it is, how wide it is, etc.), which, at these low dimensions, can have a drastic effect on quantized states, and thus the properties of a material.

Scaling is a linear transformation that enlarges (increases) or shrinks (diminishes) objects by a scale factor that is the same in all directions. The result of uniform scaling is similar (in the geometric sense) to the original. A scale factor of 1 is normally allowed, so that congruent shapes are also classed as similar. Uniform scaling happens, for example, when enlarging or reducing a photograph, or when creating a scale model of a building, car, airplane, etc.

Engineering Models - Building to Scale - Topography

Logarithmic Scale is a nonlinear scale used when there is a large range of quantities. Common uses include earthquake strength, sound loudness, light intensity, and pH of solutions. It is based on orders of magnitude, rather than a standard linear scale, so the value represented by each equidistant mark on the scale is the value at the previous mark multiplied by a constant. Logarithmic scales are also used in slide rules for multiplying or dividing numbers by adding or subtracting lengths on the scales.

Scale as an analytical tool refers to the combination of (1) the level of analysis (for example, analyzing the whole or a specific component of the system); and (2) the level of observation (for example, observing a system as an external viewer or as an internal participant). The scale of analysis encompasses both the analytical choice of how to observe a given system or object of study, and the role of the observer in determining the identity of the system.

Overview Effect - Level of Analysis

Spatial Scale is a specific application of the term scale for describing or categorizing (e.g. into orders of magnitude) the size of a space (hence spatial), or the extent of it at which a phenomenon or process occurs. Spatial Intelligence.

The True Size helps visualize the size of countries.

Size Dependent Property is a physical property that changes when the size of an object changes. Examples of size dependent properties are Length, Width, Height, Volume, Mass. Relevance.

Macroscopic Scale is the length scale on which objects or phenomena are large enough to be visible almost practically with the naked eye, without magnifying optical instruments. When applied to physical phenomena and bodies, the macroscopic scale describes things as a person can directly perceive them, without the aid of magnifying devices. This is in contrast to observations (microscopy) or theories (microphysics, statistical physics) of objects of geometric lengths smaller than perhaps some hundreds of micrometers. A macroscopic view of a ball is just that: a ball. A microscopic view could reveal a thick round skin seemingly composed entirely of puckered cracks and fissures (as viewed through a microscope) or, further down in scale, a collection of molecules in a roughly spherical shape. An example of a physical theory that takes a deliberately macroscopic viewpoint is thermodynamics. An example of a topic that extends from macroscopic to microscopic viewpoints is histology.

Universe in a Box - TNG300 - What the universe would look like if it were in a box where you can visualize the universe in its entirety. What would be your concept of time at that scale?

Magnitude in mathematics is the size of a mathematical object, a property by which the object can be compared as larger or smaller than other objects of the same kind. More formally, an object's magnitude is an ordering or ranking of the class of objects to which it belongs.

Power of 10 is any of the integer powers of the number ten; in other words, ten multiplied by itself a certain number of times (when the power is a positive integer). By definition, the number one is a power (the zeroth power) of ten.

Order of Magnitude are written in powers of 10. For example, the order of magnitude of 1500 is 3, since 1500 may be written as 1.5 × 103. Orders of Magnitude (numbers) (wiki).

Orders of Magnitude is a factor of ten. A quantity growing by four orders of magnitude implies it has grown by a factor of 10,000 or 104. list of multiples, sorted by orders of magnitude, for digital information storage measured in bits.

Orders of Magnitude of time is usually a decimal prefix or decimal order-of-magnitude quantity together with a base unit of time, like a microsecond or a million years. In some cases, the order of magnitude may be implied (usually 1), like a "second" or "year". In other cases, the quantity name implies the base unit, like "century". In most cases, the base unit is seconds or years. Prefixes are not usually used with a base unit of years. Therefore, it is said "a million years" instead of "a mega year". Clock time and calendar time have duodecimal or sexagesimal orders of magnitude rather than decimal, i.e. a year is 12 months, and a minute is 60 seconds. The smallest meaningful increment of time is the Planck time―the time light takes to traverse the Planck distance, many decimal orders of magnitude smaller than a second. The largest realized amount of time, based on known scientific data, is the age of the universe, about 13.8 billion years—the time since the Big Bang as measured in the cosmic microwave background rest frame. Those amounts of time together span 60 decimal orders of magnitude. Metric prefixes are defined spanning 10−24 to 1024, 48 decimal orders of magnitude which may be used in conjunction with the metric base unit of second. Metric units of time larger than the second are most commonly seen only in a few scientific contexts such as observational astronomy and materials science, although this depends on the author. For everyday use and most other scientific contexts, the common units of minutes, hours (3,600 s or 3.6 ks), days (86,400 s), weeks, months, and years (of which there are a number of variations) are commonly used. Weeks, months, and years are significantly variable units whose length depend on the choice of calendar and are often not regular even with a calendar, e.g. leap years versus regular years in the Gregorian calendar. This makes them problematic for use against a linear and regular time scale such as that defined by the SI, since it is not clear which version is being used.

Power Series is an infinite series of the form.

Series in mathematics is a description of the operation of adding infinitely many quantities, one after the other, to a given starting quantity.

Quantum Scale - Particles - Atoms - Molecules - Particulate Matter

Universe - Bytes (digital sizes)

Angstrom is a unit of length equal to 10−10 m (one ten-billionth of a metre) or 0.1 nanometre. Its symbol is Å, a letter in the Swedish alphabet.

Large Numbers - Spatial Intelligence

Nanowires as Sensors in New Type of Atomic Force Microscope. A new type of atomic force microscope (AFM) uses nanowires as tiny sensors. Unlike standard AFM, the device with a nanowire sensor enables measurements of both the size and direction of forces.

Atomic-Force Microscopy is a very-high-resolution type of scanning probe microscopy (SPM), with demonstrated resolution on the order of fractions of a nanometer, more than 1000 times better than the optical diffraction limit.

Imaging Machines - Microscopes - Microscopy









Diffraction-limited System is the resolution of an optical imaging system – a microscope, telescope, or camera – can be limited by factors such as imperfections in the lenses or misalignment.

World's Smallest Magnifying Glass, which focuses light a billion times more tightly, down to the scale of single atom, which makes it possible to see individual chemical bonds between atoms.

World’s smallest Radio Receiver has building blocks the size of 2 Atoms The Radio is made from atomic-scale defects in diamond. Made from atomic scale imperfections in a single piece of diamond crystal. The imperfections are the size of two atoms. Electrons inside the imperfections are powered by green light. When the electrons receive radio waves they convert them into red light. A simple photodiode converts the light into current. Speakers convert the current into sound just like a radio because of diamonds it can withstand extreme temperatures and pressures. A Diamond Radio Receiver (youtube).

Moire Pattern is a secondary and visually evident superimposed pattern created, for example, when two identical (usually transparent) patterns on a flat or curved surface (such as closely spaced straight lines drawn radiating from a point or taking the form of a grid) are overlaid while displaced or rotated a small amount from one another.

What will be the next big scientific breakthrough? Eric Haseltine: (video and interactive text).