Nanotech BSU: 10.06

10.26.2006

NanoNuno Umbrella:

Even after heavy rain, just give this umbrella a good shake and it will be clean and dry right away. Even in light-coloured fabric, it will keep looking immaculate for years. The secret: Innovative nanotechnology. Modelled on a natural phenomenon – the lotus leaf. In nature, a fascinating effect is produced by the microscopic, rough nanostructure on the leaves of the lotus plant: Dirt and moisture simply roll off. This is because there is a much smaller surface area to which things can stick than on a smooth surface.

http://www.proidee.co.uk/shop/SID_vgThzuGoexUuvTmwJhzj7adSkBB2/F=produkt_formular/P=02_GB_HPN570366/K=02_GB_120057

Computer Circuit:

Nanoscience takes one more step forward as the first single-molecule computer circuit was just built by United States researchers. Take a look at the picture here and you'll see the circuit which is so tiny it measures less than a fifth of the width of a human hair. It was assembled on a single carbon nanotube, and even though it can only achieve a poky speed of 50MHz, that's 100,000 times faster than any other devices that have ever been made with carbon nanotubes.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4839088.stm

Noise sensitive nanosensors:

Carbon nanotubes are minute pipes made of graphite, the form of carbon familiar in pencil lead. Carbon atoms in graphite naturally organize themselves into two-dimensional sheets or lattices in a chicken wire or beehive like hexagonal lattice. Modern fabrication techniques can roll up such sheets into ultra thin tubes 100,000 times smaller than a human hair -- less than 2 nanometers in diameter. Twisting such tubes can drastically change their electronic properties, from conductors, to semiconductors. A main focus of interest now is their use in flat panel displays.

The experiment used semiconductor nanotubes two nanometers in diameter and 3,000-5000 nanometers long But when the experimenters added noise -- random electrical activity -- generated by several alternate methods, the signal came through. The noise makes the fragmentary picture suddenly recognizable. Kosko believes that increased awareness of the stochastic resonance phenomenon can aid designers of communications, including especially modern spread-spectrum devices, which often rely on an array of faint signals. "Nano-device designers can individually tailors nanotubes to specific signals and then deploy them in numbers -- rather like pipe organs tuned to different notes -- to take advantage of the SR-effects, " he said.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-12/uosc-tst121603.php

Aerogel

Aerogel is a low-density solid-state material derived from gel in which the liquid component of the gel has been replaced with gas. The result is an extremely low density solid with several remarkable properties, most notably its effectiveness as an insulator. It is nicknamed frozen smoke, solid smoke or blue smoke due to its semi-transparent nature and the way light scatters in the material; however it feels like styrofoam to the touch. At the nanoscale, an aerogel structurally resembles a sponge and is composed of a network of interconnected nanoparticles. It is very strong structurally, able to hold over 2000 times its own weight.

Aerogels are remarkable thermal insulators because they almost nullify three methods of heat transfer (convection, conduction, and radiation). They are good convective inhibitors because air cannot circulate throughout the lattice. Silica aerogel is an especially good conductive insulator because silica is a poor conductor of heat. (Metallic aerogel, on the other hand, would be a better heat conductor.) Carbon aerogel is a good radiative insulator because carbon absorbs the infrared radiation that transfers heat. The most insulative aerogel is silica aerogel with carbon added to it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogel

Aspen Aerogels’ building and construction solutions provide the highest R values available today with extremely slim profiles. Whether it is for new construction or renovation, homes or commercial buildings, Aspen Aerogels’ insulation can provide a more thermally efficient solution. Aerogels’ provide noise insulation properties (tanks, space craft, boats). For the first time, aerogels can be handled and installed like any other thermal or acoustic insulation. Aspen made the material effective for window and skylight insulation, non-flammable building insulation, and inexpensive firewall insulation that will withstand fires in homes and buildings, and also assist in the prevention of forest fires.

http://www.aerogel.com/markets/building.html
kalwall: many photos
http://www.kalwall.com/main.htm

supersky systems:
http://www.supersky.com/

purchasable product information
http://www.supersky.com/nanocatalog/nanogelcatalog.pdf

cabot: good information
http://w1.cabot-corp.com/controller.jsp?N=23+4294967102+3153+3183&entry=product

Self-healing concrete

When the material cracks, the microcapsules rupture and release the healing agent into the damaged region through capillary action. As the healing agent contacts the embedded catalyst, polymerization is initiated which then bonds the crack face closed."
In recent fracture tests, the self-healed composites recovered as much as 75 percent of their original strength. This technology could increase the lifetime of structural components, perhaps by as much as two or three times

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/02/010215075006.htm

10.22.2006

Nanotech Yahct:

http://www.synergyachts.com/home.htm

10.18.2006

Samsung nano-silver frig:

http://www.samsung.com/au/products/refrigerators/premiumsbs/srs700dss.asp#silver_nano
Samsung refrigerator
Samsung's Silver Nano TechnologyFrom ancient times, silver has been used for medicines and household goods because the non-toxic precious metal has the power to sanitise and deodorise. Recent advancements in technology and increased consumer demand for health-promoting products are giving rise to many new items that use silver for a highly effective anti-bacterial effect. Samsung is now applying nano-technology to bond silver atoms, creating the innovative Silver Nano Health System, which provides strong anti-bacterial and deodorizing effects. Because propagation of fungi and bacteria inside refrigerators is prevented, you can always enjoy the freshest food.
Samsung's Silver Nano TechnologyFrom ancient times, silver has been used for medicines and household goods because the non-toxic precious metal has the power to sanitise and deodorise. Recent advancements in technology and increased consumer demand for health-promoting products are giving rise to many new items that use silver for a highly effective anti-bacterial effect. Samsung is now applying nano-technology to bond silver atoms, creating the innovative Silver Nano Health System, which provides strong anti-bacterial and deodorizing effects. Because propagation of fungi and bacteria inside refrigerators is prevented, you can always enjoy the freshest food.
Samsung's Silver Nano TechnologyFrom ancient times, silver has been used for medicines and household goods because the non-toxic precious metal has the power to sanitise and deodorise. Recent advancements in technology and increased consumer demand for health-promoting products are giving rise to many new items that use silver for a highly effective anti-bacterial effect. Samsung is now applying nano-technology to bond silver atoms, creating the innovative Silver Nano Health System, which provides strong anti-bacterial and deodorizing effects. Because propagation of fungi and bacteria inside refrigerators is prevented, you can always enjoy the freshest food.

Buildings with self-cleaning concrete:

http://www.concretedecor.net/All_Access/504/CD504_New_Tech2.cfm
TX Millennium, Italcementi Group, photocatalystic technology, self-cleaning concrete, Richard Meier Jubilee Church, Rome, (Vegas hotel guest room treated, 30% less odors, used in Japan too), titanium dioxide, HPLV sprayer btw .3-.8 mm producing a fine mist evenly on the surface, semiconductor activated by energy light separates electrons, casuing chemical reductions and oxidations that decompose organic compounds, can buy photocatalystic antibacterial deodorant pantyhose in Japan, (will this cause build up of materials in environment)

http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=14569
Marunouchi Building in downtown Tokyo, are covered with photocatalytic tiles to reduce discoloring from pollution
In a test in 2003, the company coated 75,000 square feet (6,750 square meters) of road surface on the outskirts of Milan with photocatalytic cement. It found nitrogen oxide levels were reduced by up to 60 percent, depending on weather conditions
Cost is another issue. Galimberti said Italcementi's products are 30 percent to 40 percent more expensive than regular concrete, and using the external air quality as a selling point doesn't necessarily appeal to builders with tight budgets. The company's sales pitch is that self-cleaning materials will save money in the long run.

Nanofibers

Deliver dna to cells like thin needles
nanofibers can help induce neurons to reconnect and restore vision in the process, at least in hamsters (also repair damaged brain connections)
Nordson has developed patented technology for the use of polymeric nanofibers in nonwoven fabrics. In this capacity, nanofiber technology has been researched as a novel scaffold for cell growth and also offers unique capabilities to control pore size. Future biomedical applications may include artificial organs, tissue engineering, blood vessels, drug delivery systems and wound dressing. Nordson's nanophase system can spray up to five meters. Applications include clean room filtration, medical/surgical masks with low-pressure drops, gowns, drapes, wraps, and other products with superior barrier properties.
The self-healing fibers are primarily fluid-filled hollow capillaries that contain a bonding agent that, when released, slow or prevent the spread of a crack through the concrete matrix. Self-healing fibers have also been proposed as a strategy for addressing debonding events between the concrete matrix and reinforcing bars.

Nanospheres

http://www.sandia.gov/media/nanos.htm
The durable silica spheres, which range in size from 2 to 50 nanometers, form in a few seconds, are small enough to be introduced into the body, and have uniform pores that could enable controlled release of drugs. The spheres can absorb organic and inorganic substances including small particles of iron, which means they can be controlled by magnets and the contents released as needed. Lastly, the Sandia nanospheres may be useful as coatings on silicon chips whose increasingly tiny circuits require a medium that has a lower dielectric constant and stores less heat.
Mostly medical applications (micro electronics, environ friendly fuel- Hollow nanospheres crafted from molybdenum disulfide could serve as a superior catalyst for removing sulfur-containing compounds from gasoline and other fossil fuels.)
Nanofibers

(automotive, aeronautic, aerospace, engineering)

One of my favorite posts to WorldChanging has to be Curing Cancer, from July, 2004. In brief, Rice University researchers found that flooding a tumor with gold nanospheres then illuminating the tumor with an infrared laser (through the skin, which remains undamaged) would result in the tumor being completely eliminated. Now Stanford University researchers have accomplished a very similar feat, this time using carbon nanotubes rather than gold nanospheres. The principle is the same: inundate the tumor with the material, illuminate the tumor with a low-power laser, cook the tumor into nonexistence without harming nearby healthy tissue.

Nanorods
http://www.nanointerfacetech.com/Nanotech-nanorods.pdf
Alternative of Carbon Nanotubes for the High Volume Applications: The carbon
nanotubes cost $220,000 per pound which can not be used for improvement in the
strength of the composite materials – a large volume application. In order to provide leapfrog improvement in the strength of nanocomposites and other applications, Nano
Interface Technology, Inc. has developed mesoporous nanorods which can provide
nanorods of diameter 30-32 nm and of length 100-500 nm. These nanorods are
synthesized by company’s proprietary nanotechnology. Nanorods of silica or alumina
can easily be produced at a cost of $20 a pound.
Researchers from Hebrew University in Israel have devised a way to cause semiconductor nanocrystals and tiny amounts of gold to self-assemble into nanoscale dumbbells, chains and tetrapods.

http://www.trnmag.com/Stories/2004/071404/Nanorods_gain_gold_tips_Brief_071404.html
The rods and tetrapods could eventually serve as ultra-small transistors, memory elements, light-emitting elements and sensors in nanoelectronic and optoelectronic circuitry, according to the researchers. The researchers' semiconductor-gold dumbbells, chain links and tetrapods range from 20 to 40 nanometers in length. A nanometer is one millionth of a millimeter, or the size of a row of 10 hydrogen atoms. The ability to grow gold tips on nanoscale bits of semiconductor is a significant step toward solving the difficult manufacturing problem of how to wire such small objects together. The gold tips are bonded to the semiconductor covalently, meaning the gold and semiconductor atoms share one or more electrons; this provides a good electrical contact. The gold provides natural anchor points for connecting semiconductors to electrodes and for self-assembly. The chemical process the researchers used to bind the gold tips to the semiconductors was fairly simple and straightforward, according to the researchers. This concept could be used to fuse nanorods to other metals, including those that are magnetic. The nanorod-gold objects could also lead to materials with new chemical and optical properties, according to the researchers.

Diamond nanorods- harder than diamond, idea to produce on industrial scale

Nanotubes

http://www.zyvex.com/Products/CNT_FAQs.html#whatareNSprd
Based on Zyvex’s work for NASA in developing composite-in-composite materials, NanoSolve disperses carbon nanotubes into the epoxy matrix to provide stiffer and tougher composite structures. With a tensile strength 5-10 times higher than carbon fibers, nanotubes reinforce the epoxy and make the entire structure significantly stronger.
Yacht:
http://www.synergyachts.com/home.htm
The mast is constructed with high-modulus carbon fiber that is impregnated with NanoSolve enhanced epoxy resin, increasing mast strength without added weight or work in the construction process. The keel foil, the most critical structure of the ship, which runs along the centerline at the bottom of a vessel's hull, is also strengthened with NanoSolve materials. Even the paint on the yacht is enhanced through nanotechnology; Zyvex claims it prevents any marine growth under the waterline of the yacht without the need of toxins.

http://www.personal.reading.ac.uk/~scsharip/tubes.htm
good general info

10.16.2006

Fonts:

Myriad, created by Adobe, was adapted by Apple and named Lucida Grande for use in the Mac OS X opperating system. Windows OS uses Lucida Sans. The image below shows the negligible differences.

How to play movie in powerpoint:

In PowerPoint 2003, you can run your movies full screen. This is a very nice feature.
1. On the Insert menu, point to Movies and Sounds, and then click Movie from File.
2. Click the video you want to use and then click OK.
Tip Always put the movie in the same folder as your PowerPoint presentation. If you later move the PowerPoint presentation to another computer, copy the movie too. Keeping your movie in the same folder as your presentation ensures the link will still work. However, you should always test the movie on a new machine just to be certain. Re-insert the movie, if necessary.)
3. After you click OK, you're prompted with a message asking how you want the movie to start in the slide show.
I recommend choosing Automatically even if you want the movie to play when clicked – I'll talk about how to set this part too. (If you choose When Clicked you have to click the black box to start the movie. Because I don’t like to show the black box on the slide, I do this a little differently.)
4. You should now have a small rectangle sitting on your slide.
Insert a movie using a file on your computer or in another location, such as a server.
The movie appears as a still frame on your slide.
The trick I use is to move that rectangle off the slide, so it is sitting next to it, but not on it. You can size it down if you like. Click the movie (that is, the rectangle) and then drag it off the slide.
Play the movie full screen
5. Right-click the movie object (the small rectangle) and on the shortcut menu, click Edit Movie Object.
6. The Movie Options dialog box appears. Under Display Options, select the Zoom to full screen check box, and then click OK.
7. If you want your movie to play automatically when you advance to this slide, you can stop here.
Test this now to see how it works by starting the slide show. (On the Slide Show menu, click View Show.) Advance to the slide with the movie, (best if you have the title of the movie on it). Within a couple of seconds, the movie starts to play full screen. When the movie finishes, you return to the same slide (but no unsightly box appears). Click to advance to your next slide.
Add an On Click effect to start the movie
If you prefer, you can click to start the movie. This requires one more step, setting an On Click animation effect.
1. On the Slide Show menu, click Custom Animation. The Custom Animation task pane (task pane: A window within an Office application that provides commonly used commands. Its location and small size allow you to use these commands while still working on your files.) appears on the right side of the PowerPoint window.
2. Click the movie object (the rectangle) to select it.
3. In the Custom Animation task pane, click Add Effect, point to Entrance and then click Appear.
You have added an On Click effect. The animation effect you added is the one with the Green star next to it and a gray rectangle around it. If it doesn’t have a gray rectangle, click it to select it. Your Custom Animation task pane should look like the picture below (except with the name of your movie in the list).
4. The last step is to move that animation up to the top of the effects list. To do this, make sure the animation effect is selected, and then click the Up Re-order arrow at the bottom of the Custom Animation task pane. Or simply click and drag the animation effect to the top of the effects list.
5. Your effects list should now look like this:
6. You are done. Test this to make sure it works by starting the slide show. (On the Slide Show menu, click View Show.) When you advance to the slide with the movie, you should not see the movie. When you click the slide, the movie zooms to full screen and plays. When it finishes playing, you are returned to the same slide. Click to advance to the next slide.

Nanotech BSU

10.26.2006

10.22.2006

10.18.2006

10.16.2006

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