Taiwan signs nanotechnology collaboration with Australia

Taipei, March 3 (CNA) The Taiwan Nanotechnology Industry development Association (TANIDA) recently established the country's first international collaboration on nanotechnology with Australia's Nano Business Forum (ANBF), as part of a national program to advance the nation's nanotechnology industries.
TANIDA Chairman Wu Maw-kuen signed the "Taiwanese and Australian Nanotechnology Collaboration Initiative" with ANBF CEO Tina Rankovic Feb. 26 at the International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICONN) in Melbourne.
"Taiwan's world-famous IC industry and its government-level National Science and Technology Program for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology are the key factors making the cooperation possible, " Song Tsing- Tang, the national program's CEO and secretary-general of TANIDA, who had just returned from Melbourne, said Monday.
The two countries will seek economic growth through the commercial application of nanotechnology, while working together on a range of activities, projects and information exchanges that will facilitate the uptake of nanotechnology businesses in both nations, according to the initiative's memorandum of understanding.
Song refused to divulge further details of the collaboration, citing commercial confidentiality.
Taiwan has amassed an estimated more-than NT$300 billion (US$9.68 billion) in nanotechnology production value since the national program started in 2003.
Song also said the collaboration will be mutually beneficial, noting that Australia's strong nanotechnology sector can help compensate Taiwan's weakness in areas such as nanobiotechnology.
Such national-level collaboration that boosts technology between neighboring countries is becoming increasingly common, with the ANBF signing a similar initiative with Japan's Nanotechnology Business Creation Initiative in 2007, showing Australia's determination to explore the Asia-Pacific market through nanotechnology alliances.
The ANBF was formed in 2006 as a national body representing and promoting Australian industries and companies involved in nanotechnology, with the aim of facilitating links between key stakeholders including government, funding, regulatory and research entities.
TANIDA, a brainchild of the national program, was launched in 2004 to coordinate academia-industry collaboration in developing value-added nanotechnology products.
The relationship between the two government- sponsored organizations was forged during Taiwan Nano 2007, one of the premier trade exhibitions in nanotechnology in Asia. (By Yeh Fang-hsun)

Una radio más pequeña que un grano de arena

Científicos estadounidenses han utilizado nanotubos para fabricar un diminuto receptor que es totalmente funcional, aunque sólo puede sintonizar una emisora
Ingenieros estadounidenses han fabricado una radio de transistores que es mucho más pequeña que un grano de arena, utilizando nanotubos. Así consta en el informe que han publicado en la revista Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Pese a que el aparato solo puede sintonizar una estación, su fabricación constituye un gran paso para la fabricación de otros aparatos minúsculos y mucho más avanzados. Los científicos, de la Universidad de Illinois, han montado su diminuto receptor radiofónico con nanotubos, átomos de carbono dispuestos en una diminuta fila.


Una tecnología con decenas de aplicaciones

Esas hileras de átomos son centenares de miles de veces más finas que un cabello humano y en conjunto constituyen un material semiconductor que puede aplicarse a aparatos y circuitos electrónicos.

Las radios están formadas por dos amplificadores de frecuencia radiofónica y un mezclador de frecuencia, todos ellos fabricados con materiales de nanotubos. Los cascos para escucharla, que son de tamaño normal, se aplican directamente al transistor (hecho también con nanotubos), y que utiliza una antena convencional.

En una de las pruebas los ingenieros de la Universidad de Illinois captaron un informe de tráfico de la ciudad de Baltimore (Maryland). Según indicó John Rogers, experto en ciencia de materiales y director del estudio, el objetivo no era en sí fabricar un receptor de radio, sino desarrollar esos nanotubos para que actúen como semiconductores.

Fuente: http://www.fys.es

High Efficiency Photovoltaic AOS Solar Technology Targets 90 Percent Silicon Reduction and 50 Percent Manufacturing Energy Reduc

Mark Rowe of the Telegraph UK, reports on the new technology hoping to improve safety and efficiency at our airports.

Trials are under way of new security screening measures that could dramatically enhance safety and reduce queues at airports.
A number of companies are developing "nanotechnology-based" scanners that improve the detection of explosives.
One of the new techniques, which is expected to become commercially available later this year, can screen one person per second, according to Erwan Normand, of Stirling-based Cascade Technologies, which has developed the technology.advertisement
Mr Normand said the technology works by using an infra-red laser light to seek out the chemical fingerprint of specific molecules of gases that are linked to explosives.
The screening equipment is easy to operate and has the support of the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence. It would sit alongside conventional security items, such as X-ray machines or metal detectors.
"It could be installed at the end of an X-ray machine, or by a portal that people walk through," said Mr Normand.
The use of nanotechnology in the laser makes the system far more selective and sensitive than traditional detection methods.
Richard Cooper, operations director of Cascade Technologies, compared its scanning capability to "detecting a drop of contaminated water in an Olympic swimming pool".
Traditional screening for explosives lacks the speed or sensitivity to screen all people and bags, and often gives rise to false alarms. After several false alarms, security officials have been known to bypass protocols to ease congestion.
A second screening system, being developed in Australia, uses electromagnetic waves to monitor molecules of chemicals, explosives and biological agents in the air.
"It will hopefully enable mass routine screening," said Dr Dmitri Gramotnev, of Queensland University of Technology.
Both companies are wary of declaring their inventions foolproof. "There are no bullet-proof technologies," said Dr Gramotnev. "It is always possible, in principle, to circumvent them - by developing new substances that may not be detectable by this new technology - but it would be very difficult to achieve in practice."Contact information :
Source....http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.jhtml?xml=/travel/2008/01/26/et-a...

Nanotech researchers create darkest man-made material

The nanotech-based material, which looks like a thin piece of black paper, could be used for solar energy converters, infrared detection and astronomical observation. The secret to the material's darkness lies in the way the tubes are loosely packed together. Researchers from Rice University noted that light is trapped in the spaces between the tubes.
Scientists from the two schools worked together on the project, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Basic Energy Sciences and the Focus Center New York for Interconnects.

"It is a fascinating technology, and this discovery will allow us to increase the absorption efficiency of light, as well as the overall radiation-to-electricity efficiency of solar energy conservation," said Shawn-Yu Lin, professor of physics at Rensselaer, in a statement. "The key to this discovery was finding how to create a long, extremely porous vertically-aligned carbon nanotube array with certain surface randomness, therefore minimizing reflection and maximizing absorption simultaneously."
Every material - water, plastic or even rocks - reflects some a certain amount of light. Basic black paint reflects 5% to 10%, for instance - or 100 times more light than the nanotube carpet. Researchers at Rensselaer noted that scientists have long tried to create a material that would absorb all the colors that make up light, while reflecting none. They have not been able to create a material that didn't reflect any light at all. Before this latest advancement, the darkest manmade material reflected 0.16% to 0.18%.

This new nanotech-based material has a total reflective index of 0.045%, which is more than three times darker than the previous record, which used a film deposition of nickel-phosphorous alloy, according to scientists at Rensselaer.
"The loosely-packed forest of carbon nanotubes, which is full of nanoscale gaps and holes to collect and trap light, is what gives this material its unique properties," said Lin. "Such a nanotube array not only reflects light weakly, but also absorbs light strongly. These combined features make it an ideal candidate for one day realizing a super black object."
The researchers have applied for a Guinness World Record recognition.Contact information :
http://www.computerworld.com/

Advance Nanotech Adds Homeland Security Expert to Its Board of Directors

"Joe Peters brings an incredible wealth of knowledge and wisdom to Advance Nanotech, having devoted his thirty-year career to public service from the beginning as a police officer to Executive Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania, Special U.S. Department of Justice Mafia Prosecutor and notably as the Drug Czar's Liaison to Tom Ridge and the White House Office of Homeland Security. Currently, Joe consults to national and international law enforcement organizations on counter-terrorism and related technology issues. He is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and serves on its Terrorism Committee," commented Magnus Gittins, chairman of Advance Nanotech Inc. "With our principal focus on chemical detection systems for military, law enforcement, industrial process control, environmental and medical applications, Joe's understanding of the competitive landscape will be invaluable. We are honored that he has chosen to join our team."

"Advance Nanotech's Owlstone technology is highly impressive. Real-time chemical detection is critical to an effective security program. Using nanotechnology to port these capabilities on to a silicon chip is enabling next generation technology to be available today. Magnus and his team have commercialized ground breaking technology in a few short years, and I am particularly impressed with the potential for this company. It is inexpensive to produce, and efficient to manage on large and small scales. I look forward to contributing my 'in the field' experience to what I believe to be cutting- edge and necessary technology applications."

Concurrent with his White House duties with Office of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, Mr. Peters served President George W. Bush as the Assistant Deputy Director for State and Local Affairs of the White House's Drug Policy Office - commonly referred to as the Drug Czar's Office. There his duties included supervision of the country's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program. Mr. Peters also served as the Drug Czar's Liaison to the White House Office of Homeland Security and Governor Tom Ridge.

Previously, Mr. Peters joined the Clinton White House, to direct the country's 26 HIDTA's, with an annual budget of a quarter billion dollars, focusing technology solutions against the drug and terror threats. Mr. Peters also represented the White House with police, prosecutors, governors, mayors and many non-governmental organizations. Mr. Peters began his career as a State prosecutor when he joined the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office in 1983. He later served as a Chief Deputy Attorney General of the Organized Crime Section, and in 1989 was named the first Executive Deputy Attorney General of the newly created Drug Law Division. In that capacity, Mr. Peters oversaw the activities of 56 operational drug task forces throughout the State, involving approximately 760 local police departments with 4,500 law enforcement officers. Currently Joe Peters serves as president of MSGI Security Solutions, Inc., an international provider of proprietary security solutions to commercial and government organizations, headquartered in New York.

Mr. Peters received his B.A. in Criminal Justice with honors from King's College in 1979, and received his Juris Doctorate in Law from Dickinson School of Law in 1983.

Self-Assembling Bionic Eyes Coming Soon

Any self-respecting child of the late 20th century would jump at the chance to overlay an electronic stream of information on their field of vision -- but when the idea's gone from science fiction to science, it's usually been more A/V club than Snow Crash.
All that could change: witness a contact lens designed by electrical engineers from the University of Washington and presented yesterday at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' international conference on microelectro mechanical systems.
Sporting circuits a few nanometers thick and grain-of-sand-sized light-emitting diodes, the lenses have full Count Zero potential. They're also the product of some ingenious hackery: since contact lenses are delicate and circuit manufacture is hot and toxic, the researchers designed each component to attach itself only to certain other components. Their powder of circuits and diodes literally self-assembled into gadgetry when sprinkled onto the lens plastic.
So how long do geeks have to wait? According to the press release, a stripped-down display with just a few operational pixels could be available "fairly quickly." More complicated lenses will take longer, but for good reason: they'll be wireless-enabled and powered by a combination of radio waves and solar energy.
And while I've framed this post in recreational terms, some potential applications are pretty serious: the lenses might help autistic people enter the world of regular social interaction.

source: www.wired.com

British Group Bans Nanoparticles From Organic Certification

The use of man-made nanoparticles has been banned in British products that want a sometimes-valuable "organic" label from the Soil Association. The group laid out the first organic standard in the world back in 1967 and continues to certify organic products in Great Britain.
Cosmetics from Johnson & Johnson and L'Oreal could be impacted, but in our snooping around, we didn't find any companies that currently have an organic label that would be forced to remove it (neither could the Financial Times). One widely used product containing nanoparticles is sunscreen containing titanium dioxide, which normally is white, but at the nanoscale, becomes transparent, allowing for "clear" sunscreen.
Gundaleh Azziz, the group's policy manager explained to WiSci why they've added the ban to their organic standards:
Viewed in a precautionary framework, the Soil Association's move makes sense. Their fundamental position is that if we don't know the risks, the products shouldn't be available to the public. Or at least consumers should have the option to knowingly choose products that do not contain nanoparticles.
And it is true that the science and toxicology of materials at smaller-than-standard scales is still being worked out. As Andrew Maynard, science adviser to the Pew Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies put it, "What you have is a lot of confusion and speculation because the science is not exactly clear about what is safe."
There's a lot of nanoparticle risk information out there, but it's all over the map and truly rigorous evaluations of the health and safety impacts of different nanoparticles haven't been conducted.
Stephan Sterne of the National Institutes for Health lead authored a paper in the journal Toxicological Sciences that was published earlier this year. In its abstract, he wrote:
...any conclusions should clearly be tempered by the fact that nanomaterial safety data are limited. Until such time as the exposures, hazards, and environmental life cycle of nanomaterials have been more clearly defined, cautious development and implementation of nanotechnology is the most prudent course.
So I do give the Soil Association credit for drawing attention to the need for studies in nanotoxicity. What I question is whether or not the political moves they are making are actually productive. The Soil Association, and groups associated with it like the ETC Group, are extending out from this specific labeling maneuver to frame the debate around nanotechnology as similar to the genetic modification debate, even though the science, benefits, and risks of these technologies are vastly different.
Number one, genetically engineering living organisms, for good or ill, is fundamentally different from the creation of nanoparticles: most obviously, life can reproduce. Second, genetic engineering is a set of techniques for the creation of genetically modified organisms, while nanotechnology is a far broader science.

"Talking about nanotechnology is the same as talking about chemistry," said Maynard. "There are many different nanoparticles out there."
It seems that the Soil Association's reasoning would lead one to the unwanted position of banning chemistry itself, not just pesticides, because poisons can be created.

Source: Nanovip