Nano Technology Special

Technology feature of the month
India in Nano Technology Research
New measurements by an Indian physicist and his team support the idea that nanotubes cylindrical carbon rolls no thicker than an atom may make good batteries for tiny devices or even power pacemakers, dispensing with cumbersome power packs.

Submersed in a slow-flowing liquid, a dense bundle of nanotubes develops a voltage that ranges up to 10 millivolts and increases with flow speed, according to Ajay Sood and his colleagues at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. A nanotube is so small that a bundle the size of a sesame seed contains about 50 trillion tubes. As various fluids, from hydrochloric acid to water, flowed over a nanotube bundle mounted between metal electrodes, Sood and his team measured the generated voltage.

Charge-generating nanotubes may find applications in micro-machines that work in a fluid - - and futuristic - - environment. While nano-explorers have yet to be invented, inner-space journeys, such as that envisioned by Harry Kleiner and Isaac Asimov in “Fantastic Voyage”, might become possible with nanotube-powered micro-submarines that use flowing blood as both a power source and a medium of transport. Rolled nanotubes also lend themselves to three-dimensional batteries that can be made extra small. Confident that nanotubes will set the pace for many new technologies, Dr. Sood said he is “in the process of patenting the concept in both India and the United States.”

Source : (www.techextreme.com)

IT-Quote

“For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature 
cannot be fooled.”

Richard P. Feynman

IT Snippets

Neuro-Chip Reads Brain Signals
Researchers at Infineon Technologies AG in Germany have developed new semiconductor technology that will allow scientists to read electrical signals in living nerve cells. Neurons are the specialized cells that make up the nervous system in living organisms and communicate with each other through electrical pulses.

The Neuro-Chip, about the size of a fingernail, has 16,000 sensors that monitor electrical pulses in cells submerged in electrolyte nutrient fluid that coats the semiconductor and keeps the neurons alive. Amplifiers embedded in the circuitry enable each sensor to detect and process the low voltage signals throughout the different cell layers. The data can then be transmitted to a computer and eventually transformed into a colour picture for analysis.

Source : (cnn.com) 

Hydrogen Yields Smaller Nanowires
Researchers from City University of Hong Kong in China have produced silicon wires that are smaller than any made before.

The wires, which can be used in nanoelectronics, have diameters as small as 1.3 nanometers, which is the size of a row of 13 hydrogen atoms. The researcher’s tests show that the wires are stable and can be used in nanoscale computer chips, light emitting diodes and lasers.
The key to the wire’s stability is the presence of hydrogen rather than the usual oxygen on the outside surfaces of the wires. 
The researcher’s produce the more stable wires by dipping them in an acid bath. This extra-stable configuration made it easier to image the wires with a scanning tunneling microscope, and makes the wires more suitable for electronics than ordinary silicon nanowires.

The researchers’ tests showed that wires with diameters ranging from 7 nanometers to 1.3 nanometers reacted to light differently, which could make it possible to use the wires as tiny light-emitting-diodes and lasers.

Source : (technologyreview.com)

IT Quiz

1. 1 Meter divided by how much is a nanometer?

2. Ever heard of Millipede?

3. What is MRAM?

Nano clothes prevent skin aging
Specialists from Japanese company Kanebo Spinning Corporation have developed a fabric with special characteristics. It can protect skin from harmful effects of UV (ultra-violet) rays, which prevents early aging of people. This new fabric is called Nano Dew. It is produced in accordance with the firm’s exclusive technology (a so-called nanotechnology). It contains vitamin E and special enzymes. Clothes with anti-ageing effects will soon be available in Japan’s stores, and may cost from $30 (Rs 1,430) to $80 (Rs 3,810). It’s likely that such clothes will be extremely popular among olive-skinned Japanese who always try to lead healthy lives. Such clothes will be important for people who are prescribed to avoid much sun rays.

Source : (Smartinc : April 2003)

IT Humour
Cars
Bill Gates is hanging out with the chairman of General Motors.

“If automotive technology had kept pace with computer technology over the past few decades,” boasts Gates, “You would now be driving a V-32 instead of a V-8, and it would have a top speed of 10,000 miles per hour.”

Bill Gates continued, “Or, you could have an economy car that weighs 30 pounds and gets a thousand miles to a gallon of gas. In either case, the sticker price of a new car would be less than $50.”

In response to all this goading, the GM chairman replied, “Yes, but would you really want to drive a car that crashes four times a day?”

Source : (www.jokes.com)

IT Quiz Solutions

1. 1 billionth (10⁹ ) part of meter is nanometer. Thus divide 1 meter by 100 crore to get a nanometer.
   

2. Millipede is a data storage technology promoted by IBM with a data storage density of a trillion(10¹²) bits per square inch 20 times higher than the densest magnetic storage available today, enough to store 25 million printed textbook pages on a surface of the size of a postage stamp.
   

3. MRAM an acronym of Magnetic Random Access Memory that offers non volatile storage of data suitable for storing computer files. This will lead to increase in computer speeds with virtually zero boot or shut down times. MRAM fabrication based on nanotechnology is also on cards to improve its speed further.