nanotechnology

At Carnegie Mellon University, Professor Elias Towe's group pursues research in basic optical and quantum phenomena in materials for applications in novel photonic devices that enable a new generation of information processing systems for communication, computation, and sensing.

Researchers at Idaho National Laboratory, along with partners at Microcontinuum Inc. (Cambridge, MA) and Patrick Pinhero of the University of Missouri, are developing a novel way to collect energy from the sun with a technology that could potentially cost pennies a yard, be imprinted on flexible materials and still draw energy after the sun has set.

 Developing organic solar cells from polymers is a cheap and potentially simple alternative energy. New Jersey Institute of Technology's Dr. Somenath Mitra has developed solar cells that use a carbon nanotube complex. Nanotubes are 50,000 times smaller than a human hair, but one nanotube can conduct a current better than any electrical wire.

Just a few months ago I was presenting the Tesla Roadster as a pioneer in electric vehicles. And it surely is. It does 60mph in just 3.7 seconds, is extremely light and not so comfortable. This time, the British have projected a brand-new electric car that would ultimately compete with Tesla’s famous Roadster.

A breakthrough technology announced today quickly and cheaply removes metal contaminants like mercury from water. Is the breakthrough a Trojan Horse?

Brian Hannafin, Vice President, Business Development and Marketing, Center for Economic Growth (CEG), provides a tour of the New York State booth at theWashington International Renewable Energy Conference, discussing the clean energy companies and activities in New York.

An average person stores as much energy in fat as a 1000kg battery and there are some interesting developments that are trying to harness some of this energy. We're not just talking riding a bike. What if your walk or bike not only got you to your destination, but also charged a battery or a portable device?

A new material, nano flakes, may revolutionise the transformation of solar energy to electricity. If so, even ordinary households can benefit from solar electricity and save money in the future.

The US electricity distribution grid is around 100-years old and aging faster than new construction renews it while peak demand for electricity is projected to rise 19 percent nationally during the next decade--capital investments in electrical generation, transmission and distribution are forecast to grow by only 6 percent over the same period, according to the Electrical Power Research Initiative.

The Subcommittee on Research and Science Education of the Committee on Science and Technology holds a hearing to review the need and motivation for research on the environmental, health and safety (EHS) aspects of nanotechnology, determine the current state of planning and implementation of EHS research under the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), and explore whether changes are needed to the current mechanisms for planning and implementing EHS research.

With the application of a Nansulate paint coating, the thermal difference between inside and outside temperatures could be used to generate electricity, in addition to saving energy through its insulating properties.

This seminar explores perspectives on how to minimize the environmental risks that new nanotechnologies may hold while still reaping the rewards of their development.

As the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently stated, nanotechnology has evolved from a futuristic idea to watch to a current issue to address. And for this new technology’s enormous potential to improve everyone’s life to be realized, nanotechnology must be subject to an adequate oversight system—a system designed to identify and minimize any adverse effects of nano materials and products on health or the
environment.

Researchers have come up with two tiny instruments capable of detecting a variety of contaminants in food and water.