Researchers at Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster (WWU; Germany) and the Center for NanoTechnology GmbH (CeNTech; Münster, Germany) have developed a new nanotechnology material, zeolite-L-nanocrystalstha, that kills antibiotic-resitant bacteria. The effectiveness of the nanoparticles is based on photodynamic therapy, in which exposure to light sets off a reaction that kills bacterial cells. The researchers also attach a third material to the nanocrystals that is activated by red light...

Firing neurons (the green structures in the foreground) communicate with nanotubes in the background. Illustration courtesy of Mohammad Reza Abidian. Brain implants that can more clearly record signals from surrounding neurons in rats have been created by scientists at the University of Michigan (U-M; Ann Arbor). Prompted by the work of Mohammad Reza Abidian, the findings could eventually lead to more-effective treatment of neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease...

Touted by Advanced Diamond Technologies Inc. (ADT; Romeoville, IL) as "the world's smoothest vapor-deposited diamond," the company's UNCD Horizon could present new opportunities in electronic and biomedical applications, including biosensors. With a smoothness on the order of 1 nm, the diamond wafer technology is an order of magnitude smoother than the company's previous technology. To fabricate the material, the company applied a chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) process to its already-...

Steven De Jong, president of Lohmann Corp., USA (center) with Jerry Alberico (left) and Loren Alberico (right) of G&L Precision Die Cutting LLC Lohmann Corp. (Hebron, KY), a manufacturer of specialty adhesive tapes and high-precision die-cuts, has acquired G&L Precision Die Cutting (San Jose), a full-service converter. G&L specializes in providing tight-tolerance rotary and flat-bed die-cutting, slitting, laser cutting, printing, and multilayer laminating...

A team of researchers led by Daniel Kohane of Harvard Medical School has created a hydrogel-based membrane that responds to magnetic flux. The ability to remotely 'switch on and off' the membrane's porosity could lead to membrane-based implants that can release doses of such drugs as anesthetics on demand. Poly (N-isopropylacrylamide), or PNIPAM, served as the basis for the membrane. "The researchers embedded nanoscale particles of PNIPAM-based gels in an ethyl cellulose membrane so that clumps...

Four views of an algae-based battery show algae's structure, the battery's construction, and finished prototypes. When people think of algae, they often picture the green film that forms on the surface of swimming pools. But now, researchers in the Nanotechnology and Functional Materials Department of Engineering Sciences at the Ångström Laboratory of Uppsala University (Sweden) have found another use for these photosynthetic organisms: batteries. Constructed primarily from algae,...

Members of the laser research team at Purdue University review data using a laser deposition system. The system works by depositing layers of a powdered mixture of metal and ceramic materials, melting the powder with a laser, and then solidifying each layer to form parts. With the demand for artificial hips in people under the age of 40 expected to reach 40 million annually by 2010 and 80 million by 2030, scientists are hard at work developing methods to expedite their...

Nano- and microscale particle systems have become a key component in biomedical applications such as drug-delivery systems. Their small size and potential for modification and functionalization make them suitable for performing specific tasks in the body. Yet, controlling these materials at the structural level to create particles capable of complex interactions with biological systems remains a challenge. Joerg Lahann, associate professor in the chemical engineering department at the...

A team of scientists at Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology (Haifa), are building an electronic 'nose' that could help physicians detect lung cancer in its initial stages. Using gold nanoparticles, the scientists have created sensors with unprecedented sensitivity for sniffing out compounds present in the breath of lung-cancer patients. While other efforts to devise a cancer-sniffing gold nanoparticle–based sensor have been promising, the resulting devices must detect a higher...