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This week saw a group of "thought leaders" involved in the field of nanotechnology gather in the US to discuss the potential of the sector.
The EntreTech Forum, held in Waltham, Massachusetts, on December 16th focused on the commercialisation of nanotechnology applications.
It is a field that gold features frequently in, with several nano-techniques using the precious metal already at the commercialisation stage.
The organisers of the US event stated: "The recent and rapid development of nanotechnology is poised to be one of the most significant developments in science of the emerging century."
Current technologies featured in sensor and diagnostic applications "merely hint" at the "thousands" of potential uses for nano-devices, they added.
Recently, scientists from the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia in Spain developed a more energy-efficient way to form azo compounds - which are used in dyes and paints - using gold nanoparticles.
The miniscule particles of gold were used as a catalyst to boost the process.

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The new Nanochemistry Laboratory is located at the Institut de Science et d’Ingenierie Supramoleculaires (ISIS) of the University of Strasbourg, France and will be headed by Dr. Nina Matoussevitch, an experienced Nanochemist. Dr. Matoussevitch’s lab will work closely with Strem’s US facility and Prof. Dr. Helmut Boennemann, Strem’s nanoconsultant. The goal of the new facility will be to serve R&D groups worldwide with custom-made nanostructured materials.
Strem’s nanomaterials manufacturing activities began in 2004 when it licensed technology developed by Prof. Dr. Boennemann at the Max-Planck Institute in Germany. This technology allowed for the manufacture of a variety of metal-based nanoparticles including colloids and magnetic fluids.
Strem’s product offering now includes nanoparticles of many transition metals, precious metals as well as metal oxides, mixed-metal oxides and magnetic fluids. These are provided in a number of different shapes, such as gold nanospheres and gold nanorods and with a variety of surface coatings. Nanoparticle sizes range from 1nm gold which has been shown to be toxic to cancer cells, to 90nm. Nanocatalysts are also available.
Strem has also recently enhanced its web site and made nanomaterials information more readily accessible. The site’s technical content has been enhanced to include MSDS sheets and Certificates of Analysis. Additional product resources have been added highlighting applications and literature references. On-line ordering, quote requests and literature request may also be made on-line.
About Strem Chemicals Strem Chemicals, Inc., established in 1964, is a privately held manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemicals of high purity. Strem’s key products include catalysts, ligands, organometallics, metal carbonyls and nanomaterials. Its products are used for research and development and commercial scale applications, especially in the pharmaceutical, microelectronics, chemicals and petrochemicals industries. Strem Chemicals also provides custom synthesis, process development and cGMP manufacturing services.

The report by the National Research Council calls for a revamped national strategic plan that will minimize potential risks and permit innovation to flourish and society to reap nanotechnology’s benefits.
The risk research plan developed under the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) has been widely criticized by consumer groups, chemical industry representatives and congressional lawmakers from both major parties as lacking a clear vision and the resources necessary to improve understanding of the potential risks posed by nanomaterials.
This report calls for an improved mechanism for conducting research. As many as 18 federal agencies — including the Defense Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration — are under the umbrella of the NNI’s environment and health implications working group, making coordinating research a challenging task. The principal recommendation is to replace the current bottom-up collection of individual agency research agendas and budgets with a top-down, highly focused and fully-funded strategy that addresses the risk research priorities of a rapidly commercializing new technology.

Chinese and U.S. researchers have developed a carbon nanotube-coated smart yarn which can conduct electricity and be woven into textiles to detect blood or to monitor health. According to one of the lead researchers, today’s smart textiles, which are made of metallic or optical fibers, are fragile and not comfortable. So the team combined two fibers, one natural and one created by nanotechnology, to build a new kind of smart textile. If a soldier wearing clothes made with this fabric was wounded, his mobile phone could alert a nearby patrol to save his life.
This research project has been led at the University of Michigan by Nicholas Kotov, Professor of Chemical Engineering, and a member of his lab, PhD student Bongsup Shim. They’ve worked with Wei Chen, Chris Doty and Chuanlai Xu, researchers at Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China.
So how did this team build these smart textiles? “To make these ‘e-textiles,’ the researchers dipped 1.5-millimeter thick cotton yarn into a solution of carbon nanotubes in water and then into a solution of a special sticky polymer in ethanol. After being dipped just a few times into both solutions and dried, the yarn was able to conduct enough power from a battery to illuminate a light-emitting diode device. ‘This turns out to be very easy to do,’ Kotov said. ‘After just a few repetitions of the process, this normal cotton becomes a conductive material because carbon nanotubes are conductive.’”
What are the properties of these smart textiles? “The only perceptible change to the yarn is that it turned black, due to the carbon. It remained pliable and soft. In order to put this conductivity to use, the researchers added the antibody anti-albumin to the carbon nanotube solution. Anti-albumin reacts with albumin, a protein found in blood. When the researchers exposed their anti-albumin-infused smart yarn to albumin, they found that the conductivity significantly increased. Their new material is more sensitive and selective as well as more simple and durable than other electronic textiles, Kotov said.”
And what could be the applications for such materials? “Clothing that can detect blood could be useful in high-risk professions, the researchers say. An unconscious firefighter, ambushed soldier, or police officer in an accident, for example, couldn’t send a distress signal to a central command post. But the smart clothing would have this capability. Kotov says a communication device such as a mobile phone could conceivably transmit information from the clothing to a central command post.”
In Carbon Nanotube Clothing Could Take Charge in an Emergency, Larry Greenemeier describes how these yarn could be used in a more expressive way. (Scientific American, December 12, 2008). ” soldier is badly wounded on the battlefield in Afghanistan or Iraq by a roadside explosive. As he lies beside his vehicle, unable to reach his radio to contact his unit on his location and condition, blood from the wound seeps into his shirt. Luckily, its fibers are coated with cylindrical, nanosize carbon molecules that contain antibodies able to detect the presence of albumin, a protein common in blood. The shirt senses that its wearer is bleeding and sends a signal through the shirt’s carbon nanotubes (1,000 times more conductive than copper) that activates an emergency radio-frequency beacon on the soldier’s belt. This distress call is picked up by a nearby patrol that rushes to the aid of their wounded comrade. This may be the stuff of science fiction, but ongoing development of fabrics coated with carbon nanotubes and other nanoscale substances could someday make such smart clothing a reality, says Nicholas Kotov.”
This research work has been published by Nano Letters, an American Chemical Society journal, under the title “Smart Electronic Yarns and Wearable Fabrics for Human Biomonitoring made by Carbon Nanotube Coating with Polyelectrolytes” (Volume 8, Issue 12, Pages 4151–4157, November 7, 2008). Here is a link to the abstract. “The idea of electronic yarns and textiles has appeared for quite some time, but their properties often do not meet practical expectations. In addition to chemical/mechanical durability and high electrical conductivity, important materials qualifications include weavablity, wearability, light weight, and ’smart’ functionalities. Here we demonstrate a simple process of transforming general commodity cotton threads into intelligent e-textiles using a polyelectrolyte-based coating with carbon nanotubes (CNTs). […] Along with integrated humidity sensing, we demonstrate that CNT-cotton threads can be used to detect albumin, the key protein of blood, with high sensitivity and selectivity. Notwithstanding future challenges, these proof-of-concept demonstrations provide a direct pathway for the application of these materials as wearable biomonitoring and telemedicine sensors, which are simple, sensitive, selective, and versatile.”

Vice President Hamid Ansari today said that public funding for scientific and technological research and development should aim at enhancing public welfare and economic development.Inaugurating the second Bangalore Nano Conference here, the Vice President said, “The new science and technologies focus on the ability to image, measure, model, and manipulate matter on the nanoscale. Nanoscale science, engineering, and technology promise new materials and applications across many fields. These include clean and affordable energy, filtration systems, medical devices and drugs, more efficient lighting systems, detection of harmful chemical or biological agents and cleaning of hazardous chemicals in the environment.”
He said that realising and exploiting the full potential offered by nano-technology depends on intensive and broad-based collaborative research.
“The Government is aware that capacity building in this upcoming area of research will be of utmost importance. Last year, the Nano Mission was launched as an umbrella programme for capacity building which envisages the overall development of this field of research and to tap some of its applied potential for the nation’s development,” he added.
The Vice President further said that as part of the Nano Mission, research on fundamental aspects of Nano Science and training of manpower would receive prime attention, adding that “It will also strive for development of products and processes for national development, especially in areas of national relevance like safe drinking water, drug delivery.”
He said that the mission would seek to forge linkages between educational and research institutions and industry and promote Public Private Partnerships. It has been structured to achieve synergy between the national and international collaborative research efforts of various agencies in Nano Science and Technology and launch new programmes in a concerted fashion.
He further highlighted the three aspects of c developments in the country, first, there should be recognition that public funding for scientific and technological research and development is premised on the promise for enhancing public welfare and economic development.
“Second, we need to realise that new and revolutionary technologies always come as a package - with the promise of new opportunities and the threat of new risks. Third, nanotechnologies encompass a wide array of sectors ranging from aerospace to pharmaceuticals, national defence to miniature art,” he added.

A while back, we received a call from a company that had developed a spray on insulation using nanotechnology. The company claimed it could dramatically reduce a company’s energy cost by using this spray on insulation. I cannot remember the exact statistics, but it was something dramatic, like one-eighth inch of nano insulation would replace twelve inches of normal insulation.
We took the application to the insurance marketplace and found no insurance carriers willing to provide a product liability policy. We couldn’t understood because we reassured the product liability underwriters that the workers spraying the insulation on the pipes, etc. would be fully clothed in space suits that would not allow any nano particles to be inhaled by the workers.
It was only after reading “Nanotechnology - Small matter, many unknowns” written by Swiss Re did I understand that the concern was not only for the workers, but that the nano particles could potentially be so small that they could attach to dust and later be inhaled by the public. The insurance carriers are concerned that nano could be the next asbestos with regards to insurance claims.
Since there were obvious concerns by consumer advocates, insurance companies and others about the potential risks from nano materials the National Nanotechnology Initiative was set up to coordinate safety research. However, based on the latest report from the National Research Council the NNI plan does not include research goals to help ensure that nanotechnologies are developed and used as safely as possible and fails to provide a clear understanding of nano risks and where it should be in 10 years.
The National Research Council has called for a new plan going beyond federal research to include universities, industry, consumer and environment research groups.
The potential for nanotechnology seems unlimited; however, until entrepreneurs and investors can be fully insured and know that their hard earned assets are protected, the business of nanotechnology will have no choice but to creep at a snale’s pace. And until the product liability insurance carriers have reliable research data concerning the safety of nanotechnology, they will remain wary and cautious.

U.S. scientists have developed a tiny sensor that can detect small amounts of cancer-causing toxins or trace the effectiveness of cancer drugs inside living cells.
The finding, reported on Sunday in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, offers a new tool for tracking specific chemicals in the body.
"We made a very small nanosensor that can detect cancer-causing molecules or important therapeutic drugs inside of a single living cell," said Michael Strano of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, who worked on the study.
"It's much smaller than a living cell in your body," Strano said in a telephone interview. "It's so small it can be placed into environments that aren't accessible with larger sensors."
Strano said the sensors are made up of thin filaments of carbon molecules known as carbon nanotubes.
Several teams are using nanomaterials -- thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair -- to develop new ways to deliver drugs in the body or improve diagnosis of disease.
For its sensors, Strano's team wrapped carefully shaped carbon nanotubes with DNA, which offers a binding site for DNA-damaging agents inside cells.
The sensors give off a fluorescent light that can be detected in the near-infrared light spectrum. Because human tissues do not light up in this spectrum, the nanotubes stand out.
Strano said the light signal changes when the sensors interact with DNA inside cells. These changes can help them identify specific molecules.
"It's a way of fingerprinting chemistry," Strano said.
Because the sensors are coated in DNA, Strano said they can be safely injected into living cells.
"Eventually the cell eats the protein off the coating and it essentially spits it out," he said.
He said the most immediate use of the technology will be as a very powerful tool for scientists to study the effects of very small amounts of a chemical.
But it could eventually be used as a new way to image the human body.
"It's a new tool. There is nothing else like it."

Scientists are to examine the potential dangers of "nanoparticles" in everyday products such as sunscreen in a £2.6 million project funded by the European Union.
Dr Anddrew Nelson, a chemist at the University of Leeds, will lead a team of British, Dutch, Belgian, Spanish and Italian experts looking at the environmental impact of nanotechnology.
"There is a huge need for this research as some nanoparticles that are used in everyday products, such as paint and suntan cream, have never been properly tested," said Dr Nelson.
"What this project is aiming to do is assess the subtle, long-term environmental and health problems that these new particles may cause."
Nanotechnology involves creating and manipulating new materials at scales 100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Particles at such small scales often have unusual properties.
The scientists are especially interested in nanoparticles made of metal oxides such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. These are already used in a wide range of products, such as anti-bacterial cleaning agents, ointments, sunscreens and paints.
In Leeds scientists will test the particles on model biological membranes and DNA to see whether they cause any long-term damage.
Across Europe the project will tackle how nanoparticles affect single-celled organisms and fish, and how they are transported by waterways and rivers.
"What has never been done before is to look at the relationship between the physical structure of nanoparticles and their toxicity," said Dr Nelson. "What we're trying to do is develop risk assessment strategies that account for the complex behaviour of very small particles."
ENNSATOX (the ENgineered Nanoparticles, Structure, Activity and TOXicology) project is due to get under way next summer.

Researchers at MIT have found that carbon nanotubes can serve as highly sensitive biological sensors for detecting single molecules in living cells in real time. The study, published online in Nature Nanotechnology, is the first demonstration that nanoscale sensors can be used to detect and image multiple types of molecules in cells at the same time, at a sensitivity that far exceeds that of fluorescent dyes, the standard tool for molecular imaging. The researchers used the sensors to detect substances that damage DNA, including certain cancer drugs and toxins. The sensors could eventually be used to monitor the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs, track molecular interactions in cells, and test for low levels of toxins in the environment.
Michael Strano, an author of the paper and associate professor of chemical engineering at MIT, says that the work represents a leap forward in his goal to develop a nanoscale sensor for detecting molecules inside living cells. The tiny structures have recently shown promise for optical detection and imaging because they fluoresce when exposed to near-infrared light. This property is useful for biological imaging because near-infrared light can penetrate tissues more deeply than visible light can. And because cells do not fluoresce when exposed to near-infrared light, an near-infrared light-emitting sensor is easier to spot.
The sensors developed in Strano's lab are single-wall carbon nanotubes wrapped with a small piece of DNA. When a target molecule binds to the DNA, it causes a change in the light emitted by the nanotube; the change in the light signal can be detected by a microscope. The researchers used the sensors to detect molecules that damage DNA, including chemotherapy drugs, free radicals, and hydrogen peroxide.
Strano says that the sensors offer several important advantages over fluorescent dyes. Not only can they detect and locate molecules, but different types of molecules will affect the properties of the emitted light differently. "When a molecule binds to it, it can change the wavelength or intensity of light that comes out," Strano says. "Every toxin has a unique signature. So you're not just detecting it; you can say something about what kind of toxin it is or what kind of drug it is." In this study, the researchers used two different types of carbon nanotubes to distinguish between four different classes of toxins in living cells, but Strano believes that the sensors could be configured to detect many molecules within a sample or cell at once.

Instead of fossil fuels going in your gas tank, how about adding a pinch of salt? That may be the case in the future as a new process is under development to convert a type of salt into a biofuel.
New properties of imidazolium salts (IMSs) could convert carbohydrates into versatile chemical compounds for biofuel production, according to a study by researchers at Singapore’s Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN).
IBN researchers used IMS to develop a new catalyst system for converting sugars into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a major compound used in biofuel chemistry and the petroleum industry.
IBN researchers were able use IMSs to synthesize uniform gold nanoparticles within seconds at room temperature. The ultrafine (1-2 nm) nanoparticles remained stable for up to six months at 4°C.
Unlike conventional synthesis techniques using borane or borohydride reduction processes, IBN’s method does not require a strong reducing reagent yet is able to produce gold nanoparticles under very mild reaction condition with remarkable efficiency.
IBN’s new synthesis protocol could easily scale up for industrial applications.
Commonly used as solvents for various organic reactions, IMSs are room-temperature ionic liquids chemically stable and have low vapor pressure.
The race continues to compensate for the lowering fossil fuel reserves and to combat global warming effects. That is why researchers across the globe continue to search for sustainable, renewable alternative energy sources.
Biofuels are currently the only sustainable source of liquid fuels available, but the lack of highly efficient methods to convert carbohydrates into chemical compounds for biofuel production is one reason for the slow down in any replacement of petroleum feedstock by biomass.
HMF and its 2,5-disubstituted furan derivatives can replace key petroleum-based building blocks, and several known catalysts can work in the dehydration of sugars to form HMF.
However, most of them also produce undesirable side reactions and rehydrate HMF to form acid.
With IMSs as the starting point, IBN researchers developed N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC)-metal complexes as catalysts to transform sugars into HMF. These offer flexibility as researchers can modify the catalytic activity by changing specific properties of the NHC. The researchers were able to extract HMF easily as the sole product. IBN’s new catalyst achieved the highest reported yields of HMF so far, for both fructose and glucose feedstocks.
“Our HMF yields were as high as 96% for fructose and 81% for glucose,” said IBN Principal Research Scientist Dr. Yugen Zhang. “As both the catalyst and the ionic liquid can be recycled, our technology is more environmentally friendly and would potentially lead to cost savings in the biofuel manufacturing process.”
“Our discovery paves the way for more effective treatment of various degenerative diseases, as well as the conversion of biofuels, helping to alleviate some of the pressing concerns facing our global community,” said IBN Executive Director Professor Jackie Y. Ying.
For related information, go to isa.org/manufacturing_automation.

In 2004, Gunter Oberdorster and colleagues demonstrated that upon inhalation, ultrafine particles, the dimensions of which are measured in nanometers, can move from the nasal passages of rodents to the brain via a specialized nerve called the olfactory bulb. The evolutionary purpose of the olfactory bulb is to relay information about odors directly and rapidly from the nose to the brain.
The extent to which rapid transit via the olfactory bulb is a significant potential route of exposure to engineered nanomaterials is still an open question. But two new papers add support for the relevance of this intriguing exposure pathway, raising important questions regarding the safety of inhaled nanoparticles.
The first paper, by Jiangxue Wang and colleagues, followed the movement of nanoscale titanium dioxide (TiO2) particles placed directly in the nasal passages of mice to the brain via the olfactory bulb. When they looked to see where in the brain the TiO2 went, they found it went pretty much everywhere, although after 30 days the highest concentrations were found in the olfactory bulb and hippocampus. Moreover, the brain tissue of the exposed mice exhibited changes in structure and biochemistry consistent with damage from reactive oxygen compounds.
Nanoscale silver was the subject of the second paper by Jae Hyuck Sung and colleagues. Instead of a single exposure, rats were exposed to nanosilver in the air for 13 weeks. Like an earlier 28-day inhalation study, this one also found widespread distribution of nanosilver in the rats.
This study also sought to determine if there were any health effects associated with longer-term exposures. And they did find effects: inflammation in the lungs, and subtle cellular changes in the livers that are sometimes indicative of pre-cancerous conditions.
Nanosilver was detected in both the olfactory bulb and the brain but unfortunately the paper did not report on any effects that might have been associated with the presence of nanosilver. It is not clear from the description provided if the extent of examination of the brain would have been able to identify subtle effects if they were present.
So what should the next steps be? Elucidating the possible impacts of nanoscale materials on the brain is tricky, in part because the effects could be very diverse, requiring lots of different types of tests to capture them. While damage to brain cells may be relatively easy to discern, other effects, such as those altering brain development or biochemistry, may require more sophisticated testing.
While it is often assumed that inhalation exposure to nanomaterials will be limited primarily to workplaces, such materials are also being used in consumer products that can be widely dispersed. This is particularly true of nanosilver, which can be found in sprays that release nanosilver into the air. This is why we have repeatedly advocated that such dispersive uses be avoided until more is known about the potential adverse effects that could come with these kinds of exposures.

The U.S. government needs a more comprehensive plan for studying the risks of nanotechnology, the National Research Council said.
While the committee that prepared the report did not evaluate the safety of nanomaterials, it was critical of current research efforts into the health and environmental safety of the technology.
Nanomaterials are made of extremely tiny particles — some thousands of times finer than a human hair — which have come increasingly into use in recent years, often in products such as skin care lotions and cosmetics.
Consumer advocates and others have raised questions about potential risks from these materials and the National Nanotechnology Initiative was set up to coordinate safety research.
But the research council report said the NNI plan fails to provide a clear picture of the current understanding of these risks or where it should be in 10 years.
In addition, the NNI plan does not include research goals to help ensure that nanotechnologies are developed and used as safely as possible. And though the research needs listed in the plan are valuable, they are incomplete, the report said.
It called for a new plan going beyond federal research to include research from universities, industry, consumer and environmental groups and others.
“The current plan catalogs nano-risk research across several federal agencies, but it does not present an overarching research strategy needed to gain public acceptance and realize the promise of nanotechnology,” David Eaton, professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Washington and chairman of the committee that prepared the report, said in a statement.
David Rejeski, director of the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, welcomed the report.
“It is disappointing that the Bush administration did not listen to PEN experts” and others calling for an improved research plan, he said. “But I am encouraged that the NRC assessment will provide a roadmap for the next administration to make up for this lost time. It’s time to get the job done and to get it done right,” Rejeski said in a statement.
The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies is an initiative of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and The Pew Charitable Trusts.
The National Research Council is an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, an independent agency chartered by Congress to advise the government on science and technology.

Government of Karnataka, on the occasion of 2nd Bangalore Nano, in the august presence of Shri. M. Hamid Ansari, H.E. Vice President of India, Shri. Rameshwar Thakur, H.E. Governor of Karnataka, Dr. V.S. Acharya, Honourable Home Minister, Government of Karnataka, Prof. C.N.R. Rao, Chairman, Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, Government of India and Dr. Ajit Sapre, Group President (Research & Technology), Reliance Industries Ltd today made a solemn proclamation to declare Bangalore as the "Nanocity of India".
On the occasion, Government of Karnataka promised to take every possible measure to encourage the Research & Development of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, create opportunities for the commercialization of Nanoscience and facilitate development of small, medium and large scale Industry committed to Nanotechnology. In addition to budgetary support, Karnataka Government has allotted 14 acres of Government land for setting up India's first premier 'Nano-institute' - Institute of Nano Science and Technology - in Bangalore. This Centre would be set up under the guidance of JNCASR, with a Rs. 100 crore grant by Government of India from the budgetary provision of Rs. 1000 crore (USD 250 million) for Nano Science and Technology initiative.
Further, Karnataka Government is also planning to develop a Nano Park and Incubation Center. Shri. M. Hamid Ansari, H.E. Vice President of India, said, "It is now globally accepted that Nanotechnology is dramatically changing the face of industry and economy and will be a transformative force in the future of India and the world. The theme of 2nd Bangalore Nano, "Nanotechnology in India's future", is timely and relevant. Bangalore Nano has also encouraged budding entrepreneurs with business ideas by bringing them face to face with industry professionals and Venture Capitalists on a common platform to facilitate networking and business interactions. We need more such platforms in the country for various industry and research sectors." Shri. Rameshwar Thakur, H.E. Governor of Karnataka, said, "Nanotechnology Industry, currently estimated to be around nine billion dollars globally, has the potential to become a trillion dollar sector in the next decade.
If the sector has to take-off, it is necessary that the research companies pass their technology concepts for commercialization. It is in this context that the Research Industry Collaboration Hub (RICH) programme organized at the 2nd Bangalore Nano would be a very fruitful platform for the Industry. Similarly, the YESSS - Young Entrepreneurs Start-ups Soaring Spirits - programme would provide an ideal platform for the young entrepreneurs to interact with the Financial Institutions, Venture Capitalists, Industries etc., and explore opportunities for commercialization and expansion." Dr. V.S. Acharya, Honourable Home Minister, Government of Karnataka said, "Karnataka is proud of the spectacular IT and BT growth and Bangalore as the undisputed 'IT capital of India'. Now, the State has warmly hugged Nanotechnology also. Government of Karnataka has taken a lead in exploring priority areas of Nano Scientific Research and Technology. Karnataka would spare no efforts to foster the growth of Nanotechnology in the State of Karnataka."
Prof. C.N.R. Rao, Chairman, Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, Government of India said, "In the area of Nanotechnology, India is in tune with the world. We would be the leader provided we tap the best young talent, particularly from rural India. Nanotechnology, with its own challenges, promises an exciting future for Karnataka and India."
Dr. Ajit Sapre, Group President (Research & Technology), Reliance Industries Ltd. said, "Interaction at this conference and subsequent collaboration will provide a boost to our efforts on leveraging nanotechnology for the enhancement of both the standard and quality of life, especially the masses at the bottom of the pyramid." The various topics that are addressed in the 2nd Bangalore Nano 2008 are - Nano Biotechnology Health & Pharma industry & manufacturing, Nano food & agriculture, Chemicals & Nano materials, ICT & Electronics Energy, Environment & Greentech. A panel discussion was held on Nano Vision & Nano Mission.
A special program for children "Nano for the Young" was organized on December 12, 2008. The 2nd Bangalore Nano 2008 features a Poster Session, wherein young Scientists and Researchers are given the opportunity to share their Innovations and Research in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology with the Industry, Research Institutes and Venture Capitalists. About 75 posters from IITs, NITs, Michigan Technological University, CSIR, NCBS, IISc, JNCASR, AIIMS, etc. are presented during the event. Eight posters were chosen by a panel for their innovation and were given an opportunity to present them to Financial Institutions, Venture Capitalists, Industries etc., at the Bangalore Nano 2008.
Eight start-up companies were also given a platform to present their projects to FI, VC, Industries etc., under the RICH and YESSS programmes. Prof. C.N.R. Rao, conducted a special session "Nano for the Young", which was attended by over three hundred plus students, professors and young scientists from leading colleges like Mount Carmel, JNC, Acharya P S, MVJ Medical, Dayanand Sagar, GKVK to name a few. A Two CD multimedia presentation on Nanotechnology called "NanoWorld" was also released and distributed to all the participants.
SOURCE: Government of Karnataka

The report, Review of the Federal Strategy to Address Environmental, Health, and Safety Research Needs for Engineered Nanoscale Materials, calls for a significantly revamped national strategic plan that will minimize potential risks so that innovation will flourish and society will reap nanotechnology's benefits.
Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) Director David Rejeski maintains the "lessons learned" in the NRC report offer a silver lining that will help guide the administration of President-elect Barack Obama.
"It is disappointing that the Bush administration did not listen to PEN experts - and repeated calls from nanotech industry and congressional leaders from both parties - for an improved and revamped risk research plan for nanotechnology. Their delay has hurt investor and consumer confidence. It has gambled with public health and safety. It has jeopardized the $14 billion investment governments and private industry have made in this technology and its great promise for huge advancements in health care, energy and manufacturing. But I am encouraged that the NRC assessment will provide a roadmap for the next administration to make up for this lost time. It's time to get the job done and to get it done right," says Rejeski.
The risk research plan developed under the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) has been widely criticized by consumer groups, chemical industry representatives and congressional lawmakers from both major parties as lacking a clear vision and the resources necessary to improve understanding of the potential risks posed by nanomaterials.
The new NRC report, written by a highly regarded team of top U.S. experts, echoes PEN experts' statements, analysis and research since 2005. PEN's work has extensively documented the need for a greatly improved government risk research strategy, more transparency and priority-setting in federal risk research funding, and a new mechanism for coordinating research.
The NRC document states that the NNI strategy "contains conflicting statements about the use of fiscal year 2006 research projects to evaluate research needs."
PEN experts have repeatedly stated that the risk-relevant research investment by the federal government was far less than the figures cited by the Bush administration. Most recently, PEN staff also developed federal risk-research funding options for moving forward (see: www.nanotechproject.org/ehsfunding/).
The new NRC report also echoes PEN's calls for an improved mechanism for conducting research. As many as 18 federal agencies -- including the Defense Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration -- are under the umbrella of the NNI's environment and health implications working group, making coordinating research a challenging task.
PEN testimony before the House Committee on Science and Technology in both 2007 and 2008 provided detailed recommendations for a new mechanism for organizing federal nanotechnology research that would improve coordination among agencies. The principal recommendation is to replace the current bottom-up collection of individual agency research agendas and budgets with a top-down, highly focused and fully-funded strategy that addresses the risk research priorities of a rapidly commercializing new technology.
"The NRC report explicitly says that the federal plan 'does not have the essential elements of a research strategy,'" Rejeski says. "That is - if nothing else - a clear sign that it is time for a new start."
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies

As we are facing the uncertainly in supply of crude oil, as well as affluent prices, other fuel source is a happening and hot topic. An interesting option could be ethanol, now made out of plants like corn and sugar cane. Companies and universities are eagerly working to grow this process of making ethanol from many other kinds of plant substance; that might considerably augment the amount of ethanol accessible as fuel. Nanotechnology might be to assist this important effort.
Presently ethanol that is used in fuel in the United States is made out of corn especially. The starch in the corn kernels is rehabilitated to sugar using enzymes. This starch is further fermented to shape up ethanol. Any how, in order to make a necessary reduction in the United States consummation of crude oil, we require up that production by a long way. The goal prepared recently by the United States government is to make 35 billion gallons of ethanol a year within the next ten years.
Researchers at Michigan State University are trying nanotechnology in a neat trick. They are heritably engineering corn to comprise the required enzyme. The plan is to make the enzyme unmoving until activated by high temperatures. When the cellulous part of the corn, like stalk, is procedures, the high giving out temperatures might set in motion the enzyme and change the cellulous to starch. This would avoid the added cost of creation the enzyme separately.
Researchers at the University of Rochester are as well studying how bacteria select an exacting enzyme, or enzymes, to break at specific kind of plant or other bio mass. They expect to make enzymes, which could change cellulous to ethanol in one step, other than the two steps used by the accessible processes. The advantage of cars that could be filled up with either fuel or ethanol has been verified in Brazil, they use much of its sugar cane crop to make ethanol. Using nanotechnology / genetic engineering to make ethanol from cellulous has the latent to make a serious dent in our use of crude oil. However we do require keeping an eye on some safety issues.
By: sharmkan

There are more than 700 products on the market today that are touched, worn and used -- ranging from cosmetics to electronics -- that involve nanomaterials. In the next decade a number of products, including food and medical therapies, will also be derived from nanomaterials.
There's not enough funding, leadership and research being conducted to study the health and environmental risks that might come with products made from nanomaterials, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Research Council (NRC).
Nanomaterials are materials made at the nanoscale, or at 100 nanometers or smaller. Nanotechnology is the science of making matter at the atomic or molecular scale.
The NRC said a plan developed by the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) does not show a clear understanding of risks associated with the development and use of nanomaterials and products, nor does the NNI's plan include goals to ensure that nanotechnologies are developed and used as safely as possible, according to the report.
"The current plan catalogs nano-risk research across several federal agencies, but it does not present an overarching research strategy needed to gain public acceptance and realize the promise of nanotechnology," said David Eaton, chairman of the NRC committee and professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Nano-Based Consumer Tech
For electronics, nanotechnology is used to increase the capabilities of consumer-technology products, while decreasing weight, power and consumption.
Display technologies for laptops, cell phones, digital cameras and other devices are made of nano-structured polymer films known as "organic light emitting diodes."
Computer hard drives contain giant magnetoresistance heads with nano-thin layers of magnetic materials that enable a huge increase in storage Relevant Products/Services capacity. And researchers are developing memory chips using nanotechnology.
Motorola is working on nano-emissive displays; Intel is working on integrated circuits with nano-sized features; and California Molecular Electronics is working on molecule-sized chips.
Researching the Risks
With the number of products being made at the nanoscale, it means more workers and consumers will be exposed to them -- and there are many uncertainties about the health and environmental effects of those products, including potential toxic properties.
In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates there are 20,000 researchers worldwide working in nanotechnology today.
More research needs to be done on how nanomaterials are absorbed and metabolized by the body, according to the NRC's report. And additional research needs to be conducted on how toxic nanomaterials are at different levels of exposure.
Nanoscale colloidal particles are involved in the transport of materials, toxic organic compounds, viruses and radionuclides in the environment, according to the EPA, and some nanomaterials have been found to cause toxic responses to test organisms.
While more research is needed, the NRC said there also needs to be input from the industries and companies using nanotechnology, environmental and consumer advocacy groups, and other stakeholders.
Although government agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the EPA and the Food and Drug Administration, oversee some of the research in nanotechnology, there is no one group or czar that is held responsible. The NRC is hoping to change that.

Nanotechnology is based on the mankind’s ability to predict the size of familiar and traditional materials on a scale of less than 100nm. To understand the time scales of nanotechnology is to cover the fact that the unifying theme in nanotechnology is the control of the matter on a scale smaller than one micrometer. Although most of the micro-scale in the field of nanotechnology are measured in dimensions running from one to a hundred nanometers, nanotechnology can work, even in the dimensions of less than one nanometer. To allow a comparison of the scales, a traditional piece of writing paper has a thickness of more than 100,000 nanometers.
Nanotechnology involves the study of a wide range of subjects drawn from a large-scale discipline, while only the use of methods of discipline during the exam. The principal and the method of nanotechnology can be defined in one of two directions. Nanotechnology can pull together to build into smaller parts or more, which can be used in the distribution of the larger parties, which coincides with a common scale. The ability to working parts, machinery and equipment previously on a small scale what is unthinkable, the most important breakthrough in nano-technology innovator in the future.
Nanotechnology has come to mean any item smaller than microtechnology, including nano powders or other items. The field deals with manipulating atoms and molecules to create materials and devices. The mechanisms that are built from these extremely small items have been referred to as Molecular Nanotechnology or MNT. This technology is used to create nano and micro scale computers and machines.
Experts believe that nanotechnology will have dramatic consequences for our daily lives, changing how we communicate and what we can do. The advancing technology will also mean less waste, less energy consumed, and greater control over the production process than we currently have. The technology has the potential to create cleaner, safer, longer lasting, and better built machines and devices that impact our daily lives.
Nanotechnology may not only revolutionize our daily lives, but it may also have large impacts on commercial industry and the military. The processes may make it extremely easy and cost effective to replicate and copy any number of products and materials. This may mean that some items will be more readily available at lower costs, since there will be little cost in producing the product.
One important advantage of nanotechnology is that it is able to reproduce its own means of production. In a sense, it?s a factory that can build an exponential amount of other factories easily and safely. However, this advantage could also be a dangerous one depending on how the technology was used and what it produced.
written by bangzenk at zenk’s life

We’ve all heard the word, but what does it mean? Says Paul Weiss, professor of Chemistry and Physics at Penn State University Park, nanotechnology generally involves manipulating matter at an incredibly small level – that of the nanometer. (A nanometer is about 100,000 times thinner than a sheet of office paper, and a strand of DNA is about 2 nanometers across.) Those stain-deflecting pants, for example, have a special coating made up of billions of tiny whiskers. The whiskers create a thin cushion of air just above the fabric's surface. You can't see or feel the difference, but spill a cup of coffee and it'll ride that cushion of air right off the fabric. Since the liquid never touches the pants, voila, no stain.
Stain-prevention might seem like a pretty mundane area of scientific study. But Weiss explains the real allure for scientists: in the nano world, the everyday rules of matter become much more flexible. “At these scales a number of interesting properties emerge,” he says. “One of the more exciting challenges and opportunities is that much of our intuition fails in that it is generally based on macroscopic measurements.” In the nano realm, things can get weird – and very interesting.
Pure carbon, for example, naturally appears in two forms: the diamond in your wedding ring and the graphite in your pencil. However, notes Weiss, when working at the nanometer level, scientists discovered a new, tubular form of carbon. The carbon nanotube has 10 times the strength of steel at only one-quarter of the weight. (Nanotubes have since made for stronger car bumpers and lighter tennis rackets.) When nanoparticles of a substance are mixed with other bulk materials in the production process, new materials are created that are often dramatically lighter, stronger, more stable and functional than the originals.
For scientists, nanotechnology is a doorway into a whole new (infinitesimally small) universe of possibilities. “We are really trying to understand new phenomena and to open up unexplored worlds,” says Weiss. “One of the exciting aspects is that nanotechnology has required people from a number of fields to come together -- chemistry, physics, biology, materials, electrical engineering, biomedicine, etc. -- depending on the particular problems being addressed.”
Hybrid fields are emerging at the crossroads of nanotechnology and pharmacology, genetics, aeronautics, and fashion, just to name a few. Researchers are working on a multitude of promising projects, including nano-enabled drug delivery systems that are more targeted and less toxic; super-sensitive nano sensors that help astronomers peer into previously obscured realms of space; and myriad high-tech materials applications, ranging from chip-resistant paint, heat and water resistant windshields, and nano-scale batteries that could someday power our vehicles and computers.
Doing science on the nano-level is exciting, but also presents researchers with plenty of challenges. Simply seeing objects that small was impossible until the 1980s invention of a new branch of microscopy that uses physical probes, instead of lenses, to visualize surfaces at even atomic levels.
But while current nanotechnology has made for better, more effective products – faster computer chips, more effective water-filtration devices, and yes, those stain-free pants – many scientists believe the best is yet to come.
“We imagine wearable computers,” Weiss says, “having sensors that tell us when something is amiss, and enhance our ability to perceive the world around us.”
In other words, the small world could end up being a very big deal.