Nanotechnology 101: The Biggest Thing You've Never Seen

As Nanotechnologies continually change the world and our lives, it is one of the goals of the Royal Institution (RI) to give awareness about how nanotechnologies will further be able to change the way we live our lives.

To this end, the RI is hosting Michael Meador, the Director of the U.S. National Nanotechnology Coordination Office that was created under NASA. In his talk at the RI, he will be discussing the following topic:

"How could nanotechnology be used to create smart and extremely resilient materials? Or to boil water three times faster? Join former NASA Nanotechnology Project Manager Michael Meador to learn about the fundamentals of nanotechnology—what it is and why it’s unique—and how this emerging, disruptive technology will change the world. From invisibility cloaks to lightweight fuel-efficient vehicles and a cure for cancer, nanotechnology might just be the biggest thing you can’t see."

The event will take place at the Royal Institution Theatre, located at: 21 Albemarle St, London W1S 4BS, United Kingdom

Admission Prices
Standard: £12
Concession: £8
Associate: £6
Free to Members, Faraday Members and Fellows

NanoTechnology in School

Since the inception of this blog, the perception nanotechnology has changed dramatically in the field of education; especially in university. More and more institutions are increasing budgets for research on nanomaterials and nanotechnologies, and more researchers are becoming aware of the useful and unique properties seen at the nanoscale.

As recognition of its importance, some secondary-level schools are beginning to question how they should go about pursuing the education of nanotechnology to students. Some believe that nanotechnology should be taught as its own class in school, much like physics or chemistry. Others, however, believe that, due to the wide scope of nanotechnology and its application in many of these fields, nanotechnologies should be incorporated into current courses as additional material.

Currently, there are attempts to fill the void that exists by the lack of any education. Some of these include nanotechnology summer camps, which introduce concepts, techniques, and technologies to high school students, and course kits that teachers or parents can order online to use as teaching aids for their students. Additionally, some schools and foundations like the NSF (national science foundation) encourage students to visit their labs and explore this new realm.

What do you think on this debate? Should a class be created in high schools for the sole purpose of teaching Nanotechnologies? Leave a comment below!

Smart Nano-Fibers

Over the last several years, there has been much excitement in the world of technology concerning the integration of electronics into clothing. However, there has been significant difficulty in achieving this goal as electronics that are woven in in addition to fabrics become heavy and inflexible, causing discomfort and uneasiness for use. However, the Hinestroza Lab at Cornell University has been able to manipulate cotton fibbers at the atomic level to create fabrics that have electronic-like properties. This means that instead of adding electronics to fabrics, the fabric becomes an electronic.

The benefit of this is that the resultant clothing remains light, flexible, and productive. The team has already created  a dress that has ultrathin solar panels that can charge a cell phone. This type of technology holds promise as it could surely be used to keep you online when you away from home or to track your movements, or do much more.
To find out more, click here.

Water Purification through Synthetic, Animal-Like Membranes

According to the Rehydration Project (source), 1.8 million people die of dehydration each year, due to a lack of drinkable water. Of these, 90% are children. A possible solution for this problem might come in the form of filters with pores so small that only water molecules (and not other large particles nor cells) can penetrate. This has been achieved before using carbon nanotubes; however the difficulty to produce and align the tubes has led to a continued need for innovation.

An international team of researchers, including some from Penn State, has used bio-mimicry of cells to help solve this by making a synthetic, self-assembling membrane.

The reason for this is that cells, which have a fat-based phospholipid bilayered membrane, are able to control what enters the cell due to its membrane (diagrammed below). A cell, however, required water and certain proteins, and regulates the entry of these using transport proteins, which span the length of the membrane and provide conditions that allow specific proteins and molecules to travel through. Cells have a specific transport protein called aquaporins that create a channel that allow water to enter or exit the cell through osmosis. However, it does not allow other proteins or molecules to enter with the water; effectively acting as a filter. 

Diagram of a cell membrane

It is this property that the researchers were interested in. By creating a synthetic cell-like membrane equipped with aquaporin like protein channels, they have created a method whereby water transmutes through the membrane at extremely extremely high rates (1 billion water molecules per second, per channel) that is also able to be created quickly and more cheaply than earlier iterations of synthetic membrane-filters. This innovation could thus prove to be a very beneficial one by giving access to water to communities who lack it.

Source