Nov. 02, 2011

The Space Elevator - Revolutionary Space Transportation

Space Elevator - Since the beginning of the space age on October 4th, 1957 when Sputnik-1 launched on board a modified intercontinental ballistic missile with the designation R-7 space exploration has had grand successes, but it has also always suffered from the bottleneck of the launch by rocket. Rockets are inherently risky, violent vehicles that require huge resources in the form of propellants. moreJul. 26, 2010

STM vs. NFESEM

We have fabricated an instrument designed to couple both the imaging process in scanning electron microscopy and the precise positioning of scanning probe microscopy. This microscope is comprised of a metallic field emitter that generates an electron beam with a minimal impingement diameter of approximately one nanometer. In particular, the sensitivity of the field emission current to local topographic variations on the specimen surface enables the microscope to achieve atomic vertical resolution. moreJul. 26, 2010

Aqueous Nanodrops in Aqueous Media

The critical role of microscale cellular environments in regulating cell behavior has led to the development of a variety of biomicropatterning technologies. Most of these methods are adapted from silicon micromachining, polymer micromolding, stamping, or inkjet printing where the substrate on which the patterns are created is substantially dry and often hard. The canvas of life, however, is wet, soft, and alive. Is it possible to directly sketch microscale gene expression and suppression experiments onto the delicate surface of cells without compromising their viability? moreJul. 26, 2010

Nanotechnology and Light against Pathogens

We designed a multifunctional nanomaterial, able to target, label and photoinactivate antibiotic resistant bacteria. Highly luminescent dyes were inserted into the channels of zeolite L nanocrystals for imaging and labeling purposes. The outer surface was functionalized with a photosensitizer that forms singlet oxygen upon illumination, and finally coated with targeting moieties. The nanomaterial shows intense fluorescence, efficient 1O2 photoproduction, and consequently targets, labels and photoinactivates antibiotic resistant bacteria.
moreJul. 26, 2010

Not Working on Mice or Humans?

Microarrays technology is fast developing and its application is expanding from Homo sapiens to a wide number of species where enough information on sequences and annotations are available. The number of species for which a dedicated platform exists is not high. The Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) databases represent a collection of anonymous sequences that can be used to build species specific microarrays for species whose genome sequences are largely unknown.
moreJul. 23, 2010

Bioactive Leachates from Lab Plastics

Published and anecdotal evidence suggests that bioassay results may be compromised by pharmacologically active compounds leaching from plastic ware into buffers and solvents. False positives, false negatives, lost productivity and unnecessary expense can be minimized if researchers follow some simple guidelines.

Introduction
moreJul. 23, 2010

Atomic Layer Deposition

The combination of different properties of materials, especially when it is done on the nanometer scale, is the key to advanced functional materials. This, however, requires processes that enable one to modify surfaces and to deposit materials in a controlled manner. A new chemical approach to atomic layer deposition and its potential for the fabrication of multifunctional nanomaterials will be briefly outlined for the case of coated carbon nanotubes. more