Nanosatellites improve detection of early-season corn nitrogen stress 
Urbana IL (SPX) Jan 14, 2020
For corn growers, the decision of when and how much nitrogen fertilizer to apply is a perennial challenge. Scientists at the University of Illinois have shown that nanosatellites known as CubeSats can detect nitrogen stress early in the season, potentially giving farmers a chance to plan in-season nitrogen fertilizer applications and alleviate nutrient stress for crops. “Using this technol Source: NanoDaily.com http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Nanosatellites_improve_detection_of_early_season_corn_nitrogen_stress_999.html
Category Archives: nanotechnology
Low-temp photocatalyst could slash the carbon footprint for syngas
Low-temp photocatalyst could slash the carbon footprint for syngas 
Houston TX (SPX) Jan 13, 2020
Rice University engineers have created a light-powered nanoparticle that could shrink the carbon footprint of a major segment of the chemical industry. The particle, tiny spheres of copper dotted with single atoms of ruthenium, is the key component in a green process for making syngas, or synthesis gas, valuable chemical feedstock that’s used to make fuels, fertilizer and many other produc Source: NanoDaily.com http://www.biofueldaily.com/reports/Low_temp_photocatalyst_could_slash_the_carbon_footprint_for_syngas_999.html
Nano antennas for data transfer
Nano antennas for data transfer 
Wurzburg, Germany (SPX) Jan 13, 2020
Directional antennas convert electrical signals to radio waves and emit them in a particular direction, allowing increased performance and reduced interference. This principle, which is useful in radio wave technology, could also be interesting for miniaturised light sources. After all, almost all Internet-based communication utilises optical light communication. Directional antennas for l Source: NanoDaily.com http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Nano_antennas_for_data_transfer_999.html
Nanobubbles in nanodroplets
Nanobubbles in nanodroplets 
Freiburg, Germany (SPX) Jan 13, 2020
A team headed by Professor Frank Stienkemeier at Freiburg’s Institute of Physics and Dr. Marcel Mudrich, professor at the University of Aarhus in Denmark, has observed the ultrafast reaction of nanodroplets of helium after excitation with extreme ultraviolet radiation (XUV) using a free-electron laser in real time. The researchers have published their findings in the latest issue of Nature Commu Source: NanoDaily.com http://www.nanodaily.com/reports/Nanobubbles_in_nanodroplets_999.html
Nanomaterial fabric destroys nerve agents in battlefield-relevant conditions
Nanomaterial fabric destroys nerve agents in battlefield-relevant conditions 
Chicago IL (SPX) Jan 10, 2020
Northwestern University scientists have successfully combined a nanomaterial effective at destroying toxic nerve agents with textile fibers. This new composite material one day could be integrated into protective suits and face masks for use by people facing hazardous conditions, such as chemical warfare. The material, a zirconium-based metal-organic framework (MOF), degrades in minutes so Source: NanoDaily.com http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Nanomaterial_fabric_destroys_nerve_agents_in_battlefield_relevant_conditions_999.html
A universal flu vaccine that protects against 6 influenza viruses in mice
A universal flu vaccine that protects against 6 influenza viruses in mice 
Atlanta GA (SPX) Jan 08, 2020
A novel nanoparticle vaccine that combines two major influenza proteins is effective in providing broad, long-lasting protection against influenza virus in mice, showing promise as a universal flu vaccine, according to a study by the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University. The double-layered nanoparticle vaccine contains the influenza virus proteins matrix protein 2 Source: NanoDaily.com http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Researchers_develop_universal_flu_vaccine_that_protects_against_6_influenza_viruses_in_mice_999.html
New method gives robust transistors
New method gives robust transistors 
Linkoping, Sweden (SPX) Jan 08, 2020
A new method to fit together layers of semiconductors as thin as a few nanometres has resulted in not only a scientific discovery but also a new type of transistor for high-power electronic devices. The result, published in Applied Physics Letters, has aroused huge interest. The achievement is the result of a close collaboration between scientists at Linkoping University and SweGaN, a spin Source: NanoDaily.com http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/New_method_gives_robust_transistors_999.html
New production method for carbon nanotubes gets green light
New production method for carbon nanotubes gets green light 
Swansea UK (SPX) Jan 08, 2020
A new method of producing carbon nanotubes – tiny molecules with incredible physical properties used in touchscreen displays, 5G networks and flexible electronics – has been given the green light by researchers, meaning work in this crucial field can continue. Single-walled carbon nanotubes are among the most attractive nanomaterials for a wide range of applications ranging from nanoelectr Source: NanoDaily.com http://www.nanodaily.com/reports/New_production_method_for_carbon_nanotubes_gets_green_light_999.html
Nanoscale sensors see how high pressure affects materials
Nanoscale sensors see how high pressure affects materials 
Ames IA (SPX) Jan 08, 2020
Researchers have developed new nanoscale technology to image and measure more of the stresses and strains on materials under high pressures. As the researchers reported in the journal Science, that matters because, “Pressure alters the physical, chemical and electronic properties of matter.” Understanding those changes could lead to new materials or new phases of matter for use in al Source: NanoDaily.com http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Researchers_create_nanoscale_sensors_to_better_see_how_high_pressure_affects_materials_999.html
How Scientists Squeezed a Particle Accelerator Onto a Tiny Silicon Chip
How Scientists Squeezed a Particle Accelerator Onto a Tiny Silicon Chip
Particle accelerators have helped us unravel some of the universe’s biggest mysteries, but they’re huge, expensive, and inaccessible to most researchers. A new particle accelerator on a chip could soon change that.
The world’s biggest particle accelerators can be miles long and require megawatts of power to run. Even devices used to generate particle beams for medical therapies can be the size of a room. So in 2015, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation awarded Stanford University $13.5 million to build a particle accelerator the size of a shoebox and put these crucial scientific and industrial tools in the hands of far more scientists.
Now, researchers have developed a tiny silicon chip smaller than the width of a human hair that can accelerate electrons using an infrared laser. The output is only a fraction of that of a large accelerator, but the researchers plan to combine a thousand of these devices by the end of this year to accelerate electrons to 94 percent of the speed of light, or 1 million electron volts (1MeV), which would be powerful enough for research or medical purposes.
“The largest accelerators are like powerful telescopes. There are only a few in the world and scientists must come to places like SLAC [the Stanford Linear Accelerator] to use them,” Jelena Vuckovic, who led the research, said in a press release. “We want to miniaturize accelerator technology in a way that makes it a more accessible research tool.”
Accelerators typically use microwaves to push particles ever faster, but these have wavelengths on the order of several inches, which restricts how small the machines can be made. The new device, described in a paper in Science, uses pulses of infrared laser light instead, which have wavelengths on the order of a micrometer and therefore can accelerate the particles over much shorter distances, significantly reducing size requirements.
Designing devices at these tiny scales is much harder, so the researchers developed a special “inverse design” algorithm. They specified what they were trying to achieve and the software then automatically suggested a nanoscale structure that could effectively channel the laser photons to the electrons and give them a speed boost.
“If you look at the design, no human engineer would have come up with it,” lead author Neil Sapra told Vice. “I really don’t think I could have done this project without this inverse-design technique because coming up with a design is pretty difficult doing the classical approach.”
The computer-designed layout was then carved into silicon and sealed in a vacuum to create a channel through which electrons could be beamed. Silicon is transparent to infrared light, so when an on-chip laser fires pulses at the structure it’s transmitted through the walls, creating an electric field that accelerates the electrons.
A single stage can currently boost the speed of the electrons up to 1KeV (a thousandth of a MeV), but because the device is an integrated circuit it shouldn’t be too complicated to stitch many of the devices together to accelerate them to much higher energies. They are fabricated using industrial processes, which should allow for significant cost reductions.
If the team achieves their goal, the resulting device could make it possible for far more scientists to carry out cutting-edge experiments in chemistry, materials science, and biological discovery.
One particularly promising application would be to use them to create small bunches of electrons that result in x-ray pulses just a few attoseconds (one quintillionth of a second) long. These could be used to probe chemical reactions and other events at the molecular scale on extremely short timescales to create “molecular movies,” Joel England, one of the authors of the paper, told IEEE Spectrum in 2017.
There could also be promising medical applications of the technology. One of the authors is working on a way to transport high-energy electrons from the accelerator-on-a-chip directly to tumors using a catheter-like vacuum tube that could be inserted below the skin. That would be a major improvement over today’s bulky and tricky-to-focus X-ray based radiotherapy devices.
The device is probably a long way from replacing the massive accelerators used for particle physics experiments. But the researchers point out that computers have shown that stitching together thousands of low-cost integrated silicon chips is an incredibly powerful and scalable design approach. So never say never.
Image Credit: Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Source: Singularity Hub: https://singularityhub.com/2020/01/07/how-scientists-squeezed-a-particle-accelerator-onto-a-tiny-silicon-chip/