A team of U.S. and Chinese physicists are zeroing in on critical effects at the heart of the latest high-temperature superconductors -- but they're using other materials to do it.

The silicon transistors in your computer may be replaced in ten years by transistors based on carbon nanotubes. This is what scientists at the University of Gothenburg are hoping – they have developed a method to control the nanotubes during production. 

 

A team of Duke University chemists has perfected a simple way to make tiny copper nanowires in quantity. The cheap conductors are small enough to be transparent, making them ideal for thin-film solar cells, flat-screen TVs and computers, and flexible displays.

 

It sounds like something you could imagine nestling in James Bond's pocket. But night vision could soon see its way into your pocket, and your mobile phone thanks to a new paper-thin imaging device.

Durable paint, water purification, faster computers, tougher shoe soles, and lighter and cheaper televisions are all possibilities now that a Queensland University of Technology (QUT) scientist has discovered a way to disperse gold nanoparticles evenly through plastic.

 

Information processing circuits in digital computers are static. In our brains, information processing circuits—neurons—evolve continuously to solve complex problems. Now, an international research team from Japan and Michigan Technological University has created a similar process of circuit evolution in an organic molecular layer that can solve complex problems. This is the first time a brain-like "evolutionary circuit" has been realized.

 

MIT team coaxes polymers to line up, transforming them into materials that could dissipate heat.

 

Imagine it’s just around sunset in a city in the Middle East. Daytime visibility has ended and a lone Soldier is just becoming aware of the uncertainties that darkness brings. Now imagine the Soldier blinks his eye, activating a special contact lens that allows him to see a crystal clear image of the surroundings behind him. A second blink and he sees what’s ahead of him, and so on.

Clemens Betzel, President of G24 Innovations, introduces a new and exciting form of ‘green energy’ generation that will help drive down carbon emissions without compromising on modern day life.

Research, industry and government in the Netherlands are making the most of the country’s strong scientific position in nanotechnology and establishing itself, through a highly integrated and cooperative NanoNed network, as a world leader in small science while paving the way for accelerated commercialisation. The four-year NanoNed initiative has seen massive investment and the success that can be achieved by working together under a common agenda.

Imagine a cable, almost 36 thousand kilometres long, extending from the surface of the earth and capable of transporting payloads and people into space. Carbon nanotubes, considered as the wonder material of the 21st century, are a potential candidate material in this revolutionary concept of the Space elevator.

Materials capable of harvesting light, able to bend waves around corners and make solid objects invisible are just some of the mind-boggling ideas that physicists working in the obscure world of meta-materials believe could one day be reality. Elaine Mulcahy speaks to Professor Sir John Pendry about these fascinating materials that play tricks with the light.

Advances in carbon nanotube technologies are driving the generation of a new class of materials that cross the biomedical, textiles and electronics industries.

Future applications could see new nerve cells grown on nanotube sheets for spinal injury patients. Meanwhile, yarns made from nanotube fibres could be incorporated into clothing, or even artificial muscles, to make them smarter, stronger and more powerful. Professor Ray Baughman explains some emerging technologies that are leading to a new generation of smart materials.

Carbon nanotubes have the potential to radically change electronics and are among the most likely candidates for miniaturizing electronic components beyond the micro-scale.

But before nanotube circuits can be built, scientists first need to perfect the technology for attaching and welding nanotubes together. Scientists at Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology describe a novel “plumbing” technique that connects carbon nanotubes together like water pipes.

CEA-Leti is the nanotechnology backbone of France. Dr. Jean-Christophe Gabriel, along with more than 20 other program managers, explores investment, research and development at the Grenoble-based centre.

More than half a century has passed since the first microchips were created. In that time we have seen a revolution in electronics devices – as more and more components were squeezed onto tiny chips, telephones, computers and gadgets got smaller and smaller.

Silicon nanowires are attracting significant attention from the electronics industry due to the drive for ever-smaller electronic devices, from cell phones to computers. The operation of these future devices, and a wide array of additional applications, will depend on the mechanical properties of these nanowires. New research from North Carolina State University shows that silicon nanowires are far more resilient than their larger counterparts, a finding that could pave the way for smaller, sturdier nanoelectronics, nanosensors, light-emitting diodes and other applications.

Scientists at the University of Adelaide have made a breakthrough that could change the world's thinking on what light is capable of.

Purdue University researchers are making progress in developing a new type of transistor that uses a finlike structure instead of the conventional flat design, possibly enabling engineers to create faster and more compact circuits and computer chips.

Clemson University is part of a five-year $3 million Air Force Office of Scientific Research award, along with the University of Texas at Dallas and Yale University, to search for nanoscale materials that superconduct to allow for efficient flow of a current.