Nanotechnology – Lifeboat News: The Blog

Nucleus-specific X-ray stain for 3D virtual histology

Posted by Genevieve Klien in bioengineering, nanotechnology

Dec 27
2018

Histology is used to identify structural details of tissue at the microscale in the pathology lab, but analyses remain two-dimensional (2D) as they are limited to the same plane. Nondestructive 3D technologies including X-ray micro and nano-computed tomography (nanoCT) have proven validity to understand anatomical structures, since they allow arbitrary viewing angles and 3D structural detail. However, low attenuation of soft tissue has hampered their application in the field of 3D virtual histology. In a recent study, now published on Scientific Reports, Mark Müller and colleagues at the Department of Physics and Bioengineering have developed a hematein-based X-ray staining method to specifically target cell nuclei, followed by demonstrations on a whole liver lobule of a mouse.

MIT Scientists Use Nanoparticles to Engineer Incredible Glowing Plants

Posted by Klaus Baldauf in nanotechnology

Dec 27
2018

Imagine reading by plant light, and glow-in-the-dark trees instead of street lamps. That’s on the horizon thanks to these engineers.

Watch: Morphing material goes from flat to face

Posted by Genevieve Klien in materials, nanotechnology

Dec 25
2018

Scientists have created a rubbery, shape-shifting material that morphs from one sophisticated form to another on demand.

The shapes programmed into a polymer appear in ambient conditions and melt away when under heat. The process also works in reverse.

The smooth operation belies a battle at the nanoscale, where liquid crystals and the elastomer in which they’re embedded fight for control. When cool, the shape programmed into the liquid crystals dominates, but when heated, the crystals relax within the rubber band-like elastomer, like ice melting into water.

Gold nanoparticles could destroy prostate cancer

Posted by Genevieve Klien in biotech/medical, nanotechnology

Dec 23
2018

By coating nanoparticles with gold, researchers have successfully destroyed prostate cancer cells in people without damaging surrounding tissue.

Scientists use modified salmonella to smuggle cancer-fighting particles into the tumor

Posted by Genevieve Klien in biotech/medical, nanotechnology

Dec 20
2018

Coming up with potent anti-cancer drugs is one thing, delivering them to the site of a tumor inside the body is very much another. With a complicated organism guarded by a highly evolved immune system to navigate, getting these particles to there target in one piece is a challenging task, and one that scientists are continuing to tackle from all angles. A promising new approach developed at Virginia Tech leans on the penetrative properties of a salmonella infection, which they’ve found can be used as a vehicle to smuggle cancer-fighting nanoparticles into a tumor in a huge abundance.

MIT Researchers Can Shrink Objects to Nanoscale

Posted by Genevieve Klien in biotech/medical, nanotechnology, quantum physics

Dec 17
2018

MIT researchers invented a method of shrinking objects to the nanoscale.

The team can generate structures one-thousandth the volume of the original using a variety of materials, including metals, quantum dots, and DNA.

Existing techniques—like etching patterns onto a surface with light—work for 2D nanostructures, but not 3D. And while it’s possible to make 3D nanostructures, the process is slow, challenging, and restrictive.

Shrinking objects to the nanoscale

Posted by Shailesh Prasad in biotech/medical, nanotechnology, quantum physics

Dec 16
2018

Researchers have invented a new way to fabricate nanoscale 3D objects of nearly any shape. They can also pattern the objects with a variety of useful materials, including metals, semiconducting quantum dots, and DNA.

Quantum Physicists Achieve a Breakthrough with ‘Light-Guiding Nanoscale Device’

Posted by Genevieve Klien in nanotechnology, quantum physics

Dec 16
2018

Another advancement in the field of optomechanics comes in the form of a recent study involving the use of a device designed for achieving an optimal controlled position of trapped nanoparticles.

MIT Figured out a Way to Shrink Objects to Nanoscale

Posted by Saúl Morales Rodriguéz in nanotechnology | 1 Comment on MIT Figured out a Way to Shrink Objects to Nanoscale

Dec 15
2018

It shrinks objects to a thousandth of their original size.

Scientists design custom nanoparticles with new ‘stencil’ method

Posted by Genevieve Klien in biotech/medical, nanotechnology

Dec 15
2018

Nano-sized particles already make bicycles and tennis rackets lighter and stronger, protect eyeglasses from scratches, and help direct chemotherapy drugs to cancer cells. But their usefulness depends on being able to precisely sculpt them into the right configurations—no easy task when they’re so tiny that thousands of them could fit into the thickness of a sheet of paper.