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Using a new technology developed at MIT, diagnosing lung cancer could become as easy as inhaling nanoparticle sensors and then taking a urine test that reveals whether a tumor is present.

  • This non-invasive approach may serve as an alternative or supplement to traditional CT scans, particularly beneficial in areas with limited access to advanced medical equipment.
  • The technology focuses on detecting cancer-linked proteins in the lungs, with results obtainable through a simple paper test strip.
  • From surveillance to defense to AI/ML virtualization, and it’s more compact and energy efficient. Oh and let’s not forget the medical imaging applications. I just wonder how long until it’s put into effect.


    A front-end lens, or meta-imager, created at Vanderbilt University can potentially replace traditional imaging optics in machine-vision applications, producing images at higher speed and using less power.

    The nanostructuring of lens material into a meta-imager filter reduces the typically thick optical lens and enables front-end processing that encodes information more efficiently. The imagers are designed to work in concert with a digital backend to offload computationally expensive operations into high-speed and low-power optics. The images that are produced have potentially wide applications in , , and government and defense industries.

    Mechanical engineering professor Jason Valentine, deputy director of the Vanderbilt Institute of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, and colleagues’ proof-of-concept meta-imager is described in a paper published in Nature Nanotechnology.

    Nanoparticles seem the future of electronics, at least until the next big thing.


    Nano-engineered oxides are very important for the development of next-generation catalysts and microelectronics. Recently, metal exsolution from oxides has emerged as a promising nano-structuring tool to fabricate nanoparticle-decorated oxides. However, controlling the size, density, composition, and location of exsolved nanoparticles remains a challenge, limiting the ultimate performance achievable by these nanostructures.

    The following nanoparticle production control was achieved: 1. ion sputtering can controllably reduce the size of surface exsolved nanoparticles down to 2 nm, which are among the smallest values reported in the literature thus far. 2. implanted metal ions can tailor the composition of nanoparticles exsolved both at the surface and in the bulk, providing a convenient and direct way to synthesize exsolved nanoparticles with alloyed compositions. 3. irradiation-induced lattice defects can catalyze the nucleation of nanoparticles, and this enables controlling the density and location of exsolved nanoparticles at specific sample locations using ion irradiation.

    MIT Researchers worked with the Brookhaven National Lab to perform this work. The work demonstrates control over key properties leading to better performance. Fuel and electrolysis cells both involve electrochemical reactions through three principal parts: two electrodes (a cathode and anode) separated by an electrolyte. The difference between the two cells is that the reactions involved run in reverse. The electrodes are coated with catalysts, or materials that make the reactions involved go faster. But a critical catalyst made of metal-oxide materials has been limited by challenges including low durability. This works has improved the critical fuel cell catalyst. Metallic nanoparticles serve as catalysts in many, many reactions, including the important reaction of splitting water to generate hydrogen for energy storage.

    Though highly capable – far outperforming humans in big-data pattern recognition tasks in particular – current AI systems are not intelligent in the same way we are. AI systems aren’t structured like our brains and don’t learn the same way.

    AI systems also use vast amounts of energy and resources for training (compared to our three-or-so meals a day). Their ability to adapt and function in dynamic, hard-to-predict and noisy environments is poor in comparison to ours, and they lack human-like memory capabilities.

    Our research explores non-biological systems that are more like human brains. In a new study published in Science Advances, we found self-organising networks of tiny silver wires appear to learn and remember in much the same way as the thinking hardware in our heads.

    This post is also available in: he עברית (Hebrew)

    A research team from UNIST has made a discovery that might revolutionize cancer treatment as we know it-new cell-engaging nano-drones that were designed to target and eliminate cancer cells selectively.

    These tiny bots are called NK cell-engaging nano-drones (NKeNDs), and their success lies in their ability to engage natural killer (NK) cells, the body’s frontline defenders against cancer. Using NK cells in cancer treatment is not new, but what sets these nanodrones apart is their precision. They are engineered to zero in on cancer cells almost like guided missiles.

    Rocket propulsion technology has progressed leaps and bounds since the first weaponized rockets of the Chinese and Mongolian empires. They were nothing more than rocket-powered arrows and spears but they set the foundations for our exploration of space. Liquid propellant, ion engines and solar sails have all hit the headlines as we strive for more efficient methods of travel but a team has taken the next leap with a palm-sized thruster system that could boost future tiny spacecraft across the gulf of space.

    Palm-sized are quite different from the gargantuan rockets we are used to, for example the Saturn V that took the Apollo astronauts to the moon that stood 110 m tall. The difference for the ATHENA thrusters is that they are designed for maneuvering and propelling cubesats and once they are in space rather than propelling rockets from the surface of the Earth.

    The team led by Daniel Perez Grande, CEO and Co-Founder of IENAI Spain, have called their palm-sized thruster “Athena,” not the most catchy title but neatly represents what it does—the Adaptable, THruster based on Electrospray powered NAnotechnology. The technology has been developed for ESA and, following a successful design stage and, if all goes to plan, a prototype will be available by the end of 2024.

    I believe nanomachines or new advanced rna antivirals that can target one’s own variants of viruses will be game changers to prevent future global pandemics. Also eventually new genetic engineering could allow for the end to all viruses with some sorta Omni vaccine.


    Measurement(s) Pandemic-and epidemic-prone disease outbreaks Technology Type(s) Text mining using R Sample Characteristic — Organism Disease outbreaks Sample Characteristic — Environment spatiotemporal region Sample Characteristic — Location Global.

    A team of researchers from the ITACA Institute of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and the Research Institute of Chemical Technology, a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the UPV, has discovered a new method for the manufacture of metal nanocatalysts that is more sustainable and economical.

    With great potential in the , the method would contribute to the decarbonization of industry. The work has been published in the journal ACS Nano.

    This new method is based on the exsolution process activated by microwave radiation. Exsolution is a method of generating on the surface of ceramic materials. “At elevated temperatures and in a reducing atmosphere (usually hydrogen), metal atoms migrate from the structure of the material to its surface, forming anchored to the surface. This anchoring significantly increases the strength and stability of these nanoparticles, which positively impacts the efficiency of these catalysts,” explains Beatriz García Baños, a researcher in the Microwave Area of the ITACA Institute at the UPV.