Development of a Nanopipette with an Inner Diameter of 50 nm Using an Organic Nanotube - Micromanipulation technology made the nanopipette possible -

The research group led by Toshio Fukuda (Professor) of the Department of Micro-Nano Systems Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering (Dean: Katsuaki Onogi), Nagoya University (President: Shinichi Hirano), Fumihito Arai (Professor) of the Department of Bioengineering and Robotics (Dean: Tatsuo Uchida), Tohoku University (President: Akihisa Inoue), and Toshimi Shimizu (Director) and the High-Axial-Ratio Nanostructure Fabrication Team of the Nanoarchitectonics Research Center, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) (President: Hiroyuki Yoshikawa) have jointly developed a nanopipette (the ONT nanopipette) that uses an organic nanotube (ONT) as its nanochannel, and which is estimated to be capable of spouting volumes of solution of less than 1 femtoliter (femto- means one quadrillionth : 10–15).
The ONT nanopipette is fabricated by fixing a 10-μm-long ONT of inner diameter 50 nm and outer diameter 400 nm, which forms the nanochannel, to a microglass pipette with an inner diameter of 1.8 μm (1,800 nm) by using micromanipulation technology, and then sealing the interspace between the ONT and the glass micropipette with a photo-crosslinkable resin (Figure 1). The spouted amount from the nanopipette can be controlled by the voltage applied to the nanopipette. This ONT nanotube is expected to be used for medical purposes, because of its ability to inject ultrasmall amounts of useful material into a single cell (a volume of a cell is about 1000 femtoliters) or to suck ultrasmall amount of cell ingredients for single-cell analyses.
The research results will be presented at the 7th IEEE International Conference on Nanotechnology (IEEE-NANO 2007), organized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Inc., which is to be held in Hong Kong on 2nd–5th of August 2007.

Spitzer Space Telescope locates youngest solar systems

Infrared imaging technology on NASA´s Spitzer Space Telescope has been used to locate some of the youngest solar systems yet detected. Astronomers at the University of Michigan made the discovery when using the telescope to more closely observe gaps in protoplanetary disks of gas and dust surrounding the young stars UX Tau A and LkCa 15 in the Taurus star formation region.
Gaps in the protoplanetary disks were previously attributed to photoevaporation – the heating and subsequent evaporation of material. However, information gathered by the Spitzer Space Telescope has led researchers to believe these particular gaps are instead caused by infant planets sweeping areas clear of debris.
The infrared orbiting telescope observes energy at wavelengths invisible to optical telescopes, and allowed astronomers to study "pre-main sequence stars" in a deeper way. A main sequence star is an average adult star, like the sun, which burns by converting hydrogen into helium. Pre-main sequence stars like UX Tau A and LkCa 15 haven't yet established this conversion process. They derive energy from gravitational contraction. UX Tau A and LkCa 15 are both about one million years old. Our sun, for comparison, is a middle-aged star at 4.5 billion years old.
A paper on the findings by astronomy doctoral student Catherine Espaillat, professor Nuria Calvet, and their colleagues is published in the Dec. 1 issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Professor Nuria Calvet at the University of Michigan said this research adds new insights to the study of solar systems. “We are looking for our history," Calvet said. "We are looking for the history of solar systems, trying to understand how they form." The paper which contains this research is called "On the Diversity of the Taurus Transitional Disks: UX Tau A & LkCa 15."
The US$800 million Spitzer Space Telescope was launched in 2003, and is the first observatory to capture light from extrasolar planets. It uses an Infrared Array Camera, an Infrared Spectrograph and a Multiband Imaging Photometer to gather data. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena.

'Nanocavity' Sensor Detects Virus-Sized Particles

Scientists have created a nanoscale device that is capable of detecting one quadrillionth of a gram of biological matter, or about the size of certain viruses. In the future, the sensor may be able to detect influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), bird flu, and other viruses.

The sensor was created by researchers from the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York, and is described in a recent edition of Optics Letters. The sensor is a hexagonal array of tiny cavities, each 240 nanometers in diameter, carved into a very thin slab of silicon using a beam of electrons. It has a total sensing area of about 40 micrometers square, making it one of the smallest sensors of its type. When a laser beam is directed into the crystal, it interacts with the crystal such that only a particular part of the light's spectrum is transmitted. But when a particle is trapped in one of the nanocavities, the transmitted spectrum changes slightly. A detector measures the altered spectrum. “When a virus within a certain size range is caught in one of the nanocavities, the sensor transmits a light spectrum that is slightly different than the spectrum it transmits when no particles are present,” said University of Rochester engineer Philippe Fauchet, the project's corresponding researcher, to PhysOrg.com. “We can then compare the two spectra to determine whether the target particle was captured, which forms the basis for a very simple yet powerful biosensor that could be used by untrained personnel, such as front-line health care providers.” Fauchet and co-researcher Mindy Lee watched the sensor successfully detect single latex “test” spheres with sizes comparable to a variety of viruses. These include influenza A (approximately 100 nanometers in diameter) and hepatitis (50 nanometers in diameter). With a few modifications, Fauchet and Lee say that the device will be able to move from latex spheres to actual viruses.

The sensor is classified as a “two-dimensional photonic crystal,” a type of nanostructure that causes photons to behave in a similar way as a semiconductor causes electrons to behave. That is, only photons having frequencies within a certain range can be transmitted through the crystal, much like how electrons can only move through a semiconductor if they have certain energies. “One dimensional” silicon-based photonic crystals, which are very, very thin, have been used to detect DNA, proteins, and bacteria. However, they only work properly if the laser beam is well collimated (the rays are nearly parallel). In turn, this requires that the sensing area is relatively large, which is not the desired trend. Fauchet and Lee's device removes these restrictions. Citation: Optics Letters / Vol. 32, No. 22 / November 15, 2007

Toward improved non-stick surfaces at the flip of a switch

Researchers in New Jersey report development of a new type of non-stick material whose ability to shed liquids like water from a duck’s back can be turned on or off simply by flipping an electrical switch.

The material, called “nanonails,” offers a wide-range of potential applications including contamination-resistant and self-cleaning surfaces, reduced-drag ships, and advanced electrical batteries, they say. Their study is scheduled for the Jan. 1 issue of ACS’ Langmuir.

For years, researchers sought to develop surfaces that repel virtually any liquid. They’ve created non-stick surfaces that repel water and certain other liquids, but have had little success with repelling common organic liquids such as oils, solvents and detergents. Tom N. Krupenkin and colleagues report that their “nanonails” have all-purpose repellency properties. The nails actually are submicroscopic silicon structures shaped like carpenter’s nails that dramatically enhance a surface’s repellency. However, the surface becomes highly wettable when electricity is applied, allowing liquid to be sucked between the nails. In laboratory demonstrations, the researchers showed that their electronic non-stick surface works effectively using virtually any liquid. “Nanonails” also show promise for enhancing chemical microreactions, decreasing flow resistance, and facilitating liquid movement for medical diagnostic applications such as lab-on-a-chip technology, they say.

Universal Design for Robots "Making robots more adaptable to human living environment"

Kohtaro Ohba (Leader), the Ubiquitous Functions Research Group, Hiromu Onda (Senior Research Scientist), the Task Intelligence Research Group and Takeshi Sakaguchi (Senior Research Scientist), the Autonomous Behavior Control Research Group, the Intelligent Systems Research Institute (Director: Shigeoki Hirai) of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) (President: Hiroyuki Yoshikawa) have developed several factors of the universal design for household robots in particular, with the cooperation of Takasuke Sonoyama of T-D-F/Robot & Interaction Design. This research was jointly conducted by the University of Tokyo, Toshiba Corp. and GNSS Technologies, Inc. in the project organized by the Next-generation Robots Coordination Program, Council for Science and Technology Policy - Coordination Program of Science and Technology Projects.
In conventional robotic development, a robot is built for a specialized purpose because its hardware is designed for a specific environment, and it is required to execute only a predetermined task in a specific environment. In practice, it is very difficult to develop a robot that can handle all the items found in a human living environment.
To overcome this difficulty, AIST devised some methods, as a part of environmental structuralization for the easy adaptation of robots to the human living environment, in which humans and robots can coexist. The methods include designing handles that are easily operable by robots, designing visual marks in order to provide the layouts and operating instructions of the handles, and building templates for the easy development of operation programs for robots. The introduction of a robot in households is expected to accelerate by the popularization of these methods.
The newly developed system will be presented in the third symposium of the Coordination Program of Science and Technology Projects, scheduled for October 23, 2007, and in the eighth symposium of the System Integration Division of the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers (SICE), scheduled for December 20–22, 2007.

Development of a Switchable Mirror Film That Is Electrically Changed between Reflective and Transparent States

Kazuki Tajima (Research Scientist) and his co-workers at the Energy Control Thin Film Group (Leader: Kazuki Yoshimura), the Materials Research Institute for Sustainable Development (Director: Mamoru Nakamura) of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) (President: Hiroyuki Yoshikawa) have developed a flexible switchable mirror film that can be electrically switched between reflective and transparent states.
The newly developed all-solid-state switchable mirror film operates as an electrochromic system using electricity. Because it uses only electricity and does not require any special control system, the initial costs for the introduction of the switchable mirror film are low. The film is made entirely of solid materials, and thus offers an easy handling, etc.
The film can also be used in privacy glass or security equipment because, in its reflective state, it prevents the inside of a building or vehicle from being seen from the outside. A technique has been developed for laminating these switchable layers on a film, and a 100-micrometer-thick electrochromic switchable mirror film has been produced. The new product is more easily produced, has a better economic efficiency, is more easily recyclable, and is more easy handling than existing switchable mirror films formed on glass. As the switchable mirror film can be stuck on already built window glass, the range of applications of this film was expanded dramatically.

10,000 Earths

That's how much potential planetary material astronomers have discovered in the dusty remnants of supernova Cassiopeia A, about 11,000 light-years away in the constellation of the same name. This composite image, taken in infrared light by the Spitzer Space Telescope and released on 20 December, reveals for the first time the materials (in red) needed to form a new planetary system--including silicon, iron, carbon, and aluminum. The find clinches the long-standing but unproven idea that the explosions of supermassive stars throughout the eons have forged the heavier elements needed for rocky bodies--and human beings--that were missing from the universe as products of the big bang nearly 14 billion years ago.