Scifest at DIT

SciFest is a one-day festival of science, in DIT on May 1st, which includes a competition and exhibition of projects from second-level schools. The day will include a session with the judges in the morning, lunch for the competitors and teachers, a selection of science talks and a prize-giving ceremony. The exhibitors will also be given information on the science programmes that are available at the Institute.

See scifest @ dit.

New Scanning Microscope identifies atoms as it scans

A new type of scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) incorporating new aberration-correction technology focuses a beam of electrons on a spot smaller than a single atom -- more sharply and with greater intensity than previously possible. The STEM shoots an electron beam through a thin-film sample and scans the beam across the sample in subatomic steps. The microscope can actually identify atoms using electron energy-loss spectrometry as it scans. Atoms in the path of the beam absorb energy from some of its electrons to kick their own electrons into higher orbits. The amount of energy this takes is different for each kind of atom giving a unique fingerprint.

See Science Daily.

Self healing polymer rebonds after cutting

A new material can rebond itself when cut and retain elasticity. Rubbersied materials gets their elasticity from long chains of polymer molecules that are crosslinked in three different ways: through covalent, ionic, and hydrogen bonding between molecules. Of these three bond types, only the hydrogen bonds can be remade once a material is fractured, although normally there are not enough hydrogen bonds available to re-couple in this way. Rebonding can be achieved after breaking or cutting by devising a material that gets rid of the ionic and covalent bonds in faour of hydrogenic only.

See New Scientist.
and on YouTube: video of cutting and mending

10 emerging technologies

Technology Review publishes its list of 10 emerging technologies that its editors believe will be particularly important over the next few years. This is work ready to emerge from the lab, in a broad range of areas: energy, computer hardware and software, biological imaging, and more.

See Technology Review.

Chinese propose nanotechnology as a "science Megaprojects"

Nanotechnology research is one of four Chinese "science megaprojects" that have the central purpose of catching the country up to US research levels and beyond by 2020 according to a survey by University of California at Santa Barbara researchers who presented their findings on the state of Chinese nanotechnology at the AAAS annual meeting.

See Wired.

3D nanostructures grown using DNA templating

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have used DNA to guide the creation of three-dimensional, ordered, crystalline structures of nanoparticles. The ability to engineer such 3-D structures is essential to producing functional materials that take advantage of the unique properties that may exist at the nanoscale.

See Science Daily.

Bio-Nanotechnology review

See the link below for an overview of the applications nanotechnology and imaging are currently seeing in medicine and biology.

See SPIE.