The primitive streak in developmental biology refers to the first cells which hint at structure in the embryonic stage for avians, reptiles, and mammals. From the article, Primal Fashion by Cristina Luiggi for The Scientist,
The most important event in a human’s life — to paraphrase a famous quote by developmental biologist Lewis Wolpert — occurs during the second week of embryonic development, when, out of a blob of cells, the first hint of structure appears. Known as the primitive streak, it heralds the massive reorganization of cells that results in the formation of the three germ layers that form all the tissues in the body.
Luiggi’s story is about two sisters, Kate Storey, a developmental biologist, and Helen Storey, a fashion designer, who collaborated in 1997 under the auspices of a Wellcome Trust project to produce a collection of dresses known as the Primitive Streak (downloaded from Luiggi’s article in The Scientist).
Primitive Streak (African Streak) dress and illustration courtesy of Helen Storey Photograph: Justine. Model: Korinna (downloaded from The Scientist)
Helen and Kate collaborated in 1997 to create a series of fashion/textile designs, spanning the first 1,000 hours of human life. Producing these at London College of Fashion, Helen and Kate worked interactively using design at multiple levels to evoke the key embryonic processes that underlie our development. Seen and acclaimed by millions internationally and called a ‘cultural hybrid’, it changed the course of Helen’s career – her time is now devoted to ideas and work rooted in science. Kate is dedicated to the public understanding of science.
14 years on, Helen and Kate have collaborated again to produce new dresses, which explore the science behind the development and function of the lungs.
The full collection is 27 dresses, 10 of which originate from this new collaboration while the other 17 were created for the 1997 exhibit. In describing how the sisters worked together, a fascinating tidbit about the heart emerges (from the Luiggi article),
To help Helen with the creative process, Kate suggested an interesting fact of heart development: the heart forms from cells that are in front of the developing brain, which are eventually displaced into the chest cavity.
“So your heart actually starts above your head,” Kate says. [emphasis mine]
The science immediately clicked in Helen’s mind, who reached out to a milliner to help her mold the tubes of a primitive heart into a Nylon straw hat with a base shaped like a diaphragm — the structure in which the mature heart finally rests.
I think for anyone of a philosophical bent that fact about heart cells could lead to some interesting speculation. Luiggi’s article features more details, pictures, and a slideshow or there’s the Primitive Streak website for anyone who’d like to delve deeper.
I’m quite interested in patents and their possible impact on nanotechnology innovation so this item caught my attention. VeruTEK Technologies, Inc. just received notice of a patent allowance for the Green-nano zero valent iron (G-nZVI) product which was developed in collaboration with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The product is ideal for a broad range of remediation applications including treating produced water (wastewater) generated during oil and gas and other chemical production processes.
G-nZVI works more efficiently than conventional iron catalysts, significantly increasing the rate of oxidant activity and can be used under a wide range of conditions. Unlike other catalysts which are typically sensitive to changes in pH, G-nZVI consistently delivers high performance over a wide pH range. G-nZVI is highly effective as an activator for VeruTEK’s patent-pending Surfactant-enhanced In Situ Chemical Oxidation (S-ISCO®) treatment of hydrocarbon and chlorinated solvent contamination. The product can also be used with conventional in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) to improve the effectiveness of traditional remediation chemistry.
The EPA works with VeruTEK on a variety of projects, concentrating on new field-proven approaches to address difficult environmental issues. According to John Leazer, Director of the Sustainable Technology Division at EPA’s National Risk Management Research Laboratory in Cincinnati, “Patent awards are superb examples of what can be accomplished through collaborative research and development.” [emphases mine]
I have previously written about nano zero valent iron (nZVI) and site remediation in my March 30, 2011 posting which concerned a benchmarking study for nZVI and briefly in my March 4, 2010 posting (towards the end) where I summarized a Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies webcast (approximately 54 min.) on the topic.
As I understand it, the process (green or environmentally friendly) by which the nano zero valent iron is derived is the reason the VeruTek product has been awarded a patent and not because its remediation capabilities are superior to other nano zero valent iron products. From the VeruTEK’s G-nZVI product page,
GnZVI is a green synthesized nanoscale zero valent iron catalyst invented by VeruTEK and the US EPA. During the green synthesis process iron salts are exposed to naturally reductive plant material, the resultant nanoscale particles are coated in iron oxide and plant polyphenols which confer advantageous properties. Research conducted by VeruTEK, the EPA and the University of Connecticut, published in peer reviewed journals, demonstrate the efficacy of the product and its unique chemical design.
So, in addition to being used to remove contamination, this product itself is manufactured in a relatively environmentally friendly fashion. Nice!
Of course, there’s a fair amount of discussion about how patenting impedes innovation. From Mike Masnick’s Feb. 17, 2011 article on Techdirt,
As with any “hot” technology area, it doesn’t take long for a massive, innovation hindering patent thicket to spring up. It effectively makes it impossible to bring anything to market unless you’ve got a huge patent portfolio yourself and deep pockets. Yet another example of patents harming the smaller players in the market. A new report is suggesting that the latest “hot” area to get patent crazy is nanotechnology.
However, the really worrying thing about the report is that it notes that the single largest “patent patron” in nanotechnology… is the federal government. [emphasis mine]
The report, The Big Downturn; Nanogeopolitics, that Masnick is referring to is from The ETC Group who released it on Dec. 17, 2010 so the material in it is relatively recent. They provide the only overview of the nanotechnology patent scene (Chapter 12, p. 43 PDF version and p. 36 print version) that I’ve come across so far. I find the reference to the federal government (US in this case) as being the largest patent patron interesting in light of the EPA’s collaborative relationship with VeruTEK.
One comment before you rush off to read The ETC Group’s report, the tone is very much ‘we are on the side of the angels; capitalists and governments and ‘anyone who disagrees with us in any way’ are not.”
How do I love thee, British Library? Let me count the ways. (I know it’s a cheap move paraphrasing these lines from Elizabeth Barrett Browning but it’s a compromise since it can take me years to come up with the perfect poetic line by which time this news will be ancient history.)
The British Library has announced an iPad application (app) which will make over 60,000 19th century titles from their collection available through Apple’s iTunes store later this summer. At this point, there are approximately 1000 titles available in the app they are calling the 19th Century Historical Collection. Neal Ungerleider on the Fast Company website writes in his June 15, 2011 article,
The British Library is launching a new library-in-an-iPad application that gives tablet users access to tens of thousands of 19th-century books in their original form. The app, called the 19th Century Historical Collection, is taking a notably different tack to putting classic literature online than rivals such as the Kindle platform: Antiquarian books viewed through the British Library application will come in their original form–complete with illustrations, typefaces, pull-out maps and even the occasional paper wear.
This project follows from the British Library’s previous mobile app project, Treasures. Here’s a video about that one,
Getting back to the most recent project the 19th Century Historical Collection (from the British Library June 7, 2011 news release),
The British Library 19th Century Historical Collection App forms a treasure trove of classics and lesser known titles in fields ranging from travel writing and natural history to fiction and philosophy. The app represents the latest landmark in the British Library’s progress towards its long-term vision of making more of its historic collections available to many more users through innovative technology. [emphasis mine]
I’m happy to see that the staff at the British Library remain open to ideas and experimentation. As I noted in my July 29, 2010 posting (Love letter to the British Library) about copyright, I’ve been having an affair with the British Library since 2000. Here’s an excerpt from that posting which relates directly to these latest initiatives,
Dame Lynne Brindley, the Chief Executive Officer for the British Library had this to say in her introduction to the [British Library’s] paper [Driving UK Research — Is copyright a help or a hindrance?],
There is a supreme irony that just as technology is allowing greater access to books and other creative works than ever before for education and research, new restrictions threaten to lock away digital content in a way we would never countenance for printed material.
Let’s not wake up in five years’ time and realise we have unwittingly lost a fundamental building block for innovation, education and research in the UK. Who is protecting the public interest in the digital world? We need to redefine copyright in the digital age and find a balance to benefit creators, educators, researchers, the creative industries – and the knowledge economy. (p. 3)
In this case, the action matches what’s been said. Bravo!
ETA June 21, 2011: The British Library has recently made a deal with Google to digitize 250,000 texts. All of the books are in the public domain. You can read more about the project/deal in Kit Eaton’s June 20, 2011 article for Fast Company, Pulp, Non-Fiction: On The British Library’s Book-Digitizing Deal With Google. From the article,
Google’s got several other high-profile deals with other libraries, but the British Library deal is significant because the BL is the second biggest library in the world, after the Library of Congress (if you’re counting books, rather than periodicals). There are 14 million books among 150 million texts in a variety of formats and three million are added every year–because the BL is a legal deposit library, so it gets a copy of all books produced in the U.K. and Ireland, including many books from overseas that are published in Britain.
The Library’s chief executive Dame Lynne Brindley has commented on the new deal, highlighting the original mission of the Library to make knowledge accessible to everyone–the Google deal is “building on this proud tradition.” Since anyone with a browser can now access the material for free from anywhere in the world, the deal sets an important precedent that may be expanded in the future.
…
Making 60,000 texts immediately readable on your iPad is one thing, and adding another 250,000 is another. The British Library is sending a big signal out about historic texts, and it could subtly change how you think about books. For one thing, student’s essays are going to be peppered with even more esoteric quotes from obscure publications as they ill-advisedly Google their way through writing term papers. It also boosts Google’s standing in the “free” books stakes compared to competitors like Amazon, and it does imply that in the future even more of the 150 million texts in the British Library may make it online.
The American Chemical Society (ACS) has a podcast and transcript of an interview with Alcides Leão, Ph.D., from São Paulo State University College of Agricultural Sciences, São Paulo, Brazil. (I last mentiioned Leão in my March 28, 2011 posting where I profiled his and his colleagues’ work on using nanocellulose fibres in automotive plastics as a greener alternative to the plastics currently used.) You might prefer to listen to the podcast (made available through the ACS’s Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions project) or you can read the transcript,
Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions
Promoting Public Health: “Green” cars made from pineapples and bananas
Combating disease . . . promoting public health … providing clean water and safe food . . . developing new sources of energy . . . confronting climate change. Hello, from the American Chemical Society — the ACS. Our more than 163,000 members make up the world’s largest scientific society. This is “Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions: New Solutions 2011.” Global Challenges 2011 updates the ACS’ award-winning podcast series. In 2011, we are focusing on the four themes of the International Year of Chemistry: Health, energy, environment and materials. Today’s solution addressed the desirability of developing more “green” cars.
With manufacturers building hybrids that have excellent gas mileage, the next step appears to be new vehicles that are created through the fruits of workers’ labors, literally –– cars made, in part, out of bananas or pineapples. Their study, explaining how they can create stronger, lighter, and more sustainable materials for cars and other products, was presented this spring at the ACS 241st National Meeting & Exposition in Anaheim.Here’s study lead author Alcides Leão, Ph.D., with São Paulo State University College of Agricultural Sciences São Paulo, Brazil.
“The properties of these plastics are incredible. They are light, but very strong — 30 per cent lighter and 3-to-4 times stronger than the materials used today. We believe that a lot of car parts, including dashboards, bumpers, side panels, will be made of nano-sized fruit fibers in the future. For one thing, they will help reduce the weight of cars and that will improve fuel economy. They also will help us make more sturdy vehicles.”
Besides cutting down on weight and improving gas mileage, nano-cellulose reinforced plastics have mechanical advantages over conventional automotive plastics. These new plastics can reduce damage from heat and spilled gasoline [emphasis mine], for example.
“These new polymers can replace certain plastics used today or can be used to reinforce materials and this is a real advantage because the fruit plastics are biodegradable.Any source of cellulose-related material could be used. In fact, sludge from pulp and paper cellulose plants could be used. This sludge pulp accounts for a huge amount of waste in Brazil and other countries. How could you use fruit to build sturdier cars, some people have asked? The fact is that the nano-cellulose fibers that go into the plastics are almost as stiff as Kevlar, the renowned super-strong material used in armor and bulletproof vests. Unlike Kevlar and other traditional plastics, which are made from petroleum or natural gas, nano-cellulose fibers are completely renewable. We now have a partnership with a Malaysian company to use these fibers to develop a bullet-proof vest.”
The process, though expensive, has a major advantage which offsets the cost, and the approach looks promising for manufacturing other products in the future. Increasing production certainly will reduce the cost.“To prepare the nano-fibers, we inserted the leaves and stems of pineapples or other plants into a device similar to a pressure cooker. We then added certain chemicals to the plants and heated the mixture over several cycles, producing a fine material that resembles talcum powder. The process is costly, but it takes just one pound of nano-cellulose to produce 100 pounds of super-strong, lightweight plastic. So far, we’re focusing on replacing automotive plastics. But in the future, we may be able to replace steel and aluminum automotive parts using these plant-based nanocellulose materials. In addition, the new plastic could be used to build airplanes.”
Smart Chemists/Innovative Thinking
Smart chemists. Innovative thinking. That’s the key to solving global challenges of the 21st Century. Please check out more of our full-length podcasts on wide-ranging issues facing chemistry and science, such as promoting public health, developing new fuels and confronting climate change, at www.acs.org/GlobalChallenges.Today’s podcast was written by Michael Bernstein. I’m Adam Dylewski at the American Chemical Society in Washington.
I applaud the interest in providing solutions to our global challenges but let’s not forget that some of these challenges were created as a consequence of a failure to anticipate negative outcomes from previous chemical solutions to challenges.
On a personal note, I’m intrigued to see that these new plastics could reduce damage from heat and spilled gasoline in light of last night’s events in Vancouver where after losing the Stanley Cup, some Canuck fans overturned and burned a few vehicles as well as smashing window storefronts and looting stores. Here’s a bit of a commentary from Elaine Lui (Lainey’s Gossip) on last night’s events and what’s happening today (Note: her language is a bit saltier than mine so I’ve compromised by replacing vowels with asterisks),
There’s nothing like running to your car to make sure it’s not vandalised. The crowd was already pretty angry when we went past. And we were early. We darted across the street to avoid a fight, were fortunate to find the car unharmed, and got out of there quickly, safely home to our dogs. Others, as you’ve probably seen, were not so lucky.
It sucks that the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup. But it sucks even more that this is the image you have of Vancouver today. They keep saying that a small group of d*ckh**ds deliberately destroyed the city and that their efforts should not represent who and what we are. But what about all those people just standing there, not leaving, so that they could photo bomb a fight, and post that sh*t on Facebook?
While you shake your head at the idiocy that went down last night, I wonder if you could take a moment to consider that there is profound heartbreak today for the people who love Vancouver to see, to know, that these *ssh*l*s, who are not true fans, have p*ss*d on the face of our awesome town.
The people of our awesome town are already trying to restore it. Thousands of Vancouver residents have already volunteered to assist with clean up efforts. Click here for more information and follow @vancouverclean for updates on how and where you can help.
Lui is a gossip columnist who generally concentrates on movie, television, and fashion industry gossip with an occasional foray into film and literary criticism.
ETA: I should credit Cameron Chai’s June 16, 2011 news item at Azonano for providing me with the information about the ACS podcast.
Jacana Gallery (2435 Granville St., Vancouver, Canada) is displaying a piece described by a Swiss artist as (from the Marc Rembold webpage on the Jacana Gallery website)
Using high tech nanotechnological colours, materials and instruments I have the possibility to create more real (nearer to the liquid space) and strong colours. It allows me to define and create colours in a contemporary manner instead of using traditional pigments. In the series LIQUIDS there is no use of pigments in oil or acrylic, no painterly technique, and no other ordinary processes to create colours is involved.
From there, the colours in their visible forms are treated manually and finally the polymethylmethacrylat process brings to the colors a final optical effect, giving them the visual quality of liquid precious stones.
Using high tech nanotechnological colours, materials and instruments I have the possibility to create more real (nearer to the liquid space) and strong colours. It allows me to define and create colours in a contemporary manner instead of using traditional pigments. In the series < LIQUIDS there is no use of pigments in oil or acrylic, no painterly technique, and no other ordinary processes to create colours is involved.
From there, the colours in their visible forms are treated manually and finally the polymethylmethacrylat process brings to the colors a final optical effect, giving them the visual quality of liquid precious stones.
The concept behind my work is the materialisation of light. Through electronic instrumentation and contemporary imaging processes, I bring the invisible realm of light’s colour spectrum to our eyes. I explore ways to manifest the beauty of something immaterial into vibrant, pure liquid-like colour.
Here’s Marc Rembold’s Welly, the work being featured at Jacana,
Welly by Marc Rembold (downloaded from the Jacana Gallery website)
I’m not sure how these colours are nanotechnological but they are certainly stunning. This reminds me of the work that’s based on Morpho butterfly wings, opals, jewel beetles, and other naturally iridescent animals and objects. All of it has to do with mimicking nanoscale structures in order to obtain certain optical properties. My May 20, 2011 posting is the latest on mimicking those optical properties.
June’s Nanoscale Informal Science Education (NISE) Network newsletter features a 2009 video, Nanotechnology brings us Delicious Nanocrystalline solar cells, which was entered for the American Chemical Society’s 2009 Nanotation Nanotube contest.Who knew you could use donuts and tea to make a solar cell?
ETA June 20, 2011: Dexter Johnson in a June 17, 2011 posting on his Nanoclast blog points out that the science in this video is not of the best calibre.
On another note entirely, an April 22, 2010 posting from Clark Miller on the NISE Net blog focuses on bio-non-bio interfaces. Excerpted from Miller’s posting,
What would it mean if biological and non-biological systems were not just fully connectable but fully interchangeable? That’s one of the questions that nanotechnology poses for us. More than any other field of scientific inquiry, nanotechnology operates at the basic scales of biology. DNA, for example, has a rough width of 2.5 nm. Viruses are roughly 20 to 250 nm. A bacteria is roughly 1000 nm. So, nanotechnology spans from the scale of individual biological molecules through the scale of simple biological systems to the scale of living cells.
Miller certainly poses an interesting question especially in light of work which could conceivably lead (or perhaps already has led) to interchangeable biological and nonbiological systems,
For example, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a new sensor for viruses that works through a combination of nanotechnology elements. The base of the sensor is a flat basin filled with liquid crystals (these are crystal molecules that behave like a liquid and form the core materials used in computer and flat-screen TVs). Within the basin are a series of parallel ridges approximately 5 nm on each side. These ridges help orient the liquid crystals so that they line up in parallel to the ridges and therefore exhibit a constant color across the entire basin. Finally, set into the ridges are a series of antibody particles for a specific virus. Once built, the sensor is exposed to material that might contain the virus in question. If the virus is present, it will bind to the antibody and, when it does, disturb the arrangement of the liquid crystals. When the liquid crystals are disturbed, the sensor changes color, signaling a positive match.
I haven’t seen any public engagement exercises that raise the issue in quite that way. At this point, it seems to be the province of science fiction.
MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology] researchers have created a new detector so sensitive it can pick up a single molecule of an explosive such as TNT.
To create the sensors, chemical engineers led by Michael Strano coated carbon nanotubes — hollow, one-atom-thick cylinders made of pure carbon — with protein fragments normally found in bee venom. This is the first time those proteins have been shown to react to explosives, specifically a class known as nitro-aromatic compounds that includes TNT.
And now the Nano Haiku,
Bee venom and nanotubes
Raise nano red flags
For super small explosives
by Vrylena Olney of the Museum of Science, Boston.
The US National Science Foundation is sharing its pictures in a bid to communicate about science and technology. From the June 9, 2011 news item on Nanowerk,
The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Science360 for iPad application is now available in the App Store section of Apple’s iTunes. This application features spectacular images from NSF-funded institutions in high resolution for download to the iPad. The application also allows users to share images and video on Facebook and Twitter or via email. In addition, breaking science news is always at a user’s fingertips through the application news feed.
…
“iPads are becoming more prevalent, more reliable and more viable for locating information,” said Acting NSF Director of Public Affairs Dana Topousis. “This application will provide at your fingertips another avenue for sharing and accessing breaking science news.”
The main application screen is laid out in a user-friendly format, providing users with the top news, videos, images and discoveries from the science community. In the way it showcases science, Science360 for iPad has a unique look–a spherical or 360-degree presentation. Science360 for iPad demonstrates the successful partnerships and platforms NSF has developed with NBC Learn and LiveScience.com as well as Science Nation, to communicate science and technology discoveries to a broader audience.
Here’s a sample of the images available,
This application features spectacular images from NSF-funded institutions in high resolution for download to the iPad. Credit: National Science Foundation
To download the Science360 for iPad application for free, visit the Apple iTunes store.
Nanochannels, last mentioned in my Jan. 27, 2011 posting, is a Europe-wide public engagement project. Announced in mid-January 2011, Nanochannels has now created a multi-language set of surveys for its first public engagement exercise. From the June 13, 2011 news item on Nanowerk,
In one of the biggest nano-related public engagement exercises ever implemented, the Institute of Nanotechnology has now published online surveys in seven languages and is launching focus groups as part of the EC-funded NANOCHANNELS project. The project partners convened in a two-day intensive workshop at EuroNanoForum 2011, Budapest, to plan the next stages of a dynamic programme of communication, dialogue, and engagement in issues of nanotechnology (NT) aimed at European citizens.
…
Speaking at the NanoChannels workshop at EuroNanoForum 2011, Mark Morrison, CEO of the Institute of Nanotechnology, said: ‘This is one of the largest projects ever to examine the issues faced by all sectors of the wider public through specially designed tools of engagement. Not only will the project enable us to gauge public opinion, it will also inform us of the tools that prove to be the most effective for communication within specific sectors. These dialogue tools can then be adopted to help build public consensus on advanced technologies and inform European Union policy.’
You can participate by filling out a short survey,
I wonder why they don’t mention the Nanologue, a European Union nanotechnology public engagement project completed in 2004. It seems logical to build on work that was done previously unless institutional memory has failed and work is being started from the beginning, again. ETA June 15, 2011: Nanoclast blogger, Dexter Johnson provides more insight into the relationship between Nanochannels and other European nanotechnology public engagement exercises in his June 15, 2011 posting,
Since I was in the meeting at EuroNanoForum in which the outreach program [Nanochannels] was discussed, I can confirm that a dreary recap was provided of the Nanologue project. The extent to which this data informed the new project was hard to discern from the near-comatose expression on the face of the audience.
But moving on, in addition to Nanologue there was ObservatoryNANO that was supposed to inform government, industry and finance decision makers about issues pertaining to nanotechnology and in doing so often provided unintended guffaws.
Dexter goes on to provide more context to this current Nanochannels outreach project and a brief comment about current US public consultation efforts.
A flat layer of carbon atoms packed into a two-dimensional honeycomb arrangement, graphene is being touted as a miracle (it seems) material which will enable new kinds of electronic products. Recently, there have been a number of news items and articles featuring graphene research.
Here’s my roundup of the latest and greatest graphene news. I’m starting with an application that is the closest to commercialization: IBM recently announced the creation of the first graphene-based integrated circuit. From the Bob Yirka article dated June 10, 2011 on physorg.com,
Taking a giant step forward in the creation and production of graphene based integrated circuits, IBM has announced in Science, the fabrication of a graphene based integrated circuit [IC] on a single chip. The demonstration chip, known as a radio frequency “mixer” is capable of producing frequencies up to 10 GHz, and demonstrates that it is possible to overcome the adhesion problems that have stymied researchers efforts in creating graphene based IC’s that can be used in analog applications such as cell phones or more likely military communications.
The graphene circuits were started by growing a two or three layer graphene film on a silicon surface which was then heated to 1400°C. The graphene IC was then fabricated by employing top gated, dual fingered graphene FET’s (field-effect transistors) which were then integrated with inductors. The active channels were made by spin-coating the wafer with a thin polymer and then applying a layer of hydrogen silsequioxane. The channels were then carved by e-beam lithography. Next, the excess graphene was removed with an oxygen plasma laser, and then the whole works was cleaned with acetone. The result is an integrated circuit that is less than 1mm2 in total size.
Meanwhile, there’s a graphene research project in contention for a major research prize in Europe. Worth 1B Euros, the European Union’s 2011 pathfinder programme (Future and Emerging Technologies [Fet11]) in information technology) will select two from six pilot actions currently under way to be awarded a Flagship Initiative prize. From the Fet11 flagships project page,
FET Flagships are large-scale, science-driven and mission oriented initiatives that aim to achieve a visionary technological goal. The scale of ambition is over 10 years of coordinated effort, and a budget of up to one billion Euro for each Flagship. They initiatives are coordinated between national and EU programmes and present global dimensions to foster European leadership and excellence in frontier research.
To prepare the launch of the FET Flagships, 6 Pilot Actions are funded for a 12-month period starting in May 2011. In the second half of 2012 two of the Pilots will be selected and launched as full FET Flagship Initiatives in 2013.
Here’s the description of the Graphene Science and technology for ICT and beyond pilot action,
Graphene, a new substance from the world of atomic and molecular scale manipulation of matter, could be the wonder material of the 21st century. Discovering just how important this material will be for Information and Communication Technologies is the long term focus of the Flagship Initiative, simply called, GRAPHENE. This aims to explore revolutionary potentials, in terms of both conventional as well as radically new fields of Information and Communication Technologies applications.
Bringing together multiple disciplines and addressing research across a whole range of issues, from fundamental understandings of material properties to Graphene production, the Flagship will provide the platform for establishing European scientific and technological leadership in the application of Graphene to Information and Communication Technologies. The proposed research includes coverage of electronics, spintronics, photonics, plasmonics and mechanics, all based on Graphene.
[Project Team:]
Andrea Ferrari, Cambridge University, UK
Jari Kinaret, Chalmers University, Sweden
Vladimir Falko, Lancaster University, UK
Jani Kivioja, NOKIA, Finland [emphases mine]
Not so coincidentally (given one member of the team is associated with Nokia and another is associated with Cambridge University), the Nokia Research Centre jointly with Cambridge University issued a May 4, 2011 news release (I highlighted it in my May 6, 2011 posting [scroll down past the theatre project information]) about the Morph concept (a rigid, flexible, and stretchable phone/blood pressure cuff/calculator/and other electronic devices in one product) which they have been publicizing for years now. The news release concerned itself with how graphene would enable the researchers to take the Morph from idea to actuality. The webpage for the Graphene Pilot Action is here.
There’s something breathtaking when there is no guarantee of success about the willingness to invest up to 1B Euros in a project that spans 10 years. We’ll have to wait until 2013 before learning whether the graphene project will be one of the two selected as Flagship Initiatives.
I must say the timing for the 2010 Nobel Prize for Physics which went to two scientists (Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov) for their groundbreaking work with graphene sems interesting (featured in my Oct. 7, 2010 posting) in light of this graphene activity.
The rest of these graphene items are about research that could lay the groundwork for future commercialization.
Hui-Ming Cheng and co-workers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Metal Research at Shenyang have now devised a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method for turning graphene sheets into porous three-dimensional ‘foams’ with extremely high conductivity (“Three-dimensional flexible and conductive interconnected graphene networks grown by chemical vapour deposition” [published in Nature Materials 10, 424–428 (2011) doi:10.1038/nmat3001 Published online 10 April 2011]). By permeating this foam with a siloxane-based polymer, the researchers have produced a composite that can be twisted, stretched and bent without harming its electrical or mechanical properties.
Here’s an image from the Nature Publishing Group (NPG) of both the vapour and the bendable, twistable, stretchable composite (downloaded from the news item on Nanowerk where you can find a larger version of the image),
The ‘elastic’ conductor (image to the right) reminds me of the ‘paper’ phone which I wrote about May 8, 2011 and May 12, 2011. (It’s a project where teams from Queen’s University [in Ontario] and Arizona State University are working to create flexible screens that give you telephony, music playing and other capabilities much like the Morph concept.)
Researchers in Singapore have developed a graphene quantum dot using a C60 (a buckminster fullerene). From the June 13, 2011 news item (Graphene: from spheres to perfect dots) on Nanowerk,
An electron trapped in a space of just a few nanometers across behaves very differently to one that is free. Structures that confine electrons in all three dimensions can produce some useful optical and electronic effects. Known as quantum dots, such structures are being widely investigated for use in new types of optical and electronics technologies, but because they are so small it is difficult to fabricate quantum dots reproducibly in terms of shape and size. Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and A*STAR have now developed a technique that enables graphene quantum dots of a known size to be created repeatedly and quickly (“Transforming C60 molecules into graphene quantum dots” [published in Nature Nanotechnology 6, 247–252 (2011) doi:10.1038/nnano.2011.30 Published online 20 March 2011]).
This final bit is about a nano PacMan that allows for more precise patterning from a June 13, 2011 article written by Michael Berger,
A widely discussed method for the patterning of graphene is the channelling of graphite by metal nanoparticles in oxidizing or reducing environments (see for instance: “Nanotechnology PacMan cuts straight graphene edges”).
“All previous studies of channelling behavior have been limited by the need to perform the experiment ex situ, i.e. comparing single ‘before’ and ‘after’ images,” Peter Bøggild, an associate professor at DTU [Danish Technical University] Nanotech, explains to Nanowerk. “In these and other ex situ experiments the dynamic behavior must be inferred from the length of channels and heating time after completion of the experiment, with the rate of formation of the channel assumed to be consistent over the course of the experiment.”
In new work, reported in the June 9, 2011 advance online edition of Nano Letters (“Discrete dynamics of nanoparticle channelling in suspended graphene” [published in Nano Letters, Article ASAP, DOI: 10.1021/nl200928k, Publication Date (Web): June 9, 2011]), Bøggild and his team report the nanoscale observation of this channelling process by silver nanoparticles in an oxygen atmosphere in-situ on suspended mono- and bilayer graphene in an environmental transmission electron microscope, enabling direct concurrent observation of the process, impossible in ex-situ experiments.
Personally, I love the youtube video I’ve included here largely because it features blobs (as many of these videos do) where they’ve added music and titles (many of these videos do not) so you can better appreciate the excitement,
From the article by Michael Berger,
As a result of watching this process occur live in a transmission electron microscope, the researchers say they have seen many details that were hidden before, and video really brings the “nano pacman” behavior to life …
There’s a reason why they’re so interested in cutting graphene,
“With a deeper understanding of the fine details we hope to one day use this nanoscale channelling behavior to directly cut desired patterns out of suspended graphene sheets, with a resolution and accuracy that isn’t achievable with any other technique,” says Bøggild. “A critical advantage here is that the graphene crystal structure guides the patterning, and in our case all of the cut edges of the graphene are ‘zigzag’ edges.”
So there you have it. IBM creates the first integrated graphene-based circuit, there’s the prospect of a huge cash prize for a 10-year project on graphene so they could produce the long awaited Morph concept and other graphene-based electronics products while a number of research teams around the world continue teasing out its secrets with graphene ‘foam’ projects, graphene quantum dots, and nano PacMen who cut graphene’s zigzag edges with precision.
ETA June 16, 2011: For those interested in the business end of things, i.e. market value of graphene-based products, Cameron Chai features a report, Graphene: Technologies, Applications, and Markets, in his June 16, 2011 news item on Azonano.
Strictly speaking this isn’t visualizing data and scientific information (which I’ve mentioned before) so much as it is augmenting it. The biology journal Cell is now including online multimedia components that can be accessed only by a QR code in the journal’s hardcopy version. From the May 26, 2011 news item on physorg.com,
On May 27th the top cell biology journal, Cell, will publish its latest issue with multimedia components directly attached to the print version. The issue uses QR code technology to connect readers to the journal’s multimedia formats online thereby improving the conceptualization of a paper’s scientific content and enhancing the reader’s overall experience.
Readers of the hardcopy issue who take advantage of the code will experience an author-narrated walk through a paper’s figures. In all, the issue will use QR codes to include seventeen “hidden treasures” for readers to discover. Readers can simply scan the QR codes with a smart phone or tablet to uncover animated figures, interviews, videos, and more. The multimedia formats offered by Cell include: Podcasts, Paperclips, PaperFlicks, and Enhanced Snapshots. Even the journal’s cover shows a simple QR code which allows readers of the hardcopy issue to see an animated cover.
Here’s the animated cover, which is titled, Malaria Channels Host Nutrients,
I find this development interesting in light of moves to provide information via graphical abstracts and/or video abstracts. For example, the publisher Elsevier offers authors of papers for their various science journals instructions on preparing graphical abstracts (from Elsevier’s authors’ graphical abstracts webpage),
A Graphical Abstract should allow readers to quickly gain an understanding of the main take-home message of the paper and is intended to encourage browsing, promote interdisciplinary scholarship, and help readers identify more quickly which papers are most relevant to their research interests.
Authors must provide an image that clearly represents the work described in the paper. A key figure from the original paper, summarising the content can also be submitted as a graphical abstract.
Elsevier provides examples of good graphical abstracts such as this one,
Journal of Controlled Release, Volume 140, Issue 3, 16 December 2009, Pages 210-217. Hydrotropic oligomer-conjugated glycol chitosan as a carrier of paclitaxel: Synthesis, characterization, and in vivo biodistribution. G. Saravanakumar, Kyung Hyun Min, et.al., doi:10.1016/j.jconrel.2009.06.015
For an example of a video abstract, I’m going back to Cell which offers this one from Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers discussing their work on octopus arm movements and visual control,
I have a suspicion that the trend to presenting science to the general public and other experts using graphical and video abstracts and other primarily ‘visual’ media could have quite an impact on the sciences and how they are practiced. I haven’t quite figured out what any of those impacts might be but if someone would like to comment on that, I’d be more than happy to hear from you.
Meanwhile, it seems to be a Cell kind of day so I’ve decided to embed the Lady Gaga Bad Project parody by the Hui Zheng Laboratory at Baylor Medical College in Texas for a second time,
