The International Symposium on Electronic/Emerging Art is an annual (these days) symposium which is put on by ISEA International (formerly Inter-Society for the Electronic Arts) and is hosted in various parts of the world. Here’s more about the ISEA International from its About (Mission) webpage,
Mission ISEA International is an international non-profit organisation fostering interdisciplinary discussion and knowledge exchange among culturally diverse organisations and individuals working at the intersection of art, science, and technology.
Main Activity The organisation’s main activity is the International Symposium on Electronic/Emerging Art (ISEA), an annual symposium that contributes to knowledge in the fields of art, science, and technology; supports emerging approaches to research and practice on complex and relevant topics; generates knowledge and understanding from interdisciplinary and/or cross-sector perspectives by bringing together diverse communities of art practitioners and scholars. The international symposium provides an academic and artistic forum, including a conference and a wide array of exhibitions, presentations, performances, and public events. Each year, the symposium is held in a different country with the aim of encouraging and including diverse perspectives, and to serve as a cultural bridge between local and international communities of artists and researchers. The ISEA Board of Directors advises and guides the Host Organisations producing each ISEA edition.
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The location for ISEA 2025: some thoughts
The May 23 – 29, 2025 ISEA Symposium is being held in Korea (or South Korea), a location that has been experiencing some political upheaval as have many, many parts of the world. For example, there is a great deal of disquiet here in Canada regarding travel to the US (see April 10, 2025 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s [CBC] news online article by Sophia Harris “Canadian travel to the U.S. has plummeted. One reason why: fear“).
While there have been concerning events in Korea, the situation overall seems to have calmed down.
For anyone who’s familiar with the type of protests held in the US and to a lesser extent in Canada, this description of wandering into a recent protest in South Korea is revelatory, from a March 18, 2025 posting by Canadian gossip columnist, Elaine Lui (Lainey of laineygossip.com), Note: A link has been removed,
… Now that I’m actually in Korea, my feeds are dominated by K-entertainment news. And political news…that does not involve the person dominating the news in the west!
On Saturday [March 15, 2025] we came out of the subway and accidently [sic] joined a protest. The Constitutional Court of Korea is currently deliberating the case of President Yoon Suk Yeol. On Saturday protestors against the president took over city streets calling for his removal. There was also a rally held by his supporters and between the two events, the roads were jammed, the trains were packed, and the police were out in full force. But at no time in the three hours that we spent in that area did we feel a threat to our personal safety. It was a surreal thing to witness as a foreigner after all these years of American-dominated news coverage. According to The Korea Herald, the Court is is expected to deliver its ruling some time this week.
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The ruling from the Constitutional Court of Korea took a little longer than expected but it has now been made, from an April 3, 2025 CBC news online article by Murray Brewster,
South Korea’s Constitutional Court has formally upheld the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol following an aborted attempt to declare martial law late last year [2024].
It is a move that will trigger a new round of elections and deepen the political divide in one the region’s more vibrant democracies. South Korea must hold an election within two months.
After deliberating since January, the court issued its unanimous ruling Friday in a nationally broadcast event that saw many ordinary Koreans pause to hear the judgment on Yoon’s political fate.
The justices said Yoon violated the basic rights of the people by declaring martial law.
“You’re witnessing the miracle of democracy in Korea with the ruling of the constitutional court,” Siheung Mayor Lim Byung-taek told a gathering of journalists visiting the west coast city as part of the World Journalists Conference.
Yoon, a staunch conservative, was impeached in December [2024] by the country’s National Assembly, which is controlled by the liberal opposition.
He ordered the deployment of hundreds of troops and police officers to the assembly after declaring martial law on Dec. 3 [2024]
Yoon said the decision was intended to maintain order, but subsequently some military and civilian officials testified the president had ordered them to drag out lawmakers to frustrate a floor vote on his decree and detain his political opponents.
In his defence, Yoon claimed that he didn’t intend to keep the country under martial law for very long, and he only wanted to highlight what he called the “wickedness” of the Democratic Party, which obstructed his agenda.
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On Friday, police mobilized an overwhelming presence to prevent clashes and possible acts of vandalism, arson and assault.
There were both pro- and anti-impeachment demonstrations on the streets of Seoul following the ruling, but no violence was reported.
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ISEA theme, ‘동동 (憧憧, Dong-Dong): Creators’ Universe’, May 23 – 29, 2025 in Seoul
I was hoping to find a video with examples of some of what visitors to ISEA 2025 might experience but the organizers had decided on a more minimalist approach. Happily, I found this, from the About/Theme webpage,
The ISEA2025 theme, ‘동동 (憧憧, Dong-Dong): Creators’ Universe’, aspires to transcend the harsh realities of conflict and antagonism, initiating a global wave of unity sparked by a newfound allure. Through the words of the legendary priestess Diotima, Socrates described love as the act of keeping something good within oneself forever, the giving birth to beauty. This “giving birth” or “creation” elevates humanity from a mundane existence to an eternal state. For this God-Man, boundaries become meaningless, replaced by the limitless possibilities of consciousness manifesting in various forms within the quantum realm.
The overarching theme of ISEA2025, ‘Dong-Dong’ is drawn from the phrase “Dong-Dong-Wang-Rae, Bung-Jong-E-Sa (憧憧往來 朋從爾思)” in the ancient Eastern philosophical text, I Ching (Book of Changes, 易經). This theme resonates with this universal life force of love. The imagery of individuals moving toward one another with longing underscores our increasingly fragmented existence, while the ongoing conflicts and devastations around the globe remind us of the ancient wisdom that says it is good to be together. The juxtaposition of global crises with our dazzling technological advancements compels us to reflect on the values that underpin our society today.
ISEA2025 endeavors to explore a new worldview that transcends the recurring theme of posthumanism in contemporary art, as well as the divisions between East and West, art and science, materiality and spirituality, and technology and humanity. Embodying the future envisioned by transnational artist Nam June Paik, our generation is privileged to bridge the disconnected and to embrace the spontaneity and serendipity that emerge from the pursuit of relationship and solidarity. Seoul, a city that epitomises the fusion of tradition and modernity, serves as the ideal platform for such creative exchanges. Its geopolitical significance as the capital of a divided nation further amplifies the meaning of ‘Dong-Dong.’
Art has historically illuminated human experience through its creation of timeless beauty. With the consciousness and the universe of its exalted creators blossoming through technology, we can transcend material and social barriers to aspire higher. May the childlike ‘Dong-Dong’ within our minds generate beautiful waves in our tumultuous reality, awakening the creator spirit in all of us.
The creators’ universe belongs to all who ‘Dong-Dong.’
We propose four Creators’ Imperatives for all participants of ISEA2025. Each creator is encouraged to embrace the symposium’s main theme, Dong-Dong, by adhering to these guidelines.
Entice (홀려라) | Captivate the Heart
Create experiences and narratives that deeply resonate on an emotional level, fostering genuine interest and engagement.
Entangle (엮어라) | Foster Mutual Resemblance
Encourage collaboration and cross-disciplinary interactions, allowing different perspectives to merge and evolve into innovative concepts and solutions.
Expand (펼쳐라) | Broaden Horizons
Open platforms for diverse participation, encouraging contributions from various entities, including humans and the universe, to foster a rich tapestry of creative output.
Establish (세워라) | Affirm Inter-connectedness
Develop systems and structures that highlight and support the connectivity of different components, ensuring a cohesive and sustainable growth path. Recognise Dong-Dong as a potential gateway to achieving holistic inter-connectedness.
To guide academic and artistic submissions for ISEA2025, the following sub-themes have been developed to explore ideas pertaining to Dong-Dong and the Creators’ Imperatives of ISEA2025, and to connect with the ongoing conversations, research, and intellectual inquiry within the ISEA community.
We invite varied approaches and methodologies that resonate with the notion of Dong-Dong and the Creators’ Imperatives of ISEA2025, and urge participants to explore the intersections of art, technology, and culture while embracing the interconnected actions of enticing, entangling, expanding, and establishing.
Digital Heritage
We recall themes of mutual attraction and inclusivity, anticipating creative reinterpretations of tradition. Imagination transcending boundaries will connect traditional culture with modern technology, suggesting new directions for a sustainable future. We aim for a space open to endless combinations and innovations, blending mythical imagination with contemporary advancements.
※ Special Track 1 : 5th Summit on New Media Art Archiving
As part of Digital Heritage, the 5th Summit on New Media Art Archiving will take place, inviting scholars, practitioners, and archivists to engage in discussions that advance the preservation and dissemination of media art. This event will explore innovative reinterpretations of tradition and promote sustainable practices in both physical and digital archiving.
Related Research Areas
History and Philosophy, Intangible Cultural Heritage, Speculative Design, Tangible Legacy, Technological Singularity, DB Collect, Digital Archive, Methodology of Collecting and Archiving Media Art, New Media Art Preservation, Online and Physical Archiving, History of Digital Culture
Techno-Human
As technology advances beyond human cognition, it is crucial to reflect on the beliefs and values driving this progress. We welcome works exploring new life phenomena, evolving human identity through technology, the future of techno-humanity, and the changing Earth environment, fostering imagination, contemplation, and critique.
※ Special Track 2 : Barriers and Alienation in Art X Tech Education
Special session for Techno-Human, we will hold the Barriers and Alienation in Art X Tech Education. Amidst the hype cycle of countless technologies, we are curious about the realities faced by educators, artists, scientists, and practitioners involved in art education mediated by technology. We encourage participants to share their experiences from educational settings that utilize a range of technologies, from high-tech to low-tech, and explore ways to move forward together.
Nam June Paik asserted that “the role of an artist is to contemplate the future.” By blending social imagination with artistic inspiration, creators can envision new future cities, particularly Seoul at ISEA2025. Inspired by the vision of a future city at the 1939-1940 New York World’s Fair we have adopted the theme ‘Neo Futurama’ for our exploration, seeking to reveal the possible developments of Seoul’s future. Our focus centres on Seoul in the year 2050, a time anticipated to be characterised by artificial intelligence and hyper-convergence. This year is also marked by the technological ‘Singularity,’ as postulated by Ray Kurzweil. We invite creators, especially future generations, to actively envision and propose the cities they aspire to see in the future.
Related Research Areas
Blockchain, Urban Media, Eastern Philosophies, Alternative Cities, Artificial Intelligence, Social Issues, Ecological Future, Collective Action, New Matter & Material, Future Transportation, Future Lifestyle, Singularity
Space Creative & The Stars
Space and celestial bodies have symbolised humanity’s yearning and dreams (동동, 憧憧, Dong-Dong) throughout history and across cultures; The jade rabbit Oktokki that lives on the moon in Korean mythology and Saint-Exupéry’s Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) are just two of the beloved imagined figures embodying our cosmic sense of wonder. Space, the domain of celestial bodies and the stars, means both the physical expanse that encloses all tangible things and the ‘theatre of mind’ on which ideas and concepts are born and fostered. Space is therefore the enabler of the existence and the transformations of all creations– realisations of human desire and imagination– natural or manmade. Through the Space Creative & The Stars initiative, ISEA2025 aims to explore the varied senses of ‘space’ in creation–outer, literary, symbolic, urban, social, mental, physical, to name a few possibilities. We invite the global thinkers to build together the universe of Dong-Dong, a new home to ‘planetary thinking’ for the fate of humanity.
※ Special Track 3 : Nam June Paik – Live Science Fiction Movie
As part of Space Creative & The Stars, “Nam June Paik – Live Science Fiction Movie” will also take place, inviting scholars, researchers, and artists to engage in discussions that extend Nam June Paik’s philosophy and art. This event proposed by Nam June Paik Art Center will explore innovative ‘Live Science Fiction Movies’ inspired by Paik’s visionary ideas, continuing to challenge our perceptions of space and expand our imagination on this planet.
Related Research Areas
Space Science, Astronomy, Cosmic Web, Architecture and Spatialization, Spatial Music and Graphics, Science Fiction, Augmented/Virtual Reality and Metaverse, Social Constructs, Cognitive Science, Complex Systems, Planetary Thinking and Futurology
It looks pretty exciting to me. Should you be interested in going and haven’t already registered, they’ve extended Early Bird Registration to April 25, 2025 (KST). For those of us in Canada, I believe that Korea is across the International Dateline, which means you have until April 24, 2025. You can register early here; the registration fees are listed in Korean currency only.
Nanotechnology’s enormous potential across various sectors has long attracted the eye of investors, keen to capitalise on its commercial potency.
Yet the initial propulsion provided by traditional venture capital avenues was reined back when the reality of long development timelines, regulatory hurdles, and difficulty in translating scientific advances into commercially viable products became apparent.
While the initial flurry of activity declined in the early part of the 21st century, a new kid on the investing block has proved an enticing option beyond traditional funding methods.
Corporate venture capital has, over the last 10 years emerged as a key plank in turning ideas into commercial reality.
Simply put, corporate venture capital (CVC) has seen large corporations, recognising the strategic value of nanotechnology, establish their own VC arms to invest in promising start-ups.
The likes of Samsung, Johnson & Johnson and BASF have all sought to get an edge on their competition by sinking money into start-ups in nano and other technologies, which could deliver benefits to them in the long term.
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Unlike traditional VC firms, CVCs invest with a strategic lens, aligning their investments with their core business goals. For instance, BASF’s venture capital arm, BASF Venture Capital, focuses on nanomaterials with applications in coatings, chemicals, and construction.
It has an evergreen EUR 250 million fund available and will consider everything from seed to Series B investment opportunities.
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Samsung Ventures takes a similar approach, explaining: “Our major investment areas are in semiconductors, telecommunication, software, internet, bioengineering and the medical industry from start-ups to established companies that are about to be listed on the stock market.
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While historically concentrated in North America and Europe, CVC activity in nanotechnology is expanding to Asia, with China being a major player.
China has, perhaps not surprisingly, seen considerable growth over the last decade in nano and few will bet against it being the primary driver of innovation over the next 10 years.
As ever, the long development cycles of emerging nano breakthroughs can frequently deter some CVCs with shorter investment horizons.
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2023 Nanotechnology patent applications: which countries top the list?
A March 28, 2024 article from statnano.com provides interesting data concerning patent applications,
In 2023, a total of 18,526 nanotechnology patent applications were published at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the European Patent Office (EPO). The United States accounted for approximately 40% of these nanotechnology patent publications, followed by China, South Korea, and Japan in the next positions.
According to a statistical analysis conducted by StatNano using data from the Orbit database, the USPTO published 84% of the 18,526 nanotechnology patent applications in 2023, which is more than five times the number published by the EPO. However, the EPO saw a nearly 17% increase in nanotechnology patent publications compared to the previous year, while the USPTO’s growth was around 4%.
Nanotechnology patents are defined based on the ISO/TS 18110 standard as those having at least one claim related to nanotechnology orpatents classified with an IPC classification code related to nanotechnology such as B82.
A November 6, 2021 article by Hyungwon Kang for The Korea Herald is a great reminder that for all the wonders of contemporary technologies, we still cannot equal the technological achievements of bygone ages,
For humans, the Bronze Age meant metal weapons, farming tools, and means to sustain large enough populations with an organized labor force which enabled construction of lasting monuments such as dolmens.
East Asia, especially in ancient Korea, must have been a happening place in the Bronze Age as there are more dolmens in Korea than anywhere else in the world.
Bronze mirrors are found in abundance in Korea and neighboring areas formerly occupied by ancient Koreans. Bronze mirrors with fine lines and geometric designs are a more advanced version of earlier Bronze Age mirrors with rough designs.
The largest and the most famous bronze mirror with fine lines, South Korea’s National Treasure No. 141, Bronze Mirror with Geometric Designs, or Jeongmungyeong in Korean, was found serendipitously in the early 1960s by Korean army recruits who were digging trenches at the Nonsan Republic of Korea Army Training Center.
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The bronze mirror is shattered into many pieces, apparently from the impact of an iron pick‘s sharp tip piercing the mirror from its shiny side.
The other side shows finely engraved geometric lines and has two knobs where a chain or cord would have been passed through to form a necklace. The round shiny mirror is considered to have represented the Sun, a heavenly source of mythical power in ancient times. Researchers believe a leader or a priest/priestess would have worn the mirror to reflect sunlight from the chest.
Researchers believe the 21cm diameter Bronze Mirror with Geometric Designs was made during the height of cutting-edge Bronze Age technology, when Korean civilization was transitioning into the early stage of the Iron Age. The mirror has an incredible number of more than 13,000 fine lines which are only 300,000 nanometers thick, a size thinner than human hair.
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The cutting edge high-tech Bronze Age mirror was made with zinc-bronze alloy, mixing zinc with copper, tin, and lead. In particular, the bronze mirror has an alloy ratio of 7 to 3 of copper and tin, which exhibits the most suitable hardiness and reflectivity as a mirror.
It is almost impossible to replicate [emphasis mine] the bronze mirror with fine lines even with 21st-century technology. Researchers have tried without success to replicate the mirror with modern technology.
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If you have the time, you can check out the full text and the other images which accompany Hyungwon Kang’s November 6, 2021 article.
A May 21, 2020 news item on Nanowerk describes the latest in sports self-monitoring research (or as I like to think of it, spying on yourself),
Researchers from the University of Surrey have revealed their new biodegradable motion sensor – paving the way for implanted nanotechnology that could help future sports professionals better monitor their movements to aid rapid improvements, or help caregivers remotely monitor people living with dementia.
In a paper published by Nano Energy, a team from Surrey’s Advanced Technology Institute (ATI), in partnership with Kyung Hee University in South Korea, detail how they developed a nano-biomedical motion sensor which can be paired with AI systems to recognise movements of distinct body parts.
The ATI’s technology builds on its previous work around triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG), where researchers used the technology to harness human movements and generate small amounts of electrical energy. Combining the two means self-powered sensors are possible without the need for chemical or wired power sources.
In their new research, the team from the ATI developed a flexible, biodegradable and long-lasting TENG from silk cocoon waste. They used a new alcohol treatment technique, which leads to greater durability for the device, even under harsh or humid environments.
Dr. Bhaskar Dudem, project lead and Research Fellow at the ATI, said: “We are excited to show the world the immense potential of our durable, silk film based nanogenerator. It’s ability to work in severe environments while being able to generate electricity and monitor human movements positions our TENG in a class of its own when it comes to the technology.”
Professor Ravi Silva, Director of the ATI, said: “We are proud of Dr Dudem’s work which is helping the ATI lead the way in developing wearable, flexible, and biocompatible TENGs that efficiently harvest environmental energies. If we are to live in a future where autonomous sensing and detecting of pathogens is important, the ability to create both self-powered and wireless biosensors linked to AI is a significant boost.”
A July 3, 2019 news item on Nanowerk describes research coming from India and South Korea where nano gold is turned into black nanogold (Note: A link has been removed),
One of the main cause of global warming is the increase in the atmospheric CO2 level. The main source of this CO2 is from the burning of fossil fuels (electricity, vehicles, industry and many more).
Researchers at TIFR [Tata Institute of Fundamental Research] have developed the solution phase synthesis of Dendritic Plasmonic Colloidosomes (DPCs) with varying interparticle distances between the gold Nanoparticles (AU NPs) using a cycle-by-cycle growth approach by optimizing the nucleation-growth step. These DPCs absorb the entire visible and near-infrared region of solar light, due to interparticle plasmonic coupling as well as the heterogeneity in the Au NP [gold nanoparticle] sizes, which transformed golden gold material to black gold (Chemical Science, “Plasmonic colloidosomes of black gold for solar energy harvesting and hotspots directed catalysis for CO2 to fuel conversion”).
Black (nano)gold was able to catalyze CO2 to methane (fuel) conversion at atmospheric pressure and temperature, using solar energy. They also observed the significant effect of the plasmonic hotspots on the performance of these DPCs for the purification of seawater to drinkable water via steam generation, temperature jump assisted protein unfolding, oxidation of cinnamyl alcohol using pure oxygen as the oxidant, and hydrosilylation of aldehydes.
This was attributed to varying interparticle distances and particle sizes in these DPCs. The results indicate the synergistic effects of EM and thermal hotspots as well as hot electrons on DPCs performance. Thus, DPCs catalysts can effectively be utilized as Vis-NIR light photo-catalysts, and the design of new plasmonic nanocatalysts for a wide range of other chemical reactions may be possible using the concept of plasmonic coupling.
Raman thermometry and SERS (Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy) provided information about the thermal and electromagnetic hotspots and local temperatures which was found to be dependent on the interparticle plasmonic coupling. The spatial distribution of the localized surface plasmon modes by STEM-EELS plasmon mapping confirmed the role of the interparticle distances in the SPR (Surface Plasmon Resonance) of the material.
Thus, in this work, by using the techniques of nanotechnology, the researchers transformed golden gold to black gold, by changing the size and gaps between gold nanoparticles. Similar to the real trees, which use CO2, sunlight and water to produce food, the developed black gold acts like an artificial tree that uses CO2, sunlight and water to produce fuel, which can be used to run our cars. Notably, black gold can also be used to convert sea water into drinkable water using the heat that black gold generates after it captures sunlight.
This work is a way forward to develop “Artificial Trees” which capture and convert CO2 to fuel and useful chemicals. Although at this stage, the production rate of fuel is low, in coming years, these challenges can be resolved. We may be able to convert CO2 to fuel using sunlight at atmospheric condition, at a commercially viable scale and CO2 may then become our main source of clean energy.
Here’s an image illustrating the work
Caption: Use of black gold can get us one step closer to combat climate change.
Credit: Royal Society of Chemistry, Chemical Science
A “black” gold material has been developed to harvest sunlight, and then use the energy to turn carbon dioxide (CO2) into useful chemicals and fuel.
In addition to this, the material can also be used for applications including water purification, heating – and could help further research into new, efficient catalysts.
“In this work, by using the techniques of nanotechnology, we transformed golden gold to black gold, by simply changing the size and gaps between gold nanoparticles,” said Professor Vivek Polshettiwar from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in India.
Tuning the size and gaps between gold nanoparticles created thermal and electromagnetic hotspots, which allowed the material to absorb the entire visible and near-infrared region of sunlight’s wavelength – making the gold “black”.
The team of researchers, from TIFR and Seoul National University in South Korea, then demonstrated that this captured energy could be used to combat climate change.
Professor Polshettiwar said: “It not only harvests solar energy but also captures and converts CO2 to methane (fuel). Synthesis and use of black gold for CO2-to-fuel conversion, which is reported for the first time, has the potential to resolve the global CO2 challenge.
“Now, like real trees which use CO2, sunlight and water to produce food, our developed black gold acts like an artificial tree to produce fuel – which we can use to run our cars,” he added. Although production is low at this stage, Professor Polshettiwar (who was included in the RSC’s 175 Faces of Chemistry) believes that the commercially-viable conversion of CO2 to fuel at atmospheric conditions is possible in the coming years.
He said: “It’s the only goal of my life – to develop technology to capture and convert CO2 and combat climate change, by using the concepts of nanotechnology.”
Other experiments described in the Chemical Science paper demonstrate using black gold to efficiently convert sea water into drinkable water via steam generation.
It was also used for protein unfolding, alcohol oxidation, and aldehyde hydrosilylation: and the team believe their methodology could lead to novel and efficient catalysts for a range of chemical transformations.
We’re back on the cyborg trail or what I sometimes refer to as machine/flesh. A July 3, 2019 news item on ScienceDaily describes the latest attempts to join machine with flesh,
Machine enhanced humans — or cyborgs as they are known in science fiction — could be one step closer to becoming a reality, thanks to new research Lieber Group at Harvard University, as well as scientists from University of Surrey and Yonsei University.
Researchers have conquered the monumental task of manufacturing scalable nanoprobe arrays small enough to record the inner workings of human cardiac cells and primary neurons.
The ability to read electrical activities from cells is the foundation of many biomedical procedures, such as brain activity mapping and neural prosthetics. Developing new tools for intracellular electrophysiology (the electric current running within cells) that push the limits of what is physically possible (spatiotemporal resolution) while reducing invasiveness could provide a deeper understanding of electrogenic cells and their networks in tissues, as well as new directions for human-machine interfaces.
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The Lieber Group at Harvard University provided this image illustrating the work,
U-shaped nanowires can record electrical chatter inside a brain or heart cell without causing any damage. The devices are 100 times smaller than their biggest competitors, which kill a cell after recording. Courtesy: University of Surrey
In a paper published by Nature Nanotechnology, scientists from Surrey’s Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) and Harvard University detail how they produced an array of the ultra-small U-shaped nanowire field-effect transistor probes for intracellular recording. This incredibly small structure was used to record, with great clarity, the inner activity of primary neurons and other electrogenic cells, and the device has the capacity for multi-channel recordings.
Dr Yunlong Zhao from the ATI at the University of Surrey said: “If our medical professionals are to continue to understand our physical condition better and help us live longer, it is important that we continue to push the boundaries of modern science in order to give them the best possible tools to do their jobs. For this to be possible, an intersection between humans and machines is inevitable.
“Our ultra-small, flexible, nanowire probes could be a very powerful tool as they can measure intracellular signals with amplitudes comparable with those measured with patch clamp techniques; with the advantage of the device being scalable, it causes less discomfort and no fatal damage to the cell (cytosol dilation). Through this work, we found clear evidence for how both size and curvature affect device internalisation and intracellular recording signal.”
Professor Charles Lieber from the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University said: “This work represents a major step towards tackling the general problem of integrating ‘synthesised’ nanoscale building blocks into chip and wafer scale arrays, and thereby allowing us to address the long-standing challenge of scalable intracellular recording.
“The beauty of science to many, ourselves included, is having such challenges to drive hypotheses and future work. In the longer term, we see these probe developments adding to our capabilities that ultimately drive advanced high-resolution brain-machine interfaces and perhaps eventually bringing cyborgs to reality.”
Professor Ravi Silva, Director of the ATI at the University of Surrey, said: “This incredibly exciting and ambitious piece of work illustrates the value of academic collaboration. Along with the possibility of upgrading the tools we use to monitor cells, this work has laid the foundations for machine and human interfaces that could improve lives across the world.”
Dr Yunlong Zhao and his team are currently working on novel energy storage devices, electrochemical probing, bioelectronic devices, sensors and 3D soft electronic systems. Undergraduate, graduate and postdoc students with backgrounds in energy storage, electrochemistry, nanofabrication, bioelectronics, tissue engineering are very welcome to contact Dr Zhao to explore the opportunities further.
The link I’ve provided leads to a paywall. However, I found a freely accessible version of the paper (this may not be the final published version) here.
Have you ever wondered about the possible effects and impact of desalinating large amounts of ocean water? It seems that some United Nations University (UNU) researchers have asked and are beginning to answer that question. The following table illustrates the rise in desalination plants and processes,
Today 15,906 operational desalination plants are found in 177 countries. Almost half of the global desalination capacity is located in the Middle East and North Africa region (48 percent), with Saudi Arabia (15.5 percent), the United Arab Emirates (10.1 percent) and Kuwait (3.7 percent) being both the major producers in the region and globally. Credit: UNU-INWEH [downloaded from http://inweh.unu.edu/un-warns-of-rising-levels-of-toxic-brine-as-desalination-plants-meet-growing-water-needs/]
The fast-rising number of desalination plants worldwide—now almost 16,000, with capacity concentrated in the Middle East and North Africa—quench a growing thirst for freshwater but create a salty dilemma as well: how to deal with all the chemical-laden leftover brine.
In a UN-backed paper, experts estimate the freshwater output capacity of desalination plants at 95 million cubic meters per day—equal to almost half the average flow over Niagara Falls. For every litre of freshwater output, however, desalination plants produce on average 1.5 litres of brine (though values vary dramatically, depending on the feedwater salinity and desalination technology used, and local conditions). Globally, plants now discharge 142 million cubic meters of hypersaline brine every day (a 50% increase on previous assessments).
That’s enough in a year (51.8 billion cubic meters) to cover Florida under 30.5 cm (1 foot) of brine.
The authors, from UN University’s Canadian-based Institute for Water, Environment and Health [at McMaster University], Wageningen University, The Netherlands, and the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Republic of Korea, analyzed a newly-updated dataset—the most complete ever compiled—to revise the world’s badly outdated statistics on desalination plants.
And they call for improved brine management strategies to meet a fast-growing challenge, noting predictions of a dramatic rise in the number of desalination plants, and hence the volume of brine produced, worldwide.
The paper found that 55% of global brine is produced in just four countries: Saudi Arabia (22%), UAE (20.2%), Kuwait (6.6%) and Qatar (5.8%). Middle Eastern plants, which largely operate using seawater and thermal desalination technologies, typically produce four times as much brine per cubic meter of clean water as plants where river water membrane processes dominate, such as in the US.
The paper says brine disposal methods are largely dictated by geography but traditionally include direct discharge into oceans, surface water or sewers, deep well injection and brine evaporation ponds.
Desalination plants near the ocean (almost 80% of brine is produced within 10km of a coastline) most often discharge untreated waste brine directly back into the marine environment.
The authors cite major risks to ocean life and marine ecosystems posed by brine greatly raising the salinity of the receiving seawater, and by polluting the oceans with toxic chemicals used as anti-scalants and anti-foulants in the desalination process (copper and chlorine are of major concern).
“Brine underflows deplete dissolved oxygen in the receiving waters,” says lead author Edward Jones, who worked at UNU-INWEH, and is now at Wageningen University, The Netherlands. “High salinity and reduced dissolved oxygen levels can have profound impacts on benthic organisms, which can translate into ecological effects observable throughout the food chain.”
Meanwhile, the paper highlights economic opportunities to use brine in aquaculture, to irrigate salt tolerant species, to generate electricity, and by recovering the salt and metals contained in brine — including magnesium, gypsum, sodium chloride, calcium, potassium, chlorine, bromine and lithium.
With better technology, a large number of metals and salts in desalination plant effluent could be mined. These include sodium, magnesium, calcium, potassium, bromine, boron, strontium, lithium, rubidium and uranium, all used by industry, in products, and in agriculture. The needed technologies are immature, however; recovery of these resources is economically uncompetitive today.
“There is a need to translate such research and convert an environmental problem into an economic opportunity,” says author Dr. Manzoor Qadir, Assistant Director of UNU-INWEH. “This is particularly important in countries producing large volumes of brine with relatively low efficiencies, such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar.”
“Using saline drainage water offers potential commercial, social and environmental gains. Reject brine has been used for aquaculture, with increases in fish biomass of 300% achieved. It has also been successfully used to cultivate the dietary supplement Spirulina, and to irrigate forage shrubs and crops (although this latter use can cause progressive land salinization).”
“Around 1.5 to 2 billion people currently live in areas of physical water scarcity, where water resources are insufficient to meet water demands, at least during part of the year. Around half a billion people experience water scarcity year round,” says Dr. Vladimir Smakhtin, a co-author of the paper and the Director of UNU-INWEH, whose institute is actively pursuing research related to a variety of unconventional water sources.
“There is an urgent need to make desalination technologies more affordable and extend them to low-income and lower-middle income countries. At the same time, though, we have to address potentially severe downsides of desalination — the harm of brine and chemical pollution to the marine environment and human health.”
“The good news is that efforts have been made in recent years and, with continuing technology refinement and improving economic affordability, we see a positive and promising outlook.”
¹The authors use the term “brine” to refer to all concentrate discharged from desalination plants, as the vast majority of concentrate (>95%) originates from seawater and highly brackish groundwater sources.
Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,
The state of desalination and brine production: A global outlook by Edward Jones, Manzoor Qadir, Michelle T.H.van Vliet, Vladimir Smakhtin, Seong-mu Kang. Science of The Total Environment Volume 657, 20 March 2019, Pages 1343-1356 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.076 Available online 7 December 2018
Surprisingly (to me anyway), this paper is behind a paywall.
While not science’s sleekest machine, this microscope was able to capture M.R.I. scans of single atoms. Credit: IBM Research
Such a messy looking thing—it makes me feel better about my housekeeping. In any event, it’s fascinating to think this scanning tunneling microscope as seen in the above can actually act as an MRI device and create an image of a single atom.
There’s a wonderful article in the New York Times about the work but I’m starting first with a July 1, 2019 news item on Nanowerk,
Researchers at the Center for Quantum Nanoscience (QNS) within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) at Ewha Womans University [Seoul, South Korea) have made a major scientific breakthrough by performing the world’s smallest magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In an international collaboration with colleagues from the US, QNS scientists used their new technique to visualize the magnetic field of single atoms.
An MRI is routinely done in hospitals nowadays as a part of imaging for diagnostics. MRI’s detect the density of spins – the fundamental magnets in electrons and protons – in the human body. Traditionally, billions and billions of spins are required for an MRI scan. The new findings, published today [July 1, 2019] in the journal Nature Physics, show that this process is now also possible for an individual atom on a surface. To do this, the team used a Scanning Tunneling Microscope, which consists of an atomically sharp metal tip that allows researchers to image and probe single atoms by scanning the tip across the surface.
The two elements that were investigated in this work, iron and titanium, are both magnetic. Through precise preparation of the sample, the atoms were readily visible in the microscope. The researchers then used the microscope’s tip like an MRI machine to map the three-dimensional magnetic field created by the atoms with unprecedented resolution. In order to do so, they attached another spin cluster to the sharp metal tip of their microscope. Similar to everyday magnets, the two spins would attract or repel each other depending on their relative position. By sweeping the tip spin cluster over the atom on the surface, the researchers were able to map out the magnetic interaction. Lead author, Dr. Philip Willke of QNS says: “It turns out that the magnetic interaction we measured depends on the properties of both spins, the one on the tip and the one on the sample. For example, the signal that we see for iron atoms is vastly different from that for titanium atoms. This allows us to distinguish different kinds of atoms by their magnetic field signature and makes our technique very powerful.”
The researchers plan to use their single-atom MRI to map the spin distribution in more complex structures such as molecules and magnetic materials. “Many magnetic phenomena take place on the nanoscale, including the recent generation of magnetic storage devices.” says Dr. Yujeong Bae also of QNS, a co-author in this study. “We now plan to study a variety of systems using our microscopic MRI.” The ability to analyze the magnetic structure on the nanoscale can help to develop new materials and drugs. Moreover, the research team wants to use this kind of MRI to characterize and control quantum systems. These are of great interest for future computation schemes, also known as quantum computing
“I am very excited about these results. It is certainly a milestone in our field and has very promising implications for future research.” says Prof. Andreas Heinrich, Director of QNS. “The ability to map spins and their magnetic field with previously unimaginable precision, allows us to gain deeper knowledge about the structure of matter and opens new fields of basic research.”
The Center for Quantum Nanoscience, on the campus of Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea, is a world-leading research center merging quantum and nanoscience to engineer the quantum future through basic research. Backed by Korea’s Institute for Basic Science, which was founded in 2011, the Center for Quantum Nanoscience draws on decades of QNS Director Andreas J. Heinrich’s (A Boy and His Atom, IBM, 2013) scientific leadership to lay the foundation for future technology by exploring the use of quantum behavior atom-by-atom on surfaces with highest precision.
You may have noticed that other than a brief mention in the first paragraph (in the Nanowerk news item excerpt), there’s no mention of the US researchers and their contribution to the work.
Interestingly, the July 1, 2019 New York Time article by Knvul Sheikh returns the favour by focusing almost entirely on US researchers while giving the Korean researchers a passing mention (Note: Links have been removed),
…
Different microscopy techniques allow scientists to see the nucleotide-by-nucleotide genetic sequences in cells down to the resolution of a couple atoms as seen in an atomic force microscopy image. But scientists at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif., and the Institute for Basic Sciences in Seoul, have taken imaging a step further, developing a new magnetic resonance imaging technique that provides unprecedented detail, right down to the individual atoms of a sample.
…
When doctors want to detect tumors, measure brain function or visualize the structure of joints, they employ huge M.R.I. machines, which apply a magnetic field across the human body. This temporarily disrupts the protons spinning in the nucleus of every atom in every cell. A subsequent, brief pulse of radio-frequency energy causes the protons to spin perpendicular to the pulse. Afterward, the protons return to their normal state, releasing energy that can be measured by sensors and made into an image.
But to gather enough diagnostic data, traditional hospital M.R.I.s must scan billions and billions of protons in a person’s body, said Christopher Lutz, a physicist at IBM. So he and his colleagues decided to pack the power of an M.R.I. machine into the tip of another specialized instrument known as a scanning tunneling microscope to see if they could image individual atoms.
The tip of a scanning tunneling microscope is just a few atoms wide. And it moves along the surface of a sample, it picks up details about the size and conformation of molecules.
The researchers attached magnetized iron atoms to the tip, effectively combining scanning-tunneling microscope and M.R.I. technologies.
When the magnetized tip swept over a metal wafer of iron and titanium, it applied a magnetic field to the sample, disrupting the electrons (rather than the protons, as a typical M.R.I. would) within each atom. Then the researchers quickly turned a radio-frequency pulse on and off, so that the electrons would emit energy that could be visualized. …
Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,
Magnetic resonance imaging of single atoms on a surface by Philip Willke, Kai Yang, Yujeong Bae, Andreas J. Heinrich & Christopher P. Lutz. Nature Physics (2019) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-019-0573-x Published 01 July 2019
Cosmetics would not have been my first thought on reading the title for the paper (“Rates of cavity filling by liquids”) produced by scientists from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST).
A research team, affiliated with Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) has examined the rates of liquid penetration on rough or patterned surfaces, especially those with pores or cavities. Their findings provide important insights into the development of everyday products, including cosmetics, paints, as well as industrial applications, like enhanced oil recovery.
This study has been jointly led by Professor Dong Woog Lee and his research team in the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST and a research team in the University of California, Santa Barbara. Published online in the July 19th issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (“Rates of cavity filling by liquids”), the study identifies five variables that control the cavity-filling (wetting transition) rates, required for liquids to penetrate into the cavities.
In the study, Professor Lee fabricated silicon wafers with cylindrical cavities of different geometries. After immersing them in bulk water, they observed the details of, and the rates associated with, water penetration into the cavities from the bulk, using bright-field and confocal fluorescence microscopy. Cylindrical cavities are like skin pores with narrow entrance and specious interior. The cavity filling generally progresses when bulk water is spread above a hydrophilic, reentrant cavity. As described in “Wetting Transition from the Cassie–Baxter State to Wenzel State”, the liquid droplet that sits on top of the textured surface with trapped air underneath will be completely absorbed by the rough surface cavities.
Their findings revealed that the cavity-filling rates are affected by the following variables: (i) the intrinsic contact angle, (ii) the concentration of dissolved air in the bulk water phase, (iii) the liquid volatility that determines the rate of capillary condensation inside the cavities, (iv) the types of surfactants, and (v) the cavity geometry.
“Our results can used in the manufacture of special-purpose cosmetic products,” says Professor Lee. “For instance, pore minimizing face primers and facial cleansers that remove sebum need to reduce the amount of dissolved air, so that they can penetrate into the pores quickly.”
On the other hand, beauty products, like sunscreens should be designed to protect the skin from harmful sun, while preventing pores clogging. Because, clogged pores hinder the skin’s function of breathing or exchange of carbon dioxide and then cause further irritation, pimples, and blemished areas on your skin. In this case, it is better to reduce volatility and increase the amount of dissolved air in the cosmetic products, as opposed to facial cleansers.
“This knowledge of how cavities under bulk water are filled and what variables control the rate of filling can provide insights into the engineering of temporarily or permanently superhydrophobic surfaces, and the designing and manufacturing of various products that are applied to rough, textured, or patterned surfaces,” says Professor Lee. “Many of the fundamental insights gained can also be applied to other liquids (e.g., oils), contact angles, and cavities or pores of different dimensions or geometries.”
This study has been supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant, funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT.
Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,
Rates of cavity filling by liquids by Dongjin Seo, Alex M. Schrader, Szu-Ying Chen, Yair Kaufman, Thomas R. Cristiani, Steven H. Page, Peter H. Koenig, Yonas Gizaw, Dong Woog Lee, and Jacob N. Israelachvili. PNAS August 7, 2018 115 (32) 8070-8075 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1804437115 Published ahead of print July 19, 2018
This memristor story comes from South Korea as we progress on the way to neuromorphic computing (brainlike computing). A Sept. 7, 2018 news item on ScienceDaily makes the announcement,
A research team led by Director Myoung-Jae Lee from the Intelligent Devices and Systems Research Group at DGIST (Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology) has succeeded in developing an artificial synaptic device that mimics the function of the nerve cells (neurons) and synapses that are response for memory in human brains. [sic]
Synapses are where axons and dendrites meet so that neurons in the human brain can send and receive nerve signals; there are known to be hundreds of trillions of synapses in the human brain.
This chemical synapse information transfer system, which transfers information from the brain, can handle high-level parallel arithmetic with very little energy, so research on artificial synaptic devices, which mimic the biological function of a synapse, is under way worldwide.
Dr. Lee’s research team, through joint research with teams led by Professor Gyeong-Su Park from Seoul National University; Professor Sung Kyu Park from Chung-ang University; and Professor Hyunsang Hwang from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTEC), developed a high-reliability artificial synaptic device with multiple values by structuring tantalum oxide — a trans-metallic material — into two layers of Ta2O5-x and TaO2-x and by controlling its surface.
The artificial synaptic device developed by the research team is an electrical synaptic device that simulates the function of synapses in the brain as the resistance of the tantalum oxide layer gradually increases or decreases depending on the strength of the electric signals. It has succeeded in overcoming durability limitations of current devices by allowing current control only on one layer of Ta2O5-x.
In addition, the research team successfully implemented an experiment that realized synapse plasticity [or synaptic plasticity], which is the process of creating, storing, and deleting memories, such as long-term strengthening of memory and long-term suppression of memory deleting by adjusting the strength of the synapse connection between neurons.
The non-volatile multiple-value data storage method applied by the research team has the technological advantage of having a small area of an artificial synaptic device system, reducing circuit connection complexity, and reducing power consumption by more than one-thousandth compared to data storage methods based on digital signals using 0 and 1 such as volatile CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor).
The high-reliability artificial synaptic device developed by the research team can be used in ultra-low-power devices or circuits for processing massive amounts of big data due to its capability of low-power parallel arithmetic. It is expected to be applied to next-generation intelligent semiconductor device technologies such as development of artificial intelligence (AI) including machine learning and deep learning and brain-mimicking semiconductors.
Dr. Lee said, “This research secured the reliability of existing artificial synaptic devices and improved the areas pointed out as disadvantages. We expect to contribute to the development of AI based on the neuromorphic system that mimics the human brain by creating a circuit that imitates the function of neurons.”
You can find other memristor and neuromorphic computing stories here by using the search terms I’ve highlighted, My latest (more or less) is an April 19, 2018 posting titled, New path to viable memristor/neuristor?
Finally, here’s an image from the Korean researchers that accompanied their work,
Caption: Representation of neurons and synapses in the human brain. The magnified synapse represents the portion mimicked using solid-state devices. Credit: Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology(DGIST)
