Thanks for the update:
A bit of a review for new folks.
www.newruskincollege.com/gorbachevbushartificialcloudsinstitutenewruskincollegecom/id7.htmland
just to update on who can be praised for such wonderful new items, based on
an Ice Age that may or may not happen.
Richard Smalley, Buckminsterfullerene (the Buckyball), and Nanotubes
Richard E. Smalley
Courtesy Carbon
Nanotechnology Laboratory
at Rice University and
Prof. Richard Smalley
· Resources with Additional Information
Richard E. Smalley, with funding from the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES), has conducted extensive research in cluster chemistry and in cold ion beam technology and is currently involved in research in nanotube single-crystal growth.
Smalley was born June 6, 1943, received a B.S. degree from the University of Michigan in 1965, and received a Ph.D. from Princeton in 1973. He began work at Rice University in 1976 and became a Professor in the Department of Physics in January 1990. In 1996, Dr. Smalley was appointed Director of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) at Rice University. Current DOE-funded research by The Smalley Group focuses on nanotube single crystal growth.
Buckminsterfullerene
Buckminsterfullerene
Richard Smalley has won many awards, including the 1992 E.O. Lawrence Award and the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which he shares with Robert F. Curl, Jr., of Rice University, Houston, TX, and Sir Harold W. Kroto of Great Britain "for their discovery of fullerenes". The Nobel award was given for the discovery of a new allotrope of carbon that consists of 60 carbon atoms in the shape of a soccer ball. The molecule was named Buckminsterfullerene and given the nickname "buckyball."
www.osti.gov/accomplishments/smalley.htmlOther uses other than climate change, aerosol operations, Chemtrails.
Self-assembled DNA buckyballs for drug delivery
[Outline] DNA isn't just for storing genetic codes any more. Since DNA can polym...Now Cornell University researchers have made DNA buckyballs -- tiny ge...The term buckyballs has been used up to now for tiny spherical assem...About 70 percent of the volume of the DNA buckyball is hollow and the...The nanoscale hollow buckyballs are also the first structures assembl...
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DNA isn't just for storing genetic codes any more. Since DNA can polymerize -- linking many molecules together into larger structures -- scientists have been using it as a nanoscale building material, constructing geometric shapes and even working mechanical devices.
Now Cornell University researchers have made DNA buckyballs -- tiny geodesic spheres that could be used for drug delivery and as containers for chemical reactions.
The term "buckyballs" has been used up to now for tiny spherical assemblies of carbon atoms known as Buckminsterfullerenes or just fullerenes. Under the right conditions, carbon atoms can link up into hexagons and pentagons, which in turn assemble into spherical shapes (technically truncated icosahedrons) resembling the geodesic domes designed by the architect-engineer Buckminster Fuller. Instead of carbon, the Cornell researchers are making buckyballs out of a specially prepared, branched DNA-polystyrene hybrid. The hybrid molecules spontaneously self-assemble into hollow balls about 400 nanometers (nm) in diameter. The DNA/polystyrene "rods" forming the structure are each about 15 nm long. (While still on the nanoscale, the DNA spheres are much larger than carbon buckyballs, which are typically around 7 nm in diameter.)
About 70 percent of the volume of the DNA buckyball is hollow, and the open spaces in the structure allow water to enter. Dan Luo, Cornell assistant professor of biological and environmental engineering in whose lab the DNA structures were made, suggests that drugs could be encapsulated in buckyballs to be carried into cells, where natural enzymes would break down the DNA, releasing the drug. They might also be used as cages to study chemical reactions on the nanoscale, he says.
The nanoscale, hollow buckyballs are also the first structures assembled from "dendrimerlike DNA." If three strands of artificial DNA are created such that portions of each strand are complementary to portions of ano
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Source:Cornell University News Service
Page: 1 2 3
Related biology news :
1. Self-assembled nano-sized probes allow Penn researchers to see tumors through flesh and skin
2. New self-exploding microcapsules could take sting out of drug delivery
tinyurl.com/49stf3www.bio-medicine.org/biology-news/Self-assembled-DNA-buckyballs-for-drug-delivery-995-1/
I dare say I think these scientists have lost their minds!
"
Nanowaste: The Next big threat?
Could nanomaterials damage the environment or human health?
Senior Editor
Nanocubes from BASF made of metalorganic compounds use their numerous pores and channels to store hydrogen. Two grams of nanocubes have an internal area equal to a soccer field. The cubes measure a few micrometers on a side but have been dubbed nanocubes based on their nanometersized internal spaces.
Nanocubes from BASF made of metalorganic compounds use their numerous pores and channels to store hydrogen. Two grams of nanocubes have an internal area equal to a soccer field. The cubes measure a few micrometers on a side but have been dubbed nanocubes based on their nanometersized internal spaces.
Bucky balls, or C60, behave differently in different mixtures of water and solvents. In vial 1, for example, C60 dissolved in toluene does not partition into water. In the second vial, C60 dissolves in tetrahydrofuran (THF), a solvent. In the third vial, water added to the C60/THF solution creates a yellow suspension of nano-C60 or clumped together C60. In vial number four, THF has been evaporated off, leaving a suspension of nano-C60 in only water. Vial 5 has nano-C60 slowly dissolving into an upper layer of toluene. And in vial 6, the addition of a mild oxidant drives the bucky balls from the water and back into its organic phase.
Bucky balls, or C60, behave differently in different mixtures of water and solvents. In vial 1, for example, C60 dissolved in toluene does not partition into water. In the second vial, C60 dissolves in tetrahydrofuran (THF), a solvent. In the third vial, water added to the C60/THF solution creates a yellow suspension of nano-C60 or clumped together C60. In vial number four, THF has been evaporated off, leaving a suspension of nano-C60 in only water. Vial 5 has nano-C60 slowly dissolving into an upper layer of toluene. And in vial 6, the addition of a mild oxidant drives the bucky balls from the water and back into its organic phase.
Water droplets bead up on wood treated with BASF's nanomaterials-based Mincor coating. The coating makes the wood extremely water repellent and decreases the contact area between the water and wood. The coating also makes surfaces self-cleaning.
Water droplets bead up on wood treated with BASF's nanomaterials-based Mincor coating. The coating makes the wood extremely water repellent and decreases the contact area between the water and wood. The coating also makes surfaces self-cleaning.
An electron microscopy image shows bucky balls clumping together in water and forming nano-C60, a watersoluble form of carbon made up of thousands of bucky balls. The size of the nano-C60 particles depends on water pH and how fast bucky balls are mixed with the water. The particles rely on a negatively charged surface to stay afloat. Adding ions, such as table salt, can render the surface neutral so that the particles will sink and form a solid glob, according to researchers.
An electron microscopy image shows bucky balls clumping together in water and forming nano-C60, a watersoluble form of carbon made up of thousands of bucky balls. The size of the nano-C60 particles depends on water pH and how fast bucky balls are mixed with the water. The particles rely on a negatively charged surface to stay afloat. Adding ions, such as table salt, can render the surface neutral so that the particles will sink and form a solid glob, according to researchers.
Researchers at Rice University are studying the life cycle of bucky balls (C60) and how it interacts in the environment.
Researchers at Rice University are studying the life cycle of bucky balls (C60) and how it interacts in the environment.
Researchers at BASF are adding nanosized particles of polyisocyanates as crosslinking agents in a polyurethane coating. The particles could make the coating tough and chemical resistant, but also flexible and therefore scratch resistant.
Researchers at BASF are adding nanosized particles of polyisocyanates as crosslinking agents in a polyurethane coating. The particles could make the coating tough and chemical resistant, but also flexible and therefore scratch resistant.
If you believe the hype, nanotechnology will grow into a $3 trillion industry over the next 10 to 15 years and spur revolutionary new devices. For now, however, commercial nanotech is confined to nanomaterials, particles and compounds that range from 1 to 100 nm (10- 9 meters) in size. Nanoscale titanium-dioxide particles, for example, are used in cosmetics and sun blocks, and nanosized silica acts as filler in several consumer products, including dental fillings.And next year, Frontier Carbon Corp., a Japanese company, plans to begin annual production of 40 tons of bucky balls, the C-60 molecule formally called Buckministerfullerene. The firm hopes other companies will find ways to modify the molecule and make it commercially useful.
A recent discovery by researchers at Rice University, however, is making some people think twice about charging ahead in nanotechnology. Scientists had long thought bucky balls were strongly hydrophobic and strictly insoluble in water. They believed bucky balls dropped into the open environment could not be transported by water, but would simply stick to the soil and other organic materials. But with a little effort, Rice researchers got the C60 molecules to clump together in what they call nano-C60. It measures up to 500 nm across and easily travels in water if conditions are right. What's more worrisome is that the researchers also found that small concentrations of nano-C60 (20 parts/billion) killed half of the human liver and skin cells in lab samples. Other studies have shown that nano-C60 damages brain cells in fish and halts the growth of bacteria.
All this gives plenty of ammunition to those interested in shocking headlines and pulling in the reins on technology. And combine it with what scientists know — or don't know — about nanomaterials, and even reasonable people can have doubts.
THE BAD NEWS
In fact, scientists have no way to track nanomaterials like bucky balls or nanotubes in the environment. If one were to drop a cubic meter of them (about a ton) from a flying airplane, there would be no way to find them. And even if they could be found, there is no way to remove them from the soil or water. There's also no acceptable way to find or remove them from the human body. (Of course, it's possible to find some, such as gadolinium-based image-enhancing agents for MRI scans. They are engineered to show up in MRIs.)
To make matters worse, no one has studied the effects nanotubes, bucky balls, and other newly created nanomaterials have on the environment or human physiology. The fear is that because nanomaterials are smaller than cells, they might enter and create havoc or bioaccumulate in smaller creatures, then work their way up the food chain in ever-increasing concentrations until they do cause problems for humans.
Pedro Alvarez, chairman of the civil engineering program at Rice and president of the Association of Environmental and Science Professor, worries that nanomaterials could harm bacteria, the engine behind practically every ecosystem and food chain. He refers to a quote from Louis Pasteur: "The role of the infinitely small in nature is infinitely great."
With these questions unanswered, and possibly unanswerable, some groups want to halt nanotechnology in its tracks until its safety can be proven. The Etc. Group, for example, has insisted since 2002 that the world needs a moratorium on nanotech until an international body sets lab and manufacturing protocols for handling, using, and disposing of nanomaterials. (The Etc. Group examines the effect new technologies might have on health, the environment, society, and economies.) The group also wants countries to be informed about and prepared for any changes new technologies such as nanotech or genetically modified foods might bring.
THE GOOD NEWS
Although the prefix nano (Greek for dwarf) has only recently gained popularity, people have been creating and using nanomaterials for thousands of years. Medieval glaziers, for example used nanometer-sized particles of gold and silver in their red and yellow stained glass. Diesel engines also emit nanomaterials in the soot they generate. There are also natural sources of nanomaterials, including forest fires which create bucky balls and volcanoes which put a variety of chemicals into the atmosphere in aerosol form. There's even a bacteria that digests iron and leaves nanosized particles of magnetite behind.
But before nanotech took the limelight and earned top billing in every marketing guru's lexicon, scientists and engineers were studying nanomaterials under the term "ultrafine particles." They learned of the health problems associated with small particles, and that such problems almost exclusively involve breathing them in. So scientists and engineers are not totally ignorant of the threat nanomaterials pose. And they also know how to filter them out of indoor air and workspaces. Or at least they think they do.
The current theory on filters for small particles relies on a concept called diffusional capture. It says that particles larger than 0.3 m get stuck to fibers in the filter medium while smaller particles, including those in the nanometer range, get stuck to those particles clinging to the fibers. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is currently funding a study to see if current filters follow this theory and actually screen out nanomaterials.
Researchers also know that some nanomaterials break down naturally over time, much like plastics, says Alvarez. "Others are rapidly absorbed by the soil, which presumably reduces bioavailability and the threat of exposure to humans and other living creatures. And some nanomaterials we know are very safe based on their approval and use in medical applications. But that doesn't mean all nanomaterials are safe," says Alvarez.
Alvarez and his associates at Rice University are studying bucky balls, as are a host of other research teams. But instead of trying to ferret out some killer nano-app, they are seeing how the materials react to various environmental factors such as sunlight, water, and time. For example, they've discovered that adding simple chemicals to bucky balls, such as hydroxls or carboxl groups, makes them less toxic to cells. In fact, bucky balls with the most chemical groups added were the least toxic. It took 10 million times as many "decorated" balls as plain bucky balls to have the same effect (i.e., kill half the cells in a sample). This could give future engineers a way to make bucky balls and other nanomaterials safer, if not totally harmless.
Of course, UV radiation from sunlight or other chemicals in the environment might strip off the hydroxls and other chemical additions. But if bucky balls and other nanomaterials are used in the human body or encapsulated in a consumer product, they might remain intact and safe. The Rice team is investigating along those lines, trying to collect more data on the life cycle and reactions we can expect from nanomaterials. For example, they discovered that neither C60 nor nano-C60 (clumped together C60) damaged DNA in any of their cell cultures. This strongly indicates the substances are not carcinogenic. The team is now cataloging the effect the size and shape of titanium dioxide nanoparticles have on toxicity. "...........................
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