Strange Attractor

Strange Attractor


Episode 44: A space elevator held up by a carbon spider web

May 18, 2017

What is nanotechnology?

An invitation to enter a new field of physics: A lecture on nanotechnology that Richard Feynman gave in 1959 (Zyvex)
Definition of 'nano' (Wikipedia)
Nanotechnology (Wikipedia)
The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI)
@NNInanonews: Twitter feed of NNI
Center for Responsible Nanotechnology (CRN)
The billion year technology gap (The Daily Galaxy)
The Fermi death sentence (Nanotechnology Now)
Explaining nanotechnology to a 5th grader (YouTube)
Your fingernail grows a nanometre every second (NNCI)
Bottom-up versus top-down approaches (Wikipedia)
Meet the nanomachines that could drive a medical revolution (Phys.org)
Nanoparticles (Wikipedia)
Scanning electron microscope (Wikipedia)
How to move an atom (IBM Research)
20 years of moving atoms one by one: Including how they made the IBM logo out of 35 xenon atoms (Wired)
Scientists measure how light affects individual atoms for the first time (nanowerk)
Current applications of nanotechnology (Wikipedia)
How nanotechnology is changing the future of medicine (MUO)
Applications of nanotechnology in medicine (Australian Science)
Convergence Science Network
Stentrode (ABC, Catalyst)
The world's first international race for molecular cars, the Nanocar Race (Phys.org)
Nanoparticles & sunscreen (Cancer Council Australia)
Titanium dioxide (Wikipedia)
Nanoparticles are all around us: Naturally-occurring vs man-made (sustainable nano)
Nanoparticles in nature: Toxic or harmless? (EarthSky)
Gold nanoparticles can be red or blue/purple (Wikipedia)
"Properties such as melting point, fluorescence, electrical conductivity, magnetic permeability, & chemical reactivity change as a function of the size of the particle" (NNI)
Buckminsterfullerene, or buckyballs (Wikipedia)
Have buckminsterfullerenes (buckyballs) been put to any practical uses? (Scientific American)
It doesn't seem that any real use has been found for buckyballs yet (Wikipedia)
Carbon fibre (Wikpedia)
Carbon nanofibre (Wikipedia)
Did Bucky Fuller really design a soccer ball? (treehugger)
How can graphite & diamond be so different if they are both composed of pure carbon? (Scientific American)
Spiders sprayed with carbon nanotubes spin superstrong webs (Phys.org)
Spiders ingest nanotubes, then weave silk reinforced with carbon (MIT Technology Review)
Space elevator (Wikipedia)
Sorry Johnny, carbon nanotubes may be too weak to get a space elevator off the ground