Duke Study on Chemicals to Use Tiny Worms
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_ Tiny worms are taking the place of laboratory rats and mice for a Duke University scientist studying the effect of chemicals on the body.
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Carnegie-Mellon professor is working to create swarms of tiny robots that can assume any shape.
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One nanotechnology researcher said supercomputers small enough to fit into the palm of your hand are only 10 or 15 years away."If things continue to go the way they have been in the past few decades, then it's 10 years," said Michael Zaiser, a professor and researcher at the University of Edinburgh School of Engineering and Electronics. "The human brain is very good at working on microprocessor problems, so I think we are close -- 10 years, maybe 15."Zaiser's research into nanowires should help move that timeline along.For the last five years, he has been studying how tiny wires -- 1,000 times thinner than a human hair -- behave when manipulated. He explained that each such miniscule wire tends to behave differently when put under the same amount of pressure. Therefore, it has been impossible to line them up close to each other in tiny microprocessors in a production atmosphere.Zaiser said he's now figured out how to make the wires behave uniformly. He separates the interior material of the wire into distinct groups so the wire can't react as a whole. That makes it much easier to control. "It's like crowd control," he added. "If they can all go one way, you have a big mess."These nanowires will go inside microprocessors that could, in turn, go inside PCs, laptops, cell phones, or even supercomputers. And the smaller the wires, the smaller the chip can be.Shrinking down the microprocessors is a big step toward shrinking down computers.Zaiser was quick to point out that his nanowire discovery won't immediately lead to the development of supercomputers that can fit in the palm of a hand or even shrink down to the size of a book of matches. In addition to smaller microprocessors, engineers will need to deal with thermal fluctuations that erupt at that size.But he does humbly admit that taming nanowires is a big step toward the goal of small supercomputers."This will enable chips to become much smaller," he said. "Think 10 years back. You could hold [a cell phone] the size of a telephone receiver and it didn't work so well. Today, you can fit what is a powerful computer onto a small device."Charles King, an analyst at Pund-IT in Hayward, Calif., said that with advances like nanowire technology continuing to come along, Zaiser's predictions for tiny supercomputers may not be so far off. And that will be a huge step for the industry, considering that not so long ago supercomputers filled up enormous rooms or even entire buildings."Actually, what he's saying is not crazy," said King. "The wire problem was an important one. Solving that particular issue, one so fundamental, needed to be done. If he can solve that, a lot of people, a lot of companies, will appreciate that. The industry is aligning in a direction where we're going to be seeing continuing improvements and developments."Jim McGregor, an analyst at In-Stat in Scottsdale, Ariz., said he definitely can see palm-size supercomputers coming out within 10 to 15 years, but he thinks they'll be based on the basic silicon technology used today. He added that the next generation of tiny supercomputers -- made with carbon nanotubes and nanowires -- may be as far off as another 30 to 40 years, though."You know, everybody says we'll get to a physical limit but every time we think we're going to hit it, we overcome it," said McGregor. "They end up being speed bumps instead of road blocks."King added that over the last 10 or 20 years, technology advancements have put smaller and more powerful computers into the hands of children and researchers alike. That leads him to believe that the shrinking of supercomputers is just ahead of us."We're at the beginning of some very exciting times in supercomputing," he said.Computerworld is an InfoWorld affiliate
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A U.S. scientist said researchers should be using green chemistry to reduce future risks of nanotechnology.  Around the world, there is a growing urgency about nanotechnology and its possible health and environmental impacts, said University of Oregon Professor James Hutchison.
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Scientists in Hong Kong said yesterday they had devised a new way to identify chemicals that can counter new and dangerous viruses, such as SARS, and these chemicals may be developed into drugs.
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The chemical con trick used by Alcon blue butterfly larvae to get ants to take care of them is detailed by scientists.
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Defense scientists in several countries are developing tiny flying robots that can hit the enemy with itsy-bitsy explosives. Critics worry that terrorists will adopt the nasty tech. By David Hambling.
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By LARKIN, Juliet  WORM farming might be a solution for more environmentally friendly processing of dairy effluent, said a Cromwell worm farmer, who is facing growing demand for his worms.
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Two newly published studies in the September 17, 2004 issue of Science give rise to the possibility of developing drug therapies that target eosinophils, white blood cells long known to be associated with the asthma.
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NEW YORK  - In a report released Thursday, investigators from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and elsewhere describe several cases of salmonella infection, including one fatality, linked to exposure to small turtles.
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Two monkeys exposed to a common pesticide for more than a year developedclassic signs of Parkinson&#39;s disease, strong evidence environmental factors may destroy key brain cells regulating movement
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Cornell University researchers are developing a napkin that will be able to detect bacteria, viruses and other dangerous substances with a mere swipe.
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The chemicals go down the drain, but in the environment they remain. Researchers have found that a complex brew of everyday compounds &#151; from products as ubiquitous as shampoo, bug spray and even that morning cup of coffee &#151; lingers in Minnesota waters even after they're showered off or dumped down the sink.
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How many genes does it take to make a human? Only about the same number it takes for a small flowering plant or a tiny worm, says a new estimate that&#39;s sharply reduced from just three years ago.
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Researchers at the University of the West of England investigate fish slime as a possible source of new medicines.
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Baby shampoos, lotions and powders may expose infants to chemicals that have been linked with possible reproductive problems, a small study suggests.
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This is one cleaning that could pass anybody's white-glove test. A high-tech dust rag developed by a research chemist at a nuclear weapons plant can pick up potentially deadly beryllium particles that are 20 times smaller than what can be seen with the naked eye. Its inventor, Ron Simandl, says it could be used to mop up industrial accidents or wipe down semiconductor "clean rooms."