Futuristic electronics and energy technologies pave the way for 21st Century applications

Washington, DC – The future of how the world communicates, and how we power our lives, will likely come from the same source. According to the latest NanoFrontiers newsletter and Trips to the Nanofrontier podcast, nanotechnology will be central to developing advanced, “faster, better, cheaper” electronics and “green” energy technologies.

In the latest installment of the podcast series Trips to the Nanofrontier, journalist Karen Schmidt interviews Dr. Jim Heath about how computers, healthcare applications and other devices will use nanotechnology to exchange and obtain information more effectively.

But to power these new applications, as well as every other modern human activity, officials from industry and government are searching for new technologies that will foster more efficient and less-polluting energy sources, according to the latest NanoFrontiers newsletter, Nanotechnology: Energizing the Future. From nanotech-enabled solar panels to long-lasting automobile batteries that contain nanoparticles, the emerging technology is a cornerstone of 21st Century energy sources.

“We see a future where vehicles run on electricity and are equipped with clever ways of making electricity on board, making us less dependent on gasoline. It’s the next great paradigm shift in our industry, an opportunity largely due to the rapid advancement in battery cell technology” that results from nanotechnology, according to Bob Lutz, General Motors vice chairman of Global Product Development, who is quoted in the report.

A U.S. research team led by Chinese scientists has created a nanotube-based dry adhesive that surpasses the stickiness of gecko feet -- no easy feat, since the animals can cling to nearly any type of surface.

Geckos rely on aligned microscopic hairs for their gravity-defying climbs. Their design mimics this arrangement, with a vertically aligned array of straight carbon nanotubes topped by a layer of curly, entangled nanotubes, Wang Zhonglin, the lead researcher from Georgia Institute of Technology, told Xinhua on Thursday.

Just as in the gecko foot, the combination produces an adhesive with superior strength in the shear direction -- clinging against the pull of gravity -- and regular strength in the normal, perpendicular direction, which allows the adhesive to be easily pulled away from a surface. The shear adhesive force of the nanotube array is almost 10 times that of the gecko foot.

Though the material might seem most appropriate for use by Spider-man, the real applications may be less glamorous. Because carbon nanotubes conduct heat and electrical current, the bionic gecko feet could be used to connect electronic devices.

Another application might be for adhesives that work long-term in space. "In space, there is a vacuum and traditional kinds of adhesives dry out, but nanotube dry adhesives would not be bothered by the space environment," said Dai Liming, another lead researcher from University of Dayton.

Their paper will appear in the Oct issue of journal Science. For the future, the researchers hope to learn more about the surface interactions so they can further increase the adhesive force. They also want to study the long-term durability of the adhesive, which in a small number of tests became stronger with each attachment.

Landmark poll shows little knowledge of emerging technologies

Washington, DC — A groundbreaking poll finds that almost half of U.S. adults have heard nothing about nanotechnology, and nearly nine in 10 Americans say they have heard just a little or nothing at all about the emerging field of synthetic biology, according to a new report released by the Project and Peter D. Hart Research. Both technologies involve manipulating matter at an incredibly small scale to achieve something new.

This new insight into limited public awareness of emerging technologies comes as a major leadership change is about to take hold in the nation’s capital. Public policy experts are concerned, regardless of party, that the federal government is behind the curve in engaging citizens on the potential benefits and risks posed by technologies that could have a significant impact on society.

“Early in the administration of the next president, scientists are expected to take the next major step toward the creation of synthetic forms of life. Yet the results from the first U.S. telephone poll about synthetic biology show that most adults have heard just a little or nothing at all about it,” says PEN Director David Rejeski. The poll findings are contained a report published today, The American Public’s Awareness Of And Perceptions About Potential Risks and Benefits of Nanotechnology & Synthetic Biology.

Synthetic biology is the use of advanced science and engineering to construct or re-design living organisms–like bacteria–so that they can carry out specific functions. This emerging technology is likely to develop rapidly in the coming years, much as nanotechnology did in the last decade. In the near future the first synthetic biology “blockbuster” drug is anticipated to hit the market—an affordable treatment for the 500 million people in the world suffering from malaria.

The poll, which was conducted by the same firm that produces the well-known NBC News/Wall Street Journal polls, found that about two-thirds of adults say they have heard nothing at all about synthetic biology, and only 2 percent say they have heard “a lot” about the new technology. Even with this very low level of awareness, a solid two-thirds of adults are willing to express an initial opinion on the potential benefits versus risks tradeoff of synthetic biology.

This survey was informed by two focus groups conducted in August in suburban Baltimore. This is the first time—to the pollsters’ knowledge—that synthetic biology has been the subject of a representative national telephone survey.

At the same time, the poll found that about half of adults say they have heard nothing at all about nanotechnology. About 50 percent of adults are too unsure about nanotechnology to make an initial judgment on the possible tradeoffs between benefits and risks. Of those people who are willing to make an initial judgment, they think benefits will outweigh risks by a three to one margin when compared to those who believe risks will outweigh benefits. The plurality of respondents, however, believes that risks and benefits will be about equal. A major industry forecasting firm determined that last year nanotech goods in the global marketplace totaled $147 billion.

According to the poll, the level of U.S. public awareness about nanotechnology has not changed measurably since 2004 when Hart Research conducted the first poll on the topic on behalf of the PEN.