Cooking Cancer with Nanoshells
The body is constantly replacing old cells with new ones the old, damaged cells are deliberately killed in a process called apoptosis. Sometimes, however, mutations occur so that some new cells form when the body doesn't need them and old cells don't die when they should which, by the way, is a basic definition of cancer. Cancer cells bypass apoptosis and form a mass of tissue called a tumor. See Figure 11-11 for a graphical depiction of normal cell division versus cancer mutation. As it...
Nanofying Electronics
Generating light with nanotechnology Sensing things with nanotubes Building MEMS those teeny-tiny electromechanical machines Making computer brains one molecule at a time Connecting devices with nanotubes and nanowires Consider the world of electronics you know, that world that provides us with light at night, enhanced abilities to sense things around us, and a way to run complex machines. Electronics also makes possible the computer that you probably sit in front of almost every day. What if...
Buckyballs at work everywhere
Here's a quick rundown of various efforts that are going on today to develop products using the capabilities of buckyballs. When these products will become available is anybody's guess at this point, but it depends in part on our ability to produce low-cost buckyballs. i Dupont and Exxon are using buckyballs to develop stronger polymers. These companies are looking at two ways of doing this by integrating the buckyballs in the polymer with chemical bonding, or by simply tossing buckyballs into...
Getting a Small Piece of Nanotechnology for Yourself
Nanotechnology is set to insinuate its way into our economy in ways that we can only imagine more probably, in ways that we could never dream. Nanotechnology as an industry will be hard to identify and track, considering it's very pervasive it touches upon a lot of different industries. Familiar products will be the first to take advantage of nanotech clothing, cosmetics, and novel industrial coatings. When the processes to make these products are mastered, new and innovative products will...