An pill-sized brain chip has allowed a quadriplegic man to check e-mail and play computer games using his thoughts. The device can tap into a hundred neurons at a time, and is the most sophisticated such implant tested in humans so far.

In June 2004, surgeons implanted a device containing 100 electrodes into the motor cortex [...]

Researchers create nanotubes that change colors, form ‘nanocarpet’ and kill bacteria.

Army-backed researchers at the University of Pittsburgh are working to develop a paint that would change color in a biological or chemical attack — and might even kill off the deadly agents, too.

The researchers have synthesized a simple molecule that not only produces perfectly uniform, [...]

Nanomaterial Yields Cool Results

A pinch of iron dramatically boosts the cooling performance of a material considered key to the development of magnetic refrigerators, report researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the June 24 issue of the journal Nature. The achievement might move the promising technology closer to market, opening the [...]

Would You Like a Bouquet of Nanoflowers?

Today the Institute of Physics releases some of the most beautiful science images of the year so far, a collection of photomicrographs of tiny “flowers” and “trees” less than one thousandth the width of a human hair. The images are published in the Institute journal Nanotechnology.

These stunning [...]

High-tech will make vehicles safer, more powerful and lighter.

The Detroit News says that the adoption of nanotechnology by car manufacturers will produce safer, lighter and cheaper vehicles. While GM is already using nanocomposite materials for several vans, Ford is developing new nanoengineered catalysts to replace platinum. The newspaper gives other examples, such as auto-adaptive suspension [...]

Manipulating atoms and molecules has a vast and shining future for products ranging from drugs to medical gear to computers.

In the near nanotech future, today’s medical instruments will seem crude. Take magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. A current MRI offers surgeons a macro view, comparable to a satellite picture of the Earth. Applying nanotechnology [...]