Home > Press > Nanotechnology’s reach, from swords to solar cells
 |
| In a lecture last week, Murray Gibson, founding dean of the College of Science, examined the history of nanoscience — and what studying nature means for its future. Photo by Mary Knox Merrill. |
Abstract:
Nanotechnology may be an emerging field of study, but it's actually been around for a number of centuries, said Murray Gibson, founding dean of the College of Science at Northeastern University.
Nanotechnology’s reach, from swords to solar cells
Boston, MA | Posted on November 8th, 2011
To make swords, blacksmiths would bang away at iron in the presence of coal dust — thereby infusing tiny carbon particles into the iron to make the sword tips sharp. "They didn't know how it worked, but they were doing nanotechnology thousands of years ago," Gibson told more than 30 faculty and students in Frost Lounge last Tuesday for a lecture presented by PRISM, the Proactive Recruitment in Introductory Science and Mathematics.
PRISM is an initiative that connects Northeastern mathematicians, physicists and biologists with first- and second-year students who want to learn more about math and science research-related co-ops and internships. It was developed by members of Northeastern's math and science faculty and is supported by a five-year, $1.98 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
Nanoscience, Gibson said, is a highly interdisciplinary field best described as a convergence between the physical and life sciences. It revolves around the study of tiny objects. A nanometer, for example, is about the size of 10 atoms, or about how much a fingernail grows in a second.
Much of the science is explained in the arrangement and pattern of atoms on the nanoscale. This arrangement, Gibson explained, is what differentiates diamonds from graphite found in pencils. How atoms organize and bond with each other also determines the brilliant colors in ancient stained-glass windows.
Nanoscience even occurs in the kitchen. Earlier this semester, students in Northeastern's chapter of the American Chemical Society made ice cream using liquid nitrogen. When liquid nitrogen hits the cream and other ingredients, it immediately creates crystals, which Gibson said directly relates to how the ice cream tastes.
"It's a very expensive way to make ice cream, and only a chemist would think that way," he joked.
Nanotechnology, Gibson noted, may lead to a revolution in the way things are built — from lighter, stronger aircraft wings to cheap solar cells that can solve the world's energy problems. He said nanotechnology might be used in health care to help detect viruses and deliver drugs.
The answers, Gibson said, lie in studying how nature and evolution have already built things from the bottom up, and then translating that knowledge into interdisciplinary research, which he said can provide fertile ground for collaboration and discovery.
Northeastern researchers are already exploring the boundaries of nanotechnology through innovative work across numerous research centers and programs, such as the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing, the Electronic Materials Research Institute, the Center for Translational Cancer Nanomedicine and the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program in nanomedicine.
Gibson said it's critical for students interested in pursuing research to develop expertise in a particular discipline. This, he said, will provide a strong foundation for designing science experiments and position students to conduct interdisciplinary research, which he called a critical component in the future of nanotechnology.
"The great thing about science is you're always discovering like you did as a child," he said.
####
For more information, please click here
Contacts:
Greg St. Martin
617-373-5463
Copyright © Northeastern University
If you have a comment, please
Contact us.
Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Bookmark:
News and information
Sound waves precisely position nanowires June 19th, 2013
Scientists Use Nanotechnology to Increase Thermal Stability of Essential Oils June 19th, 2013
Production of Bioactive Material for Quick Treatment of Bone Damages June 19th, 2013
Nanometrics Announces Participation in 5th Annual CEO Investor Summit: Accredited Investor and Publishing Research Analyst Event to be Held Concurrently With SEMICON West and Intersolar 2013 in San Francisco June 19th, 2013
Academic/Education
CNSE Welcomes Record Number of Students, Majority of Whom are New Yorkers, for Prestigious Summer Internship Program June 12th, 2013
FEI and University of Oklahoma Begin Collaboration Research Agreement for Understanding and Developing Unconventional Oil and Gas Reservoirs: Collaboration effort will focus on new methods to classify shales in the economic assessment of “tight” resource plays June 7th, 2013
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz obtains new Collaborative Research Center on "Nanodimensional polymer therapeutics for tumor therapy" June 2nd, 2013
Lorraine University uses Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis to characterize biomolecules for agrichemicals, pharmacology and cosmetics May 28th, 2013
Nanomedicine
Production of Bioactive Material for Quick Treatment of Bone Damages June 19th, 2013
3-D printing could lead to tiny medical implants, electronics, robots, more June 18th, 2013
Pioneering breakthrough of chemical nanoengineering to design drugs controlled by light June 18th, 2013
Study Shows How the Nanog Protein Promotes Growth of Head and Neck Cancer June 18th, 2013
Materials
Working backward: Computer-aided design of zeolite templates: Rice scientists apply drug-design lessons to production of industrial minerals June 17th, 2013
Discover the ‘Nanostructure Advantage’ at ECerS 2013, Booth 5: Innovnano presents nanostructured powders for high performance ceramics June 17th, 2013
Discovery of new material state counterintuitive to laws of physics June 14th, 2013
Ceramics in Paper Manufacturing including Advanced and Nano Materials: Author- Dr. Mahendra Patel, 420 pages; 32 chapters, Publ.2013 June 12th, 2013
Announcements
Sound waves precisely position nanowires June 19th, 2013
Scientists Use Nanotechnology to Increase Thermal Stability of Essential Oils June 19th, 2013
Production of Bioactive Material for Quick Treatment of Bone Damages June 19th, 2013
Nanometrics Announces Participation in 5th Annual CEO Investor Summit: Accredited Investor and Publishing Research Analyst Event to be Held Concurrently With SEMICON West and Intersolar 2013 in San Francisco June 19th, 2013
Aerospace/Space
'Popcorn' particle pathways promise better lithium-ion batteries June 11th, 2013
Space Solar Power: Key to a Livable Planet Earth June 10th, 2013
Researchers enlist Cameca Nanosims Microprobe to determine origins of lunar water: Microprobes's results indicate water on Earth and Moon has similar origin June 4th, 2013
National Space Society Report On Annual Conference June 3rd, 2013
Solar/Photovoltaic
Polymer-coated catalyst protects "artificial leaf" June 17th, 2013
Further research on effects of nanomaterials: BASF participates in BMBF research project on safety of nanomaterials: Results allow easier and faster evaluation of nanoparticle behavior June 12th, 2013
Graphene and semiconductor technology together: smaller, cheaper, better June 12th, 2013
Space Solar Power: Key to a Livable Planet Earth June 10th, 2013