nanotechnology - Gizmodo

posts about #nanotechnology more →
The Sponge That Can Absorb 180 Times Its Own Weight (In Toxic Sludge)
Bring On the Replicator Already
IBM Takes First 3D Image of Atomic Bonds
The World's Tiniest VGA Display Uses Pixels the Size of Cells
The Atom Pinhole Camera Is The First Step Towards a Real Star Trek Replicator
Nanobot Uses Bacteria Swarm for Propulsion
Flying Microbot Gives Wings to Imminent Doomsday Scenario
Nanofiber Underwear Burns Fat...Literally?
Sun Dry Swim Bathing Suits Use Nanotech to Dry Off in Seconds
Coffee Stains Inspire Nanotech-Infused TV Screens of the Future

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Benguin
11/10/09

In reply to The Sponge That Can Absorb 180 Times Its Own Weight (In Toxic Sludge)

Are you following me camera guy? #carbonnanotubesponge
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quayzar
11/10/09

@Benguin: Good work #carbonnanotubesponge
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Bokusatsu_Tenshi
11/10/09

In reply to The Sponge That Can Absorb 180 Times Its Own Weight (In Toxic Sludge)
Interesting and all, but does it have squarepants? Because it has to have squarepants. Nanotubes or not. #carbonnanotubesponge
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Thomas Thorne
11/10/09

In reply to The Sponge That Can Absorb 180 Times Its Own Weight (In Toxic Sludge)
...I thought they discovered that carbon nanotubes possibly have the same effect on living things as asbestos? I hope not.. 'cause that would kinda defeat the whole toxic cleanup idea. #carbonnanotubesponge
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Michai
11/10/09

@Thomas Thorne: your right, CNT dust is able to infiltrate through the loose molecular bonds of skin and tissue causing serious harm. #carbonnanotubesponge
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jamjen
11/10/09

@Thomas Thorne: Yes, but conditions are the issue. With Asbestos (which by the way, is 100% natural and the state rock of California! [serpentine]), is only carenegenic when it is inhaled as dust. That would be the same with nano tubes. If the nano tubes are 'solid' then there should not be an issue with inhaling. This means the major area of concern would be in production and waste management. But it is a valid concern. #carbonnanotubesponge
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Salvar
11/12/09

@Michai: That's it, I'm going gay. #carbonnanotubesponge
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Michai
11/12/09

@jamjen: Im not so sure, a CNT ranges close to 1nm in width where as the smallest serpentine crystals are around 3-20 microns (the smallest particles would still be 3000 times larger), and so are unable to penetrate the skin (without force) unlike CNTs. #carbonnanotubesponge
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Michai
11/12/09

@Salvar: Congrats! #carbonnanotubesponge
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jamjen
11/13/09

@Michai: Yes, but the CNT needs to have some way of entering the body. And if we are talking about mesothelioma, the medium has to be inhaled. And as a solid structure, it would not be an issue. Point being, in production this would be huge concern, but if your using this to clean up oil/chemical spills you are not exposed to 'dust'.

(BTW, serpetine and most forms of Asbestos do not cause lung cancer/mesothelioma) #carbonnanotubesponge
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Dezerus Richardson
11/10/09

In reply to The Sponge That Can Absorb 180 Times Its Own Weight (In Toxic Sludge)
I can just see Vince up there selling these now.

"Look at that! Doesn't drip, doesn't make a mess! Dries all your toxic sludge, radioactive waste!" #carbonnanotubesponge
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nutbastard
11/10/09

In reply to The Sponge That Can Absorb 180 Times Its Own Weight (In Toxic Sludge)
ELAINE: So, you think you're sponge-worthy?

BILLY: Yes, I think I'm sponge-worthy. I think I'm very sponge-worthy.

ELAINE: Run down your case for me again...?

BILLY: Well, we've gone out several times, we obviously have a good rapport. I own a very profitable electronics distributing firm. I eat well. I exercise. Blood tests - immaculate. And if I can speak frankly, I'm actually quite good at it.

ELAINE: You going to do something about your sideburns?

BILLY: Yeah, I told you...I'm going to trim my sideburns.

ELAINE: And the bathroom in your apartment?

BILLY: Cleaned it this morning.

ELAINE: The sink, the tub, everything got cleaned?

BILLY: Everything, yeah. It's spotless.

ELAINE: Alright, let's go. #carbonnanotubesponge
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Kaiser-Machead
11/10/09

In reply to The Sponge That Can Absorb 180 Times Its Own Weight (In Toxic Sludge)
And after we've absorbed all of this harmful sludge with the magic sponges, we can put them in a burlap sack, and have superman toss them into the sun. #carbonnanotubesponge
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Pessimippopotamus
11/10/09

In reply to The Sponge That Can Absorb 180 Times Its Own Weight (In Toxic Sludge)
I foresee that this will bring great advancement to the Chinese inflatable bra technology.

Good times.
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Edited by Pessimippopotamus at 11/10/09 3:52 PM Pessimippopotamus was starred

BoysNoize
11/10/09

In reply to The Sponge That Can Absorb 180 Times Its Own Weight (In Toxic Sludge)
I don't even... #carbonnanotubesponge
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met2art
11/10/09

@BoysNoize: ...finish a sentence?
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Edited by met2art at 11/10/09 3:39 PM met2art was starred met2art was unstarred

Onideus
08/31/09

In reply to IBM Takes First 3D Image of Atomic Bonds
The future is already here, it's just not evenly distributed. Also, you don't need a quantum computer or even a super computer to simulate AI, it's pretty much *ALL* programming...and *LOTS* of it. I've worked a lot on the Lady C bot, which uses parts of the Alice and Eliza bots as its base code and many people can't tell the difference between the bot and a real person, even over the course of long conversations. Also, multi-state computing, being able to deal with moar than just 1s and 0s, isn't really all that incredible, we'll actually likely see it start coming into form with the next few publicly released optical disk incarnations, which will be able to burn holes at different depths, instead of simply simply making smaller holes which is what's done at present. We're down to 405 nanometers with Blu-Ray. Original CDs burned 650 nanometer holes.
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k_snelson
08/31/09

In reply to IBM Takes First 3D Image of Atomic Bonds
It’s clear from these messages that people are fascinated by the question, "What would an atom look like if we were able to view it close-up and see how electrons create the atom’s quantum architecture." In the nineteen twenties, Heisenberg’s Uncertainty principle dimmed the prospect for any such a picture no matter the most advanced technology imaginable. That discover bought most physicists to view any further search for a model that might try to describe how electrons behave in the atom as simply non-science or metaphysics – or at best an artwork.
Over these eight decades, despite all that science and technology have produced, the world is no closer to understanding how electrons move about the atomic space than it was eighty years ago.
The situation in atomic physics is something like that of Ptolemaic astronomy whose mathematics worked well enough for eighteen hundred years to satisfy people that the Sun orbited the earth; until Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo showed that it was the other way around.
I’m one of those who believe that QM is not the whole story and that by finding the right analog model a better understanding of the atom is possible.
I have one such offering – a long running artwork I call "Portrait of an Atom". See:
[www.snelsonatom.com]
and:
[www.kennethsnelson.net]
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Gary_7vn
08/31/09

In reply to Bring On the Replicator Already
And what happens when the replicators get replicators?

Would this mean that Americans finally get health care as good as say, France?
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ReginaBabalonian
08/30/09

In reply to IBM Takes First 3D Image of Atomic Bonds
Hi Mondoz,

I agree with your thoughts about color not existing at the molecular level, but I question the limitations you place on the idea of a photographs. After all, any image created by a sensor that records spatial data due to interactions with the sensor can be (in my opinion) called a photograph. Yes, photo from Greek meaning light, but we have plenty of images that are created from stimuli to which the visual system is not sensitive and yet we still call them photographs. What'd think?

--Bob
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Hi, I'm God
08/30/09

In reply to Bring On the Replicator Already
Yeah, well, food's one of the five exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration so I guess we're screwed.
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met2art
08/30/09

@Hi, I'm God: Gamp's Law says food can't be created by magic. This is the science of molecular reconfiguration. I refer you now to Arthur C. Clarke.
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Hi, I'm God
08/30/09

@met2art: Molecular reconfiggawhatta? Sounds like magic to me.
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OMG! Ponies!
08/31/09

@Hi, I'm God: There's a long-haired gentleman outside who like to disagree with you. He looks a little ragged as he's nailed to a couple pieces of lumber.
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se7a7n7
08/30/09

In reply to Bring On the Replicator Already
You know this will only lead to DRMd food.
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.- -. --- -. -.-- -- --- ..- ... / .. ... / .-.. . --. .. --- -.
08/30/09

@se7a7n7:
+2
Yeah, Bureaucracy at it's best. The ability to create everything everywhere gets strangled by dicks sitting in front of a desk watching money roll in...
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OMG! Ponies!
08/30/09

@se7a7n7: That already exists. Monsanto and ADM both sell crop seeds to African nations. The catch? They're sterile - every year the nations need to buy new seeds.
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HarcourtAetolus
08/30/09

In reply to Bring On the Replicator Already
The bigger issue here is what this invention would do to the economic structure of society. If we can replicate anything that we need, what would be the purpose of capitalism? We would not need stores, industries or commerce of any kind (if a replicator can replicate itself, why would we even need a replicator manufacturing business?). How many Lamborghini's do you need to replicate? It would eliminate the work ethic. Who would need to work for a living? Why trade? What would be the purpose for an economic structure of any kind? The change to our social and economic structure would be massive with such an invention.
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FooSchnickens - BPH Free
08/30/09

@HarcourtAetolus: That was part of Rodenberry's idea behind the whole Star Trek universe. Remove the need for greed and whatnot and provide everything to the masses. Idealistic, yes, but hey, you can't fault him for being a visionary.
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se7a7n7
08/30/09

@FooSchnickens: Sounds like a dirty Socialist to me.
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gibson042
08/30/09

@HarcourtAetolus: Welllllll, energy might literally fall from the sky, but using it isn't free. And economics holds with all scarce resources.
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