Now that is (or was) expected to halt at some point, meaning our computers and gadgets would start remaining the same size. Yep, no more "Honey, I Shrunk the Processors." But work by IBM could keep the sequels coming.

If you didn't know Intel's processors and transistors are about to hit 32 nanometers in size (fun fact: a single hair strand is roughly 80,000 nanometers in width). Now that is pretty darn small, but if we want things to get even smaller, like Zoolander phone small, it is said that the physical constraints in the silicon in these transistors can only go so tiny. Apparently, they have even been playing tricks with the silicon even since 90 nanometers.

The New York Times reports some seriously advanced solutions which are being worked on by Dr. Ross of IBM (not George Clooney's ER character who had the same name). FinFETs are one type of transistor and are the basis of 22-nanometer technology which we may see by 2012. These transistors are vertically tipped, offer greater density and better insulating properties. She is also concentrating on constructing FinFET and silicon nanowire switches in a whole new process.

It is a kind of nanofarming. Dr. Ross sprinkles gold particles as small as 10 nanometers in diameter on a substrate and then suffuses them in a silicon gas at a temperature of about 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit. This causes the particles to become "supersaturated" with silicon from the gas, which will then precipitate into a solid, forming a wire that grows vertically.

Complicated and extremely intricate stuff which is all apparently riddled with significant challenges, but Dr. Ross and her IBM team have got to keep at it. It means the continuation of us getting thinner and smaller electronics in our hands (and lost in my bag). [The New York Times]

This is because, in the future, scientists seem to think that piezoelectric nanowires could find a nice home inside our blood vessels. There, they'd use the energy created by blood flow to power our gadgets, pacemakers, or any number of other people-powered devices future inventors can think up. That sounds great in theory, but I assume that, like with most things I put in my body today that sound great and feel good, it will probably cause cancer or something.

Regardless, the scientists want to let us know there are no practical or commercial uses planned for these zinc oxide nanowires. Not for a long while anyway. This means you can stop digging around for that vein now. Oh, that's for the heroin? Nevermind then. [Live Science via Engadget]

Even more amazing is the fact that this mish-mash of nanowires has the look and feel of paper, but sucks up only oil, leaving every ounce of water behind. Based on that, you know what comes next, right? Water filtration, said Jing Kong, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.And unlike most nanotechnology, the mesh is inexpensive to produce, since the nanowires can be fabricated in larger quantities than other nanomaterials. Great. Let's get huge sheets of this stuff manufactured and distributed to every oil rig, developing nation and tanker like, yesterday. [MIT News]

Professor Zhong Lin Wang and team of the Georgia Institute of Technology coated kevlar strands with zinc oxide nanowires, protecting the bushy wires with a polymer and adding gold to other fibers to act as a conductor. The piezoelectric power-generating action comes when the nanowires bend as two fibers rub together, translating bending of the material into electricity which flows along the gold fibers.

Professor Wang says that across several square feet of fabric the nanowire fibers can generate power adding up to tens of milliwatts, which is not a huge amount, but is certainly enough for a dribble top-up charge for your portable devices.

With a little more power, the idea could be great in smart fabrics for consumers, or even for medical or military use, but it's clearly an invention in its infancy—as Wang notes, "What we've done is demonstrate the principle and the fundamental mechanism." For the time being it also has a fundamental flaw: it's not waterproof, and putting your smart clothes in the wash would dissolve the nanowires. [BBC News and Reuters]

Using "rough" silicon wires, produced by a process known as "electroless etching," where silicon nano-wires are synthesized in an aqueous solution, over a thin, semiconductor crystallized base, the scientists have been able to exploit the process of galvanic displacement of silicon. This displacement technique, which uses silver ions, causes the thermoelectric efficiency to be increased on the rough surfaces of the nano-wires.

The breakthrough comes from the boffins at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California, who believe they have found a way to increase the conversion efficiency by a factor of 100. Though they are unable to pin the exact physics of why this works, what they can be certain of is that it definitely does work.

The potential uses for such a technology are mind blowing; from power-jackets that recharge gadgets kept in their pockets to vehicles that utilizes your farts for headlight juice, and pretty much everything else in between. It will be a long while before anything like this makes it to the consumer market, but the development is an exciting one. Expect my son to blog about future developments concerning these nano-wires in 2016. [Tom's Hardware]