Gizmodo: self-assembly

Scientist Designs Nanoparticle Optics That Self-Assemble

Kit Eaton — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 10:10:00 EST

Nanoparticles that self-assemble into complex optical structures sounds like an early ingredient in a future Robot Uprising recipe, but the science team at University of California, Berkeley thinks they'll be useful for nicely tame things. The self-assembly of the nanoparticle silver crystals can be controlled to produce different nano "devices" and it's a a neat way of putting together nanotech that is more typically produced top-down by lithography. The devices can be as diverse as color-changing paint, optical computer elements, and ultrasensitive chemical sensors.

Most interesting, perhaps, is the possibility of using the nanoparticles to construct metamaterials. In this guise they may find use as "invisibility cloaks"... which are currently nearly impossible to manufacture, and that's where the self-assembly part comes in.

The octahedral silver nanoparticles are produced in solution, and are relatively large scale, which lends them potentially better optical properties than competing nanoparticle inventions. [TechnologyReview]

Self-Assembling Chips First Step Towards Extra-Bendy Evil Robots

Wilson Rothman — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 17:30:00 EDT

It may look all innocent, but this little logic circuit is made from organic molecules that lined themselves up to form 300 transistors, without the need for machine production. This kind of chip-in-a-test-tube approach to creating semiconductors, demonstrated as effective for the first time by Philips Research, could cause a big leap towards cheaper, more flexible electronics—in a word, to quote The Graduate, "plastics."

We may think of "plastic electronics" as any Chinese-made product that needs to be plugged into the wall, but in this definition, it means the circuitry itself that's plastic rather than silicon, and can be used to create things that require flexibility. Today, as we've seen firsthand with OLED production, plastic circuitry can be made using inkjet printing. Another technique is lithographic etching.

Self-assembly is more practical, but Philips' breakthrough needs to be worked on before it can be put to use in a factory. One researcher, Edsger Smits, told Technology Review that the goal "is to be able to throw molecules in a beaker and let them organize into desired structures." Yeah, great, but desired by whom, Edsger? [Technology Review]

Flatpack Boombox MP3 Dock - Hand Not Included

AddyDugdale — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 08:04:58 EDT

Nothing to do with Ikea, this boombox iPod dock is made out of paper and comes in a flatpack. Once assembled, its speakers pump out, with the aid of two AA batteries, all the Kurtis Blow and Sugarhill Gang' you ever wanted to hear.

Compatible with all MP3 players, the cardboard mini boombox is out in September, but no details on price, as yet. Think of the fun you could have customizing it. [Suck UK via 7Gadgets]

Boat in a Bag for Sailors on the Move

AddyDugdale — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:54:29 EDT

The MiniCat is a self-assembling catamaran. Costing $4,905, it consists of a couple of floats, sails, some aluminum rods, an alloy mast, a rudder, keel fin and a trampoline. You can assemble it in around half an hour (well, it would take me a couple of days—the Addy-Ikea Flatpack interface is not a sight most of us want to see, believe you me) and this is what it looks like packed up and ready to go...

Ooh, it may be tiny, but it's a serious piece of kit for serious sailors. At the moment it's only available in Europe, but hey, get a one-way flight, be brave and sail it back across the Atlantic. Just don't forget to pack your waterproofs, a foghorn and an inflatable doll, just in case you sink—or maybe you just feel like you might need the company. [MiniCat via Red Ferret]