I am currently readin a book called NEXT by michael crichton, the book is about how the world of genetics and biotechnology is going completely head over heels with unbelievable and strange discoveries, frauds and malfunction. Orang's (as the book uses for the word "orangootans") swearing upon the visitors in dutch and french languages.
The book is complete work of a genetic fiction yet prooving to be a story of coming future. With genes and tissues being used up without any consent or notice or anything of the sort and research taking a form of a proffesion more then an art, the book seems to get interesting page by page. Though for few first chapters the book succeeds in creating that confusiion that it is ment for. WIth too much of confusion and genetic language doing its perfect job by entering at a perfect time, the books seems to be a great text for a genetic freak.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Carbon Nanotubes
Ever wondered what are carbon nanotubes or what is going on with these nanotubes....see these its an everclear version of Nanotube.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
DNA...
DNA is blueprint, contractor and construction worker for new structures from PhysOrg.com
DNA is the blueprint of all life, giving instruction and function to organisms ranging from simple one-celled bacteria to complex human beings. Now Northwestern University researchers report they have used DNA as the blueprint, contractor and construction worker to build a three-dimensional structure out of gold, a lifeless material.
[...]
Thursday, January 17, 2008
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
AND ABBREVIATIONS
Absolute zero: Minus 273 degrees Celsius: the end of all molecular vibration.
Active nanotech: Nanotech that uses working mechanisms.
Actuator: A device converting electrical energy into straight-line mechanical energy.
Adaptive system: A system of computer hardware and software that senses and adjusts to changes in its external and internal environments, e.g. component defects.
Aerosol: A solution whose solvent is air.
AFM: Atomic force microscope.
AIST: Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.
Algorithm: Formal computational rule.
Allotrope: A distinct configuration of an element on the nanoscale: e.g. diamond, graphite, or fullerenes for carbon.
Amorphous Polymers: Polymers that do not form a crystalline structure, but are disordered in the solid phase, e.g. polystyrene in cups.
Ampere [A]: Basic unit of electric current in SI.
Analog: Using smoothly varying physical quantities to represent reality.
Analete: The subject of chemical or biotechnological analysis.
Analytes: Chemical species, in solution or in the gas, whose presence and concentration are to be analyzed or sensed.
Ångstrom [å]: SI length unit denoting one ten-billionth of a meter. (0.0000000001 m)
Antibody: Proteins produced by the immune system to neutralize or destroy antigens.
Antigen: A foreign substance that, when introduced into the body, becomes harmful because of immune response.
Apatite: A hexagonal crystal of calcium phosphate.
Archaebacteria [Extremophiles]: Bacteria tolerant of the high temperatures and pressures found near deep ocean vents.
Artificial Photosynthesis: Application of molecular or solid state structures to imitate natural photosynthesis by using light to cause electrical current flow. Artificial photosynthesis is one approach to photovoltaics.
Atomic Force Microscope: A scanning probe instrument that measures the force acting on a tip as it either slides along a surface or moves perpendicularly to a surface.
Avatar: A graphic interface for a human computer user or an artificial-intelligence system. Often a face that expresses emotion and speech.
Bacteriophage: A virus that attacks only bacteria.
Baud: Standard measure of dataflow, originally set [for telegraphy] at one pulse per second and now standardized as one bit per second.
Benchtop: First and earliest stage of technical scale-up for a scientific concept.
Benzene Ring: A circle of six carbon atoms knit with three covalent bonds.
Biel: The smallest assay module on a biochip.
Binary: Arithmetic system using only two numbers, 1 and 0. Used in computers with digital circuits that are fully on or fully off, with no intervening states.
Biochip [Biological microchip]: A miniaturized device combining biological diagnostics with fluidics, electronics, or both.
Bioinformatics: The science expressing genetic information as numerical data.
Bio-availability: The term used to describe the local availability, within a large biological entity like a human body, or a particular drug or therapy molecule.
Bio-inert Materials: Materials that do not react with the biological environment. Normally, bio-inert materials are not rejected by the human immune system.
Bio-nano: Nanotechnology derived from or applicable to biological systems.
Biomimicry: The technique of duplicating or adapting natural systems for nanotechnology.
Biopharm: A company using biotechnology to develop pharmaceutical products.
Biosensor: A sensor structure that targets biological analytes or a sensor based on the use of biological molecules.
Bistable: A system that has two stable resting states, like a coin that can rest either on heads or on tails.
Bottom-Up Nanofabrication: the building of nanostructures starting with small components such as atoms or molecules.
Boundary conditions: Initial stipulations for a mathematical or physical system, including transformation rules for cellular automata.
bR: Bacteriorhodopsin, a photon-capturing chemical related to visual pigments.
Broad-spectrum: Emitting photons with many different wavelengths.
Brownian motion: Microscopic jiggling of small particles in solution, caused by random thermal motion of molecules in the solvent.
Buckminsterfullerenes: A family of carbon allotropes that includes the so-called buckyballs and buckytubes.
Butyl rubber™: A synthetic rubber-like substance used in auto tires.
Buckyball: See C60
Buckytube: See CN
Byte: Two data bits.
C60: A molecule comprising 60 carbon atoms arranged in a regular sphere.
CA: Cellular automaton [pl. cellular automata].
CAD: Computer Aided Design, referring to the use of computational algorithms and tools to design switches, computers, memories, and other technology devices.
Calcium Carbonate: Limestone, CaCO3
Calculus: A mathematics of small quantities invented independently by Leibniz and Newton in the 17th century, very useful in modeling dynamic effects.
Carbon: An element having six protons and six electrons, essential to life.
Cartesian: A system representing algebraic concepts visually on a plane graph.
Catalysis: the function of a catalyst.
Catalyst: A substance that permits or enhances a chemical reaction without itself being changed.
Catenate: To interlock one or more ring-shaped molecules non-chemically.
Cathode-ray tube: A device that accelerates electrons.
Celsius: SI scale of temperature measurement that sets freezing water as zero degrees and boiling water as 100 degrees at standard [sea-level] air pressure.
Ceramics: Hard, refractory materials often based on oxides.
Chaperones: Small proteins used within cells to carry metal ion species from one place to another.
Cholesterol: A large molecule very widespread in biology (e.g. it provides much of the mass in human livers and brains); it is hydrophobic.
CMOS: Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor, referring to a technology commonly used to make contemporary silicon-based microchips.
CN: Carbon nanotube
Cocktail-party effect: The human brain’s ability to isolate one voice in a crowd.
Cold Vacuum: The basic fabric of the Einstein continuum: “Empty space”.
Collagen: the main protein part of connective tissue in most organisms.
Colloid [Colloid dispersion]: Particles or droplets of one substance uniformly distributed throughout another substance, and suspended not dissolved.
Colorimetric Sensors: Sensors that work by changing their colors when the analyte appears.
Commodity: A product all of whose units are interchangeable.
Composite: A material with two or more chemically distinct substances in close mechanical association.
Compression: Squeezing or imploding force.
Conductor: A substance that efficiently transmits heat or electricity.
Control: A test population kept untreated so that treatment effects can be determined.
Cortex: Outer layers of the brain, used for advanced processing such as vision.
Coulomb’s Law: The fundamental law of electrical interaction: the force between two charges is proportional to the magnitude of each charge and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between charges.
Covalent Bond: A strong chemical bond in which adjacent atoms share two electrons.
Cross-Linked Polymers: Structures consisting of linear polymer strands with chemical bonds between them that act to link one strand to the next.
Cryogenic: Supercold: at or below the temperature of liquid nitrogen.
DARPA: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
dB: Decibel [SI unit of sound intensity].
Dendrimer: A large synthetic molecule with many branches [Greek dendros, “tree”].
Diagnostics: The techniques of determining the causes of illness.
Diamond: A carbon allotrope with an infinitely extensible 3-D cubic crystal latticework, transparent to IR and visible light.
Diffraction: The ability of a wave to change direction or create visual patterns through interference with itself, other waves, or matter.
Diesel: An internal-combustion engine, usually burning liquid hydrocarbons, which attains ignition temperatures without an electric spark via high compression of the air-fuel mixture [Rudolf Diesel, 1858-1913].
Dip-Pen Nanolithography: Method of fabrication that uses a scanning probe tip to act essentially as a fountain pen to draw nanostructures on surfaces using arbitrary molecular structures as inks.
DNA: Deoxyribonucleic acid, a genetic molecule shaped like a twisted ladder.
DNA Computing: The use of DNA hybridization and replication processes to solve computational problems.
DNA Molecule Therapy: Therapeutic scheme in which DNA molecules are introduced into the cell, where they can combine with, for example, pathogenic DNAs within infected cells.
Dodecahedron: A twelve-sided solid.
Dopant: A trace impurity used in doping.
Doping: Evenly distributing small quantities of a trace impurity throughout a matrix.
Drexlerianism: The body of belief accepted by Eric K. Drexler and his followers, including imaginary constructs such as molecular assemblers purported to accrete macroscale goods from individual atoms and indefinitely prolong human life.
Dumbot: A postulated “dumb nanobot” to carry out a simple pre-assigned task.
Dura mater: tough outer membrane enclosing the brain.
e1776: Bioengineered strain of the bacterium E. coli, used for laboratory R&D.
E. coli: A common species of gut bacteria, most genotypes of which are benign.
Edman degradation: A process for determining a protein’s constituent amino acids.
Elastomer: An elastic polymer, sometimes natural but usually synthetic.
Electrochemistry: The science that combines chemistry with the flow of electrical current. Examples of electrochemical processes include silver plating and aluminum manufacturing.
Electron: A negatively charged subatomic particle, 1/1860th the mass of a proton.
Electron Beam Lithography: Method of fabrication that uses electron beams to form structures on surfaces. It is widely used to make extended large nanostructures.
Electron Microscopy: The measurement of structures of solids and surfaces using electrons rather than light to see small features (down to the nanoscale).
Electroosmosis: A method for moving liquids using electrical fields. Electroosmosis moves a sample at a constant rate, so it is used when sample should not separate into components.
Electrophoresis: A method of using external electric fields on electrically charged species to move either particles or liquids. Electrophoresis moves samples at a rate proportional to inverse mass of the components of the sample and is therefore often used for separations.
E-M: Electromagnetic
Encapsulated Nanomaterials: Structures in which a nanomaterial is enclosed in an outer covering or coat.
Entanglement: In quantum computing, the process of combining two separate pieces of information so that they can be treated as a single entity.
Entropy: Randomness of a system, sometimes expressed as heat per unit volume.
Enzyme: A protein catalyst used to facilitate chemical reactions in biological species.
EPFL: Ècole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne [Switzerland].
Equation: mathematical statement of equivalence, general form X = Y.
Emergent property: A property appearing in a self-organized system of less complex modules and unpredictable from module properties, e.g. intelligence in brain neurons.
Experimentalist: A scientist who examines nature to uncover new facts.
Extremophile: See Archeabacteria
F1-ATPase: A molecular motor in certain bacteria, rotating at c.800 RPM.
Fab: Abbreviation for fabrication, used to refer to a plant that manufactures semiconductor devices (microchips).
Fahrenheit: Scale of temperature measurement that sets freezing water as 32 degrees and boiling water as 212 degrees at standard 9sea-level0 air pressure.
Femto-: Combining prefix indication one quadrillionth (0.000000000000001)
FET: Field effect transistor
Field-Effect Transistor: The most common sort of transistor used in semiconductor chips. It employs a gate to control (turn on and off) electrical current.
FinFET: Field effect transistor with a nanoscale cooling fin.
Flagellum [pl. flagella: A whiplike feature that propels some microfauna.
Flop: The fundamental operation of a logic gate.
Fluidics: The technology of manipulating small quantities of fluid, e.g. for numerical computation or direct process control.
Fluorescence: Re-radiation of photons at different wavelengths after a time interval.
Fractal: Mathematically identical whatever the magnification.
FTIR: Fast Fourier-transform infrared [spectroscopy].
Fuel Cell: A device generating electric power without noise, waste, or pollution.
Fullerenes: See Buckminsterfullerenes
Gallium arsenide: GaAs, a doping agent used to create semiconductors.
Galvanized: Having an outer anticorrosion layer of zinc.
Gamma Ray: A photon with extremely short wavelength and extremely high energy.
GC: Gas chromatography [sensitive chemical-sampling method].
Gene: A DNA sequence producing one or more characteristics in a living organism.
Gene Therapy: A specific sort of DNA therapy.
Geodesic: A straight, rigid strut connecting the centers of two close-packed imaginary spheres [structural engineering].
Geodesic Dome: A contiguous part of a geodesic sphere.
Giant Magneto Resistance: A phenomenon in which the resistance of a substance is changed very strongly by application of a magnetic field. It is used as a read-out mechanism in current magnetic computer memories.
Graetzel Cell: A photovoltaic cell, first developed by Michael Graetzel in Switzerland, that uses nanoscale titanium dioxide and an organic dye to obtain electrical current from incident light.
Graphite: A carbon allotrope comprising parallel plates with low stiction.
GT: Gene therapy, i.e. therapeutically replacing or knocking out defective genes.
Gues-host system: A smaller molecule trapped inside a larger molecule, the most advanced example of nanoscale self-assembly.
Gutted virus: The shell of a naturally occurring virus whose genome has been removed and replaced with artificially synthesized DNA as a vector for gene therapy.
HAT: Human artificial templating [synthetic organ manufacture].
Head Groups: Part of the structure of some long molecules wherein one end of the molecule can be called a head group and the other end a tail group.
Heat death: Final state of the universe, when all matter exists at one low temperature.
Helicase: A natural editing enzyme preserving the integrity of replicated DNA.
Hemoglobin: Large, heavy protein molecule, carrying oxygen in red blood cells.
Hertz [Hz]: SI unit indication cycles per second.
HIAN: High-interface-area nanostructures.
Histamine: A small molecule that, although always present in the body, is increased in concentration by the presence of antigens and antibodies.
HRTEM: High-resolution transmission electron microscope.
Hybridization: In DNA science, the formation of a second strand from the first, by complementary binding of the G with C or A with T.
Hydrogen [H]: The simplest element, usually comprising one proton, one electron, and no neutrons. Hydrogen having one neutron is deuterium; having two, tritium.
Hydrogen Bond: A specific sort of weak bond between molecules caused by a hydrogen atom bridging between an oxygen to which it is covalently bound and another oxygen that interacts more weakly with it by electrical forces. Hydrogen bonds are crucial for the structure of water, proteins and DNA.
Hydrophilic: Water-binding, refers to materials or molecular structures that interact strongly with and are soluble in water (e.g. ethyl alcohol).
Hydrophobic: Water-repelling, refers to materials that do not dissolve in water (e.g. salad oil).
IMS: Infrared microspectroscopy
Infrared [IR]: Photons of longer wavelength and lower energy than visible red light.
Inhomogeneous Structures: Materials that are not the same throughout. Macroscopic examples are a western omelet and reinforced concrete.
Insulators: Materials that do not permit electricity to flow (e.g. the rubber lining on extension cords).
In silica [Latin]: As modeled on a computer; literally “in sand”.
In silico: Back-formation from in vitro.
In situ [Latin]: In place; on site.
Ion: An atom or molecule that is electrically charged.
Isomers: Related molecules comprising the same atoms, assembled in different ways.
Joule: Standard SI unit of energy, equal to one watt-second or 10,000,000 ergs.
Laminar effect: An effect of gas flow over a solid surface.
Latex: A milky plant fluid containing natural elastomers.
Life cycle: The period over which a product is conceived, designed, manufactured, sold, used and abandoned.
Light-Emitting Diodes: Structures in which an electron and a hole combine to form an excited state that subsequently emits light; these devices permit direct transformation of electricity into light.
Light-Harvesting complex: the part of the photosynthetic apparatus that actually captures and stores the light energy (as molecular excited states) before passing it on to other structures within the photosynthetic apparatus.
Liposome: A microscale or nanoscale artificial globule consisting of layers of lipid or phospholipid enclosing an aqueous core. It can be used both as a model for membranes and as a delivery vehicle for particular molecules or biological structures.
Liter: The basic SI unit of volume, about 1 U.S. quart.
Lithograph: Originally meant a pattern or structure formed on paper using ink or painted stones to form the image.
Lithography: The formation of structures of any size (including nanoscale), generally by transferring the pattern from one structure to another.
LOS: Line of sight
Luminescent Tags: Molecules or nanostructures that luminescence (emit light) when illuminated and that are used to identify structures to which they are bound.
Macromolecule: Another word for polymer; it refers to single molecules consisting of many (thousands or more) atoms.
Magnetic Force Microscope: A scanning probe microscope in which a magnetic force causes the tip to move. This motion allows the user to measure the magnetic force.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A from of magnetic resonance spectroscopy that indicates the presence of particular atomic nuclei. Used to image sections of the body or particular biological structures.
MEMS: Microelectromechanical Systems, referring to structures at the micron scale that transduce signals between electronic and mechanical forms.
Mesoscale: See Microscale
Metastasis: The process by which certain cancers can spread from one organ or structure within the body to another.
MFM: Magnetic force microscope
Micro-: Combining prefix indicating one millionth (0.000001).
Microcosm: See Microscale
Microfluidics: The process of moving liquids or fluids along a channel whose characteristic cross-sectional dimension is microns.
Micro Imprint Lithography: Lithographic method for making small structures (originally at the micron, now at the large nanoscale level) using a sort of ink pad, usually made of a plastic material.
Micrometer: See Micron
Micron: One millionth of a meter [0.000001 m]
Microscale [Mesoscale, Microcosm]: A dimensional range of 0.1-100 microns.
Microtubules: Extended rigid linear structures found in cells, they are used by molecular motors such as actin to move cargos of molecules or other structures within the cell.
Milli-: Combining prefix indicating one thousandth [0.001].
Millisecond: One thousandth of a second.
Molecular Assembler: Proposed nanobot of ultrahigh complexity, imagined by Eric Drexler et al., which would build macroscale objects by accreting atoms one at a time.
Molecular Conductors: Molecules that can conduct electrical current.
Molecular Electronics: Electronics that depend on or use the molecular organization of space.
Molecular Recognition: Fundamental self-assembly scheme wherein one molecule has the ability to bind in a specific way to another molecule or a surface.
Molecule: A chemically bonded assembly or two or more atoms.
Monocoque: Structural design in which an object’s skin bears mechanical load.
Monomers: Small molecules that bind together into longer structures to form polymers.
Moore’s Law: CPU capacity per dollar doubles every 18 months.
mRNA: Messenger RNA that conveys genetic instructions to cellular factories.
NaCl: Sodium chloride, a cubic crystal used as a spice [table salt].
Nano-: Combining prefix indicating one billionth [0.000000001].
Nanoassembler: See Molecular assembler
Nano-bio [Nanobiosystemics]: See Bio-nano
Nanobooster: A person who imputes miraculous abilities to nanotechnology while disparaging mainstream technology and science.
Nanobot: A nanoscale machine; a dumbot.
Nanocatalyst: A catalyst produced by, and for use in, nanotechnology.
Nanochannel: A nanoscale tube for fluid transmission in fluidics.
Nanocomposites: Composite structures whose characteristic dimensions are found at the nanoscale. An example is the suspension of carbon nanotubes in a soft plastic host.
Nanodots: Nanoparticles that consist of homogeneous material, especially those that are almost spherical or cubical in shape.
Nanofabrication: The manufacture or preparation of nanostructures.
Nanofiltration: The filtering of particles of nanosphere dimensions.
Nanofluidics: the process of moving liquids or fluids along a channel whose characteristic cross-sectional dimension is nanometers.
Nanometer [nm]: One billionth of a meter; one millionth of a millimeter.
Nanopore: Having openings [pores] in the approximate range of 1-50 nm.
Nanorods: Nanostructures that are shaped like long sticks or dowels, with a diameter in the nanoscale and a length very much longer.
Nanoscale: refers to phenomena that occur on the length scale between 1 and 100 nanometers.
Nanoscale Biostructure: A biological structure whose characteristic properties change on the nanometer length scale (e.g. cell wall).
Nanoscale Synthesis: Another word for nanofabrication, referring to manufacture of structures at the nanoscale.
Nanosci: Nanoscience [slang]
Nanoscience: Experiment and theory about nature on the nanoscale.
Nanosistor: A nanoscale transistor.
Nanosphere Lift-Off Lithography: A nanofabrication method in which small spheres of nanoscale dimension are used to form a pattern on a surface, which then acts as a mask to block some areas of the surface during subsequent deposition of a nanomaterial from the vapor phase.
Nanostructures: Structures whose characteristic variation in design length is at the nanoscale.
Nanotech: Nanotechnology [slang]
Nanotechnology: Consistent, predictable manipulation of nature on the nanoscale. The application of nanoscience in technological devices.
Nanotube: A monomolecular, homogeneous, nanoscale cylinder of atoms: e.g. silica or carbon. Almost always carbon nanotubes, referring to the wires of pure carbon that look like rolled sheets of graphite or like carbon soda straws.
Nanowires: Another term for nanorods, especially nanorods that can conduct electricity.
Nem: One nanometer, 0.000000001m [slang]
Neuro-Electronic Interface: A structure that permits transduction o signals between nerve fibers and external computational resources.
Neuron: A nerve cell, the unit module of the brain.
Neurotransmitters: Small organic molecules that cary signals and information from one part of the brain (neuron) to another.
Neutron: A massive neutral particle within an atomic nucleus.
nM: Nanomanipulator [University of North Carolina]
NNI: National Nanotechnology Initiative
NOx: Nitrogen oxide
Nucleotide: “Ladder-rung” on a DNA double-helix, one of four types: A, C, G, T.
Oligonucleotides: Small subunits of DNA consisting of a few bases on each of the hybridized strands. “Oligo” means few.
Optics: The science of light and its propagation and interaction with matter.
Optoelectronics: Cybernetics using both electricity and light.
Orbital: The shape taken by electrons around an atomic nucleus.
Order of magnitude: One factor of ten [10X], used in scientific calculations.
Organic: Based on carbon, as chemistry or a molecule.
Oscillator: A device that generates regular mechanical vibration.
Oxidation: the chemical process whereby one atom captures one of more electrons from the outer electron shell of an adjacent atom.
Paneling: using large, slab-like molecules in nanoscale self-assembly.
Passive nanotech: Nanotech involving static materials, not mechanisms.
PCR: Polymerase chain reaction, a method for multiplying tiny amounts of DNA.
Peta-: Combining prefix indicating 15 orders of magnitude [1,000,000,000,000,000].
Photodynamic Therapy: A remediation scheme for several diseases, including cancer. It depends upon the use of molecular or quantum dot structures to transform light energy either into heat or into highly reactive excited oxygen molecules that subsequently attack the tumor tissue.
Photoelectric effect: The basic function of a solar cell.
Photon: The elementary quantum of light and carrier particle for the E-M force.
Photocatalysis: The use of light to trigger an irreversible chemical reaction.
Photochromism: Reversible chemical change due to the presence or absence of light.
Photosynthesis: A natural photoelectric process, usually performed by chlorophyll. The process by which plants and bacteria transform light energy into chemical energy, molecule synthesis, or proton gradients. It is the fundamental means by which nearly all energy sources are powered by the sun.
Photovoltaics: Artificial systems that transform light energy into electrical current; they can be based either on semiconductor structures or on molecular complexes.
Pico-: Combining prefix indication one trillionth (0.000000000001).
Piezoelectric effect: The ability of substances such as quartz to convert electrical energy to mechanical energy and vice versa.
Polymerization: The process of making polymers from monomers, thereby making very large macromolecules from small molecular precursors.
Polymers: Extended molecules made by bonding together subunits called monomers. Examples include polystyrene and polyethylene, as well as DNA.
Polypeptide: A structurally strong natural polymer whose module is a peptide.
Polysaccharides: Polymers whose subunits are sugars.
Prestin: Molecular motor structure found in the inner ear and important in transducing sound into neural signals.
Protein: A natural polymer comprising a kinked string of amino acids. Biological macromolecules assembled from amino acid units. They are the functional structures in biology.
Protein Engineering: The manufacture and manipulation of proteins by synthetic chemical routes.
Proteomics: The science of protein-genome interaction [protein + genomics].
Proton: A subatomic particle with a positive charge of one unit and mass slightly smaller than a hydrogen atom. The number of protons in a given nucleus determines which element the atom is.
Qdot [Semiconductor nanocrystal]: A molecule-sized bit of matter that re-radiates at characteristic wavelengths when irradiated by visible or infrared light.
Quadrupole: A linked assembly of two magnetic bipoles, used as an electromagnetic lens to focus an electron beam in cathode-ray tubes.
Quantum: An irreducible packet of energy emitted or absorbed at the atomic or subatomic scale.
Quantum Dots: Nanostructures of roughly spherical or cubic shape that are small enough to exhibit characteristically quantum behavior in optical or electrical processes.
Quantum Mechanics: A description of the mechanical behavior of atomic and subatomic particles such as electrons and protons.
Quantum Tunneling: Transmission of electrons or “electron holes” (electron absences) without apparent movement through an intervening solid.
Quinones: Small organic molecules containing double bonds between carbons and oxygens. They are important as intermediate acceptor species in photosynthetic structures.
Rastering: Scanning a surface with repeated passes of a sensor or beam.
Reduction: The chemical process whereby a reducing element donates one or more electrons from its outer electron shell [orbital] to another atom.
RF: Radio frequency [low-energy E-M wavelengths].
R-factor: Measure of how well [or poorly] a substance or a system transmits heat.
RNA: Ribonucleic acid [See mRNA]
Rodcoils: Medium-size molecules containing hundreds to thousands of atoms that are arranged with a stiff tail and a soft, hydrophobic, space-filling bulbous head. They self-assemble into extended round and cylindrical structures.
Rotaxane: A freely rotating system of two distinct, mechanically bound molecules.
Scanning Probe Instruments: Tools for both measuring and preparing nanostructures on surfaces; they wok using the interactions between a scanning tip structure and the nanostructure on the surface, which can either manipulated or measured.
Scanning Tunneling Microscope: The first of the scanning probe instruments, invented by Binning and Rohrer. It works at the scale of nanostructures and measures electrons tunneling between a scanning tip and a conducting surface.
Self-assembly: The commonplace ability of natural systems and substances to put themselves together without reference to a top-down plan.
Self-Healing Structures: A form of smart material in which the structure responds to a physical stress, break, or fracture by repairing itself back to the original structure.
SI: Systeme Internationale des unites: the international standard for scientific measurements, also called the metric system.
Siderophores: Small molecules containing oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, or phosphorous atoms that can bind to (capture) particular metal ions.
Single-domain particle: The smallest naturally occurring permanent magnet.
Slurry: A liquid matrix that carries large amounts of undissolved solids.
Soft nanotech [Soft lithography]: Production and application of molded surfaces that are smooth at the nanoscale.
Soot: An amorphous allotrope of carbon.
Solar cell: A material that directly converts incident photons to electric current.
Spectroscopy [Spectrography]: The study of photons emitted by energetic matter. The science of the interaction of radiation with matter.
Spintronics: Technology harnessing the electron’s spin, in preference to its charge.
Sputtering: Heating a material in a vacuum and depositing the boiled-off vapor on a substrate.
SQUID: Supercooled quantum interference device, a detector of tiny magnetic fields.
Stiction: The mutual attraction of adjacent surfaces, both fixed and in relative motion.
SPM: Scanning probe microscope
STM: Scanning tunneling microscope
State [CA]: One of a number of configurations permitted a cellular automaton.
Substrate: A matrix beneath a deposited thin-film.
Suicide Inhibitors: Synthetic molecules that, upon reacting with an enzyme, produce a product that binds to the enzyme and therefore causes the enzyme not to function (to commit functional suicide).
Superconductor: A material transmitting electricity with little or no resistance.
TEM: Transmission electron microscope
Top-Down Nanofabrication: The process of making nanostructures starting with the largest structures and taking parts away.
Transduction: Process of changing energy or signals from one from to another.
UHRTEM: Ultra-high-resolution transmission electron microscope
Ultrafiltration: The filtering of very small (micron-scale) particles.
Ultraviolet [UV]: Photons of shorter wavelength and higher energy than visible violet light.
Vermiculite: A silicate mineral derived form mica.
Volt: Basic SI unit of electrical force.
Watt: The basic SI unit of power, equal to one joule per second.
Waveguide: A device to intercept and steer E-M waves.
Wet nanotech: See Bio-nano
Zeolite: A framework ceramic material built of aluminum oxide and silicon oxide, with other possible additions. Used for water softening and for several catalytic structures, they comprise a very elegant set of nanoscale materials.
AND ABBREVIATIONS
Absolute zero: Minus 273 degrees Celsius: the end of all molecular vibration.
Active nanotech: Nanotech that uses working mechanisms.
Actuator: A device converting electrical energy into straight-line mechanical energy.
Adaptive system: A system of computer hardware and software that senses and adjusts to changes in its external and internal environments, e.g. component defects.
Aerosol: A solution whose solvent is air.
AFM: Atomic force microscope.
AIST: Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.
Algorithm: Formal computational rule.
Allotrope: A distinct configuration of an element on the nanoscale: e.g. diamond, graphite, or fullerenes for carbon.
Amorphous Polymers: Polymers that do not form a crystalline structure, but are disordered in the solid phase, e.g. polystyrene in cups.
Ampere [A]: Basic unit of electric current in SI.
Analog: Using smoothly varying physical quantities to represent reality.
Analete: The subject of chemical or biotechnological analysis.
Analytes: Chemical species, in solution or in the gas, whose presence and concentration are to be analyzed or sensed.
Ångstrom [å]: SI length unit denoting one ten-billionth of a meter. (0.0000000001 m)
Antibody: Proteins produced by the immune system to neutralize or destroy antigens.
Antigen: A foreign substance that, when introduced into the body, becomes harmful because of immune response.
Apatite: A hexagonal crystal of calcium phosphate.
Archaebacteria [Extremophiles]: Bacteria tolerant of the high temperatures and pressures found near deep ocean vents.
Artificial Photosynthesis: Application of molecular or solid state structures to imitate natural photosynthesis by using light to cause electrical current flow. Artificial photosynthesis is one approach to photovoltaics.
Atomic Force Microscope: A scanning probe instrument that measures the force acting on a tip as it either slides along a surface or moves perpendicularly to a surface.
Avatar: A graphic interface for a human computer user or an artificial-intelligence system. Often a face that expresses emotion and speech.
Bacteriophage: A virus that attacks only bacteria.
Baud: Standard measure of dataflow, originally set [for telegraphy] at one pulse per second and now standardized as one bit per second.
Benchtop: First and earliest stage of technical scale-up for a scientific concept.
Benzene Ring: A circle of six carbon atoms knit with three covalent bonds.
Biel: The smallest assay module on a biochip.
Binary: Arithmetic system using only two numbers, 1 and 0. Used in computers with digital circuits that are fully on or fully off, with no intervening states.
Biochip [Biological microchip]: A miniaturized device combining biological diagnostics with fluidics, electronics, or both.
Bioinformatics: The science expressing genetic information as numerical data.
Bio-availability: The term used to describe the local availability, within a large biological entity like a human body, or a particular drug or therapy molecule.
Bio-inert Materials: Materials that do not react with the biological environment. Normally, bio-inert materials are not rejected by the human immune system.
Bio-nano: Nanotechnology derived from or applicable to biological systems.
Biomimicry: The technique of duplicating or adapting natural systems for nanotechnology.
Biopharm: A company using biotechnology to develop pharmaceutical products.
Biosensor: A sensor structure that targets biological analytes or a sensor based on the use of biological molecules.
Bistable: A system that has two stable resting states, like a coin that can rest either on heads or on tails.
Bottom-Up Nanofabrication: the building of nanostructures starting with small components such as atoms or molecules.
Boundary conditions: Initial stipulations for a mathematical or physical system, including transformation rules for cellular automata.
bR: Bacteriorhodopsin, a photon-capturing chemical related to visual pigments.
Broad-spectrum: Emitting photons with many different wavelengths.
Brownian motion: Microscopic jiggling of small particles in solution, caused by random thermal motion of molecules in the solvent.
Buckminsterfullerenes: A family of carbon allotropes that includes the so-called buckyballs and buckytubes.
Butyl rubber™: A synthetic rubber-like substance used in auto tires.
Buckyball: See C60
Buckytube: See CN
Byte: Two data bits.
C60: A molecule comprising 60 carbon atoms arranged in a regular sphere.
CA: Cellular automaton [pl. cellular automata].
CAD: Computer Aided Design, referring to the use of computational algorithms and tools to design switches, computers, memories, and other technology devices.
Calcium Carbonate: Limestone, CaCO3
Calculus: A mathematics of small quantities invented independently by Leibniz and Newton in the 17th century, very useful in modeling dynamic effects.
Carbon: An element having six protons and six electrons, essential to life.
Cartesian: A system representing algebraic concepts visually on a plane graph.
Catalysis: the function of a catalyst.
Catalyst: A substance that permits or enhances a chemical reaction without itself being changed.
Catenate: To interlock one or more ring-shaped molecules non-chemically.
Cathode-ray tube: A device that accelerates electrons.
Celsius: SI scale of temperature measurement that sets freezing water as zero degrees and boiling water as 100 degrees at standard [sea-level] air pressure.
Ceramics: Hard, refractory materials often based on oxides.
Chaperones: Small proteins used within cells to carry metal ion species from one place to another.
Cholesterol: A large molecule very widespread in biology (e.g. it provides much of the mass in human livers and brains); it is hydrophobic.
CMOS: Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor, referring to a technology commonly used to make contemporary silicon-based microchips.
CN: Carbon nanotube
Cocktail-party effect: The human brain’s ability to isolate one voice in a crowd.
Cold Vacuum: The basic fabric of the Einstein continuum: “Empty space”.
Collagen: the main protein part of connective tissue in most organisms.
Colloid [Colloid dispersion]: Particles or droplets of one substance uniformly distributed throughout another substance, and suspended not dissolved.
Colorimetric Sensors: Sensors that work by changing their colors when the analyte appears.
Commodity: A product all of whose units are interchangeable.
Composite: A material with two or more chemically distinct substances in close mechanical association.
Compression: Squeezing or imploding force.
Conductor: A substance that efficiently transmits heat or electricity.
Control: A test population kept untreated so that treatment effects can be determined.
Cortex: Outer layers of the brain, used for advanced processing such as vision.
Coulomb’s Law: The fundamental law of electrical interaction: the force between two charges is proportional to the magnitude of each charge and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between charges.
Covalent Bond: A strong chemical bond in which adjacent atoms share two electrons.
Cross-Linked Polymers: Structures consisting of linear polymer strands with chemical bonds between them that act to link one strand to the next.
Cryogenic: Supercold: at or below the temperature of liquid nitrogen.
DARPA: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
dB: Decibel [SI unit of sound intensity].
Dendrimer: A large synthetic molecule with many branches [Greek dendros, “tree”].
Diagnostics: The techniques of determining the causes of illness.
Diamond: A carbon allotrope with an infinitely extensible 3-D cubic crystal latticework, transparent to IR and visible light.
Diffraction: The ability of a wave to change direction or create visual patterns through interference with itself, other waves, or matter.
Diesel: An internal-combustion engine, usually burning liquid hydrocarbons, which attains ignition temperatures without an electric spark via high compression of the air-fuel mixture [Rudolf Diesel, 1858-1913].
Dip-Pen Nanolithography: Method of fabrication that uses a scanning probe tip to act essentially as a fountain pen to draw nanostructures on surfaces using arbitrary molecular structures as inks.
DNA: Deoxyribonucleic acid, a genetic molecule shaped like a twisted ladder.
DNA Computing: The use of DNA hybridization and replication processes to solve computational problems.
DNA Molecule Therapy: Therapeutic scheme in which DNA molecules are introduced into the cell, where they can combine with, for example, pathogenic DNAs within infected cells.
Dodecahedron: A twelve-sided solid.
Dopant: A trace impurity used in doping.
Doping: Evenly distributing small quantities of a trace impurity throughout a matrix.
Drexlerianism: The body of belief accepted by Eric K. Drexler and his followers, including imaginary constructs such as molecular assemblers purported to accrete macroscale goods from individual atoms and indefinitely prolong human life.
Dumbot: A postulated “dumb nanobot” to carry out a simple pre-assigned task.
Dura mater: tough outer membrane enclosing the brain.
e1776: Bioengineered strain of the bacterium E. coli, used for laboratory R&D.
E. coli: A common species of gut bacteria, most genotypes of which are benign.
Edman degradation: A process for determining a protein’s constituent amino acids.
Elastomer: An elastic polymer, sometimes natural but usually synthetic.
Electrochemistry: The science that combines chemistry with the flow of electrical current. Examples of electrochemical processes include silver plating and aluminum manufacturing.
Electron: A negatively charged subatomic particle, 1/1860th the mass of a proton.
Electron Beam Lithography: Method of fabrication that uses electron beams to form structures on surfaces. It is widely used to make extended large nanostructures.
Electron Microscopy: The measurement of structures of solids and surfaces using electrons rather than light to see small features (down to the nanoscale).
Electroosmosis: A method for moving liquids using electrical fields. Electroosmosis moves a sample at a constant rate, so it is used when sample should not separate into components.
Electrophoresis: A method of using external electric fields on electrically charged species to move either particles or liquids. Electrophoresis moves samples at a rate proportional to inverse mass of the components of the sample and is therefore often used for separations.
E-M: Electromagnetic
Encapsulated Nanomaterials: Structures in which a nanomaterial is enclosed in an outer covering or coat.
Entanglement: In quantum computing, the process of combining two separate pieces of information so that they can be treated as a single entity.
Entropy: Randomness of a system, sometimes expressed as heat per unit volume.
Enzyme: A protein catalyst used to facilitate chemical reactions in biological species.
EPFL: Ècole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne [Switzerland].
Equation: mathematical statement of equivalence, general form X = Y.
Emergent property: A property appearing in a self-organized system of less complex modules and unpredictable from module properties, e.g. intelligence in brain neurons.
Experimentalist: A scientist who examines nature to uncover new facts.
Extremophile: See Archeabacteria
F1-ATPase: A molecular motor in certain bacteria, rotating at c.800 RPM.
Fab: Abbreviation for fabrication, used to refer to a plant that manufactures semiconductor devices (microchips).
Fahrenheit: Scale of temperature measurement that sets freezing water as 32 degrees and boiling water as 212 degrees at standard 9sea-level0 air pressure.
Femto-: Combining prefix indication one quadrillionth (0.000000000000001)
FET: Field effect transistor
Field-Effect Transistor: The most common sort of transistor used in semiconductor chips. It employs a gate to control (turn on and off) electrical current.
FinFET: Field effect transistor with a nanoscale cooling fin.
Flagellum [pl. flagella: A whiplike feature that propels some microfauna.
Flop: The fundamental operation of a logic gate.
Fluidics: The technology of manipulating small quantities of fluid, e.g. for numerical computation or direct process control.
Fluorescence: Re-radiation of photons at different wavelengths after a time interval.
Fractal: Mathematically identical whatever the magnification.
FTIR: Fast Fourier-transform infrared [spectroscopy].
Fuel Cell: A device generating electric power without noise, waste, or pollution.
Fullerenes: See Buckminsterfullerenes
Gallium arsenide: GaAs, a doping agent used to create semiconductors.
Galvanized: Having an outer anticorrosion layer of zinc.
Gamma Ray: A photon with extremely short wavelength and extremely high energy.
GC: Gas chromatography [sensitive chemical-sampling method].
Gene: A DNA sequence producing one or more characteristics in a living organism.
Gene Therapy: A specific sort of DNA therapy.
Geodesic: A straight, rigid strut connecting the centers of two close-packed imaginary spheres [structural engineering].
Geodesic Dome: A contiguous part of a geodesic sphere.
Giant Magneto Resistance: A phenomenon in which the resistance of a substance is changed very strongly by application of a magnetic field. It is used as a read-out mechanism in current magnetic computer memories.
Graetzel Cell: A photovoltaic cell, first developed by Michael Graetzel in Switzerland, that uses nanoscale titanium dioxide and an organic dye to obtain electrical current from incident light.
Graphite: A carbon allotrope comprising parallel plates with low stiction.
GT: Gene therapy, i.e. therapeutically replacing or knocking out defective genes.
Gues-host system: A smaller molecule trapped inside a larger molecule, the most advanced example of nanoscale self-assembly.
Gutted virus: The shell of a naturally occurring virus whose genome has been removed and replaced with artificially synthesized DNA as a vector for gene therapy.
HAT: Human artificial templating [synthetic organ manufacture].
Head Groups: Part of the structure of some long molecules wherein one end of the molecule can be called a head group and the other end a tail group.
Heat death: Final state of the universe, when all matter exists at one low temperature.
Helicase: A natural editing enzyme preserving the integrity of replicated DNA.
Hemoglobin: Large, heavy protein molecule, carrying oxygen in red blood cells.
Hertz [Hz]: SI unit indication cycles per second.
HIAN: High-interface-area nanostructures.
Histamine: A small molecule that, although always present in the body, is increased in concentration by the presence of antigens and antibodies.
HRTEM: High-resolution transmission electron microscope.
Hybridization: In DNA science, the formation of a second strand from the first, by complementary binding of the G with C or A with T.
Hydrogen [H]: The simplest element, usually comprising one proton, one electron, and no neutrons. Hydrogen having one neutron is deuterium; having two, tritium.
Hydrogen Bond: A specific sort of weak bond between molecules caused by a hydrogen atom bridging between an oxygen to which it is covalently bound and another oxygen that interacts more weakly with it by electrical forces. Hydrogen bonds are crucial for the structure of water, proteins and DNA.
Hydrophilic: Water-binding, refers to materials or molecular structures that interact strongly with and are soluble in water (e.g. ethyl alcohol).
Hydrophobic: Water-repelling, refers to materials that do not dissolve in water (e.g. salad oil).
IMS: Infrared microspectroscopy
Infrared [IR]: Photons of longer wavelength and lower energy than visible red light.
Inhomogeneous Structures: Materials that are not the same throughout. Macroscopic examples are a western omelet and reinforced concrete.
Insulators: Materials that do not permit electricity to flow (e.g. the rubber lining on extension cords).
In silica [Latin]: As modeled on a computer; literally “in sand”.
In silico: Back-formation from in vitro.
In situ [Latin]: In place; on site.
Ion: An atom or molecule that is electrically charged.
Isomers: Related molecules comprising the same atoms, assembled in different ways.
Joule: Standard SI unit of energy, equal to one watt-second or 10,000,000 ergs.
Laminar effect: An effect of gas flow over a solid surface.
Latex: A milky plant fluid containing natural elastomers.
Life cycle: The period over which a product is conceived, designed, manufactured, sold, used and abandoned.
Light-Emitting Diodes: Structures in which an electron and a hole combine to form an excited state that subsequently emits light; these devices permit direct transformation of electricity into light.
Light-Harvesting complex: the part of the photosynthetic apparatus that actually captures and stores the light energy (as molecular excited states) before passing it on to other structures within the photosynthetic apparatus.
Liposome: A microscale or nanoscale artificial globule consisting of layers of lipid or phospholipid enclosing an aqueous core. It can be used both as a model for membranes and as a delivery vehicle for particular molecules or biological structures.
Liter: The basic SI unit of volume, about 1 U.S. quart.
Lithograph: Originally meant a pattern or structure formed on paper using ink or painted stones to form the image.
Lithography: The formation of structures of any size (including nanoscale), generally by transferring the pattern from one structure to another.
LOS: Line of sight
Luminescent Tags: Molecules or nanostructures that luminescence (emit light) when illuminated and that are used to identify structures to which they are bound.
Macromolecule: Another word for polymer; it refers to single molecules consisting of many (thousands or more) atoms.
Magnetic Force Microscope: A scanning probe microscope in which a magnetic force causes the tip to move. This motion allows the user to measure the magnetic force.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A from of magnetic resonance spectroscopy that indicates the presence of particular atomic nuclei. Used to image sections of the body or particular biological structures.
MEMS: Microelectromechanical Systems, referring to structures at the micron scale that transduce signals between electronic and mechanical forms.
Mesoscale: See Microscale
Metastasis: The process by which certain cancers can spread from one organ or structure within the body to another.
MFM: Magnetic force microscope
Micro-: Combining prefix indicating one millionth (0.000001).
Microcosm: See Microscale
Microfluidics: The process of moving liquids or fluids along a channel whose characteristic cross-sectional dimension is microns.
Micro Imprint Lithography: Lithographic method for making small structures (originally at the micron, now at the large nanoscale level) using a sort of ink pad, usually made of a plastic material.
Micrometer: See Micron
Micron: One millionth of a meter [0.000001 m]
Microscale [Mesoscale, Microcosm]: A dimensional range of 0.1-100 microns.
Microtubules: Extended rigid linear structures found in cells, they are used by molecular motors such as actin to move cargos of molecules or other structures within the cell.
Milli-: Combining prefix indicating one thousandth [0.001].
Millisecond: One thousandth of a second.
Molecular Assembler: Proposed nanobot of ultrahigh complexity, imagined by Eric Drexler et al., which would build macroscale objects by accreting atoms one at a time.
Molecular Conductors: Molecules that can conduct electrical current.
Molecular Electronics: Electronics that depend on or use the molecular organization of space.
Molecular Recognition: Fundamental self-assembly scheme wherein one molecule has the ability to bind in a specific way to another molecule or a surface.
Molecule: A chemically bonded assembly or two or more atoms.
Monocoque: Structural design in which an object’s skin bears mechanical load.
Monomers: Small molecules that bind together into longer structures to form polymers.
Moore’s Law: CPU capacity per dollar doubles every 18 months.
mRNA: Messenger RNA that conveys genetic instructions to cellular factories.
NaCl: Sodium chloride, a cubic crystal used as a spice [table salt].
Nano-: Combining prefix indicating one billionth [0.000000001].
Nanoassembler: See Molecular assembler
Nano-bio [Nanobiosystemics]: See Bio-nano
Nanobooster: A person who imputes miraculous abilities to nanotechnology while disparaging mainstream technology and science.
Nanobot: A nanoscale machine; a dumbot.
Nanocatalyst: A catalyst produced by, and for use in, nanotechnology.
Nanochannel: A nanoscale tube for fluid transmission in fluidics.
Nanocomposites: Composite structures whose characteristic dimensions are found at the nanoscale. An example is the suspension of carbon nanotubes in a soft plastic host.
Nanodots: Nanoparticles that consist of homogeneous material, especially those that are almost spherical or cubical in shape.
Nanofabrication: The manufacture or preparation of nanostructures.
Nanofiltration: The filtering of particles of nanosphere dimensions.
Nanofluidics: the process of moving liquids or fluids along a channel whose characteristic cross-sectional dimension is nanometers.
Nanometer [nm]: One billionth of a meter; one millionth of a millimeter.
Nanopore: Having openings [pores] in the approximate range of 1-50 nm.
Nanorods: Nanostructures that are shaped like long sticks or dowels, with a diameter in the nanoscale and a length very much longer.
Nanoscale: refers to phenomena that occur on the length scale between 1 and 100 nanometers.
Nanoscale Biostructure: A biological structure whose characteristic properties change on the nanometer length scale (e.g. cell wall).
Nanoscale Synthesis: Another word for nanofabrication, referring to manufacture of structures at the nanoscale.
Nanosci: Nanoscience [slang]
Nanoscience: Experiment and theory about nature on the nanoscale.
Nanosistor: A nanoscale transistor.
Nanosphere Lift-Off Lithography: A nanofabrication method in which small spheres of nanoscale dimension are used to form a pattern on a surface, which then acts as a mask to block some areas of the surface during subsequent deposition of a nanomaterial from the vapor phase.
Nanostructures: Structures whose characteristic variation in design length is at the nanoscale.
Nanotech: Nanotechnology [slang]
Nanotechnology: Consistent, predictable manipulation of nature on the nanoscale. The application of nanoscience in technological devices.
Nanotube: A monomolecular, homogeneous, nanoscale cylinder of atoms: e.g. silica or carbon. Almost always carbon nanotubes, referring to the wires of pure carbon that look like rolled sheets of graphite or like carbon soda straws.
Nanowires: Another term for nanorods, especially nanorods that can conduct electricity.
Nem: One nanometer, 0.000000001m [slang]
Neuro-Electronic Interface: A structure that permits transduction o signals between nerve fibers and external computational resources.
Neuron: A nerve cell, the unit module of the brain.
Neurotransmitters: Small organic molecules that cary signals and information from one part of the brain (neuron) to another.
Neutron: A massive neutral particle within an atomic nucleus.
nM: Nanomanipulator [University of North Carolina]
NNI: National Nanotechnology Initiative
NOx: Nitrogen oxide
Nucleotide: “Ladder-rung” on a DNA double-helix, one of four types: A, C, G, T.
Oligonucleotides: Small subunits of DNA consisting of a few bases on each of the hybridized strands. “Oligo” means few.
Optics: The science of light and its propagation and interaction with matter.
Optoelectronics: Cybernetics using both electricity and light.
Orbital: The shape taken by electrons around an atomic nucleus.
Order of magnitude: One factor of ten [10X], used in scientific calculations.
Organic: Based on carbon, as chemistry or a molecule.
Oscillator: A device that generates regular mechanical vibration.
Oxidation: the chemical process whereby one atom captures one of more electrons from the outer electron shell of an adjacent atom.
Paneling: using large, slab-like molecules in nanoscale self-assembly.
Passive nanotech: Nanotech involving static materials, not mechanisms.
PCR: Polymerase chain reaction, a method for multiplying tiny amounts of DNA.
Peta-: Combining prefix indicating 15 orders of magnitude [1,000,000,000,000,000].
Photodynamic Therapy: A remediation scheme for several diseases, including cancer. It depends upon the use of molecular or quantum dot structures to transform light energy either into heat or into highly reactive excited oxygen molecules that subsequently attack the tumor tissue.
Photoelectric effect: The basic function of a solar cell.
Photon: The elementary quantum of light and carrier particle for the E-M force.
Photocatalysis: The use of light to trigger an irreversible chemical reaction.
Photochromism: Reversible chemical change due to the presence or absence of light.
Photosynthesis: A natural photoelectric process, usually performed by chlorophyll. The process by which plants and bacteria transform light energy into chemical energy, molecule synthesis, or proton gradients. It is the fundamental means by which nearly all energy sources are powered by the sun.
Photovoltaics: Artificial systems that transform light energy into electrical current; they can be based either on semiconductor structures or on molecular complexes.
Pico-: Combining prefix indication one trillionth (0.000000000001).
Piezoelectric effect: The ability of substances such as quartz to convert electrical energy to mechanical energy and vice versa.
Polymerization: The process of making polymers from monomers, thereby making very large macromolecules from small molecular precursors.
Polymers: Extended molecules made by bonding together subunits called monomers. Examples include polystyrene and polyethylene, as well as DNA.
Polypeptide: A structurally strong natural polymer whose module is a peptide.
Polysaccharides: Polymers whose subunits are sugars.
Prestin: Molecular motor structure found in the inner ear and important in transducing sound into neural signals.
Protein: A natural polymer comprising a kinked string of amino acids. Biological macromolecules assembled from amino acid units. They are the functional structures in biology.
Protein Engineering: The manufacture and manipulation of proteins by synthetic chemical routes.
Proteomics: The science of protein-genome interaction [protein + genomics].
Proton: A subatomic particle with a positive charge of one unit and mass slightly smaller than a hydrogen atom. The number of protons in a given nucleus determines which element the atom is.
Qdot [Semiconductor nanocrystal]: A molecule-sized bit of matter that re-radiates at characteristic wavelengths when irradiated by visible or infrared light.
Quadrupole: A linked assembly of two magnetic bipoles, used as an electromagnetic lens to focus an electron beam in cathode-ray tubes.
Quantum: An irreducible packet of energy emitted or absorbed at the atomic or subatomic scale.
Quantum Dots: Nanostructures of roughly spherical or cubic shape that are small enough to exhibit characteristically quantum behavior in optical or electrical processes.
Quantum Mechanics: A description of the mechanical behavior of atomic and subatomic particles such as electrons and protons.
Quantum Tunneling: Transmission of electrons or “electron holes” (electron absences) without apparent movement through an intervening solid.
Quinones: Small organic molecules containing double bonds between carbons and oxygens. They are important as intermediate acceptor species in photosynthetic structures.
Rastering: Scanning a surface with repeated passes of a sensor or beam.
Reduction: The chemical process whereby a reducing element donates one or more electrons from its outer electron shell [orbital] to another atom.
RF: Radio frequency [low-energy E-M wavelengths].
R-factor: Measure of how well [or poorly] a substance or a system transmits heat.
RNA: Ribonucleic acid [See mRNA]
Rodcoils: Medium-size molecules containing hundreds to thousands of atoms that are arranged with a stiff tail and a soft, hydrophobic, space-filling bulbous head. They self-assemble into extended round and cylindrical structures.
Rotaxane: A freely rotating system of two distinct, mechanically bound molecules.
Scanning Probe Instruments: Tools for both measuring and preparing nanostructures on surfaces; they wok using the interactions between a scanning tip structure and the nanostructure on the surface, which can either manipulated or measured.
Scanning Tunneling Microscope: The first of the scanning probe instruments, invented by Binning and Rohrer. It works at the scale of nanostructures and measures electrons tunneling between a scanning tip and a conducting surface.
Self-assembly: The commonplace ability of natural systems and substances to put themselves together without reference to a top-down plan.
Self-Healing Structures: A form of smart material in which the structure responds to a physical stress, break, or fracture by repairing itself back to the original structure.
SI: Systeme Internationale des unites: the international standard for scientific measurements, also called the metric system.
Siderophores: Small molecules containing oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, or phosphorous atoms that can bind to (capture) particular metal ions.
Single-domain particle: The smallest naturally occurring permanent magnet.
Slurry: A liquid matrix that carries large amounts of undissolved solids.
Soft nanotech [Soft lithography]: Production and application of molded surfaces that are smooth at the nanoscale.
Soot: An amorphous allotrope of carbon.
Solar cell: A material that directly converts incident photons to electric current.
Spectroscopy [Spectrography]: The study of photons emitted by energetic matter. The science of the interaction of radiation with matter.
Spintronics: Technology harnessing the electron’s spin, in preference to its charge.
Sputtering: Heating a material in a vacuum and depositing the boiled-off vapor on a substrate.
SQUID: Supercooled quantum interference device, a detector of tiny magnetic fields.
Stiction: The mutual attraction of adjacent surfaces, both fixed and in relative motion.
SPM: Scanning probe microscope
STM: Scanning tunneling microscope
State [CA]: One of a number of configurations permitted a cellular automaton.
Substrate: A matrix beneath a deposited thin-film.
Suicide Inhibitors: Synthetic molecules that, upon reacting with an enzyme, produce a product that binds to the enzyme and therefore causes the enzyme not to function (to commit functional suicide).
Superconductor: A material transmitting electricity with little or no resistance.
TEM: Transmission electron microscope
Top-Down Nanofabrication: The process of making nanostructures starting with the largest structures and taking parts away.
Transduction: Process of changing energy or signals from one from to another.
UHRTEM: Ultra-high-resolution transmission electron microscope
Ultrafiltration: The filtering of very small (micron-scale) particles.
Ultraviolet [UV]: Photons of shorter wavelength and higher energy than visible violet light.
Vermiculite: A silicate mineral derived form mica.
Volt: Basic SI unit of electrical force.
Watt: The basic SI unit of power, equal to one joule per second.
Waveguide: A device to intercept and steer E-M waves.
Wet nanotech: See Bio-nano
Zeolite: A framework ceramic material built of aluminum oxide and silicon oxide, with other possible additions. Used for water softening and for several catalytic structures, they comprise a very elegant set of nanoscale materials.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Ok!! well so now Nano-automobiles are expected any moment i suppose. Providing large range of fuel alternatives, thus making automobile more pollution free and reduce its fuel consumption. Nano crystals in automobile frames will make it more strong and reduce the gross weight of the machine.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Nanobiotechnology
I was going through my mail box and I happen to come accross an amazing question that came to me through a group emailing service. The questio (though simple and might be silly for few) goes like this
'What is the Scope of Nanobiotech?'
It just stuck me that yeah actually the actual scope of nanobiotechnology is still unclear to me as well. I decided to google it and happen to come across this page
http://http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/articles/0840/careers_in_nanobiotechnology_feature_index
Fine u might find this page a bit owards the money and career aspect but it did manage to give a couple of goood information. A Nanobiotechie basicaly looks into the analyzing and manupelating bio molecules and surfaces at a minute and infinitesimal level.
'What is the Scope of Nanobiotech?'
It just stuck me that yeah actually the actual scope of nanobiotechnology is still unclear to me as well. I decided to google it and happen to come across this page
http://http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/articles/0840/careers_in_nanobiotechnology_feature_index
Fine u might find this page a bit owards the money and career aspect but it did manage to give a couple of goood information. A Nanobiotechie basicaly looks into the analyzing and manupelating bio molecules and surfaces at a minute and infinitesimal level.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)