Earthquakes wreak enormous amounts of destruction around the world. A group at the University of Leeds aims to change all that with the construction of a self-healing house. The walls will contain nanopolymers designed to flow under pressure, filling cracks and then hardening to seal them. In addition, the steel structural members and the sheetrock used for the walls will contain wireless sensors and RFID tags to constantly monitor stress, vibration, temperature, humidity, and gas levels.

Thanks to nanotechnology, a team at Wake Forest University has demonstrated 6% efficiency in plastic solar cells. Nanofilaments encapsulated in the light-absorbing plastic thicken the absorbing layers, increasing their ability to capture photon energy. The target for commercial viability is 8% efficiency, which the group hopes to reach in the next year.

A prototype nanogenerator consisting of vertically aligned zinc oxide nanowires enclosed in an electrode converts mechanical energy into direct-current electricity. The nanowires couple piezoelectric and semiconducting properties such that when the wires are flexed, say by mechanical vibration, ultrasonic waves, or even flowing blood, they generate electrical charges.

Liquid field-effect transistors (LiquiFETs) could monitor human blood chemistry in situ, say University of Cincinnati researchers. Based on electrowetting principles, the devices are able to convert charge-related input from the fluid in which they're immersed to electronic signals. The group is focusing on blood and fluid analysis now, but the technology could eventually be used to deliver drugs as well.

If you can't measure it, you can't make it. This complimentary 124-page Nanotechnology Measurement Handbook discusses methods for making electrical measurements for nanoscience applications. Learn about the theory and practice of measuring low currents, voltages and resistances for nanoscale devices, carbon nanotubes, and even gallium nitride nanocircuits. Requires registration to download.

Scientists have great interest in the optical properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCN), but the random orientation of the nanotubes has made measurement difficult. Now researchers have developed a method for orienting SWCNs. They first wrap them in DNA to retard clumping, then disperse them in a polymer. Heating and stretching the polymer aligns the nanotubes to permit optical characterization.

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Nanoscale drops freeze beginning with surface facets rather than the internal "seed" impurities that trigger crystallization in large-scale droplets, say Brookhaven National Laboratory scientists. They used tiny pipettes formed from germanium nanowires coated with carbon to create zeptoliter (10^-21 L) droplets inside an electron microscope.

Amid the ongoing dialog about the health risks of nanotechnology, University of Massachusetts researchers have presented data suggesting that nanoparticles can damage DNA and trigger cancer. The work involved exposing cells to silica and C60 fullerene suspensions and analyzing DNA breaks. Meanwhile, other researchers are using nanoparticles to infiltrate cancer cells to battle cancer. It's a confusing world we live in.

Study Reviews Most Satisfying Jobs

Want to see how you stack up in job satisfaction compared to other professions? Take a look at this recent study. Engineers made the list of occupations that yielded the highest levels of satisfaction. In general, prestige appears to be less of a factor than helping others. Low skill jobs and, strangely, roofing (which, er, helps others keep dry), garnered the lowest ratings in job satisfaction and overall happiness.

Nanotech Gets All Wet

A boat is a hole in the water where you pour in money, so the saying goes. The sun, salt, and moisture of the marine environment is particularly tough on finishes, whether metal or wood. Now nanotechnology comes to the rescue in Teak Guard, a wood finish that provides high UV absorption and moisture release. Because, really, doesn't your hole in the water deserve the best?