Press Releases: Research Funded by Agencies Participating in the National Nanotechnology Initiative

The following press releases describe the results of research activities that are funded by Federal agencies that participate in the National Nanotechnology Initiative.
  • New blueprint for understanding, predicting, and optimizing complex nanoparticles
    February 28, 2019
    (Funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Office of Naval Research)

    Researchers have developed a blueprint for understanding and predicting the properties and behavior of complex nanoparticles and optimizing their use for a broad range of scientific applications. These applications include catalysis, optoelectronics, transistors, bio-imaging, and energy storage and conversion.

  • New blueprint for understanding, predicting, and optimizing complex nanoparticles
    February 28, 2019
    (Funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Office of Naval Research)

    Researchers have developed a blueprint for understanding and predicting the properties and behavior of complex nanoparticles and optimizing their use for a broad range of scientific applications. These applications include catalysis, optoelectronics, transistors, bio-imaging, and energy storage and conversion.

  • A new method for precision drug delivery: painting
    February 27, 2019
    (Funded by the National Institutes of Health)

    Researchers are developing the tools necessary for precise delivery of a certain amount of drugs to an exact location in the body. This method takes advantage of microbubbles expanding and contracting when they interact with the ultrasound, essentially pumping the intravenously delivered drug to wherever the ultrasound is pointing.

  • Breakthrough ‘Lab-on-a-Chip’ Detects Cancer Faster, Cheaper, and Less Invasively
    February 25, 2019
    (Funded by the National Institutes of Health)

    Researchers have invented a new ultrasensitive diagnostic device that could allow doctors to detect cancer quickly from a droplet of blood or plasma, leading to timelier interventions and better outcomes for patients. The “lab-on-a-chip” for “liquid biopsy” analysis detects exosomes — tiny parcels of biological information produced by tumor cells to stimulate tumor growth or metastasize.

  • With nanotubes, genetic engineering in plants is easy-peasy
    February 25, 2019
    (Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Institutes of Health)

    Scientists have developed a new technique that could make genetically engineering any type of plant—in particular, gene editing with CRISPR-Cas9—simple and quick. Also, the technique allows gene modifications or deletions that in the United States and countries other than the European Union would not trigger the designation "genetically modified," or GMO.

  • NASA to Advance Unique 3D Printed Sensor Technology
    February 14, 2019
    (Funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

    A research team has won funding to advance a nanomaterial-based detector platform. If successful, the technology could benefit NASA’s efforts to send humans to the Moon and Mars. These tiny platforms could be deployed on planetary rovers to detect small quantities of water and methane, for example, or be used as monitoring or biological sensors to maintain astronaut health and safety.

  • A Glimpse into the Future
    February 13, 2019
    (Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy)

    Researchers have developed mode-locked quantum dot lasers on silicon, a technology that can massively increase the data transmission capacity of data centers, telecommunications companies, and network hardware.

  • Scientists Develop First Fabric to Automatically Cool or Insulate Depending on Conditions
    February 07, 2019
    (Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy)

    Researchers have created a fabric that can automatically regulate the amount of heat that passes through it, depending on conditions. For example, when conditions are warm and moist, such as those of a sweating body on a summer day, the fabric allows infrared radiation to pass through, and when conditions become cooler and drier, the fabric reduces the heat that escapes.

  • Columbia Nano Initiative Joins Industry with Academia in Columbia’s Laboratories
    February 01, 2019
    (One of the CNI shared facilities, the Shared Materials Characterization Laboratory, is partially funded by the National Science Foundation)

    This article is a question-and-answer interview with Nava Ariel-Sternberg, director of shared laboratory facilities of the Columbia Nano Initiative (CNI), an organization within Columbia University, New York, N.Y., that offers research facilities for student and faculty researchers pursuing research in nanotechnology, as well as those from government, start-ups, and industry.

  • Ingestible, expanding pill monitors the stomach for up to a month
    January 30, 2019
    (Funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health)

    Engineers have developed an ingestible jelly-like smart pill that could stay in the stomach for up to 30 days. The pill, which quickly expands into a ping pong-sized ball, could monitor ulcers, cancers, and other conditions in the gastrointestinal tract.

Pages