Top TechTop Tech #111: All-Nano edition – Glass, Glue, Magnets
Important innovations in science and technology, every day
By Paul Worthington
Wednesday’s Top Tech:
Coincidently, there are three Nano-sized developments today
• Nanocrystals make Cooler smart windows
• Nano-glue heals surgical holes
• Nanomagnets store data
Nanocrystals make Cooler smart windows
Thanks to a framework of nanocrystals, new glass can block both visible sunlight and heat.
MIT Technology Review reports University of Texas researchers developed a new kind of electrochromic window glass that is not only more versatile than current color-changing glass, but may also prove to be cheaper to produce.
The glass is electronically tuned to selectively block up to 80 percent of visible light, as well as 90 percent of heat-producing near-infrared light.
The researchers have founded Heliotrope Technologies to build a prototype manufacturing line. (I’d invest in that!)
Nano-glue heals surgical holes
A wound or incision closed with glue instead of sutures or staples can heal better and faster. But applying it precisely has been an issue.
Now a glue made of nanoparticles can be delivered by a needle, MIT Technology Review reports. The nanoparticles solidify when a second chemical is injected. “The glue can be delivered more quickly and with a smaller instrument than those needed to place sutures or staples, and its elastic properties better match those of the tissue around it,” the article says.
Nanomagnets store data
Switching the polarization of nanomagnets could lead to high density data storage.
The University of California, Berkeley reports its researchers discovered a new way to switch the polarization of nanomagnets, and a “small tilt makes them viable memory chips.”
The advance “could lead to computers that turn on in an instant, operate with far greater speed and use significantly less power,” UCB says.
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