Oxford University has announced the dates for its 2010 Nanotechnology Summer School. The Summer School Programme offers five one-day courses designed to introduce participants to the advances that are being made in the rapidly developing field of nanotechnology. The courses focus on nanotechnology for energy, biomedical nanotechnology and nanosafety.

After two years of consultation, the FramingNano Governance Platform as the final outcome of the corresponding FP7 research project has been published. The Platform describes a heuristic process of how current and future challenges in nanotechnology governance can be identified, assessed and decided on, and proposes a number of strucutal elements to achieve this.

Among various nanomaterial candidates for water treatment, metal oxides have been widely used as removal agents for various heavy metal ions and their removal capacity was found to be relatively reliable. The removal mechanism for heavy metal ions is thought to be the formation of a strong bond between metal ions and metal oxide surfaces. This strong complexation is advantageous for complete removal of heavy metal ions but it presents a drawback if one wants to design a reusable agent by reviving the reaction site for heavy metal ions. Precisely because the removal mechanism is based on the strong complex formation between metal ions and oxide surfaces, recycling of these removal agents has proved to be difficult. Offering a potential solution, researchers have demonstrated a recyclable removal agent for heavy metal ions by fabricating a core-in-shell structure based on a core of carbon nanotubes and an iron oxide microcapsule structure.

Application of an external magnetic field enhances the extraction efficiency of laser light from elliptical microcavities

The potential of thin ferroelectric films for visible-light photovoltaic devices has now been demonstrated by researchers from the A*STAR Institute of Materials Research and Engineering and the National University of Singapore.

Funded by a $1 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation, University of Chicago scientists are aiming to develop a reliable method for determining how biological processes emerge from molecular interactions.

Numonyx B.V. today introduced the industry's first 65nm multiple I/O serial flash memory product line, extending the broad array of Numonyx memory products designed for the rigorous code and data reliability needs of the embedded market.

Researchers have shown a new, exclusive way to dramatically conserve the amount of water needed to manufacture semiconductors.

Scientists from the University of Muenster and the Indian Institute of Technology have experimentally demonstrated for the first time the creation of 3D photonic crystals and quasicrystals with a plethora of geometries and forms purely by the action of light in a nonlinear optical material, which allows reconfigurable as well as scalable crystal and quasicrystal formation.

In 2008, the Joint Research Centre, Institute for Health and Consumer Protection of the European Commission funded the project Engineered Nanoparticles: Review of Health and Environmental Safety (ENRHES). Last month, the ENRHES project released its final report. The overall aim of the ENRHES project was to perform a comprehensive and critical scientific review of the health and environmental safety of four classes of nanomaterials: fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, metals and metal oxides. The review considers sources, pathways of exposure, the health and environmental outcomes of concern, illustrating the state-of-the-art and identifying knowledge gaps in the field, in order to coalesce the evidence which has emerged to date and inform regulators of the potential risks of engineered nanoparticles in these specific classes.

Commerical production of nanostructured microspheric chrome-alumina catalyzers of dehydrated isoparaffins KDI-90 and adsorbents for desiccant drying of olefin-containing feedstreams will be conducted within the the framework of this project.

Determined to play a key role in solving global dependency on fossil fuels, Javad Rafiee, a doctoral student in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has developed a new method for storing hydrogen at room temperature.

Purdue University researchers have developed a miniature device capable of converting ultrafast laser pulses into bursts of radio-frequency signals, a step toward making wires obsolete for communications in the homes and offices of the future.

IBM scientists today unveiled a significant step towards replacing electrical signals that communicate via copper wires between computer chips with tiny silicon circuits that communicate using pulses of light.

Solar cells made from silicon are projected to be a prominent factor in future renewable green energy equations, but so far the promise has far exceeded the reality. While there are now silicon photovoltaics that can convert sunlight into electricity at impressive 20 percent efficiencies, the cost of this solar power is prohibitive for large-scale use. Researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), however, are developing a new approach that could substantially reduce these costs.

Nano ePrint Ltd, a pioneer in planar nano-electronics, has announced that it is developing all-printed electronic greeting cards in collaboration with Novalia Ltd, to a specification provided by Hallmark subsidiary Tigerprint Ltd.

SPP Process Technology Systems Ltd. (SPTS), a subsidiary of Sumitomo Precision Products Co., Ltd. (SPP), today announced bookings of nearly $35 million during the fourth quarter of 2009 from the entities acquired last year from Aviza, Inc.

University of Calgary chemistry professor David Cramb is a step closer to helping solve a complex problem in nanotechnology: the impact nanoparticles have on human health and the environment.

ARPA-E's 3rd funding opportunity to focus on grid-scale energy storage, electrical power technology, and building energy efficiency.

Eurasian Development Bank and state corporation Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies, RUSNANO, recently concluded a memorandum of cooperation.