The Pennsylvania NanoMaterials Commercialization Center recently announced that it has provided $450,000 in funding to five companies located throughout the state of Pennsylvania in its seventh round of awards. This round of funding was focused on commercializing the application of nanomaterials for new energy solutions.

A normally benign protein found in the human body appears to be able - when paired with nanoparticles - to zero in on and kill certain cancer cells, without having to also load those particles with chemotherapy drugs.

Air Products has announced it has been awarded two major contracts in support of Samsung Austin Semiconductor's expansion of its 300 mm semiconductor manufacturing facility in Austin, Tex.

The latest generation of thin-film chips benefit from an optimized chip platform which has potential for further improvements. This boost in efficiency is opening up new LED applications in general illumination, in projection and in the industrial sector.

Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. is adding to its passive component portfolio for extreme high-temperature environments with a new series of SMD wraparound thin-film chip resistors optimized for use in multichip modules for down-hole drilling and aerospace applications.

UT Dallas nanotechnology researcher Walter Hu has received a $400,000 grant to develop an innovative and manufacturable nanoelectronic biochip that can detect individual molecules.

A Cardiff University researcher has secured a highly sought-after Leadership award which could propel her research onto the world stage.

DayStar Technologies, Inc., a developer of solar photovoltaic products based on CIGS thin-film deposition technology has announced it is pursuing a strategy for offshore manufacturing of its CIGS solar modules.

How to regulate nanotechnology and the application of nanomaterials has been quite a controversial issue in recent years. While for instance non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth consider the existing regulatory situation to be inadequate and are urging a strictly precautionary approach, industry representatives are instead seeking the development of specific guidance and standards to support implementation of existing regulations, which are generally seen as adequate. Researchers have used Multicriteria Mapping (MCM) to study why some regulatory options - bans, moratoriums, voluntary measures, etc. - are deemed to be acceptable/unacceptable by various stakeholders in the U.S. and the criteria they use to evaluate the different regulatory options. Not surprisingly, the largest difference in ranking of the policy options can be observed between environmental NGOs and the representatives from the industrial companies and the trade association.

Researchers have studied the underlying mechanisms of water condensation in the troposphere and found a way to make artificial materials to control water condensation and trigger ice formation at room temperature.

Using chemical 'nanoblasts' that punch tiny holes in the protective membranes of cells, researchers have demonstrated a new technique for getting therapeutic small molecules, proteins and DNA directly into living cells.

Rows of tiny raised blowfly corneas may be the key to easy manufacturing of biomimetic surfaces, surfaces that mimic the properties of biological tissues, according to a team of Penn State researchers.

Imagine building cheaper electronics on a variety of substrates - materials like plastic, paper, or fabric. Researchers at Taiwan's National Chiao Tung University have made a discovery that opens this door, allowing them to build electronic components like diodes on many different substrates.

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the National Postdoctoral Association have announced the call for nominations for the 2011 Kauffman Foundation Outstanding Postdoctoral Entrepreneur and Emerging Postdoctoral Entrepreneur awards, which recognize exceptional postdocs who are working to commercialize research.

Michael Hovish, an undergraduate student at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering of the University at Albany, was recognized on July 26 as the first recipient of the Yang Family Nanotechnology EXploration for Undergraduate Scholarship (NEXUS).

As part of a broad effort to achieve breakthrough innovations in energy production, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman today announced an award of up to $122 million over five years to a multidisciplinary team of top scientists to establish an Energy Innovation Hub aimed at developing revolutionary methods to generate fuels directly from sunlight.

A German high-tech company has created a razor made with a nanocrystalline diamond coating that can split a human hair several times in a row.

Winners include research proposals looking at development of longer life secondary cells for electric vehicles and nanodiamond coatings in engineering applications.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a new, carbon-based nanoscale platform to electrically detect single DNA molecules.

University of Queensland research has found the Nanopatch - a needle-free, pain-free method of vaccine delivery - is now dissolvable, eliminating the possibility of needle-stick injury.