Silver bullet – UGA researchers use laser, nanotechnology to rapidly detect viruses

Using nanotechnology, a team of University of Georgia researchers has developed a diagnostic test that can detect viruses as diverse as influenza, HIV and RSV in 60 seconds or less. In addition to saving time, the technique — which is detailed in the November issue of the journal Nano Letters — could save lives by rapidly detecting a naturally occurring disease outbreak or bioterrorism attack.

Wireless Energy Transfer Can Potentially Charge Cell Phones Without Cords

Recharging your laptop computer — and also your cell phone and a variety of other gadgets — might one day be doable in the same convenient way many people now surf the Web: wirelessly. Marin Soljac?ic? of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will present research by himself and his colleagues Aristeidis Karalis and John Joannopoulos on the physics of electromagnetic fields, showing how wireless energy could power future gadgets. The MIT team is also working on demonstrating the technology in practice. The work will be described on Tuesday, November 14 in San Francisco, at the 2006 American Institute of Physics Industrial Physics Forum (IPF), which will be co-located with the Nanotechnology Topical Conference at the AVS 53rd International Symposium & Exhibition at the Moscone Center West.

DNA :: Penn researcher shows that DNA gets kinky easily at the nanoscale

Physicists from the University of Pennsylvania tackle the fundamental question of how DNA can seemingly violate physics. That is, if DNA is such a rigid molecule, how can it bend and coil without requiring large amounts of force? They used a technique called atomic force microscopy to determine that DNA is much more flexible than previously believed when examined over nano-sized lengths

Macular Degeneration :: Photoswitches could restore sight to blind retinas

A research center newly created by the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) aims to put light-sensitive switches in the body’s cells that can be flipped on and off as easily as a remote control operates a TV. Optical switches like these could trigger a chemical reaction, initiate a muscle contraction, activate a drug or stimulate a nerve cell – all at the flash of a light.