Researchers create terahertz invisibility cloak. Researchers at Northwestern University have created a new kind of cloaking material that can render objects invisible in the terahertz range. Though this design can't translate into an invisibility cloak for the visible spectrum, it could have implications in diagnostics, security, and communication. The cloak, designed by Cheng Sun, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, uses microfabricated gradient-index materials to manipulate the reflection and refraction of light. Sun's results will be presented May 4 at CLEO: 2011, the annual Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics. (April.7.2011 EurekAlert): http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-04/nu-rct042711.ph

 

Sandia and UNM lead effort to destroy cancers. Melding nanotechnology and medical research, researchers have produced an effective strategy that uses nanoparticles to blast cancerous cells with a melange of killer drugs. In the cover article of the May issue of Nature Materials, the researchers describe silica nanoparticles as honeycombed with cavities that can store large amounts and varieties of drugs. (April.18.2011 Sandia): https://share.sandia.gov/news/resources/news_releases/nano-treatment

 

(Hopes for an artificial brain) Researchers create functioning synapse using carbon nanotubes. Engineering researchers the University of Southern California have made a significant breakthrough in the use of nanotechnologies for the construction of a synthetic brain. They have built a carbon nanotube synapse circuit whose behavior in tests reproduces the function of a neuron, the building block of the brain. (Physorg April 21.2011) http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-04-functioning-synapse-carbon-nanotubes.htm