Nanotech news in computing, display and medicine

The latest in nanotechnology developments from KurzweilAI.net.

First up is a variant of multidimensional hypercubes to be used as part of nanocomputers.

Next is an active-matrix display created with nanowires. This tech should eventually lead to e-paper, flexible monitors and other cool display applications.

Last is a nanomachine that kills cancer cells. UCLA researchers created a “nanoimpeller” that delivers anti-cancer drugs right to the cancer cell.

Hypercubes Could Be Building Blocks of Nanocomputers

PhysOrg.com, April 1, 2008University of Oklahoma researchers have investigated a new variant of multidimensional hypercubes as computational elements of nanocomputers: the “M-hypercube,” which could provide a higher-dimensional layout to support three-dimensional integrated circuits and the quantum properties of nanocomputers.The unique structure of hypercubes provides a massively parallel, distributed processing architecture with simple, robust communication linkages, able to count single electrons, and allow for parallel computing, reversibility, locality, and a three-dimensional architecture. M-hypercubes contain two types of nodes: state nodes, which are embedded on the vertices of the M-hypercubes; and transmission nodes, which are embedded in the middle of the links between state nodes. Each node can be turned on or off; the transmission nodes can isolate parts of the cube from other parts when in the off state. Read Original Article>>

Engineers make first ‘active matrix’ display using nanowires

PhysOrg.com, March 31, 2008Purdue University researchers have created the first active-matrix display using a new class of transparent nanowire transistors and circuits.Future applications include e-paper, flexible color monitors, and heads-up displays embedded in car windshields. Read Original Article>>

Nanomachine kills cancer cells

PhysOrg.com, April 1, 2008UCLA researchers have developed a “nanoimpeller” nanomachine that stores anticancer drugs inside pores and then releases them into cancer cells in response to light.They claim it’s the first light-powered nanomachine that operates inside a living cell. The interior of the pores are coated with azobenzene, a chemical that oscillates between two different shapes upon light exposure. The amount of drug released can be precisely controlled by the light‘s intensity, excitation time and specific wavelength. Read Original Article>>