US Seeks to Attract New Nanotech Energy Applications

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is making new efforts to attract entrepreneurs at early stages to commercialise renewable energy concepts, a DOE official said at the inaugural Nano Renewable Energy Summit on Monday (July 21).

Michael Bruce, senior advisor for finance in DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, said bringing in specialists in business development when working on public-private collaborations is more effective than the "technology incubators" commonly created by academic institutions working with private industry.

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EC's JRC Head States Risk Concerns 'Must Be Addressed'

Researchers must address the lack of knowledge about risks posed by nanotechnology in the health sector to provide appropriate input to policymakers, cautions a leading expert of the European Commission.

More risk assessment studies are needed to understand what exactly defines toxicity due to nanoparticles, and what kind of regulations the sector needs, said Hermann Stamm, head of nanotechnology and molecular imaging at the Institute for Health and Consumer Protection in the European Commission's Joint Research Council.

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NIST Membrane Model May Hold Key to Unlock Early-Stage Alzheimer’s Secrets

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and three collaborating institutions are using a new laboratory model of the membrane surrounding neurons in the brain to study how a protein long suspected of a role in early-stage Alzheimer’s disease actually impairs a neuron’s structure and function. The team’s findings are reported in a new paper in the Biophysical Journal.

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Adding just the right dash of nanoparticles to standard mixes of lubricants and refrigerants could yield the equivalent of an energy-saving chill pill for factories, hospitals, ships, and others with large cooling systems, suggest the latest results from National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) research that is pursuing promising formulations.

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