Chad Mirkin is developing a new DNA detection method. The Northwestern University professor and director of the school's Institute of NanoTechnology pairs microelectrodes and nanoprobes for detecting Anthrax, small pox, and other biohazards. He asserts that nanotechnology offers better results in all categories of detection, including sensitivity, selectivity, cost, ease of use, and speed. The new detection method eliminates the need to heat the gene chip. Mirkin says that companies in the gene chip technology business currently use a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection. Gene chips are read using a confocal microscope, a complex instrument costing more than $60,000. Mirkin's electrical DNA detection method eliminates the PCR. It also allows testing of thousands of biological targets on a single chip. Various DNA tests are placed on a glass slide, each made up of single strands of synthesized DNA that bind with targeted DNA. The bound strands are placed between a pair of electrodes, one test for each pair. When the slide is placed in a solution containing the target, perfect and partial matches bind to gold probes. The probe accumulations are then amplified using modified photographic developing solution. Each gold nanoparticle becomes covered with silver and grows in size, closing the gap between the electrodes and thus carrying a current. For more information, go to www.northwestern.edu.
A new battery design, which replaces lithium with abundant and low-cost elemental sulfur, is still in its nascent stages but shows real promise for giving batteries more energy potential.
PTC will offer a virtual desktop environment for its Creo product design applications, potentially freeing engineers to run them from remote desktops on a variety of operating systems and mobile devices.
The push to achieving more intelligent, integrated manufacturing is putting a strong focus on networking and connectivity as key enabling technologies.
Now that solar and wind harvesting technologies are a thriving market, researchers are seeking other environmentally related energy sources for which they can create harvesting devices.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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