Blogs impact on Nanotech research

More steps are being taken for the scientific community to spread to the newfound medias that blogs represent.
Using the blog community for stimulating the growth of ideas and attract more people to the broad field of nanotechnology is probably the beginning of revolutionary new ways to expand science to the masses.

The Daily Nexus Online published an article linking nanotechnology and blogs:

“Blogs are having a major impact on research, since they allow sharing of interim results, provisional findings, new but untested ideas, and many of the ingredients of creative thinking,”

read the article here.

The article mentions a new blog in the nanotech blog community, called Nanoscience and Nanosociety Linking Nanoscience, Society, and Culture
Sharing academic research and new ideas, contributors include graduate students studying nanotechnology and people associated with R&D nanotechnology centers.

I recommend it to anyone interested enough to be reading this blog, so go and visit them: Nanoscience and Nanosociety blog

Lux Nanotech Portfolio ETF update

Lux Nanotech ETF seems to be recovering the last correction, now finding some support on the 200 day moving average, and possibly entering a new midterm uptrend with the 50 day moving average crossing above in the last weeks, now with a confirmed reaction from the markets.

The trend for the next weeks should continue up and in the next days there are good opportunities for long entries, even if for the moment the general market looks oversold (S&P500 and NASDAQ).

PXN Chart:


I've updated the nano-blogs list with the following blogs:
(promising academic nanotechnology oriented blog)
Nanoscience and Nanosociety

NanoDot Blog

Using biology self-assembly methods

Replicating the self-assembly methods that biology already uses is probably the best way towards making a molecular manufacturing a reality.

Results in this area seem to be more promising than trying to make a macro sized inspired assembly line, but built in nanoscopic sizes.
Forget the old car factory assembly line methods, because they probably wont work on the nanometer scale, and start thinking about our own molecular sized factories, inside living cells.

Chemists at Rice University have discovered how to assemble gold and silver nanoparticle building blocks into larger structures based on a novel method that harkens back to one of nature's oldest known chemical innovations – the self-assembly of lipid membranes that surround every living cell.

Read the rest at physorg.com

NanoNews: Nanoknives to cut cells

American researchers have built a carbon nanotube knife, finally showing that is not only possible to make this kind of material with plenty of medical applications, but one step closer to the atomic sharp edge knife that has even more potential.

American researchers have built a carbon nanotube knife. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), this nanoknife will be used to cut and study cells. With this new tool, scientists and biologists will be able to make 3D images of cells and tissues for electron tomography, which requires samples less than 300 nanometers thick. And as cells are usually stored in wax for dissection, the researchers plan to test their nanoknives on a block of wax later this year. But read more…

full article here

Nanotech Index

The "Official" nanotechnology index used in this blog, the Merrill Lynch Nanotechnology Index, had a quiet start this weak, with the typical low market volume.

The Market should be back to normal next week, but at least we are not seeing any major sell-offs and today we got into new highs on the S&P500.

The next target for the $NNZ should the 215 points highs from the last 4 weeks. It would be nice for the market to react but make a higher close and use it as a support level.

This Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, should finish a typically quiet week, ending into the most important retail sales season next Monday. The Nanotechnology sector should rise like the other sectors, pushed by the whole market momentum.

Nanotubes Grow Smaller than a Nanometer

There is some new interesting research articles in Scientific American and physorg.com

Nanotubes Grow Smaller than a Nanometer

As it is, nanotubes are tiny. But researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have found a way to make these carbon structures even smaller

"We now have control of an important nanoscale building block, which we can now incorporate into all kinds of devices," says Tom Yuzvinsky

Continue reading at sciam.com

Charting New Nanomemory

University of Arkansas physicists seeking to better understand the properties of ferroelectric materials at the nanoscale have discovered previously unknown properties.
Ferroelectric materials have invaded the everyday lives of most people – they populate watches, smart cards, television remotes and medical ultrasound devices. Because of those important properties, scientists want to be able to use these materials at the nanoscale, but researchers know very little about how these materials work.

Continue reading at physorg.com

Keep in touch!

Novavax 3Q loss widens

The flu vaccine program is one of the main attractions in nanovax for speculative investors, but it might be one of the reasons why fundamental investors are keeping away right now.

The stock is naturally heading lower now, and the correction should continue for at least a couple of days. Even after the bad news, the stock is still up from last week.

NOV. 14 9:08 A.M. ET Biopharmaceutical company Novavax Inc. said Tuesday its third-quarter loss widened on higher costs for developing its flu vaccine program.

The company lost $5 million, or 8 cents per share, compared with a loss of $2.7 million, or 6 cents per share, a year ago. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a loss of 11 cents per share.

Revenue dipped to $1.2 million from $1.9 million a year ago, while analysts expected revenue of $700,000.

Article at BusinessWeek.com

Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX)

Novavax is releasing earnings tomorrow morning, with an estimate EPS of minus $0.11

NVAX is the heaviest title in the $NNZ (Merrill Lynch Nanotech Index) and should affect the performance of the nanotechnology sector, even if it really is a biopharmaceutical company.

Some technology used by Nanovax can still be included in the nanotech field, and future developments, like retro-viruses and new vaccine deployment techniques can very well be included in the nanotechnology area.

NVAX is heading higher today with good volume, with probably some investors already making a bet to what the results will be tomorrow.



Novavax's Net Income is getting better year after year and we might get a surprise in the next months.
The chart looks bullish for the end of this year, and should continue this uptrend if there are no bad results tomorrow.

Some recent news about Nanovax:
Novavax's Pandemic Influenza Vaccine Candidates Trigger Robust Immune Response In Pre-Clinical Models

Powershares Nanotech Performance (PXN)

Powershares Lux Nanotech Portfolio (AMEX - PXN) is one of the few ETFs that track the small but growing nanotechnology sector, compromised of nanotech.

Performance of this nanotech ETF is still above the S&P500(since January) and should beat the markets in the next few years, even with the dangers associated with emerging technology companies and it's risks.



More information on this ETF in Powershares site

More updates on some nanotech stocks in the next days.

Nanotech water desalination

We can see more examples everyday of how extensive the application on nanotechnology can be. New ways for water desalination and purification found at UCLA.

Engineers develop revolutionary nanotech water desalination membrane

Researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science today announced they have developed a new reverse osmosis (RO) membrane that promises to reduce the cost of seawater desalination and wastewater reclamation.

"The nanoparticles are designed to attract water and are highly porous, soaking up water like a sponge, while repelling dissolved salts and other impurities," Hoek said. "The water-loving nanoparticles embedded in our membrane also repel organics and bacteria, which tend to clog up conventional membranes over time."

Full article here

Biological Nanotechnology

Cellular Visions: The Inner Life of a Cell

So here is the famous video that represents what actually works in the nanotech world. We should follow the "instructions" that biology gives us regarding molecular manufacturing, architecture and manipulation.



Meanwhile SolarStocks posted information about new companies entering the markets that are going to produce light and flexible solar cells that borrow some help from nanotechnology.
Miasole Solar Technology Stocks

Nanotech Assembler

The famous nanotech assembler video, with many question yet to be answered if we want to realistically build something like this.

At least it shows to the public the potential of nanotechnology, or at least what the future might bring in one way or another.



Perhaps just follow mother nature regarding molecular factories and use that knowledge?
Cellular Visions: The Inner Life of a Cell