Tiny Tech Show 30

ConnectedLife looks at tiny tech. We find out about UBC’s TRIUMF particle accelerator, learn about new Nano Tech brain surgery, and check out Sony’s new OLED TV. Let’s Get Small! This is ConnectedLife!

The Future is Nano
Nanotechnology refers to the fields of applied science and technology that deal with control of matter on the atomic and molecular level. Nano means "dwarf" in Greek and is shorthand for nanometer, or, one-billionth of a meter. To give you some perspective, a human hair is about 80,000 nanometers wide.

Nanotechnology is changing the world we live in because everyday materials often show new and interesting properties when they're cut down into nano-sized pieces of themselves. For instance, aluminum has been shown to explode when it is cut down to around 30 nanometers.

Nanotechnology is already helping to extend the life of our batteries and get more energy from solar power. New approaches to storing data could even lead to memory chips a hundred times smaller than today's devices but with even more storage capacity. Some researchers are working on nanotechnology that may one day deliver cancer fighting agents directly to the brain.
Nanotechnology is leading the way towards technological advances that may help us improve everything from modern medicine to energy consumption.

Nano Battery Tech
A battery that never needs recharging may be only a dream, but researchers at MIT are closer to making one that never loses its ability to hold a charge a reality. They cover the electrodes with nanotubes, which increases the surface area and allows the capacitor to store more energy. In tests, the batteries could be recharged many times over and recharged in seconds instead of hours. The commercial applications for a battery like this would be enormous.

Nano Brain Tech
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is teaming up with the City of Hope cancer center to develop a new minimally-invasive brain surgery that uses carbon nanotubes. Researchers hope that these sharp-tipped tubes, 50,000 times narrower than a human hair, will be able to deliver cancer-fighting agents directly to specific parts of the brain. Initial tests in mice were successful and the nanotubes proved non-toxic.