nantr IssueB August 2008

DscMer: ftlcle cortnbltons to NNO Jnaqazinecone irom a ranqû of soùrces {rd .rhte we dûays sble to ensure accurary in reporûng NNO acceFts no rcspons'bn'ry ior LnaccuEc'es that nay anse I he vretrs oi contùùlon do not ne.essanlvreûÊci the ùeos oINNO maqune or IoN PùbLshnrqLld ûont c@er hage: coutery ot NÆÀ4PL FEFTUHE5 Microscopeson ...... 0 14 Fina imenoc nf rod drrct

Micro Nano Pico...... 0I 8 The evolutionof microscoov

The Nose Knows...... 020 An elpr-lronin nnse fn. pvOlOSivedeteCtiOn E55FY Nano2life winning essay...... 035 Smartprints ,..,,..,...... 032 Fingerpnntsworking underwater f OMMENT Marchof the Nanorians...... ,.....035 Smaller Smarter Better?...... 040 Potentialsand applicatronsof nanoparticles Legal implicationsof smart surveillance X-rayhoIogr.rms...... ,..036 Rriahtor f:ctor charnor INTEHVIEIIJ Laurent Malier ...... 027 IOUNTFYPHOFILE CEA-LeIduector speaks hrs mnd Itance....,...... 024 A dnvrngforce for futuretechs BE6ULRFI5 Editorial...... ,,.....004 Events ...... 006 \trlhat'snew in nano ...... 008 Books...... 013 Nanomedicine n?e

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The atomicforce atrnosphere Manned mission to Mars ,which has sincethe As well as providingimportant information been more than a decade invention of astronomical on the geologricalhistory of Mars, an in the malcng, maps the spectroscopy in the l9th understandingof the dust parhclesis shapeof particlesin three CenhrryMore recently,imaging essentialfor any mannedmission to the dimensionsby scanningthem lrom Orbiters and Landers have planet.If astronautsever do travelto Mars, wlth a sharp tip at the end of a providedinformation on the composihonof it is likely they wlll stay on the planet for a spring, During the scan,invisrJcly the dust parhclesthat surroundthe planet, numberof days or weeks,much longer than fine particlesare held by a senesof The Phoenixmission takes thrs a step the few footstepstaken by astronautson the pits etchedinto a subsûatemicro- furtherprovrding detarled analysrs and Moonin 1969, fabricatedfrom a siliconwafer. Pike's imageryof fine grainsrecovered from the group at Imperial Collegeproduced surfaceof the planet. Safetyis thereforeof paramountimportance thesesilicon microdiscs. and whetheror not the dust particlespose a "Byunderstanding the mineralogyof the hazardto humansor their electronic The atomicforce microscopecan detarlthe surfacematenals on Mars, we can gain equipmentor eventhe spacecraft,must be shapesof partrclesas smali as about I00 insight into the avarlabilityof liquid water determlnedbefore any missiontakes ofl nanometers,about one one-thousandththe and the duration, mode and extent of width of a humanhair Thatis about 100 weathenngoccurring throughout Martlan Parhclescan stick to an astronaut's times greatermagmificaton than seenwith history Forexample, we know that silicon spacesuit,for example,and enterthe Phoenifs opticalmicroscope, which made and iron are the two most abundant spacecraftwhere it could potentiallybe its first imagesof Martian soil abouttwo elementson Mars, but don'tlcrow how they inhaledor ingestedor causecorrosion to monthsago, are combinedrnto surface minerals," says the internalworkings of the craft. SebastianGautsch from the Universityof "l'm deliçrhtedthat thrsmicroscope is Neuchatel,one ofthe lead researcherson Exampiesof potentialhazards that may face producingimages that will help us the AfM deveiopmentfor Phoenrx, astronautsor craft rncludeabrasion, where understandMars at the highestdetail ever," hard parhcles,such as quartz,could Staufersaid. "This is proof of the microscope's Analysisof the airborneparticles present in scratchsurfaces, and corrosion,whereby potential.We are now readyto start doing the aknospherehas been a focusof dust particlesreact when they come into scientific experimentsthat will add a new researchfor manydecades, However, until contactwith othermaterials. Specrfic drmensionto measurementsberng made by now il has been impossilcleto accurately corrosionhazards for Mars explorers otherPhoenx Landerinstruments." measurethe sizeand shapeof rndivrdual include corrosionof space suit materials particles,The newAFM imageswill also and airlock seals. "AJterthis first success,we're now worklngl provideinformation on otherfactors such as on building up a portraitgallery of the dust the hardnessand massof the dust particles, One of the mostimportant risk factors on Mars,"Pike added. that scientstsneed to consideris the 'Àlthough propertiesof the dust have potentialfor unfamiliartoloc particles to Red dust been inferredfrom remotesensing and make an astronautr11. Breathable quartz Fine red dust coversthe landscapeof Mars eva-luatedby surfaceexpenments, there parhcles,for example,are knornmto be and lills the atmosphere.If you stoodon the has been no imaqlngof indMdual dust amongthe most dangerousparûcles on surfaceofthe planetand lookedup, the sky and soll particlesto determinetheir size Earth,responsible for many deathsfrom would be red, Astronomerslooking from distributionand shape,Such information is silicosisamong minlng and construction a.farhave dubbed Mars the Red Planet due essentialin understandlngthe contnbution workersover manyyears. Quartz is to the reflectedred glow from the particles of the particlesto the Marhanclimate and behevedto existon Mars and could that hang in the Martan air. Aside from its geologicalpast," Gautsch says. potentiallybe the most hazardous paintinga prettypichrre of Mars, scientists substancefor both man and machinery behevethe fine red dust parhcleshold a "Unhlnow, understanding of the on the planet,The abundantpresence of wealth of information about the tustoryof the mineralogdcalcomposihon of the this mineralon Mars would be a serious planetand a majorcomponent of the current dust particleswas dependenton threatto a mannedmission to Mars for Mars misslonis to learn more abouttheir theoreûcalinterpretation of diffraction engineeringand healthissues. The struch-rreand composition, models,The ÂIM measurementswill Phoenixteam hope their aralysiswrll providemuch more accurate,less help shed somehght on theseand Scientistshave attempted to analysethe speculahveinformation about the otherparticles present on the surface chemlcalcomposition of the Martian mineralogicalhistory of the particles," of the planet,

015 MECA "Wehave water," Boynton announced. "We've The atomicforce microscopeis one seenendence for this water ice beforein componentof an extremelysophisticaled observationsby the Mars Odysseyorbiter ,tlectrochemislry and and in drsappeanngchunks observed by ConduchnlyAnalysrs (MECA) unit on the ,but this is the first time Martian Phoenx ]rander,whlch toucheddourn in water has been touchedand tasted," Marsearlier this year. MLCA is justone ol sevenlaboratories on board the Lander, Besidesconfirming the 2002finding from whlch are all feedrngback information orbit of water ice nearthe surfaceand planet aboutthe in one of the most deciphenngnewly observedstickiness of missionsin recenlyears, successfulspace the samples,the team is tryrngto determine whetherthe water ice ever thawsenough to MECAwas burltby a teamled by Dr Michael be avallablefor biology and if carbon- Hecht at NASAsJet Propulsion Laboratory contarningchemicals and otherraw present. llIECA characterisesthe soil and dust of materialsfor life are Mars much like a gardenerwould test the soil in his or her garden,It containsfour wet The missronis also throwingsome chemrstrylabs, eachwrth beakers that can surprises,The unexpecteddiscovery of acceptsamples of Martian sorl,A robohc percLrloratesalts has changedhow some arm attachedto the Landerscoops soil from scientlstsview Mars. Perchlorateis a the ground and loads it into the beakersfor knom oxdant - meaningit can release analysis,Vanous preces of equipmentstir, oxygen.Some microorganisms on Earth mix and preparethe samplesfor analysis are fuelledby processesthat involve beforemore informationabout their acidrty perchloratesso the finding is generating and structurecan be uncovered, somecautious excitement.

Also onboardMECA is a thermaiand Hecht explains,"Finding perchlorates is electricalconductivrty probe for measuring neithergood or bad for life,but it doesmake the thermaland electricalproperties of the us reassesshow we thinkabout life on Mars, sorl,which wrll provrdean indicationof the Differenlfypes of perchloratesalts have ice and water contentrn the soil, interestlngpropertres that may bear on the way thingswork on Mars rf - and that'sa Optical and atomicforce biçr'if' - the resultsfrom our two teaspoons wet experiments, complementthe chemistry of soil are representativeof all of Mars, or at With rmagesfrom thesemicroscopes, leasta significantportion of the planet." scienhstscan examinethe fine detail struchrreoI sorland waterrce samplesthat Phoenixwiil continueto relaynew data and may indlcatea historyof water on the planet.The opticalmicroscope has a discoveriesabout the Martiansoil back to yet, resolutionenabling the detectionof Earth for anothermonth outlivrngits partrclesdoum to ten micrometres.The originalintended mrssion duration by a atomicforce microscopein contrast,wrll numberofweeks,û enableimaging doumto a resolutionof just l0 nanometres- the smallestscale ever fTrrther readinE: examinedon Mars, Using its sensors,the SebastianGautsch (2002) Development of A.FMcreates a very small-scaletopographic an atomicforce microscopeand measwemenl map rllustratingthe detalledstructure of soil conceptsfor charactensingMartran dust and ice grarns. and soilparticles, ISBN 3 93551124 8

The mrcroscopystation includes a tool for It4oreinformation: wvwv,nanosurf, com performingsimple mineralogicalscratch and wrywv,nasa,gov/phoenx and streaktests on the particlesfrom the Martian soil, Differentpressures wrll be The Phoenixmission is led by Peter Smith apphedto indmdualparticles to crealeliny from the Universityof Arizona wtth project scratcheson the surface,which can give an managementat NASA'sJet Propulsion indicationof the hardnessof a particle,and Laboratory Pasadena,California, and therebyhelp to identlfyit, Quartzfor developmentpartnership at Lockheed is very hard particle,The atomic example, a Marttn,Denver Intemationalcontributions force microscopewrll enablethe scientists comefrom the CanadianSpace Agency; to look al theprofile oI thesetiny scratches the Universityof Neuchatel; the universities in detailto help identifythe variousminerals nrêaênt in tho qnil of Copenhagenand Aarhus in Denmark; the Max Planck Institute in Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Instttute. The Looking for life 'lbchnology Laboratory tests lrom Phoenix have Califomia Institute of in already identified water in a soil sample Pasadenamanages JPL for NASA. uncovered by the robotrc arm from about five centimetres below the surface. The The PhoenixAFM was developed by a flnding was announced in July this year by teamincluding the Instituteof Micro- Willlam Boynton of the University of Anzona, technologntof the Universityof Neuchatel, the lead screntist on the therma.land evolved the Institute of Physicsat the Universifii of gas analyser (TEGA) on board Phoenx, Baseland lie Suasscompany Nanosud.

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