A glove that can detect and identify tissue and immediately ablate it without needing another tool in the process? That’s exactly what the research engineers at the University of Illinois, Northwestern University and the Chinese-based Delian University of Technology are working on developing. The idea is to use nanotechnology to create flexible silicon-based electronics and soft sensors to create a useful electronic glove in the future.

Right now they are just working on the basic concepts and the creation of guidelines on how such a special medical glove might work. At the moment, the research isn’t working to create such gloves, instead figuring out a set of guidelines that will help with future development of electrotactile stimulation devices. The paper released by the researchers describes materials, fabrication strategies and device designs. In the future this could also lead to surgical robots that can interact using touch.

When will such a super glove come out? Hard to say, since this was simply a guideline on how to do such a thing. What other uses could such a glove theoretically do, besides finding and ablating tissues? Sensors for temperature, measuring motion, and even gloves with small heaters for use in surgery are all potential possibilities.

I wouldn’t expect anyone to create such gloves anytime soon, but I’m sure an age of nanotech surgery gloves isn’t all that far away either.

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Nanotechnology was once the stuff of sci-fi stories and nothing more. Fast-forwarding to 2012 though? Nanotechnology is very real and researchers across the globe are attempting to find new ways to utilize it to its fullest potential. At the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, or KAIST, a new piezoelectric nanogenerator is one of these interesting technologies. The new generator is based on previous attempts by KAIST but improves substantially on the design and efficiency, and is lead by the efforts of Dr. Zhong Lin Wang.

Essentially, a piezoelectric nanogenerator is a simple, low-cast, large scale self-powered energy system that has a wide variety of potential applications such as biosensing, medical devices, environmental and health monitoring, defense technology, and a heck of a lot more. Piezoelectric materials are used to convert vibrations and mechanical forces from things like wind and waves into an electric current. This basically means it can be used to harvest energy from people and their clothes, cars and other devices, paving the pathway to nanotechnology-based clothes and devices that make use of the energy from these nano generators. In fact, just by walking around with shoes using a nanogenerator, you could produce around 3W. This would be more than enough energy to power some basic electronic gadgets out on the market today, and as technology advances, the generators can likely harness more power.

It was only last year that Dr. Wang first showed the world the team’s unique generator and the first self-powered nanodevice, and in that time the team has continued work on evolving the concept. According to the team involved, the generator is mainly made of plastics and zinc oxide, making it environmentally friendly as well.

This is certainly exciting news and shows us just how far we’ve come in the last few years, and gives us a hint at where we are heading. Feel free to check out the paper in PDF form that details the findings from Wang’s research.

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We’ve all heard of predator drones that take to the air, being remotely controlled by someone at a safe distance, but why can’t the same idea be taken to the water? That’s exactly what the Piranha concept from Zyvex Marine aims to achieve and it offers some impressive advantages over conventional boats.

In the context of the military, the first advantage is that this vessel is unmanned. Dubbed a USV (unmanned surface vehicle), the Piranha can be operated from just about anywhere, keeping our soldiers at a safe distance. The second advantage is that the Piranha is made of Avorex, a proprietary “nano-enhanced” carbon fiber from Zyvex. It’s lighter weight and, along with getting rid of any need to hold actual people, this makes it far more efficient.

According to Zyvex, it can cruise at 24 knots (44km/h) for an hour on just 12 US gallons. Compare that to the 50 gallons that a “traditional” boat would consume over the same period at the same speed. This allows for a greater range (the 8,000 pound boat can carry a payload of 15,000 pounds for 2500 miles). Zyvex plans on continuing this range with the LRV-11 and LRV-17 platforms, both of which will be offered in unmanned or manned versions. I imagine the future of warfare would lean toward the former.

[Source via PRWeb]

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