Generally, the smaller the wires in a semiconductor get, the more resistance they have making them less efficient. The team of researchers from the University of New South Wales has discovered a way to make tiny wires that have extremely low resistance. The tiny wires are made by stringing together individual atoms on silicon making wires as tiny as four atoms wide. For those of you counting, four atoms measure about 1.5 nanometers.

The team prepared each wire by lithographically writing lines onto a silicon sample with microscopy techniques and then depositing phosphorus along the line. The closely packed phosphorus atoms were then encase in silicon and resistivity stayed down, at least at low temperatures. The new wires have the carrying capacity of copper and could allow microchips to continue the shrink and meet Moore’s law ever-increasing demands.

[via Scientific American]

The Nokia Twist smartphone concept looks like a pool toy or surfboard to me. It could also be a gel insole for your shoes. The concept comes from Nokia Design and Nokia Research and was designed as an exploration of the promise of nanotechnology. I’m not sure how nanotech would be used to contort your phone into different shapes, though.

It appears that the device can be twisted and flexed to perform different actions, and it would have a flexible see-through touchscreen display. There is a ton of research going into flexible electronics today, so who knows if 10 or 20 years from now our smartphones might look like this. Check out the video below to see what Nokia is up to with the Twist.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

For starters, Tommaso envisions the MacBook 2020 as being the first “molecularly manufactured laptop.” That is, the machine would be made out of “scalable micro-lattice nanomaterials” which would literally allow you to shrink the MacBook to fit into your pocket when you want to.

At full-size, the MacBook 2020 would offer a design which breaks into two separate tablet surfaces. This would be achieved thanks to magnetic hinges and a wireless connection between its two halves. Maybe you and a friend can share the same computer with this unusual split-component design, or you could use one screen for input and the other one for displaying content on the other side of the room.

That’s not all. The tablet-like surfaces would include a complex set of layers which provide 3D image viewing and capture, tactile feedback and unlimited power through a photovoltaic panel too. It even would have a “shapeshifter” coating on top which would allow the MacBook to change finishes from matte to glossy or from metal to plastic. Sweet. Sign me up! Can I get that for my car, too?

Instead of today’s LCD or LED displays, the MacBook 2020 would have holographic screen surfaces, capable of both displaying and scanning 3D objects.

You could then manipulate and interact with 3D objects in real time using a Kinect-like gesture control system.

While this all sounds pretty far-fetched, one only has to think back to how primitive computers and mobile phones looked 10 to 20 years ago to realize how far and how quickly technological breakthroughs occur. And Tommaso is quick to point out how many of his ideas are grounded in technologies which are currently in development, or in their early stages in the consumer market already. While I’m not certain we’ll move quite as fast as 2020, I think most of the technologies seen here will eventually find their way to market in one form or another. Except maybe the shape-shifter part – but I’m hoping I’ll be proven wrong.

[via coroflot]

By taking a single strand of Poliakoff’s hair (and a mighty head of hair he has) and subjecting it to a nano-etching technology, they managed to etch the entire periodic table onto a single strand of the hair. The entire thing is just 100 microns wide and 50 microns high. By irradiating the hair with ions of Gallium, tiny bits of the hair are flaked off, producing the microscopic table of elements.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I don’t know about you, but I’m going to need my reading glasses to see that for sure.

[via io9 via The Daily What]

Unlike the electrostatic charges you run into on a cold, dry day, this new technology uses millions of tiny “nanogenerators” to throw off electricity.

Scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology have devised microscopic wires which can generate minuscule amounts of current when flexed. To create power from motion, pairs of textile fibers are covered with zinc oxide nanowires 1,000 times thinner than a human hair. One fiber in each pair is plated with gold to provide an electrode. As they move, the fibers throw off a teensy, tiny bit of power thanks to the piezoelectric and semiconducting properties of zinc oxide wires.

According to Georgia Tech Regents’ Professor Zhong Lin Wang, the technology should be capable of generating up to 80 milliwatts per square meter of fabric. By taking thousands of these tiny fiber pairs and weaving them together into clothing, they could generate enough energy to power MP3 players, phones and other mobile devices. They could also be woven into other fabric that moves such as flags, tents or curtains to throw off small amounts of electricity.

Sounds like a cool idea, but they haven’t quite worked out all the kinks. The zinc oxide coating doesn’t hold up well when wet, so they’re trying to create a protective coating that would preserve the wires better. Regardless, I wouldn’t want to be walking around in the rain wearing electric clothes. I’m guessing the consequences could be quite shocking.

[via Reuters]