Building off the other nano posts, this video is a highlight reel of our conversation with the nanotechnology folks. Specifically, we spliced together a nice little summary of what and why nano from Margaret Blohm, who manages the nanotechnology department.
Also, here’s a longer version from the GE Reports YouTube channel:
Chalk is super easy to break (as any fourth grade can attest to), yet a shell, made of the same material, stays largely in tact when dropped from around five feet up (enjoy the slow motion video from the high speed camera we brought along below).
So why doesn’t it just crack? Turns out there are some crazy nanostructures at work … Here’s a peak at what’s under the surface (at the nano level):
And here’s a bit more information from the GE nano site:
Seashells are naturally self-assembled structures, growing gradually over the lifetime of the creatures that live inside them. By studying this behavior at the nano-scale, we can one day develop high-strength ceramics that are light yet also durable, and enhance the performance of our products, such as gas turbine blades.
Ok. We should get this out of the way and fast.
Synergy.
I actually didn’t know until we were day 2 into this that GE invented that word. We were in the nanoparticles lab and they were showing ferrofluid (see below) and that outside of demonstrating magnetic waves they also use the nano iron particles in combination with another agent and inject you and the agent seeks out a tumor, and carries the ferrite particles, and then your tumor glows like crazy on an MRI.
Earlier we had seen a demonstration of an imaging agent that you can inject and it finds its way to a tumor and carries a special dye, and there is a companion overhead UV spectrum lighting rig, and when you are doing open surgery the dyed tumor (or veins or whatever they want to dye) will fluoresce like crazy on the monitors, so you either cut or avoid what you want.
I was being a good student and asked the nano folks ‘is that the same agent as the one they use for making tumors flourescent?’ and turns out yes, more or less, and because all the scientists and engineers at GE hang out together and talk about what they are up to, and, you know, find synergies.
I actually tried to comment on the synergy without using the word synergy, because the rest of the world has turned it into a lame-o business buzz word, and Noah was like ‘you know they invented that word right?’ and I was like ‘huh I guess they had to’.
Then we were talking about how we could do some interesting interactive representation of the interconnectedness of things so we didn’t have to use the s-word, and talked about a few different things and then realized that the internet has worked this out already. If we do a good job tagging and linking everything, then you can find your own synergies, ha.
UPDATE: So I had to edit this because I had been using the word “drug” instead of “agent” in the above examples, and terminology-wise, a drug is a thing that fixes a problem, but in this case they are not actually drugs, just chemicals that deliver things to certain places. Chemical deliverymen. Interesting.
So I posted the lotus leaf video to show the inspiration, and here’s the vide of the GE nanocoating in action (slow-mo action no less, thanks to our super highspeed camera).
Pretty rad.
Update (3/25/09): I was watching this video again and it would be pretty awesome to do a music video with something like this.
I’ve never actually seen a lotus leaf, but apparently it’s got pretty amazing water repellance. It’s inspired some nanotechnology I’ll talk about a bit later, but first check out what it can do:
If a penny was a nanometer, the average foot would roughly stretch from New York to California.
Holy crap. (A nanometer is one billionth of a meter.)
Here’s the explanation from the GE site:
