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Nano world: Where towers construct themselves
Imagine a tower builds itself into the desired structure only by choosing the appropriate bricks. Absurd -- and however, in the nano world this is reality: There an unordered crowd of components can initiate the formation of an ordered structure -- a process known as self-assembly. The physicists Christos Likos (University of Vienna), Emanuela Bianchi and Gerhard Kahl (both Vienna University of Technology) investigate how they can control the ordering of such self-assembling structures and found out how to switch the assembly process on and off.
Materials with specific properties at the nano- and micro-scale level are heavily sought after due to the broad spectrum of applications in electronics, photovoltaics and biomimetic material synthesis. For many of these applications, mesoscopic crystalline structures are often needed and hence scientists have to deal with the challenge of developing reliable, efficient and cheap methods to produce target structures with specific symmetries and physical properties. Nowadays, rather than relying on externally-controlled tools, most of the fabrication methods are based on the self-assembly of carefully chosen/synthesized base units. The macroscopic counterpart would correspond to building a tower or a bridge just by choosing the appropriate bricks and letting them self-organize into the desired structure.
In the vast realm of functional nano- and micro-scale materials, the realization of mono- and bi-layer assemblies on surfaces is of paramount relevance. Low-dimensional systems with well-defined features have indeed applications as e.g. antireflection coatings, biosensors, data-storage, optical and photovoltaic devices, or catalysts. The properties of these materials strongly depend on a delicate balance between the properties of the assembling units and those of the underlying surface.
In our contribution we focused on nano-units with a complicated surface pattern, consisting of regions with different surface charge. The investigated units are mostly negatively charged with the exception of the positively charged polar regions on the top and at the bottom of the particles. Similar non-homogeneously charged units appear either in biosystems, e.g. viral capsids and proteins, or in experimentally synthesized systems, e.g. virus-like nano-particles, spotted vesicles and nano-cubes covered with specific metals.
In the up-coming paper we focused on the self-assembly of the described heterogeneously charged particles in the vicinity of a homogeneously charged substrate. Our computer simulations showed how complex structures at the nano-scale level can spontaneously emerge and how it is possible to reliably control the ordering of the particles into specific, quasi two-dimensional aggregates. Depending on different parameters, such as the particle/wall charge and the extension of the charged regions on the particle surface, our units can form surface layers with different densities (and possibly different responses to external stimuli): sometimes particles assemble into close-packed, hexagonally ordered crystalline aggregates, sometimes they form open, square-like layers, sometimes they do not assemble at all. Our work was able to investigate the variety of the self-assembled structures offered by the chosen bricks and to characterise the specific collective behaviors occurring on tuning the relevant parameters of these systems. Moreover and most importantly, we showed that upon subtle changes of either the pH of the solution or of the electrical charge of the substrate, it is possible to reversibly switch the assembly process on and off as well as to induce a transformation from a one specific spatial/orientational arrangement to another.
Photo: Inverse patchy colloids (IPCs) with two positively charged regions (in yellow) and one negatively charged equatorial belt (in grey) are confined in the vicinity of a uniformly charged substrate (in yellow).
Story Source:
The above story is based on materials provided by University of Vienna. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference:
- Emanuela Bianchi, Christos N. Likos, Gerhard Kahl. Tunable Assembly of Heterogeneously Charged Colloids. Nano Letters, 2014; 140527155338002 DOI:10.1021/nl500934v
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140602132226.htm
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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