The latest in nanowire research has a crew at the University of California, Berkeley creating the very first integrated circuit "that uses nanowires as both sensors and electronic components." By utilizing a so-called "simple" printing technique, the researchers were able to create a batch of uniform circuits that could one day serve as image sensors. According to Ali Javey, an electrical-engineering professor at the institution, the goal is to "develop all-nanowire sensors" which could be used in a wide array of applications, and the benefit of using 'em is their exceptionally high level of sensitivity. In due time, the gurus would like to make everything on the circuit printable, though we have this strange feeling we won't be seeing any actual results from all of this for years to come.

Nanowires being used for memory is hardly a new idea, but a group of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania seem confident that they've found a way to leapfrog the competition, and shake up storage devices as we know them. Unlike other nanowire-based memory methods, their system employs a non-binary form of nanowire memory, which makes it possible to store three bit values (0, 1, and 2) instead of the usual two (0 and 1) -- crazy talk, we know. That, the researchers say, allows for a "huge increase" in memory density, with fewer nanowires needed to store the same amount of information as a binary nanowire-based memory system, which'd also make the actual devices smaller. Of course, that's assuming any of this stuff actually gets out of the lab, which seems to be a long ways off at best.

[Thanks, Dwight]

A team of astute MIT researchers have developed a sophisticated new material that could help control, contain and lessen the environmental impact of future oil spills. The creation is a mat of nanowires that actually looks a lot like paper, but unlike the material your paycheck gets printed on, this stuff can "selectively absorb hydrophobic liquids (oil-like liquids) from water." We're talking about a membrane that can "absorb up to 20 times its weight in oil, and can be recycled many times for future use." Outside of this, it could also be used in water filtration processes and for designing the next great wetsuit. Okay, so we're making that last one up, but don't dare say it's beyond the realm of possibility.

[Via NewScientist]

We've heard of firms tinkering with the idea of converting excess heat directly to energy, and apparently, a team of scientists from the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have done just that. Oddly enough, the researchers admit that they're still unclear on how their findings actually work, but they've nevertheless discovered how to increase the conversion efficiency of converting waste heat to energy "by a factor of 100." The authors of the report suggest that clothing constructed of material embedded with thermoelectric modules could one day "recharge mobile electronic devices off the heat of one's body," and while we're certainly stoked about the idea, we're already conjuring up awful images in our minds about what this garb will actually look like.

[Via textually, image courtesy of FourEyesJokeShop]

Though we're guessing ink-jet cartridges are foremost on its mind, HP's new flexible circuits could make adaptable microchips possible at the consumer level, opening up whole new worlds of computer use and weird new hacker exploitations. Just like everything else new and hip these days, the new chips involve a few "nano" buzzwords, but instead of going for a full-on molecular computer like many current researchers are doing, HP is taking a bit of a hybrid approach. The new HP design uses a traditional silicon-based chip, with a mesh of nanowire switches on top. The nanowires provide flexibility to the chip, allowing it to adapt to tasks or be upgraded to a new wireless spec, but the silicon still does all the heavy lifting. Plus, the molecular switches don't draw any power except when switching from one state to another, so overall power consumption is reduced. The design is pretty much finished, so right now the HP researchers are building the first prototype, and should be finished by the end of the year. As far off as that may seem -- and there's no telling how long it will take to commercialize this once the prototype is finished -- it sounds like these guys are well ahead of other molecular computing projects, and should provide a nice stopgap for expanding computer performance while we wait for full-on molecular processors to start bumping our FPS frame rates.

For anyone who thought gyms with workout equipment that generate electricity were a good idea, prepare to be one-upped. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are working on metallic nanowires as nanogenerators that transform bodily kinetic energy into pure electricity. We were all thinking, oh, sweet, power-generating nanotech clothes. Naw dude, these peeps want to implant the nanogenerators right in your corporeal form for maximum energy output. Thought your mom got mad when you got a tattoo or piercing? Try explaining subcutaneous power generating zinc oxide nanowires.