Nanoknives To Be Used to Cut Cells 78
Roland Piquepaille writes "American researchers have built a carbon nanotube knife. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), this nanoknife will be used to cut and study cells. With this new tool, scientists and biologists will be able to make 3D images of cells and tissues for electron tomography, which requires samples less than 300 nanometers thick. And as cells are usually stored in wax for dissection, the researchers plan to test their nanoknives on a block of wax later this year. But read more for additional references and a picture of this nanoknife."
That is so cool... (Score:4, Funny)
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"You call that a knife? THIS is a knife!"
"That's not a knife, that's a spoon."
"Ah, I see you've played knifey-spooney before!"
This is DANGEROUS (Score:2)
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How hard is it to wrap a carbon nanotube? (Score:4, Interesting)
Wouldn't it be better to wrap or tie the carbon nanotube to a specially shaped tungsten needles rather than trying to weld them? Given the small size, welding directly to the needles seems like it could never work
Re:How hard is it to wrap a carbon nanotube? (Score:5, Informative)
Trying to tie or wrap those nanotypes would be more than futile.
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So what you're saying is that friction's resistance would be useless?
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Take a bundle of nanotubes:
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One sharp nano-spike.
You don't have to weld anything, just holding them in place would be enough. You can just keep making the bundle larger if there is a problem gripping it, you just keep the central spike there and the neighbours will hold it in place.
Also, the
Welding works (Score:2)
Man, I should work at the NIST
easy solution (Score:3, Interesting)
That's not a nanoknife, *this* is a nanoknife... (Score:3, Funny)
Give 'em time to build a "variable sword"... :-) (Score:2)
But, sigh, are there even theories that suggest the possibility of stasis fields?
Re:Give 'em time to build a "variable sword"... :- (Score:2)
If it's so thin (Score:5, Interesting)
Will it even trigger your nerves?
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Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?
Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is?
If you prick us, do we not bleed?
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Bravo, Slashdot. Bravo.
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Not really, thanks to kashrut.
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Re:If it's so thin (Score:5, Interesting)
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For years, biologists have wrestled with conventional diamond or glass knives, which cut frozen cell samples at a large angle, forcing the samples to bend and sometimes later crack.
How long before (Score:1)
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And if you call within the next 15 minutes (Score:3, Funny)
I've already seen that (Score:5, Funny)
I saw my first nano knife when I brought my nano on the subway in New York. The guy took my wallet, too.
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Re:Not enough 'nano' prefixes (Score:4, Informative)
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. -- THIS is a knife!
Obligatory (Score:1)
Re:Obligatory (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually they did. The art of cutting thin slice is called microtomy [wikipedia.org]. Glass knife and diamond knife are used for microtomy. The advantage of glass knife is cost, the glass cost almost nothing. But glass knife doesn't last long, it gets blunt after 20 or 30 cuts. Also glass knife become blunt even you do nothing with it because glass is essentially fluid and the sharp edge has huge surface tension. Diamond knife lasts forever if you don't do anything wrong with it. But the diamond knife is pricey, a single knife can cost several thousand of dollars.
I have been doing microtoming for years. But I don't see how could this can be used to replace diamond knife. Basically we need to trim the sample to 0.1x0.25mm block and cut the block. This is small but still 100um. I at least need a knife of 150um wide to work on this. Nanotubes as long as 150um are not so well available at least for now. Then the knife is a 150um long 10nm thin wire, which I can not see with my eyes. How do I know the wire is stretched? And if it is stretched, during the cutting, the temperature and change from room temperature to -90 degree C. So how do I handle the thermal expansion? Also the problem troubled me mostly is how do I handle the section? When I am using a glass or diamond knife, the section and block fall to different sides of the knife, then I can use special tools to pick the section up. But when the wire cut through the sample, the section sticks back to the block. Also how much the wire knife cost and how long it can last? I can resharpen a 3mm diamond knife for $1500 after I made enough mistakes on it, which can be 5 or 10 years.
However, I really think this thing can be used as a wire saw to make MEMs [wikipedia.org].
The perfect weapon (Score:2)
umm (Score:2)
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There is a length of nano-cotton.
All they are waiting for is instructions on how to build a nano-thimble.
On this subject, the thread looks thinner than the knife, could they make a more effective cheese cutter?
Obligatory Niven Reference (Score:2)
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But Wait: There's More! (Score:3, Funny)
It'll be great, I can see the adverts now:
"See! New Nanoknife will cut straight through this small meteorite, and then through this tomato! But wait, there's more! If you call in the next 15 minutes we'll also include the amazing NanoJuicer, and a second Nanoknife for free. And as a bonus for the first 100 callers today, you'll also recieve this fabulous set of nano-forks..."
Who cut the nano-cheese? (Score:2)
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Furthermore, are you taking into account the possiblity that someone Moved Your Nano-cheese?
We could be talking Nano-ok of the North, here.
Size scales (Score:5, Informative)
300 nanometers is a third of a micron. Cells vary greatly in size and shape but a ballpark figure for human cells is 20 microns. So we're not talking about something that is all that "sharp" compared to the size of the object it aims to cut.
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Conversely, the nano knife consists of a single carbon nanotube, stretched between two brackets. This is not a 'blade' in the traditional sense of the word, but is more akin to a cheese knife that is a wire under tension.
Wikipedia states that the diameter of a carbon nanotube is in the order of a few n
Not surprised... (Score:1)
http://media.kurzweilai.net/kain/pub/RayKurzweilR
Some of the coolest and interesting things to read come from Ray Kurzweil.
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His Dark Materials (Score:1)
Were none of the researchers ever boy scouts? (Score:3, Interesting)
If the nanotube itself is the strongest part of the system why weaken it by welding it to the tungsten?
If they can manipulate objects at such a scale, They would surely get much better results by tying the nanotube to suitably shaped anchors.
Off the top of my head, a bowline [wikipedia.org] would be a good start, I'm sure some slashdot sailor could suggest a loop knot or hitch more suitable for a slippery line.
Hmmm.... (Score:2, Funny)
Bypass Roland (Score:1)
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And in other news (Score:2, Funny)
Yes but... (Score:1)
The basics (Score:4, Informative)
TFA states that the carbon nanoknife has yet to be tested cutting anything, so it's unclear to me the extent to which it could be used to replace a diamond knife. Also, a diamond or glass knife edge can be millimeters long, whereas this nanotube thread looks much shorter.
tag as "pigpile" (Score:1, Informative)
Paul Hogan says... (Score:1)
Obligatory (Score:1)
It's like the old saying (Score:1)
Wow, this is just so high-tech! (Score:3, Funny)
Hmmm (Score:1, Offtopic)
Explain... (Score:2)
New tools for the Mohel (Score:2)
--
BMO
Another TSM duh (Score:1)
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Any one else see this in Manga Before? (Score:1)
Nanoknifes, but not nano CPUs (for example)? (Score:2)
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Nano jail cells? (Score:1)
As Mork would no doubt have said ... (Score:2)