American scientists have developed a revolutionary nanotechnology called Beam Lithography Pen.

The new method enables fast and inexpensive production of electric circuits prototypes, medical diagnosis and a number of other activities that will surely find application in in electronics, photonics and other natural sciences.

Chad Mirkin, Director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology at Northwestern University, believes that the world is driven by fast transfer of large volumes of information. But the conventional micro-and nanoinstruments for manufacturing nanostructures are very expensive. “That is what we tried to change,” he says.

The main proof of the effectiveness of the method is 15 thousand silhouettes of the Chicago skyline, created in half an hour on a square centimeter.

Each “image” consists of 182 points of about 500 nanometers in diameter (like the tip of the fountain pen). Point illumination time is 20 seconds. The current method allows researchers to create “pens” of 150 nm in size, but in the near future, the resolution is likely to be reduced to 100 nm. An array of a few square centimeters including 11 million “pens” has already been built.

This is the third technology developed by Chad Mirkin. In 1999, he invented the dip-pen nanolithography, DPN, and in 2008 – polymer-pen lithography, PPL. These technologies have already taken up in 23 countries. The major difference of the new technology from the PPL is that it is uses light instead of “ink” molecules.

Each “pen” represents a pyramid, completely coated with a layer of gold except for the top. Light is shed the foundation of the pen to its top and on to a light-sensitive material. The simplicity of this approach is that nanoscale is only the top of the pyramid. This allows you to easily manage nanoprocesses without leaving the boundaries of the microworld.

In the future, technology may lead to the creation of desktop nanoprinters, who will turn nanoindustry upside-down just like ordinary printer has done with our everyday life.

Submit to:

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Here it is, the cornucopia.

American scientists have developed the concept of food printer called «Cornucopia», which operates by cooling ingredients, mixing them and making layers of  them. Using these kayers, a dish is printer on a tray. The concept was presented by two students from the Massachusetts University of Technology (MIT).

The process of food printing begins with the selection of needed refrigerated food containers, which are then mixed in a blender. After that, a dish is prepared from different layers. These layers are placed on the tray and are heated or cooled immediately after the mixing in the printhead.

Researchers say that food printing brings cooking to a new level in the digital age we live in. The concept enables creating aromas previously unknown and flavors unavailable in conventional cooking. Developers claim users will be able to control the nutritional value, quality and taste for every meal, using a touch screen and downloading new dishes from the Internet. The printer also allows you to order the ingredient, if needed one has ended, or else offers a replacement ingredient.

The researchers hope that their concept would provide a new look at the new aesthetic and cultural opportunities that can be brought to a new, digital standard.

Interesting stuff, but you won’t get by without buying food anyway.

Submit to:

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Epson has announced that its wide-format inkjet printers Series Stylus Pro 7900 and 9900 reached 98% coverage of the Pantone Matching System. In turn, the company Pantone LLC confirmed that the achievement award of the certificate of conformity for Epson.

Pantone is an international reference system for selecting, identifying, combining and control of color in variuos application ares , including printing . With the ability to achieve 98% coverage of Pantone Colors professionals who use printers Epson now have complete freedom in creating designs, color proofing and commercial printing. Ability to tightly control the color allows, for example, exactly reproduce the corporate colors and a wide spectrum of Pantone colors to create eye-catching advertising, art and photo prints.

The combination of Epson Micro Piezo TFP and 10-color set of inks Epson UltraChrome HDR (High Dynamic Range) provides the results needed for graphic designers and professional printing. In addition to cyan, light cyan, vivid magenta, vivid light magenta, yellow, black, gray and light gray inks, Epson UltraChrome HDR inks include orange and green colors, to achieve the accuracy of hues, especially in the spectra from green to yellow and from yellow to red.

Submit to:

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Those craftsmen making real working things out of Lego bricks just don’t stop. Recently, the collection of unusual gadgets has been supplemented by two new models.

The first sample is a circular saw, which case is made of plastic part of the well-known construction kit, while the disc is real with edge blunted for the safety reasons. Upon touching the disk, the rotation of the stops instantly. The authors of this masterpiece, well-known among with Lego fans, are Dave and John Xandegar from briXwerX Studio. On their personal page you can find many other interesting ideas.

Circular saw is good, but what’s the use of the device, if it does saw anyway? Much more interesting is another member of things-made-of-Lego family. It took whole three weeks (the assembly was conducted in the evenings after work), a large number of blocks design, four motors, sensors and prototyping board with a USB-interface for someone nicknamed squirrelfantasy to create this device. You can learn what this enthusiast has made, by looking the video below.

It is known from technical characteristics that the driver for the printer was written by the author, and the printing resolution, in his own words, is about 75 dots per inch. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to find out which markers are compatible with the printer, and which aren’t.

Submit to:

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!