Solving Crimes with Nanotechnology

How does nanotechnology help solve crimes? A revolutionary new technique developed by researchers in Israel now allows us to see hidden fingerprints more easily and quickly. Using gold nanoparticles dissolved in stable organic solution, fingerprints produced by the new solution are high-quality and can be developed just after three minutes. The gold nanoparticles stick to the fingerprint residues through hydrophobic interactions.

The standard way of finding hidden fingerprints currently used by investsigators involves coating the surface with gold particles and developing with a reagent called silver physical developer which reacts to create a black silver precipitate along the fingermark ridges. This developer is unstable and results can vary. With the new gold nanoparticle technique, the recovery of prints on evidence can be greatly improved.

Now it remains to be seen when this technology starts to be used on TV — and in the real world.

Source: Nanotechnology reveals hidden fingerprints

The Real Nanopod

Radios have had a huge impact on civilization in the past century. The invention of radios allowed for communications between ships and later, as an outlet for news and entertainment. More recently, they are being used in cellular phones, wireless computers, and global-positioning systems (GPS). As technology improves, the size of radios have become smaller and smaller. But how small can you get?

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have teamed together to create the first fully functional radio... using a single carbon nanotube! This makes it the smallest radio ever made! This new technology could be useful for wireless communicaion devices as well as medical applications, such as samller hearing aids. Since the entire radio is small enough to "easily fit inside a living cell" and exists in a human's bloodstream, researchers hope to use the tool to interface with brain and muscle functions.

Source: Make Way for the Real Nanopod: Berkeley Researchers Create First Fully Functional Nanotube Radio