Nanoscience's Master Mechanic

This fall, UC Berkeley is launching a new $11.9 million center for researchers to design and test novel motors, sensors, batteries, and other mechanical components. What will set this center apart from most engineering endeavors is that none of the devices built there will be visible without an electron microscope. The Center of Integrated Nanomechanical Systems (COINS) aims to develop a storehouse of mechanical components hundreds of times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. Physics professor Alex Zettl is leading the charge, having recently demonstrated a conveyor belt for ferrying atoms, the world's smallest nanomotor, and an oscillator based on drops of liquid metal that weight just one-quadrillionth of a gram.

Glowing Research on Brain Diseases

Growing old can be scary. An estimated 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease and two million suffer from Parkinson's disease. As the population ages and life expectancy increases, the number of people with neurodegenerative diseases will skyrocket. For example, the Alzheimer's Association predicts that by 2050, as many as 16 million people could have the disease. UC Berkeley chemistry professor Chris Chang is developing novel optical probes that may shed light on how neurodegenerative diseases slowly devastate the brain. Eventually, the insights could aid in the quest for new treatments.

Weathering Climate Variability

When it comes to weather, most of us are only concerned with the forecast. UC Berkeley professor Lynn Ingram is more interested in old news. Very old. She studies how California's climate has changed over thousands of years. Her research could help prepare us for what tomorrow's weather may bring.

Alexander Zettl holds a model of a carbon nanotube, the molecular basis for his nanoscale devices. (courtesy Berkeley Lab)