I have previously talked about nanotubes (tube like structures, e.g. composed of carbon atoms, of the order of 10^-8 meters in size) in several of my previous posts (NanoTube Fuel Cell, One Minute Recharge, Fuel From Water). Nanotechnology offers a lots of benefits, including minute robots, faster computers, and stronger materials. However, scientists must understand the nanotube behavior under all circumstances (temperature, pressure) to be able to fully harness its potential benefits.

Poking a nanotube (Courtesy: PhysOrg)In a recent study, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, IBM Watson Research Center and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland, found that while nanotubes are extremely stiff when pulled from the ends, they give when poked in the middle. The softness is dependent on the radius of the tube. The findings (published in the journal Physical Review Letters) are extremely important for the development of nano-electronics and nano-materials.
Using an atomic force microscope (AFM) and testing it with a tip of 35 nanometers in radius, researchers lightly prodded the nanotubes to measure the elasticity. Understanding just how much these nanotubes of various sizes and layers can bend is an important step in the development of nanoelectronics and the nanowires that carry electrical current through them. Recently, a team of scientists at the University of California, Irvine, demonstrated that transistors made of single-walled nanotubes can operate at much faster speeds than traditional transistors. Knowing just how far these tubes can bend may lead to even more efficient nanowires.
Such fundamental research on the behavior of nanotubes is necessary, as only by knowing the full range of its behavior can scientists finally hope to use the technology in future materials, computers, and almost everything else.