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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Month: June 2004

Feynman Prize 2004 Nominations due June 30

The deadline to nominate a colleague to be considered for the prestigious Foresight Institute Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology is Wednesday, June 30, 2004. Established in honor of Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman, two prizes, one for theory and one for experimental work, will be awarded. These prizes recognize researchers whose recent work have most advanced the achievement of Feynman's vision for nanotechnology: molecular manufacturing, defined as the construction of atomically-precise products through the use of molecular machine systems.

A Spinach-Powered Laptop?

Roland Piquepaille writes "In "Could laptops run on spinach?," Nature reports that researchers from the MIT have made solar cells powered by spinach proteins. These prototype solar cells which transform light into 'green' energy could be used one day to coat and power your laptop. There is still work to be done before becoming a commercial product. Right now, the prototype delivers current for only three weeks. And they are not very efficient, converting only 12% of the light they absorb into electricity. However, these spinach-powered solar cells are better for our environment than silicon solar cells. And according to Science News Online, in "Protein Power: Solar cell produces electricity from spinach and bacterial proteins," they also have the potential to be self-repairing. The research work has been published by Nano Letters (Vol. 4, No. 6, Pp. 1079 – 1083, June 2004). If you are a subscriber, you may access the paper, named "Integration of Photosynthetic Protein Molecular Complexes in Solid-State Electronic Devices," by going to this page. You'll find more details and references in this overview."

Nanotechnology used to destroy tumors in mice

Tim writes "Medical News Today has a short article about some interesting work being done with nanoscale 'shells' at Rice University. The study shows promising results in cancer treatment using near-infrared light to heat these shells once they have accumulated in cancerous tissue. The article can be found at Nanoshells cancer treatment proves effective in first animal test" Also, see similar article at BetterHumans: Nanoshells Burn Up Cancer in Animals.

Would You Like a Bouquet of Nanoflowers?

Roland Piquepaille writes "Today, you'll see the most beautiful scientific pictures of the year. The winner of a photographic contest recently organized by the Department of Engineering of the University of Cambridge is Ghim Wei Ho, a PhD student in nanotechnology, for absolutely fabulous pictures of what she calls 'nanoflowers' or 'nanotrees.' In"Physicists reveal first 'nanoflowers'," the Institute of Physics says these nanostructures of silicon carbide are grown from droplets of gallium on a silicon surface. Not only these images are stunning, they also show cutting-edge nanotechnology research. And these nanoflowers will be used in new exciting applications, such as water repellant coatings or new types of solar cells. Several fantastic pictures are available in this photo gallery, which also contains other references to the research project which led to these stunning images."

Cars To Be Assembled with Atomic Precision

Roland Piquepaille writes "In this article, the Detroit News says that the adoption of nanotechnology by car manufacturers will produce safer, lighter and cheaper vehicles. While GM is already using nanocomposite materials for several vans, Ford is developing new nanoengineered catalysts to replace platinum. The newspaper gives other examples, such as auto-adaptive suspension systems, scratch-resistant paints or nanocoated windshields which will not crack. In fact, all parts in a car can be improved by using nanotechnology, according to the article. And if automakers are only going to introduce limited amounts of nanotechnology-related products in the next few years, their usage should be widespread within ten years. More details are available in this overview."

BBC Radio Nanotech Series

Anonymous Coward writes "BBC Radio 4 is currently airing a series called "Small Worlds" which deals with a new nanotechnology issue each Wednesday at 9:00pm. All the programmes are available for download at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/smallworlds.sh tml. Towards the end of the second programme the "Sticky Fingers" argument is used by George Whitesides to dismiss the prospect of Nanoscale machines."

'Nanodumbbells' for Self-Assembly Nanostructures

Roland Piquepaille writes "A group of chemists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has developed 'nanodumbbells' — gold-tipped nanocrystals which can be used as building blocks for future electronic devices. These 'nanodumbbells', which are shaped like mini-weightlifting bars, will apparently solve two nanotechnological problems: assembling billions of nanocrystals into a single integrated electrical circuit; and provide good electrical contact. And they will be used to create self-assembling chain structures of nanocrystals. This overview provides other details, pictures and references about this project. [Additional note, totally unrelated to the scientific content: there is not a single reference to 'nanodumbbells' by Google, at least right now when I'm typing this.]"

Bill Joy in NYT: require insurance for risky research

Senior Associate JohnHeron writes "In an article from NYT Magazine written by Jon Gertner, Bill Joy, of Sun, vi and BSD fame, continued his warnings against the dangers of unfettered research and access to information in nanotech and biotech research. Joy believes that high risk research should be regulated. "He says he believes that businesses doing research in areas deemed risky by their peers should be forced to take out insurance against catastrophes. He also says that science guilds should have the authority to limit access to potentially dangerous ideas. 'Perhaps some knowledge won't be made public,' Joy says. 'Perhaps there would be secrets. You know, you couldn't just get the code to the plague or the flu if you wanted it.' "

'Lab-on-a-chip' to Detect Life Forms in Space

Roland Piquepaille writes "Researchers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) are using 'lab-on-a-chip' technology for medical testing and are customizing them to use in space to detect bacteria and life forms on other planets. These chips will also be used to protect astronauts aboard a spacecraft by detecting microbes and contaminants. These microarray diagnostic chips are very small. They also are inexpensive because they share the fabrication technology used to print circuits on computer chips. Therefore, a Martian expedition will be able to embark a very large number of these chips to secure the mission. More details and references are available in this overview, which includes a photograph of a NASA biochip."

Picoscale Microscopy

Jerry Fass writes "Physicists in Germany make atomic force microscope able to image features under 100 picometres (0.1 nanometer) across. New "higher-harmonic" force microscope uses one carbon atom as a probe, resolution is at least three times more than standard scanning tunnelling microscopes. http://physicsweb.org/article/news/8/6/6/"

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