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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Month: December 2000

Gates says computers will not save the world

from the atoms-not-bits dept.
Senior Associate Brian Hall [brian] writes "Will computer technology save the world? Not according to Mr. Gates. From this article at The Observer, Bill says he's been "very, very naive" about the promises of Technology in helping the billions of people in the world whose greatest question is NOT things like Linux vs. M$, but rather is there any food to eat or clean water to drink? As an idealist, this is good news(tm) since Bill's bucks could actually make a difference."

Physicist Michio Kaku dismissive of nanotech

from the man-will-never-fly dept.
David Coutts writes from Australia: "I'm reading "Visions" by Michio Kaku (co-founder of string field theory), the paperback edition published in 1997 by Anchor Books…The purpose of this [post] is to focus briefly on his handling of nanotechnology, which comes under the Quantum Revolution heading. I found his treatment (pages 266 to 273) curiously dismissive… Feynman's famous article is mentioned, but no mention of Engines of Creation or Nanosystems, nor the Foresight Institute. Instead, he agrees with critics who say that "the claims are as breathtaking as their results are meager"… He concludes by saying that "the jury is out", and nanotechnology remains "purely speculative at this point". Has anyone else read the book? If so, what did you think of his treatment of nanotechnology? I would love to see someone from the Foresight Institute refute Mr Kaku paragraph by paragraph. As a layman, I felt that he had already made up his mind and therefore only interviewed those whose minds were similiarly opposed… " Read More for the full post.

"The New Nanofrontier" in Scientific American

from the our-old-friends-at-SciAm dept.
Robert Trombatore writes "Scientific American has come a long way in the past few years from when they basically took the position that any of the MNT technologies Foresight founder Eric Drexler proposed were improbable at best. While they still aren't ready to leap to defend MNT, the tone of this article is much more positive in comparison. Starting with an overview of recent breakthroughs in nanotech and then going into detail about 3 specific breakthroughs, this piece helps illustrate just how far "mainstream" scientific acceptance of MNT has come. There are a couple of disparaging comments such as "In June, nanotechnologists from the Foresight Institute–a think tank where Drexler is chair–followed suit, issuing their own prophylactic guidelines to stop goo. But other scientists–many of whom air their views in news items that accompany Science's special section–dismiss the grim predictions." This shows that while Scientific American has come a long way, the editors still feel it necessary to make light of some of the issues surrounding nanotech."

"Natural nanomotors" of tin from Sandia Labs

from the who-knew-tin-would-become-high-tech? dept.
An AAAS press release describes a "natural nanomotor" using metal. Excerpts: "The discovery of dancing tin, reported 24 November 2000 in Science's Nanotechnology Issue, may promise surprisingly efficient nanomotors, if researchers can harness this chemical locomotion system. By manipulating the surface energies that drive tin crystals to move across copper, it might also be possible to control such movements, thereby forcing alloys to form desired nanoshapes, according to researchers with the Sandia National Laboratories…Schmid's research 'can be viewed as a direct observation of a nanomotor,' according to a Science Perspectives essay… How powerful are these natural nanomotors? Tin islands crank out roughly 0.3 horsepower per kilogram of weight…By comparison, a car's power-to-weight ratio is about 0.1 hp/kg–making the natural nanomotors more efficient, in theory. 'The challenge,' they concluded, 'is to devise nanomotors whose motion can be controlled externally (so that they can be used to move things around at will) and that can be refueled.' " See the Quicktime movie.

Supercharged liver cells for artificial liver

from the now-we-can-abuse-our-livers-with-confidence dept.
University Science News reports: "The first successful demonstration that liver cells can function at an elevated level outside the human body has been achieved…Her [UCSD Prof. Sangeeta Bhatia's] work could lead to the creation of an external artificial liver device able to effectively hold patients over until transplantation. Of the individuals dying from liver disease each year, most are on a waiting list for a new liver. A full-functioning device would also assist patients requiring another transplant due to a second liver failure, keeping them alive in between livers. Finally, according to Bhatia, 'The third application of this technology, which is the real Holy Grail, is to utilize a functional extracorporeal artificial liver to keep patients alive long enough for their liver to recover, thus avoiding an expensive and risky transplant. The liver is one of the only organs in the body that can actually regenerate itself.' " For more on this work, see the researcher's website.

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