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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Month: June 2001

Prototype molecular RAM cell reported

from the molectronics dept.
A team led by Mark Reed of Yale University and James Tour of Rice University have developed a prototype random access computer memory cell in which information is recorded, read and erased by molecular switches. The prototype system uses molecular switches consisting of rod-like organic molecules that carry a current between two gold electrodes.

According to their report, the electrodes make contact over a roughly circular area 30ñ50 millionths of a millimeter wide, which contains about a thousand molecules. All of the molecules are switched together by the voltage pulses applied to the electrodes. So each bit of information is stored in a thousand molecules. The researchers say that if molecules could be wired up individually each molecule encodes a bit. The research was reported in the 4 June 2001 issue of Applied Physics Letters.

James Tour described some aspects of this work at the Eighth Foresight Conference in November 2000.

Free Nanotech Symposium at Stanford July 19

alison writes "On July 19th, Stanford University will host a symposium called "Nanoscale: Just Handful of Atoms." IBM's Don Eigler will speak, followed by a panel discussion including Stanford professors Kyeongjae Cho, Hongjie Dai, Kam Moler and Michael McGehee. "This program is intended for corporations, venture capitalists, engineering and science faculty, alumni and their guests.""

UC Berkeley team creates nanoscale UV lasers

A research team at the University of California at Berkeley has created nanoscale lasers from pure crystals of zinc oxide. The crystals are grown from hot zinc oxide gas using a gold catalyst on sapphire. The process forms regularly spaced nanocrystals, which in turns spurred the growth of pure zinc oxide wires measuring only 20 to 150 nanometers in diameter. The lasers emit blue and ultraviolet light, and operate at room temperature. The team reports its development in the June 8 issue of Science. Additional information is available in this report from United Press International.

Molecular motor may harness Brownian motion

from the random-walk dept.
New research indicates motor proteins inside cells may be able to harness the energy of Brownian motions — random motions caused by thermal energy ñ to move enzymes and other molecules along microtubules inside cells. In a paper published in the May issue of the journal Physical Review E, Georgia Institute of Technology physicist Ronald Fox argues that what appears to be a walk along the microtubule is really random motion cleverly constrained by chemical switching carried out by ATP. Fox believes his work may offer a new mechanism for generating motion in future nanometer-scale machines, in which thermal motion can be harnessed to do useful work.

Note: Some work has already been done to develop nanodevices that take advantage of Brownian motion. See this article on the Scientific American website for details.

Ecologists support "judicious use" of biotech

from the reasonable-caution dept.
The Ecological Society of America (ESA) has released a statement on genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which states the ESA "supports the judicious use of biotechnology." Concerning the release of GMOs, the statement says "Since long-term ecological impacts of GMOs may be extremely difficult to predict or study prior to commercialization, ESA strongly recommends a cautious approach to releasing GMOs into the environment. GMOs should be evaluated and used within the context of a scientifically based regulatory policy that encourages innovation without compromising sound environmental management. The process by which this occurs should be open to public scrutiny."

U.S. military lacks citizen researchers for nanoscience

from the selective-service dept.
According to an article from United Press International ("Lack of scientists hurts nanoresearch", by K. Hearn, 5 June 2001) research in nanoscience at U.S. military laboratories is being hampered a shortage of U.S. citizens trained in physical sciences and by social attitudes about foreign-born scientists. The U.S. military requires that researchers in its laboratories be U.S. citizens. The article also notes that in a speech in April, James Murday, head of the chemistry division at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, said other nations, Singapore and Germany especially, were also having trouble finding qualified scientists to conduct nanoscale research.

DoD awards funds for molecular, optical electronics research

from the light-stuff dept.
The U.S. Department of Defense has selected the Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics at the University at Buffalo to lead a consortium in a five-year, $5 million effort to develop new materials in molecular electronics, photonics and opto-electronics. The consortium also includes researchers at Berkeley, MIT, Yale, and the University of Washington. The grant was awarded under the department's Defense University Research Initiative in Nanotechnology (DURINT) program. The researchers will focus on developing new materials on the molecular and nanometer scale, including theoretical modeling and chemical synthesis, characterization, device fabrication, and testing and integration of components into larger-scale systems. A prime focus is chemical self-assembly. One researcher will self-assembling DNA-templated assembly to organize photonic and electronic nanostructures. One goal is to use the DNA templates to produce nanowires and nanoarrays, which, attached to a substrate, would make up the integrated circuit component of a potential data-storage device.

Quantum effects may outweigh steric hindrance in molecular structures

from the itís-the-little-things dept.
An article in Science News ("Molecular Chemistry Takes a New Twist", by J. Gorman, 2 June 2001) describes new calculations by a research team at Rutgers University that seem to show that a basic tenet of chemistry is wrong: Ethane forms its most stable structure not due to so-called steric effects, but because of a quantum mechanical influence. This research is important because chemists have long attributed many of the structural properties of organic molecules to steric effects. As the article concludes, "Researchers can no longer assume that steric effects play the major role in determining stable forms . . . They should give more attention to quantum mechanical effects when studying biological molecules and processes such as protein folding."

Open Source movement responds to Microsoft

from the ideas-in-the-marketplace dept.
An article in the New York Times recaps the latest in the ideological war of words (and actions) between Microsoft and the Open Source/Free Software movement ("New Economy: Open-Source Movement Advances", by L. Flynn, 4 June 2001).

According to the article, "Microsoft has reason for concern, particularly where corporate clients are concerned. Despite the company's efforts to curb the movement, support for open-source software continues to grow here and abroad, led primarily by I.B.M."

The article also quotes a piece by Eben Moglen, a law professor at Columbia and general counsel for the Free Software Foundation: "Microsoft, which used to say all the time that the software business was ruthlessly competitive, is now matched against a competitor whose model of production and distribution is so much better that Microsoft stands no chance of prevailing in the long run. They're simply trying to scare people out of dealing with a competitor they can't buy, can't intimidate and can't stop." Moglenís comments were written in response to a speech in May 2001 by Craig Mundie, a senior vice president at Microsoft

Defining Nanotechnology

from the it's-about-time dept.
SteveLenhert at nanotech.about.com writes "Encyclopedia Nanotech is an attempt to minimize confusion resulting from interdisciplinary terminology. Recently I redefined assembler the way I understand the concept and introduced two specific types of assemblers – self-assembler and directed assembler. I'm also trying to clarify the concepts of self-replication and self-assembly. I welcome any suggested definitions of words relating to nanotechnology – in particular, the word nanotechnology itself!"

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