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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Month: September 2001

DARPA funds collaborative quantum computing center

According to a press release on 10 September 2001, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), part of the U.S. Department of Defense, is funding a five-year project that will establish a Quantum Architecture Research Center between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the University of California campuses at UC Davis and UC Berkeley. The project will examine possible methods to build a super fast computer that uses the properties of quantum physics. Primary researchers include computer scientists Fred Chong of the University of California, Davis, Isaac Chuang at MIT and John Kubiatowicz at UC Berkeley. Additonal details can be found on the project website, hosted at MIT.

UC Davis researchers look at trust in data communications

According to a press release from 10 September 2001, computer security researchers at the University of California at Davis are studying a system that lets exposed, "untrusted" machines go on providing useful, accurate information, even though they might have been infiltrated and compromised. Their method invokes a digital signature from a "trusted" computer that can help verify the integrity of data received from an "untrusted" computer.

An update on JINN nanotech research

An article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ("UW, Richland lab join in brave new world of nano", by T. Paulson, 10 September 2001) provides an updated look at the work at the Joint Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (JINN), which was established by the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington in May 2001.

Lux Capital forms partnership for nanotech merchant bank

According to a press release on 10 September 2001, Lux Capital, a venture capital firm based in New York with a strong emphasis on nanotechnology, and McGovern Capital LLC have partnered to form Angstrom Partners LLC, a merchant bank providing intellectual property, corporate advisory and investment banking services to clients in the emerging nanotechnology industry. Angstrom Partners was formed as a Joint Venture between Lux Capital and McGovern Capital, a Greenwich and New York-based investment firm focused on capital formation, strategic transactions and alliances, and intellectual property.

Lux also released a major investor-oriented report on nanotechnology in August 2001.

More on superconducting buckyballs

from the Current-events dept.
An article in the New York Times ("Buckyball Success May Lead the Way to Practical New Superconductors", by K. Chang, 11 September 2001) provides some interesting background and details on research into (relatively) high-temperature superconductors made from fullerenes ("buckyballs") which was reported in August 2001.

Rice nanotech researchers offer lighthearted look at chemistry

from the But-is-it-art? dept.
A group of chemists, computer programmers and animators "who believe that science can be art and art can be science", led by molecular electronics researcher James Tour, a professor of chemistry at Rice University, have launched the NANOArtworks website. Although little actual content available on the site as yet, it appears to be aimed at providing a lighthearted look at chemistry for younger students and a general audience.

According to the siteís blurb, the members of the group "believe that chemistry is fun. So fun that we want to share our interest throughout the world by the means of Benny the NanoBoy in the land of Nanoput. In his upcoming movies, you'll not only enjoy the 3D animation and comical storylines, but you'll also walk away with a new-found interest in chemistry."

U.S. Army may use nanotech materials

A number of people spotted the item from Associated Press from 10 September 2001 on the proposed use of nanotech-derived materials in U.S. Army combat uniforms. According to the article, "To help soldiers survive, the U.S. Army is developing a new generation of combat uniforms using tiny, doctored fibers that let air through while blocking toxins from chemical and biological weapons . . . The 'chemical protective overgarment,' expected to ship in as little as two years, is one of the early uses of nanotechnology."

The proposed new uniform is part of the U.S. Armyís Soldier Nanotechnologies program, which was announced in June 2001.

Purdue highlights new nanotech center

Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, has raised $51 million for the construction of the Birck Nanotechnology Center, according to a major press release issued on 7 September 2001. Additional information about the new center can be found in this related article. The center will be named for Michael and Katherine Birck, who contributed $30 million for Purdue nanotech center. Additional information about faculty research in nanoscience at Purdue is also available.

More investor interest

Two items join the drumbeat of coverage on the increasing interest by investors and venture capital firms in nanotechnology.

The first, from Small Times, covers a report issued by investment brokerage firm Merrill Lynch to its clients ("Merrill Lynch report bullish on nanotech as an investment", by Jeff Karoub, 7 September 2001). The report follows in the wake of a number of similar investment-oriented analyses of nanotechnology that have been issued in recent months.

A second report, from Tornado Insider ("Small is Big", by Alan R. Katz, 31 August 2001) provides a European perspective.

Economics and Abundance

DavidMasterson writes "Being relatively new to the issues of nanotechnology, I have no story to offer, but I would like to see a greater discussion of the economics associated with a world of abundance that (supposedly) nanotechnology (and related technologies) will provide. In particular, I wonder what all the billions of people on Earth will do to "make a living" when their needs are taken care of through nanotechnology. It's obvious that there will be a small number of people who will be able to "profit" (for lack of a better word) from the development of nanotechnology, but what about the millions (or billions) of other people whose jobs will be displaced by nanotechnology? Where will these people make their living?"

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