Marek T. Michalewicz writes:
"Dear Nanotechnologists,
At the Spring Foresight Senior Associate Meeting I pledged to give my electronic structure code for public use. Long overdue, but here it is.
I hope the program will be useful to some.
Marek T. Michalewicz
Quantum Precision Instruments Pty. Ltd."
Read more for details on the code and how to access it on the web.
An article in the Philadelphia Business Journal (ì$1.3M raised to aid area nanotechnologyî, by J. George, 16 November 2001) reports a coalition of Philadelphia-area universities, economic development groups and businesses have raised $1.32 million to bolster efforts to turn the region into a nanotechnology hub. A portion of the money will be used to develop associate degree programs in nanotechnology at community colleges in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. A coalition led by the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and Ben Franklin Technology Partners has received a $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation under its "Partnerships for Innovation" program. That grant was augmented by a $300,000 matching grant from the state of Pennsylvania, $300,000 from Ben Franklin Technology Partners and $118,000 from five corporate partners. Last year, The Pennsylvania Technology Investment Authority awarded the coalition a three-year, $10.5 million grant for the creation of a Nanotechnology Institute that would link university researchers and businesses developing molecular-scale technologies.
from the Molectronics dept.
The Lucent Bell Laboratories research team that reported they had succeeded in creating transistor with a single molecule channel length in November have published their results in the 7 December 2001 issue of Science ("Field-Effect Modulation of the Conductance of Single Molecules", v294, p 2138-2140). That work was previously reported here on 8 November 2001.
An article in Technology Research News ("Single molecule drives transistor", by Eric Smalley, 12 December 2001) provides some background, as well as some quotes from the researchers.
An article in the Houston Chronicle ("Nanotech encounters new barrier: Environmental risks rise as costs decline", by Eric Berger, 11 December 2001) provides brief coverage of the workshop on "Nanotechnology and Environment: An Examination of the Potential Benefits and Perils of an Emerging Technology" held by the Rice University Energy and Environmental Systems Institute (EESI), which co-sponsored the workshop with the Office for Science and Technology of the French Embassy USA. Rice hosted the workshop in affiliation with its new Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN).
According to the article, "Scientists working in the realm of the ultra-small are concerned about the artificial material becoming an environmental pollutant. During a conference Monday at Rice University, nearly a dozen scientists spoke of nanotechnology's potential environmental risks, such as increasing the amount of pesticides a fish might ingest." The article consistently refers to possible nanotechnology devices as "the material", as if it were a single uniform substance . . . (sigh). The article did include some interesting quotes that highlight the current lack of knowledge on the possible environmental impacts of nanotechnology:
[Note: The Houston Chronicle cuts off access after a certain period. If the above link is broken, the article is also available on the Hoovers News website.]
Thereís a brief article on the Wired Magazine website ("Nanotech's Pitch for Megabucks", by Declan McCullagh, 15 December 2001) that provides additional coverage of the panel-discussion-as-lobbying-session presented at the U.S. Capitol by the NanoBusiness Alliance on 13 December 2001. According to the article, one person whom the Nanobusiness Alliance invited to speak at Thursday's panel discussion was Meyya Meyyappan, director of the Nanotechnology Research Center at NASA Ames. "If (corporations) know it's going to take 15 years, why are they going to invest?" Meyyappan said. "The role has traditionally come through government funding. That's a role, knowledge creation."
The article also quotes Foresight President Chris Peterson: "The fraction of federal funding going to the universities that result in products in the marketplace is not high. Even though the fraction is not high, it may be an excellent investment in the sense that the payoff is high." . . . Looking toward the future, Peterson said, "Eventually nanotechnology will bring up unique regulatory challenges." But she added: "It's not necessary today. There is no need to be concerned either way, if you're afraid of the regulation or if you want it."
Brian Wang writes "http://www.aip.org/mgr/png/2001/143.htm TRACKING DNA MOTION WITH PICOMETER ACCURACY. Scientists don't have to settle for averaged results when studying tiny things with x rays. In x-ray diffraction, for example, a crystallized sample with billions of molecules scatters the x rays into a characteristic pattern of spots on a detector which is then decoded to yield lattice structure information. A team of Japanese scientists have developed a method, which they call diffracted x- ray tracking (DXT), in which the bobbing Brownian motion of single nanocrystallites in water are watched by tracking scattered x rays; with this method one acquires information not about the position but the rotary motion of single nanoparticles (Sasaki et al., Physical Review E, September 2000). Now the process has been extended to single DNA molecules, whose Brownian motion can be tracked, for the first time, with a precision of picometers, or 10^-15 m (see figure at http://www.aip.org/mgr/png). The researchers will soon broaden their measurements of important biomolecules. For example, they hope to observe the structural changes accompanying the activation of ion channels in living cells. (Sasaki et al., Physical Review Letters, 10 December 2001; contact Yuji Sasaki, Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, [email protected], 81-791-58-0831.)"
from the great-minds-think-alike dept.
Adam Burke writes "I recently read this account of Thomas Edison describing utility fog, and thought it may appeal to Foresight members, who share his enthusiasm for technology:
Edison had spoken one day at dinner
. . . as if out of a great revery, saying what a great thing it would be if a man could have all the component atoms of himself under complete control, detachable and adjustable at will. "For instance," he explained, "then I could say to one particular atom in me – call it atom No. 4320 – 'Go and be part of a rose for a while.' All the atoms could be sent off to become parts of different minerals, plants, and other substances. Then, if by just pressing a little button they could be called back together again, they would bring back their experiences while they were parts of those different substances, and I should have the benefit of the knowledge."
This originally appeared in an article in Harper's Magazine (issue 80, 1890) by George Lathrop, and is recounted in Paul Israel's 1998 biography of Edison."
An article on the Small Times website ("NanoBusiness Alliance goes to Washington", by D. Brown, 14 December 2001) provides coverage of a brief panel presentation sponsored by the NanoBusiness Alliance (NBA) in Washington, D.C. on 13 December 2001. The panel presented background information on nanotechnology to U.S. House of Representatives and Senate staffers, lobbyists and policy wonks as part of the NBAís efforts to influence U.S. government policy on nanotechnology-related issues. At a press conference earlier in the day, the NBA also announced that former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich will join the organization as its honorary chairman.
In a press release (12 December 2001), researchers with MetaPhore Pharmaceuticals, Inc. of St. Louis, MO and the University of Messina (Italy) announced that the companyís artificial enzyme significantly reduced the extent and severity of inflammation and tissue damage to the intestinal wall in an animal model of colitis. The study suggests that MetaPhoreís artificial molecule, which mimics the action of the enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD), may have potential in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a group of disorders that cause inflammation or ulceration of the digestive tract.
Previous studies on the use of the artificial enzymes were covered here in July 2001.
from the Friday-frivolity dept.
planetp writes "I just wanted to inform everyone who hasn't already seen this fantasic new software program to give it a look. Its called MojoWorld by Pandromeda and was started by Doc "Mojo" Musgrave who worked with Benoit Mendelbrot and who is credited with being the first to implement multifractals. You can download the Mojo Transporter for free and explore the six planets that come with it. The Real-Time flying alone is worth several all-nighters – of which I can attest! 🙂 With the ability to explore entire planets to scale in detail as little as rocks, rendering to both image and full scale animation in achinging beautiful detail, this program is a genuine breatkthrough. Doc Mojo syas that the program is so power-hungry that he couldn't have released it even a year earlier. Given future speeds in desktop computation REAL VR will have finally arrived.
The site has lots of beautiful, alien and extremely realistic earthlike renderings that will make you drool for the power to create your own planets."
