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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Month: December 2001

Small Times article on Nanogate in Germany

KPalmquist writes "Small Times reports today on the need for nano start-ups to include solid business professionals and leave the science to the scientists. The article focuses on German company Nanogate, which already has four commercial applications on the market. Full story is here."

International Law vs. Human Cloning

from the What-would-Jerry-Lewis-Say? dept.
ChrisPhoenix writes "It seems that France doesn't like human cloning at all. Some prominent people over there are even calling for making international law and/or establishing an international court for bioethical violations that would be able to take action even if the "violation" were not illegal in the jurisdiction where it was done.

On one hand, those who think that nanotech needs at least a little worldwide regulation can hope that science controversies may spur the creation of regulatory bodies.

On the other hand, those who worry about luddites blocking important technologies now have more to worry about.

The story appeared in "French Advances in Science and Technology".
This link will hopefully get you to the right issue (#297).

Chris"

Silicon Valley should expect nanotech boom

from the jostling-for-nano-position dept.
An article in the San Francisco Chronicle (Dec. 7) reports that Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network, a nonpartisan public policy group, is advising Silicon Valley to prepare for the next boom, described as being based on biotech, infotech, and of course nanotech. "Nanotechnology, the development of ultra-small mechanical components is another research area poised to take off. But Silicon Valley is competing with such places as Boston and San Diego to establish itself as the commercial center for these emerging technologies." The "mechanical" slant here reflects Foresight's main interest area of molecular manufacturing, as opposed to the mainstream which currently focuses more on nanoelectronics.

UTD announces nanotech collaboration with Canada

from the World-Watch dept.
According to a press release (6 December 2001), the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) has agreed to explore ways to collaborate on nanotechnology research with the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada and the University of Alberta.
Following a Canadian trade mission to Dallas on 28 November headed by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, UTD and Canadian officials signed a letter of intent to foster the exchange of scientific and technical knowledge about nanotechnology, identify opportunities for collaborative research and technology transfer and develop scientific and technical capabilities in nanotechnology applications in energy, computers and life sciences.

The University of Alberta was chosen in August 2001 as the host for the NRC National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT), news of which was noted here on 27 August and 15 November 2001.

The agreement is similar to one reached last month between UTD and Jilin University in China, which also emphasized cooperative research and other academic efforts in the field of nanotechnology.

Rice workshop to examine environmental impacts of nanotech

If you will be in the Houston, Texas area on Monday, 10 December 2001, consider attending a workshop on "Nanotechnology and Environment: An Examination of the Potential Benefits and Perils of an Emerging Technology" that will be presented by the Rice University Energy and Environmental Systems Institute (EESI), which is co-sponsoring the workshop with the Office for Science and Technology of the French Embassy USA. Rice is hosting the workshop in affiliation with its new Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN), one of six major Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centers recently announced by the National Science Foundation and the first to focus on applications of nanoscience to biology and the environment. The workshop will also include a second day that will be "a closed-door session in which scientists will confer on priorities for research in the field, resulting in a research priorities briefing document."
The first day of the workshop is free and open to the public. It will be held from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. in Anne and Charles Duncan Hall, McMurtry Auditorium, 6100 Main Street. A reception and poster session will be held from 5 to 6 p.m. Preregistration is not required. A speakers list, schedule, and additional information can be found on the EESI website.

Finding a rational approach to nanotech opportunities and dangers

Glenn Reynolds, a professor of law at the University of Tennessee and a Foresight Board member, comments on the recent attention from both policy makers and the media to the potential opportunities and dangers of nanotechnology in an article on the TechCentral Station website ("Donít Be Afraid. Donít Be Very Afraid: Nanotechnology Worries Are Overblown", 6 December 2001). His conclusion:
"Overall, the best defense against the abuse of nanotechnology by terrorists, rogue governments, or anyone else is a combination: reasonable regulations to foster responsibility and safety, governments willing to police abuses by terrorists or other governments, and a world order in which such acts are discouraged in general. Weíre quite a distance from these factors, but fortunately we have at least a couple of decades to get there. Itís time to start working."

Reynolds' comments about facing the potential dangers of nanotechnology without undue fear and loathing were also reported in a piece on the Wired website ("Don't Fear Science You Can't See"). Reynolds also had a similar discussion in Ad Astra, the magazine of the National Space Society ("Space, Nanotechnology and Techno-Worries", Jan/Feb 2001; available as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file).
"Rather than too much technology," he writes, "perhaps the problem is that we have too little. In the early days of nanotechnology, dangerous technologies may enjoy an advantage. Once the technology matures, it is likely that dangerous uses can be contained. The real danger of the sort of limits Joy proposes is that they may retard the development of constructive technologies, thus actually lengthening the window of vulnerability." Reynolds concludes that Bill Joy may have done a service by drawing greater attention to both the dangers and the opportunities of nanotechnology, but: "If the debate is to accomplish anything, however, it will have to proceed on a more informed level."

Kadamose (G-Man calls for censoring offensive posts)

from the (Sigh) dept.
G-Man writes: "To whom it concerns,

this is a complaint about one your nanodot.org users, his userID is Kadamose. I only wish to bring to your attention some rather questionable comments, one's such as,

"Couldn't have said it better myself. Personally, I don't give a shit about the Sept.11 attacks, mainly because I know that we all deserved it – and hell, we were warned a month ahead of time but nothing was taken seriously, and thus, the arrogant fools are paying for it. I'm actually surprised we weren' attacked years ago…most Americans are ignorant dickheads (especially our braindead politicians) and the world would definitely be alot better off without them." [Editor's note: for the sake of context, the comments appeared here.]

I find and, I'm sure, most people will find comments like this to be offensive, not due to his language but more of what has happened to the US in the past couple of months. I for one had lived in New York and don't appreciate what he has to say.

Is there anyway we can have him removed from this forum?

Thanks for your time."

AAAS will hold symposium on national security and scientific freedom

The American Association for the Advancement of Science will hold a day-long symposium on "The War On Terrorism: What Does It Mean for Science?" on 18 December 2001 in Washington, D.C.
K. Eric Drexler, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing and Foresight Board Chair, will be participating in a panel discussion during the symposium.

For some background, read the Foresight Position Statement on Avoiding High-Tech Terrorism, and an open letter from Dr. Drexler on "Nanotechnology: Six Lessons from Sept. 11".

NSET head takes an international view of NT development

from the World-Watch dept.
A paper presented by M.C. Roco at the symposium on Global Nanotechnology Networking, at the International Union of Materials Meeting, 28 August 2001, gives a high-level view for the potential for international cooperation and coordination of nanotechnology research and development efforts. The paper, "International Strategy for Nanotechnology Research and Development", which previously appeared in the Journal of Nanoparticle Research, is available as a MS Word (.doc) file (about 110 Kb). Roco is Senior Advisor for Nanotechnology at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and Chair of the U.S. National Science and Technology Council's subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology (NSET), the coordinating body of the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative.

U.S. nanotech centers putting up web sites

The six new national Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centers (NSECs) established by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) in September 2001 have begun establishing their presence on the web. For more information about the research programs at the centers, visit the websites:

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