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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Month: February 2002

Dekker wins Springer Award for molectronics work

According to an article in Die Welt ("Julius-Springer-Preis für die Erforschung von Nanoröhrchen", 4 February 2002, in German), Cees Dekker, a physicist in the Netherlands, has been awarded this yearís Julius Springer Prize in Applied Physics for his work on the electrical properties of carbon nanotubes and their application in molecular electronic circuits. Recent coverage of this work by Dekker and his colleagues ran here on Nanodot on 13 November, 8 August, and 5 July 2001

The award to Dekker marks the second time in recent years that the Springer Prize in Applied Physics has gone to researchers in molecular electronics. In June 2000, HP Labs researcher Stanley Williams and his UCLA collaborator Jim Heath received the award, one of the most prestigious international awards in the field, for their work in nanotechnology and molecular electronics.

Talk by Montemagno covered in Halifax Daily News

A brief item in The Daily News of Halifax, Canada ("Tiny science no small matter", by Andrea MacDonald, 2 February 2002) describes a lecture by Carlo Montemagno, who studies biological molecular motor systems at UCLA and the California NanoSystems Institute, at Dalhousie University. According to the article, ìThereís a bright future for people who want to look at the business of molecular process,î Montemagno told his audience. Itís difficult to tell whether the writer or Montemagno had tongue in cheek regarding the articleís conclusion: Itís a golden opportunity for nations such as Canada to climb on board, Mantemagno said, as an investment of tens of millions of dollars is all thatís needed to be competitive.

Spectrum article on modular reconfigurable robots

While itís not nanotechnology, an article in the February 2002 issue of the IEEE Spectrum deals with research into robotics that may eventually be useful in designing swarms of nano-scale robots. "Modular Robots", by Mark Yim, Ying Zhang and David Duff from the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) describe the challenges of designing robots capable of operating outdoors, away from civilization, where both mission and geography are unpredictable. "Here," they authors maintain, "robots with the ability to change their shape could be of great value, since they could adapt to constantly varying tasks and environments. Modular reconfigurable robots — experimental systems made by interconnecting multiple, simple, similar units–can perform such shape shifting."
The article deals mainly with their own work on PolyBot, a modular robot being developed at Xerox PARC, but makes brief mention of work at other labs as well.

Bush Administration proposes $679 million for NNI

As part of the US$2.13 trillion budget proposed for the U.S. federal government for fiscal year 2003, the Bush Administration has requested a total of $679 million for the multi-agency National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), a 17 percent increase over FY2002.

The request includes:

According to the Analytical Perspectives: Budget of the United States Government, a document which discusses the Administrationís budge proposals in detail:

The budget provides $679 million for the multi-agency National Nanotechnology Initiative, a 17 percent increase over 2002. The initiative focuses on long-term research on the manipulation of matter down to the atomic and molecular levels, giving us unprecedented building blocks for new classes of devices as small as molecules and machines as small as human cells. This research could lead to continued improvement in electronics for information technology; higher-performance, lower-maintenance materials for defense, transportation, space, and environmental applications; and accelerated biotechnical applications in medicine, healthcare, and agriculture. In 2003, the initiative will focus on fundamental nanoscale research through investments in investigator-led activities, centers and networks of excellence, as well as the supporting infrastructure. Priority areas include: research to enable efficient nanoscale manufacturing; innovative nanotechnology solutions for detection of and protection from biological-chemical-radiological-explosive agents; the education and training of a new generation or workers for future industries; and partnerships and other policies to enhance industrial participation in the nanotechnology revolution. The convergence of nanotechnology with information technology, modern biology and social sciences will reinvigorate discoveries and innovation in many areas of the economy.

The document is available online as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file (about 3.2 Mb). Additional budget documents are available at the White House/Office of Management and Budget (OMB) website.

It is worth noting that the document also mentions the following areas that will be addressed by the U.S. Information Technology Initiative: "trust" (security, reliability, and privacy); high-assurance software and systems; and micro- and embedded sensor technologies.

Proposed modification to Sloan-Kettering nanogener

WillWare writes "Last November there was a press release (16 November 2001) about a potential cancer treatment agent called a nanogenerator, under development at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, with subsequent discussion here at Nanodot. The treatment involves a monoclonal antibody connected to a radioactive actinium atom. The antibody somehow targets cancer cells selectively, so that the decaying actinium is brought into the cell. The actinium releases four alpha particles as it decays, which are energetic enough to usually kill the cell. The timing of these particles follows a Poisson distribution over time, so the material must be prepared and transported on a careful schedule.

It would be nice if the actinium atom could be replaced by something that could be activated from an energy source external to the patient's body. This would allow for long-term storage, rather than needing to process the stuff soon before treatment. The absorption spectrum for water alternates several times between transparent and opaque, so it should be possible to get energy to the "weapon" using EM radiation that has minimal effect on surrounding tissue.

One strategy could be to use a benign molecule that breaks into toxic pieces when stimulated. This would be a one-time use weapon. This would leave the question of ensuring that the toxic products would not do further damage after the cancer cell was killed.

If the weapon could be fired repeatedly, it would overcome the limitation that actinium releases only four alpha particles. The function of the weapon itself could be merely to transduce received EM energy to a frequency that is absorbed by water, thereby heating and hopefully killing the cancer cell. It may be possible to find such a transducer simply by searching databases of known molecules and their absorption spectra."

ACS reports advances in nanowire production methods

According to a press release (1 February 2002) from the American Chemical Society (ACS), two independent groups have published reports in Nano Letters, an ACS publication, on methods for making lattices that they say will enable nanowires to be constructed with otherwise incompatible materials. Such mixed bundles may be useful in making electronics and other devices on an increasingly smaller scale:

In both cases, manufacture is relatively straightforward and results in stable nanowires that can operate at room temperature, Yang reports. Based on the findings of both research groups, tiny components known as nanowires that meld together a variety of materials could soon be routinely and cheaply built using little more than a special mixture of gases deposited on a foundation material.

Additional information on the Berkeley teamís work can be found in this press release (31 January 2002) issued by Nanosys, Inc. Yang is a cofounder of Nanosys, a company focused on the development of nanotechnology-enabled systems. These systems incorporate novel and patent-protected zero and one-dimensional nanometer-scale materials such as nanowires, nanotubes and nanodots (quantum dots) as their principal active elements. Another cofounder of Nanosys is Charles Lieber, a Harvard chemistry professor and winner of the 2001 Foresight Feynman Prize for Experimental work. Lieber has also been conducting significant research into the production and properties of nanowires and other nano-scale materials.

Medication may help slow aging (in fruit flies)

According to an article from the UK-based New Scientist masquerading as a press release ("Keep young and beautiful", by Claire Ainsworth 26 January 2002), a drug called 4-phenylbutyrate (PBA) may help to "extend your lifespan while maintaining your youthful health and vigour. What's more, in the US it's already approved for human use. There is just one snag: to reap the benefits, you have to be a fruit fly."

A team of researchers at the National Institutes of Health and the California Institute of Technology made the discovery by accident when they were testing PBA on flies with neurodegenerative disease. They found that feeding the drug extended maximum lifespan of healthy flies by over 50 per cent, and their average lifespan by one-third. PBA works by blocking the activity of histone deacetylases, enzymes involved in switching genes on and off, including the one for superoxide dismutase, a protein well known for its anti-ageing effects. The researchers will be testing the drug on mice very soon.

The research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (vol 99, p 838).

ACT reports method for parthenogenic embryonic stem cells

According to a press release (1 February 2002), researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) of Worcester, Mass. report in the 1 February 2002 issue of Science that they have developed a large variety of specialized cell types — including heart and brain cells — from embryonic monkey stem cells through a process called parthenogenesis. The researchers reported that they had generated a "pluripotent" stem cell line. From that cell line, they already have produced brain neurons, heart muscle, smooth muscle, beating ciliated epithelial cells and a number of other kinds of cells, demonstrating, they said, "broad differentiation capabilities of primate stem cells derived by parthenogenesis." The parthenogenetic process leads to stem cells without creating embryos that normally require an egg from the mother and a sperm from the father. Parthenogenesis is defined as a process by which embryonic development is initiated directly from an unfertilized egg cell.

Additional coverage can be found in articles from Reuters News Service, United Press International, the New York Times, and Nature Science Update.

An interesting perspective on the announcement can be found in another press release don`t think the fact that a parthenogenetic embryo is not viable solves the ethical problems for those who object to using human embryos for stem cells," says Dr Donald Bruce, Director of Society Religion and Technology Project of the Church of Scotland, which has been examining ethical issues of cloning and stem cells since 1996.

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