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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Month: April 2002

Archival site for L5 Society newsletters, history, images

from the blast-from-the-past dept.
We are grateful to Dale Amon for bringing to our attention an archival website devoted to back issues of the L5 News, the newsletter of the L5 Society, which was formed to advocate the implementation of the visionary ideas of Gerard K. OíNeill to construct large orbital communities at the L5 libration point roughly equidistant from Earth and Luna, using lunar materials and resources. The L5 Society later merged with the National Space Institute in 1987 to form the National Space Society (NSS), which continues to advocate for the development of space resources. Many current members of the Foresight community were active members of the L5 Society, and remain active in the NSS.

In addition to online versions of the L5 News (currently issues from 1975 through 1978), the site presents some basic background information on the L5 colonization concept, a brief history of the L5 Society and its activities, and an image library with views of the torus, Bernal sphere, and OíNeill cylinder designs for large space settlements.

A look inside the new Institute for Solider Nanotechnologies

from the battle-porn dept.
Foresight Advisor John Gilmore sent notice of a piece on the CNET News.com website ("Nanotech's call to arms", by Tiffany Kary, 27 March 2002), that takes a look at the newly founded Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and includes a brief interview with Ned Thomas, a professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT and the recently appointed director of the ISN.

Thomas notes during the interview that the somewhat controversial illustration of a nanotech-enabled battle uniform that accompanied the press release announcing the establishment of the ISN at MIT (see Nanodot post from 15 March 2002) was created by his daughter "in a couple of days". Some interesting commentary on the illustration was made in an article about the ISN that appeared the London Financial Times ("MIT comes to Washington's defence", by Victoria Griffith, 24 March 2002):

Administrators and professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology could be seen fawning earlier this month over a comic strip female superhero – not for her generous proportions but for the hope she holds for the US army.
The Wonder Woman-style figure is the chosen illustration for the university's new joint venture with the US military. The initiative – dubbed the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnology – aims to create "smart" armour for soldiers in battle.

Despite the ribbing over the illustration, the FT article also provides some useful background information on the new ISN.

Ohio worries about gaining, retaining nanotech talent

In the wake of recent raids for top nanotechnology research talent among academic research programs (see Nanodot posts from 26 March and 27 March 2002), an article in the Cleveland, Ohio Plain Dealer ("Universities need to court top-tier researchers", by Barb Galbincea, 31 March 2002), universities in Ohio are a bit worried about being able to attract and retain its own researchers in the field. "We need the people who conduct the research," said UO Akron President Luis Proenza. Just as important, adds KSU President Carol Cartwright, is having the wherewithal to keep a prized researcher. "You live in fear that they will be recruited by someone else," she said. "I've got a 'watch' list in my head." The article notes that "For colleges and universities, especially many strapped state-assisted institutions, attracting and keeping top-tier scholars can be a difficult business. The best researchers expect larger salaries and expensive labs."

Speakers at Brookhaven NT conclave advocate public-private alliances

An article on the Small Times website ("Speakers call for bridge-building between research and commerce", by Jack Mason, 27 March 2002) reports that "For nanotechnology to live up to its potential, leaders in the field say, something equally unparalleled must develop ñ a closer alliance between public and private sectors, as well as a shift toward cross-discipline research and education in universities." (Apparently the ST reporter on Long Island is not too familiar with the efforts of states like California, New York, Texas, and numerous others to do exactly that.) The article covers the comments of speakers to an audience of scientists, businesspeople and public officials who gathered at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island in mid-March to hear industry researchers, professors and policy makers map nanotechnologyís future, as well as the role for Brookhavenís proposed nanocenter (see Nanodot post 22 March 2002).

Houston looking for nanotech leadership

An article in the Houston Business Journal ("Houston poised to play key role in 'nanotechnology revolution' ", by Jennifer Darwin, 29 March 2002) asserts that:

Houston is in a position to lead what is being called the "nanotechnology revolution." But the city can only maintain that status as long as local scientists keep coming up with new innovations and industry players establish new collaborations.

Well, maybe. The article goes on to report on the comments of experts in the nanotechnology field at the Houston Technology Center Forum on 21 March 2002 entitled "Houston: Leading the Nanotechnology Revolution."

InfoWorld quizzes the NanoBusiness Alliance — sorta

A short piece in InfoWorld ("Time to think small", by InfoWorld Editor in Chief Michael Vizard, 5 April 2002) provides a not-very-informative interview with NanoBusiness Alliance Executive Director F. Mark Modzelewski and NBA board member Dave Holtzman, who try to "explain why nanotechnology is going to be the next big thing". I canít tell whether itís the questions or the answers, but the explanations donít grab me . . . A few of the better responses:

Modzelewski: "What we really try to do is bring together the pieces that are coming together in this industry across researchers, startups, universities, government officials, venture capitalists, and corporations. We want to start to get a dialogue going as to what the industry's going to need to get bigger [and] quicker."

Holtzman: "This is going to be a real game-changer, because you can do so much with limited resources. It takes away the home field advantage of having huge beds of natural resources in your country. You can create almost anything you want to with very limited resources. That's going to have to create some kind of a shift in world power as this technology continues."

Derwent patent service will add focus on nanotech IP

According to a press release (5 April 2002), Derwent Information, a leading patent information provider, will offer a new service aimed at meeting the growing information needs of the nanotechnology industry. Entitled [sic ñ what exactly is it "entitled" to?] "Nanotechnology – Structures and Devices, the Industry and Technology Patents Profile (ITP)", the new service provides comprehensive information about global patents specific to the nanotechnology field. Each patent is summarized in an abstract, highlighting the novelty, advantages and uses of the new invention. Subscribers to this service will receive regular updates in PDF format, delivered direct to their desktops by email, CD-ROM or FTP. More information is available at the Derwent website.

Encyclopedia Nanotech

Steve Lenhert writes "Encyclopedia Nanotech is an online dictionary/encyclopedia for nanotech-related terminology. The goal of this 'nanoword network' is to provide a transdisciplinary reference point for the various words we use in nanotechnology. I am posting here in order to solicit constructive criticism and stimulate semantic discussions about these terms.

Read more for additional details.

Intellectual expresses skepticism about our posthuman future

from the Failures-of-vision dept.
Mr_Farlops writes "The New York Times examines Dr. Francis Fukuyama's new book, Our Posthuman Future ("A Dim View of a `Posthuman Future' ", by Nicholas Wade, 2 April 2002). Some may recall Fukuyama as the author of The End of History and the Last Man. In this new book he exchanges the optimism of that earlier work for a pessimistic view of the future of biotechnology. It is his view that science is rapidly aquiring the tools to fundamentally redefine what human nature is. He wonders, while acknowledging the evil that Napoleon and Caesar did, what we may lose if advanced neurotherapy simply edits that type of personality out of society. Of course nanodotters are already very familiar with this line of thinking, what with Joy, Weizenbaum, Sales, Kaczynski and others but, it might be worthwhile to read and comment on the article."

According to the article, Fukuyama fears that "Major increases in human longevity could also be disruptive . . . because 'life extension will wreak havoc with most existing age-graded hierarchies,' postponing social change in countries with aging dictators and thwarting innovation in others." The article also notes "[Fukuyamaís] views are not academic; he has an official voice on such matters as a member of the White House's Council on Bioethics" So is Leon Kass, who doesnít like the idea of human cloning, either (see Nanodot post from 31 August 2001.)

Quantum computing: storage of quantum data

waynerad writes "According to the EE Times (April 2, 2002), Harvard University researchers transfered quantum information encoded in laser beams into a physical system and subsequently retrieved it."

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