Month: February 2005

The New York Times (registration required) has recently posted a review regarding the book On Bullshit by Princeton philosopher and professor emeritus Harry G. Frankfurt.

It is interesting to note his observation that while honest people and liars both think they know (and respect) the truth, the bullshitters simply do not care what the truth is. They only care whether or not they are believed. The book is short and inexpensive and may be of interest to nanodot readers who are trying to separate fact from fiction from hype as nanotechnology develops.

Scientists from NIST (noted by SpaceDaily) are reporting that using some clever optical trickery such as a "structured illumination field" and a heap of computer processing to reconstruct what the light is scattering off of they can use visible (violet) light to image features as small as 40nm — well within the nanoscale realm.

Speculation: If they push this a little (using UV wavelengths) they may be able to get down into the 20nm realm. That scale is sufficient to see if your nanorobot subassemblies self-assembled properly…

Spacedaily is reporting that a multinational team with several members from the Georgia Institute of Technology has discovered how carbon nanotubes form.

It turns out that nanotubes are carbon *crystals* that form within supercooled *liquid* carbon drops. The process is similar to experiments that many children do when growing rock candy or crystals from other easily manipulated compounds (copper sulfate, etc.). The only problem is that one has to work at temperatures of 5000 deg. C in order to get the liquid carbon drops…

Keep an eye on this research group headed by Prof. Keiichi Namba: "This ability of self-organization is a great advantage in nanotechnology development, because, without this feature, mass production of nanomachines is impossible and therefore practical applications cannot be expected no matter how useful individually made nanomachines could be. The outcome of our studies on protein nanomachines, which work flexibly and precisely at the same time, is expected to produce much useful knowledge to eventually form a basis for design principles for artificial nanomachines of practical use." Click on movies, then watch the third one on page 1 and the one on page 5. Note Matsushita involvement.

Scott Hubbard is the director of NASA's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, NASA's lead center on nanotechnology. Not surprisingly, he has a particularly clear view of the nano/bio/info convergence: "The three, on their own, have important implications. To put the three of them together, the way I think about it, is that we are informed by biology of what nature has learned how to do over several billion years at the molecular level. It then gives us the capability to simulate that in computer modeling. And the nanotechnology allows us to actually manipulate physical materials to mimic, in some cases, what nature has done."

Even nanotech supporters may enjoy this video of an amusing protest. An Institute of Nanotechnology meeeting was disrupted by protestors from THRONG (The Heavenly Righteous Opposed to Nanotech Greed). ìThe same greedy corporations who messed with the genetic basis of life are now seeking to alter and privatize nature right down to the atomic levelî, explained THRONG spokesangel Pandora Spocks. ìWe want to warn companies attending this conference that getting into nanotech is really not a clever idea ñ for society or their business.î IoN invited the group to present at their 20 January meeting, but was refused. The group's name is a take-off on THONG, who protested topless at NanoCommerce 2004. [Nano is such a fun field to cover!–CP]

Battelle's list of the Top Ten strategic technologies for 2020 includes: "Nanomachines. Microscopic machines, measured in atoms rather than millimeters, will revolutionize several industries and may perform a wide range of jobs for us-from heating our homes to curing cancer. Battelle researchers see the medical industry as the most important area for nanomachine technology by 2020. 'We may be able to develop nanomachines that will go into your body and find and destroy individual cancer cells while not harming healthy cells,' says Battelle Senior Research Scientist Kevin Priddy. Nanomachines also could be used to deliver drugs to highly localized places in the body, to clean arteries, and to repair the heart, brain, and other organs without surgery."

Dawn Van Zant writes "For Immediate Release February 11th, 2005

Advanced Nano-Products, Inc., Recipient of the 2005 Frost & Sullivan Product Differentiation Innovation Award for the U.S. Protective Coatings Market.

Point Roberts, WA, February 11th 2005 – Nanotechnology Investment, a global research portal for the nanotechnology investment community is pleased to feature an award winning private nanotechnology coating company positioned in the environmental coatings industry.

More…

Roland Piquepaille writes "It's an antenna, it's a MEMS device, and it's a macroscopic quantum system. This antenna, made of 50 billion atoms, is so far the largest structure to display quantum mechanical movements. It's also the fastest device of its kind in the world, oscillating about 1.5 billion times per second. Such technology might soon be used in our cell phones. But more importantly, this device bridges classic and quantum physics. Such "mechanical/quantum mechanical hybrids could be used for quantum computing" in the future. Read more for other details, references and a picture showing different views of this world's fastest nanomechanical structure."

Ed. Note: This submission has been edited to correct misleading terms. See first comment.

At the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology, Bert Gordijn presented a paper titled Nanoethics: From Utopian Dreams and Apocalyptic Nightmares towards a more Balanced View: "Hardly ever has there been such a discrepancy between opposing evaluative judgments as can be observed in the debate on nanotechnology." However, Daniel Moore is not impressed: "This is the completely wrong way to think about ethical issues."