The first issue of the News From the Bottom is available.
It would appear that Adrian Bower, a lecturer at the University of Bath, is promoting an open source project for a "Replicating Rapid-Prototyper" that can reproduce not only itself but other macroscale objects.
More on self-replication…
The World Peace Herald and the Meridian Institute are discussing on the problem of whether nanotechnology will reach the poor.
Given years of history with open source software we already know how to solve this problem. This is pointed out by Bryan Bruns, a sociologist with the Foresight Institute, who promotes better policies on intellectual property, including full publication of publicly-funded research in ways that are accessible and affordable.
This feeds into a complex development problem. In an ideal world developments paid for by the public should be available to the public. At the same time business will be disinclined to push those developments to the marketing stage without some exclusive rights on the market. How does one resolve this problem?
Diane Surine writes "NANOTECHNOLOGY SEMINAR SERIES COMING TO A CITY NEAR YOU!
Join HORIBA Jobin Yvon for a free seminar on nanotechnology applications in 10 cities across the United States. Explore how Ellipsometry, Fluorescence, Raman and Glow Discharge Spectroscopy are being used to develop and understand the properties of smart surfaces, nanotubes, nanofilms, nanocolloidal metallic films, quantum dots and self-assembled monolayers. Applications below will be presented in detail."
More… �
A group of physicists (Naumov, Bellaiche & Fu) at the Univ. of Arkansas are reporting in Nature the exploration of phase transformations in non-volatile ferroelectric memories composed of Pb(Zr,TI)O3. They are finding that the minimum size of nanodiscs/nanorods able to retain a bistable state is of the order of 3.2 nm. That translates to 60×1012 bits/sq. inch (7+ terabytes/sq. in).
Obviously there are a couple of problems here. The first would be how do you read or write a nanorod every 3.2 nm? Of course this may drive the need for improved nanowiring and/or nanomechanical head positioning. The second would be the claim regarding "low-temperature structural bistability". How low does the temperature actually need to be? If one needs a room full of refrigeration equipment to allow a nanoscale memory to retain its data then the applications may be somewhat limited. E.g. you aren't going to see it in an iPod.
At a news conference in Washington D.C. today a number of SIA leaders questioned the ability of the U.S. to retain its lead role in the semiconductor industry as it moves into nanoscale technologies. They called for a number of solutions including increased funding for the NSF of 7%/yr. In contrast, as reported by Thomas Freidman in the NY Times on Dec. 26, 2004, the proposed Bush-Republican 2005 budget specified a $100M cut to the NSF. (The actual budget request is open to debate as is seen here and here.) For comparison purposes the NSF budget is slightly less than $6B while the war in Iraq from March 2003 thru 2005 is estimated at $207B.
Clearly the industry leaders recognize that long term R&D support is required and because the financial markets do not seem to have worked out a model which could enable this they must turn to the government for support. It would seem that those involved in politics are not quite as able to connect the dots as one would hope. One could double funding for the NSF for 15 years for the cost of a war. The advancements in nanotechnology that such R&D could provide could so advance the quality of life of people in places such as Iraq that there would be significantly fewer incentives to become a terrorist or an insurgent. Two extremely simple problems — clean water and sufficient electricity — could be significantly dealt with through applications of nanotechnology in Iraq. Why is there no focus on these approaches to uplifting their population? �
Nature materials is reporting on the development of static "flash" memory based on antimony telluride "cells" that are flipped between amorphous and crystalline states. These cells may be able to be scaled to 10 nm. The architecture is very simple as it simply requires sensing the resistance of the cell to determine whether it is in a one or zero state. This is distinctly different from current DRAM memory cells which are based on the storage of electrons within a capacitor. Because the electrons leak out of the capacitor it is necessary to include electronics that restore the state of the memory on a continual basis.
Foresight Senior Associate Ramez Naam informs us that his book More Than Human has been released.
Here's a description of the book:
"More Than Human is about our growing power to alter our minds, bodies, and lifespans through technology. Over the last 5-10 years scientists and doctors have learned an incredible amount about how to enhance memory, improve physical performance, rewrite our genes, alter the rate of aging, and even how to connect our brains directly with computers and robots. This is not science fiction – this is the research happening in labs around the world right now, research that's restored sight to blind men and women, created mice that live to the age of 200 in "human years", and given the paralyzed the ability to control computers just by thinking about it."
More…
For those who didn't notice it in several sources (here, here or here), IBM has announced external access to its Blue Gene supercomputer. It provides 5.7 Teraflops in a single rack. Obviously IBM has the ability to hook a large number of these together should they choose to do so. 175 racks gives you a petaflop.
Physorg.com is reporting that HP Labs in conjuction with Applied Physics A will be having an "invitation-only international nanotechnology symposium" on March 25. They intend to outline the HP combined strategy (fundamental scientific research into nanometer scale quantum effects; defect tolerant architectures for molecular components; and cost-effective fabrication methods) for implementing robust molecular electronics.
My only question is "When will we see the results?"
