Nanotechnology: eleven 50-year outlooks

The Institute for the Future, in a UK-funded study published on the Stanford website, presents eleven outlooks for nanotechnology over the next 50 years: • Better drug delivery through nanotechnology • Carbon nanotubes and lighter vehicles • The coming nanoshell revolution in oncology • The dream of biochemical nanocomputing • Manufacturing with programmable materials “Advent… Continue reading Nanotechnology: eleven 50-year outlooks

Deadline to double nanotechnology impact: this Sunday

Regular readers of Nanodot know that we rarely use this space to “bleg” (i.e., request donations via blog). We make an exception for our annual $40,000 Challenge Grant, during which your donations are doubled. As this is posted, we have about $30,000 to go. Take each example below and multiply the payoff by two —… Continue reading Deadline to double nanotechnology impact: this Sunday

Forbes' 2006 Top 5 nanotechnology breakthroughs

Forbes announces its top five nanotechnology breakthroughs for 2006, and we’re not surprised to see the winner of this year’s Foresight Institute Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology listed as #1: 1. DNA origami, at Caltech 2. Nanomagnets to clean up drinking water, at Rice 3. Arrays connect nanowire transistors with neurons, at Harvard 4. Single nanotube… Continue reading Forbes' 2006 Top 5 nanotechnology breakthroughs

Sensible Swiss views on nanotechnology benefits, downsides

Switzerland’s Centre for Technology Assessment has issued its report Public Reactions to Nanotechnology in Switzerland (428 KB pdf), and — not surprisingly — it’s relatively balanced. From page 33 (page 35 of pdf file): “There’s a good and a bad side to everything” — This saying sums up quite well the way that the publifocus… Continue reading Sensible Swiss views on nanotechnology benefits, downsides

Molecular machines: the magic of nanotechnology

Allison Stoddart of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s magazine Chemical Science interviews nanotechnology researcher David Leigh on the joy of molecular machines in a piece titled “The magic of chemistry”: What motivated you to study molecular machines? I worked in Fraser Stoddart’s group before he made any catenanes or rotaxanes. We made our first catenane… Continue reading Molecular machines: the magic of nanotechnology

Nanotechnology to fight brain cancer

In yet another promising example of nanotechnology being used to defeat cancer, Forbes.com tells us of work at University of Michigan on brain cancer research: Tiny “nanoparticles” can be loaded with high concentrations of drugs to kill brain cancer, U.S. researchers report. Researchers at the University of Michigan (U-M) Comprehensive Cancer Center incorporated the drug… Continue reading Nanotechnology to fight brain cancer

Nanotechnology taught in Mexico schools, but not U.S.

Nanotechnology will soon be taught in Mexico’s public schools, but Valerie Strauss of The Washington Post explains that it’s a different story in the U.S.: Scientist Robert P.H. Chang of Northwestern University had no trouble persuading education officials in Mexico to introduce the burgeoning field of nanotechnology to schools there, but it’s been a far… Continue reading Nanotechnology taught in Mexico schools, but not U.S.

Nanotechnology torque detected with exquisite sensitivity

The useful website Nanowerk describes a new technique invented by researchers in Spain which should be useful in analyzing nanotechnology devices: Many protein molecules, such as those that process DNA, execute twisting motions, but researchers have only managed to measure the torques in a few cases. Often the random thermal jiggling of water molecules makes… Continue reading Nanotechnology torque detected with exquisite sensitivity

Most longed-for nanotechnology: nanomedicine

As a veteran nanowatcher, I can testify that what most people want most from nanotechnology is dramatic medical advances, such as the cancer treatments now showing so much promise. Science magazine periodically includes a “product” section reviewing what’s happening in a particular field of interest. Nanobiotechnology: an Incredible Voyage for the Life Sciences by Mike… Continue reading Most longed-for nanotechnology: nanomedicine

Nanotechnology regulations at city level: Unhelpful

Red Herring reports that the city of Berkeley, California, has voted to approve its own nanoparticle regulations: On Tuesday night the Berkeley, California City Council passed an ordinance to regulate the use of manufactured nanoparticles, tiny subatomic [sic] materials that can be 100,000 times smaller than the width of human hair… Now the city will… Continue reading Nanotechnology regulations at city level: Unhelpful

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyReturn to Shop