Finally, the first step has been made toward the longed-for goal of a robot which can do laundry: http://singularityhub.com/2010/03/31/berkeley-gets-willow-garage-robot-to-fold-towels-simply-stunning-video/ Of course, this also gives us some idea of other formerly human-only tasks that robots are likely to take over in the next decade or two. Thanks to SingularityHub.com for bringing this to our attention. —Chris… Continue reading Berkeley gets Willow Garage robot to fold towels: video
Foresight Institute Feynman Prize winner Dr. Ralph Merkle, perhaps better known to Nanodot readers for his nanotech work, has just won the IEEE’s Hamming Medal along with Martin Hellman and Whitfield Diffie: Thirty-five years ago, Martin Hellman, Whitfield Diffie and Ralph Merkle developed an easy method for sending secure messages over insecure channels. With the… Continue reading Merkle wins Hamming Medal with Diffie, Hellman
Researcher honored for experimental work in nanotechnology. — AFOSR via Eurekalert This is a re-announcement of Custance, Sugimoto, and Abe’ Feynman Prize from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. (I have a personal fondness for AFOSR since they funded some of my optical computing research back in the 80’s.) The Feynman Prizes in Nanotechnology… Continue reading You saw it here first…
DNA-based construction is one of the major contenders on the pathway to atomically-precise manufacturing, and Caltech has made an important advance in that direction. From New Scientist: A group at the California Institute of Technology, led by biomolecular engineer Niles Pierce, has created a DNA-based fabricator. This is a system that allows the team to… Continue reading DNA in the lead for nanotechnology construction
Nanowerk brings to our attention the Future City Competition, using SimCity software and sponsored by National Engineers Week, which this year is focused on nanotechnology and how to use it to prevent tomorrow’s urban disasters: Future City Students Confront Urban Disasters and Engineer Hope with Nanotechnology Seventh- and eighth-graders in the annual National Engineers Week… Continue reading Future City Competition saves cities with nanotechnology
Nanodot readers in the U.S. may be asking, who should I vote for to promote nanotechnology? Good question! Your suggestions are welcome in the comments section. Meanwhile, see this post by Prof. Robin Hanson (inventor of prediction markets, formerly called idea futures) about a tool that could be used to find out more clearly what… Continue reading Which presidential candidate for nanotechnology?
Most of us avoid thinking much about the testing of human products on animals to check for safety. It’s distressing and we wish there were another, better way. Nanotech should eventually make such testing entirely obsolete, and the early stages of this process have begun. You can hear the latest in London this May at… Continue reading Nanotechnology to reduce testing on animals?
Perhaps our headline is a bit overstated…or perhaps not. Jim Lewis brings to our attention an article in Chemistry World on the Royal Society of Chemistry website announcing that, as anticipated, the UK has officially funded a set of projects aimed at developing a nanofactory able to build with atomic precision: UK scientists have been… Continue reading UK takes lead in the nanotechnology that matters
Feynman Prizes Awarded by Foresight Nanotech Institute Nanotechnology Think Tank Honors Top Researchers, Author and Student Palo Alto, CA – October 9, 2007 – Foresight Nanotech Institute, the leading think tank and public interest organization focused on nanotechnology, awarded prizes to leaders in research, communication and study in the field of nanotechnology at the Productive… Continue reading Nanotechnology prizes go to Leigh, Stoddart, Freitas, Ou
For your nanotech weekend viewing enjoyment, we bring to your attention a free webcast posted by Institute of Nanotechnology (UK) of a lecture by Sir Fraser Stoddart entitled Chemistry and Molecular Nanotechnology for Tomorrow’s World. The IoN webcast system gives you video, audio, and his slides all together at one time. It worked pretty well… Continue reading Feynman prize finalist Fraser Stoddart in nanotechnology webcast
