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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Author: Allison

Review: "Evolution Isn't What It Used To Be"

from the nanotech-defined-as-protein-only dept.
David Coutts writes about the book Evolution Isn't What It Used To Be: The Augmented Animal and the Whole Wired World by Walter Truett Anderson: "In his brief mention of nanotechnology he says: 'The third generation, which – depending upon what you read – may never come or may be just around the corner, is nanotechnology: miniscule protein computers, submicroscopic protein machines that will sail through the bloodstream to fight disease or repair damage to the body'…He has limited the nanotechnology vision to a third generation protein building tool…This is either laziness, ignorance or a peculiar form of psychological blindness or phobia I shall dub nanophobia. So, whilst I would agree that skepticism of a largely unproven technology is entirely healthy, the author should try and present the full picture or at least clearly state that the working definition of nanotechnology (for any book or article) is deliberately limited by the author." Read More for the full post.

Turing code For nanomachines?

from the please-not-in-Java dept.
vik writes "I was attracted by a slashdot article on 8-bit Java VM's implemented using a Turing Machine backend. With Turing Machines being conceptually simple, the design put forward by Bernard Hodson has relevance to nanotechnology in that we'll want to get the simplest possible hardware running the smallest possible software. Probably not in Java, but the principles still hold. If construction command sequences can be compressed in a similar way, assembler control machinery could be greatly simplified."

Policy Wonk Advocates Government "Control" of NT

from the Keeping-Nanotech-Safe-for-Democracy dept.
A lengthy article in The Washington Monthly ("Downsizing," by N. Thompson, October 2000) makes an interesting case for government involvement and even regulation of nanotechnology development: "Deep government involvement in nanotechnology is more than a practical obligation from a research and national defense perspective. It's close to becoming a moral imperative."

Kurzweil vs. Dertouzos debate future technology

from the who-won? dept.
Joseph Sterlynne writes "MIT's Technology Review has printed an exchange between Ray Kurzweil and Michael Dertouzos regarding the latter's recent article on reasonable expectations of technological progress." Kurzweil: "As for nanotechnology-based self-replication, that's further out, but the consensus in that community is this will be feasible in the 2020s, if not sooner." Dertouzos: "We have no basis today to assert that machine intelligence will or will not be achieved…Attention-seizing, outlandish ideas are easy and fun to concoct."

More nanotech skepticism

from the nanotech-not-interesting-enough dept.
Sharad Bailur writes "I read David Coutts's review of Matt Ridley's opinion on Nanotech with interest. Coincidentally I also am reading the book [Genome] and have just gone thru the chapter he mentions. I think Ridley's scepticism is shared by many other established scientists. Dr M. Vidyasagar, the former head of the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics of the Defence Research and Development Organisation of the Ministry of Defence, here in India, said that while nanotech is feasible it will have to prove itself over time and that he found the concept of reverse logic operations more interesting. There have been similar reactions from others about nanotech, Michio Kaku's being the most famous one which was posted here some days ago. I think a healthy scepticism and an open mind are necessary. Nanotech is not a religion. Nor does it need convinced acolytes." CP: However, a large engineering project does need those who are committed to making feasibility into reality, and it is they who will win the race.

Design for quantum computer proposed

from the there-goes-public-key? dept.
Senior Associate GinaMiller brings to our attention an article in EE Times "Design for quantum computer proposed. Work at IBM Corp. on the theory and practice of quantum computing suggests that the industry may be closer to practical CPUs that could process information in the form of quantum bits, or "qubits," rather than conventional binary bits. The new thinking was discussed today (Dec. 11) in a plenary lecture at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting here. David DiVincenzo of IBM's T. J. Watson Research Center (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) surveyed the prospects for quantum computing, concluding that practical, solid-state devices may soon emerge to support the theoretical projections of vast computing power arising from this technology."

Author Damien Broderick on future of work, fun & learning

from the nanoenthusiasm-from-down-under dept.
Senior Associate Dave Sag (davesag) writes "Damien Broderick, author of The Spike which discussed the predicted tangential upcurve in technology leading to a singularity in an upbeat and enthusiastic way which got him quite some press, has been interviewed on an Australian educational site called Learnscope. It's weird. He disses the International Space Station but seems convinced that nanotech will really be the duck's nuts (to coin a phrase). He speculates on the future of work, fun and learning. It's a shame there isn't a nanodot category called 'pop-sci good times'."

10 nm ion beam + carbon gas = Nano Wine Glass

from the not-much-of-a-party dept.
A reader brings to our attention this piece from The Register: " NEC boffins have built a wine glass 200,000 times smaller than normal…Researchers built the glass from carbon with an external diameter of 2750nm, approximately 200,000 times smaller than a normal-sized glass. NEC hopes the success of the new technique will open the way for the production of ultra-miniature devices such as biosensors, high-performance optical communications devices, and control switches. The technology could also have applications in the fields of nano-electromechanics, nano-optics, nano-magnetic devices, bio-nanochips and sensors, says the company…The newly developed technique used to construct the wine glass is based on the use of a gallium-focused ion beam with a diameter of 10nm and a computer controlled electro-magnetic deflection system capable of building the target object in realtime in a gas containing the base material. The combination of the focused gallium ion beam and construction from the base material in gaseous form, controlled by a 3D CAD system, permits an accuracy better than (below) 100nm."

Respected science journalist ignorant of nanotech?

from the chemistry-isn't-technology? dept.
David Coutts writes "I'm just finishing "Genome: The autobiography of a species in 23 chapters" by respected science journalist Matt Ridley…Genome is a good book, and I can recommend it…What prompted me to post to Nanodot.org was the chapter on Self Assembly (Chapter 12, featuring developmental genes from Chromosone 12). Ridley opens the chapter by highlighting useful human analogies for most things we find in nature. Examples given are bats using sonar, the eye is a camera, natural selection is trial and error etc. However, Ridley states that there is no such analogy for self assembly. Nature can grow a human (or other creature) from a single cell, but there is "no human analogy at all" in our technology for self assembly. Hmm – how about nanotechnology? I found this a useful reminder that the concept of nanotechnology is both unfamiliar and alien to the vast majority of people." Read More for David's full post. CP: One could argue that synthetic organic chemistry technology is entirely based on self-assembly. The structures made are often not found in nature.

Modulating electrical current using nanotubes

from the nanodimmer-switch dept.
Foresight's Tanya Jones writes "(Reported by Science Daily) Researchers at NC State and UNC have discovered that turning a carbon nanotube may act as a dimmer switch to regulate the flow of electric current. Dr. Marco Buongiorno Nardelli, a research associate in physics at NC State, says being able to do this gives nanoscale-device designers a controllable, continuous means of converting mechanical signals into electrical signals.
story at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/12/001204071425.htm
Original press release: http://www2.ncsu.edu/ncsu/univ_relations/news_services/press_releases/00_12/292.htm"

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