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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Author: Allison

Three-atom-thick transistor achieved by Intel

from the Intel-makes-science-fiction-into-reality dept.
From an Intel press release: "Intel Corporation researchers have achieved a significant breakthrough…The transistors feature structures just 30 nanometers in size and three atomic layers thick…Scientists expect such powerful microprocessors to allow applications popular in science-fiction stories — such as instantaneous, real-time voice translation — to become an everyday reality…Also significant is that these experimental transistors, while featuring capabilities that are generations beyond the most advanced technologies used in manufacturing today, were built using the same physical structure as in today's computer chips." The Forbes.com coverage puts a nanotech spin on the story.

Now you can model solar system population online

from the more-people-than-you-can-shake-a-stick-at dept.
David Coutts brings to our attention SolarPop, a program for modeling solar system demographics in the third millennium, now available as a Java applet. This follows up our earlier piece on the game 6 Billion, which David points out is now listed at number 9 its category in Games Magazine's Games 100 buyers guide. Read More for David's full post.

First cyborg professor & cyborg-to-be spouse

from the those-wacky-English dept.
eamon writes "CNN.com reports Professor [Kevin Warwick] to wire computer chip into his nervous system.The head of the Cybernetics Department at the the University of Reading in the U.K…Surgeons will connect the chip to his nervous system through nerve fibers in his left arm, and the chip will exchange signals between his brain and a computer…If the experiment is successful, Warwick's wife Irena will also receive a silicon chip implant to explore how movement, thought and emotion can be transmitted from one person to another."

Navy query on Brownian motion, Maxwell's Demon

from the don't-need-a-PhD-to-answer-this-one dept.
Waldemar Perez writes "A small Navy project is at stake because a 74 Years old PhD is arguing to management that research in nano machines is ridiculous and a waste of money. He has seen only recently some of Drexler's designs on the web and also read the recent article that Mr. Daniel Goldin from NASA published in Mechanical Engineering magazine on Molecular Nanotechnology. He claims that Mr. Goldin does not know what he is talking about and that he feels sorry for him because he has embarrass himself by publishing this article. Some of his questions are familiar to anyone in the field: 1. The construction of molecular machines of the kind proposed by nanotechnology does not take into account Brownian Motion and the famous Maxwell's Demon. 2. How we can assemble a robotic arm for example, manipulating atoms and how we can "clamp" such a structure to another object. Is there any particular section of Nanosystems or scientific papers out there that address the Brownian Motion and Maxwell's Demon issues. I really appreciate any help to answer some of his questions. Thanks"

California NanoSystems Institute gets $100 million

from the California-state-tax-dollars-at-work-(finally) dept.
UCLA professor Gary Axen reports this announcement from UCLA: " The California NanoSystems Institute — a wide-ranging research enterprise poised to make a major impact in areas ranging from information technology and household lighting to medical treatment — was named today as one of the three research efforts statewide to receive $100 million in state support to help propel the future of the state's economy…The Institute will explore the power and potential of manipulating structures atom-by-atom to engineer new materials, devices and systems that will dramatically change virtually every aspect of our technology, including medical delivery and health care, information technologies, and innovations for the environment." Read More for the full text including video link, since the announcement URL we're using looks temporary.

Trends in NanoTechnology: free weekly email

from the explosive-tech-news dept.
Tim Harper writes "TNT Weekly, a weekly round up of whats hot in the nanotech world has just gone live at www.cientifica.com — follow the links to TNT Weekly. Any comments, suggestions, questions or anything else, please let us know. thanks" From their website: "TNT Weekly is a free weekly e-mail newsletter providing links and introductions to articles and press releases that have appeared on the web in the last week on the subject of nanotechnology. Click here to view the week 45 sample issue, or here to view the week 48 issue…Our mission is twofold: To inform researchers in all disciplines relevant to Nanotechnology, a field where, like no other in history, multidisciplinary collaborations will bear the greatest fruit; To provide lay and business readers with access to the latest and most relevant information on research and existing and upcoming businesses poised to capitalise on the vast potential of nanotechnology. A key advantage of our editorial team is the ability to cut through the nanotechnology hype." CP: The company is based in Spain, and the site has a European focus.

Gates says computers will not save the world

from the atoms-not-bits dept.
Senior Associate Brian Hall [brian] writes "Will computer technology save the world? Not according to Mr. Gates. From this article at The Observer, Bill says he's been "very, very naive" about the promises of Technology in helping the billions of people in the world whose greatest question is NOT things like Linux vs. M$, but rather is there any food to eat or clean water to drink? As an idealist, this is good news(tm) since Bill's bucks could actually make a difference."

Physicist Michio Kaku dismissive of nanotech

from the man-will-never-fly dept.
David Coutts writes from Australia: "I'm reading "Visions" by Michio Kaku (co-founder of string field theory), the paperback edition published in 1997 by Anchor Books…The purpose of this [post] is to focus briefly on his handling of nanotechnology, which comes under the Quantum Revolution heading. I found his treatment (pages 266 to 273) curiously dismissive… Feynman's famous article is mentioned, but no mention of Engines of Creation or Nanosystems, nor the Foresight Institute. Instead, he agrees with critics who say that "the claims are as breathtaking as their results are meager"… He concludes by saying that "the jury is out", and nanotechnology remains "purely speculative at this point". Has anyone else read the book? If so, what did you think of his treatment of nanotechnology? I would love to see someone from the Foresight Institute refute Mr Kaku paragraph by paragraph. As a layman, I felt that he had already made up his mind and therefore only interviewed those whose minds were similiarly opposed… " Read More for the full post.

"The New Nanofrontier" in Scientific American

from the our-old-friends-at-SciAm dept.
Robert Trombatore writes "Scientific American has come a long way in the past few years from when they basically took the position that any of the MNT technologies Foresight founder Eric Drexler proposed were improbable at best. While they still aren't ready to leap to defend MNT, the tone of this article is much more positive in comparison. Starting with an overview of recent breakthroughs in nanotech and then going into detail about 3 specific breakthroughs, this piece helps illustrate just how far "mainstream" scientific acceptance of MNT has come. There are a couple of disparaging comments such as "In June, nanotechnologists from the Foresight Institute–a think tank where Drexler is chair–followed suit, issuing their own prophylactic guidelines to stop goo. But other scientists–many of whom air their views in news items that accompany Science's special section–dismiss the grim predictions." This shows that while Scientific American has come a long way, the editors still feel it necessary to make light of some of the issues surrounding nanotech."

"Natural nanomotors" of tin from Sandia Labs

from the who-knew-tin-would-become-high-tech? dept.
An AAAS press release describes a "natural nanomotor" using metal. Excerpts: "The discovery of dancing tin, reported 24 November 2000 in Science's Nanotechnology Issue, may promise surprisingly efficient nanomotors, if researchers can harness this chemical locomotion system. By manipulating the surface energies that drive tin crystals to move across copper, it might also be possible to control such movements, thereby forcing alloys to form desired nanoshapes, according to researchers with the Sandia National Laboratories…Schmid's research 'can be viewed as a direct observation of a nanomotor,' according to a Science Perspectives essay… How powerful are these natural nanomotors? Tin islands crank out roughly 0.3 horsepower per kilogram of weight…By comparison, a car's power-to-weight ratio is about 0.1 hp/kg–making the natural nanomotors more efficient, in theory. 'The challenge,' they concluded, 'is to devise nanomotors whose motion can be controlled externally (so that they can be used to move things around at will) and that can be refueled.' " See the Quicktime movie.

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