Longtime Foresight member, and since October 2012 Technology Manager, Advanced Manufacturing Office, U.S. Department of Energy, David Forrest passes along these funding announcements about new opportunities at DOE: Those of you in the Atomically Precise Manufacturing community should be aware of new funding opportunities: ARPA-E The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today [Dec. 13, 2017]… Continue reading Funding announcements for Atomically Precise Manufacturing
If the above picture reminds you of something like it some 27 years ago when physicists announced a nanostructure built atom-by-atom, then it is important to recognize there are multiple crucial differences between the above 2014 image of a Swiss cross formed from 20 precisely placed bromine atoms and the 1990 image of the IBM… Continue reading Building atom-by-atom on insulator at room temperature
In writing for this blog, I am accustomed to rapid changes from one technological area to another, such as from DNA origami to de novo protein design to scanning probe microscopy to molecular machinery based on mechanically interlocked molecular architectures. The DNA and protein work overlaps with biotechnology, and we have always seen all these… Continue reading Blockchains, Cryptoeconomics, and Emerging Technology Risks
Foresight Institute Co-Founder and Projects Director Christine Peterson (full biography) was interviewed recently by 80000 Hours, “an independent nonprofit funded by individual donors” and founded “because we couldn’t find any sources of advice on how to do good with our own working lives. Since 2011, we’ve been on a mission to figure out how best… Continue reading Cyber, Nano, and AGI Risks: Computer Security and Effective Altruism
We have pointed to examples of how atomically precise nanotechnology might open the road to developing quantum computers (Atomically precise location of dopants a step toward quantum computers, August 4th, 2016; Architecture for atomically precise quantum computer in silicon, November 9th, 2015; A nanotechnology route to quantum computers through hybrid rotaxanes, March 27th, 2009). The… Continue reading Prototype quantum computer gives small molecule quantum simulation
Since winning the 2007 Foresight Institute Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology, Theory category, Professor David Leigh FRS FRSE FRSC MAE, and since 2012 at the University of Manchester, has continued to achieve major milestones on the road to complex systems of molecular machinery. Contributions we have recently cited here: First direct measurement of force generated by… Continue reading Molecular robot builds four types of molecules
Our previous post announced a race around a 100 nm course of six NanoCars, each a unique concept created from only several dozen atoms and powered by electrical pulses. The race was run a few weeks later and two winners declared, due to two different tracks being used. From Swiss news “Swiss team wins shortest… Continue reading USA-Austrian and Swiss Nanocars finish first in first Nanocar race
Congratulations Foresight Fellows 2017! The Foresight Fellowship is an exclusive one year supportive program committed to giving change-makers the support and mentorship to accelerate their bold ideas into the future. We invite people who care about improving the state of the world and have the courage to follow their own path. We encourage those who… Continue reading 2017 Foresight Fellows Announced in Molecular Machines, Space, Longevity, Artificial Intelligence
It would appear from reports at SpaceDaily and PhysOrg that scientists led by Chongwu Zhou at USC have determined how to grow single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) on specific planes of a sapphire crystal. This may have distinct advantages as it potentially allows one to put the wires down first and the computational elements (currently transistors) down second in the production of nanoelectronics. This is generally the inverse of current microelectronic production methods.
Physorg.com is reporting that scientists led by Xiang Zhang at UCB have a paper in Science documenting the ability to do "optical" imaging in the range of 40-60nm. They are using 365nm UV radiation and a silver film "superlens" with a negative refractive index to transcend the normal diffraction limits of optical imaging. Their results are nearly an order of magnitude smaller than conventional optical microscopy methods. Optical imaging is faster than electron microscope imaging because you don't have to scan the e-beam across the material being imaged.
One application which may push its development would be the direct imaging of semiconductor chips as the pass through the next two generations of photolithography at 65nm and 45-40nm. It is also worth noting that at these dimensions one could probably make a movie recording the motion of Drexler's classical assembler arm performing assembly processes.
