Author: Foresight Editor

It's not available until May 6, but on Amazon you can preorder a copy of Nanofuture: What's Next for Nanotechnology by J. Storrs Hall, Ph.D. From the foreword by Eric Drexler: "Reaching a solid understanding of new technology–the understanding necessary to judge its effects–is an intellectual adventure. I could not wish you any better guide than Josh Hall. Before the term 'nanotechnology' had reached a tenth of its current popularity, he had already formed the first worldwide Internet discussion group and led the discussion for a decade. He has done research and development in nanotechnology since the early days, with multiple inventions and discoveries to his credit…You'll get the whole story here." The price is right too: only $18.48.

Sandia is reporting that porphyrin nanotubes coated with gold on the inside and platinum on the outside may be able to use sunlight to split water and produce hydrogen. The tubes are actual nanoscale devices having diameters from 50-70nm and tube walls 20nm thick. Scientists indicated that the tubes may be able to use the ultraviolet part of the solar spectrum as well as the visible which would likely make them more efficient than solar cells unable to do this.

This fits well with recent articles discussing energy production as one key application of nanotechnology.

Earlier this week, the Bush Administration submitted a $1.05 billion supplemental request for nanotechnology research in 2006. See the 52-page report in pdf format. From a list of strategic priorities on page 26: "designing and developing active nanostructures, systems of nanosystems, and molecular nanosystems", also on page 52. (Info from Daryl Hatano of the Semiconductor Industry Assoc.)

A belated story from The Register: "The [British] government has handed £1m in grants and awards to a nanotech company that has developed a new way of detecting a bioterror attack. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (Nesta) both contributed to the funding package. The company concerned, Nanosight, is cagey about explaining its technology because its patents are all still under review. What it will say is that it has developed a way of replicating viral antibodies using non-biological means, specifically 'computer and microelectronics technology'." The submittor of this item commented: "The story centers around a bio-weapon detector, however, I feel the promise of non-biological production of viral/bacterial antibodies is much more interesting."

Check out the new journal Small from Wiley Interscience, publisher of the book Nanosystems. Sample article from the first issue: "Powering a Supramolecular Machine with a Photoactive Molecular Triad" and from issue 3: "DNA Nanodevices". Most articles are on nanostructures which are not atomically precise, such as from issue 5: "Halloysite Nanotubes as Biomimetic Nanoreactors". (OK, maybe that last title is a bit jargony…) A problem: many articles have no free abstract.

Roland Piquepaille writes "Even if researchers are routinely building all kinds of nanodevices in their labs, the current production process of nanowires or nanosensors is similar to the car manufacturing process before Henry Ford. These nanostructures are almost handmade. Now, researchers at University of California Davis (UC Davis) have adapted a technology developed for Hewlett-Packard Laboratories. And they came with two new ways to massively produce nanowires of precise length. Their 'nanobridges' and 'nanocolonnades' are totally compatible with existing microelectronics fabrication processes. This opens the way for to a wide range of industrial-strength applications, such as bio-chemical sensing, nanoelectronics, nanophotonics, memory and logic devices for future computing. [See also] other details and references."

Just received a review copy of Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track: The Letters of Richard P. Feynman, edited by his daughter Michelle, sister of Foresight member Carl Feynman. It includes letters about the two miniaturization prizes that Feynman offered personally, and quite a few new photos. I had the privilege of attending a couple of his informal tutorials for Caltech students — he made the most challenging physics seem so understandable. Foresight is proud to administer nanotech prizes in his name.–CP

The original 2004 provisional patent application describing the "Freitas process" proposed for building a working carbon dimer placement tool (DCB6Ge) for diamond mechanosynthesis experimentally — apparently the first patent ever filed on diamond mechanosynthesis — is now available online. In February 2005, a full utility patent was filed with the USPTO on this process. Freitas' 2004 Foresight Conference lecture describing a near-term pathway leading directly to diamond mechanosynthesis, which included a summary of this now patent-pending process, is also online here.

Robert A. Freitas Jr. is Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing (IMM).

Judy Conner brings our attention to a story in Medical News Today: "According to a new study by the Canadian Program on Genomics and Global Health (CPGGH) at the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics (JCB), a leading international medical ethics think-tank, several nanotechnology applications will help people in developing countries tackle their most urgent problems – extreme poverty and hunger, child mortality, environmental degradation and diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS. The study is the first ranking of nanotechnology applications relative to their impact on development; it was published today by the prestigious, open-access, US-based Public Library of Science journal." Foresight participated in the international panel of experts surveyed.

The current issue of NanoNews-Now offers the results of two expert surveys, one on nanotech business and one on nanotech education, both focusing on what kind of training is most in demand. Pamela Bailey of tinytechjobs offers advice on how to get employed in nanotech: Read More for excerpt. (Site is paid subscription, but there's a 90-day free trial.)