Christine Peterson has pointed out AzoNano.com which is a new Online Journal of Nanotechnology which is a collaboration between AZoM.com PTY. Ltd. in Australia and The Institute of Nanotechnology in the U.K.
A brief review of the book list seems to suggest their primary focus is on nanomaterials rather than on molecular nanotechnology. For example, Nanosystems and Nanomedicine Vol. I are not included. More…
WillWare writes "I saw the preliminary animation at the October conference. It's an incredible aid to visualizing and discussing the ideas of molecular manufacturing. The DVD can help wealthy, influential people wrap their brains around the feasibility and the benefits and thereby vastly expedite development. Every Nanodot reader is a stakeholder in the future, so it might be smart to put our ideas where Foresight can see them."
The NanoAging Institute writes "There is a nice article mentioning nanomedicine on The New York Time, here is a excerpt from the article:Nanomedicine will probably become the biggest change for humans in our society but when?
There is more extensive discussion on the development of various aspects of nanotechnology for use in medicine as well as cryonics here."
Brian Wang writes "South Korean scientists found a simple way to produce high-purity single-walled carbon nanotubes en masse, the vital materials for nanotechnology, under ambient conditions.
Until now, scientists created the substances at high temperatures ranging from 700 to 2,000 degrees Celsius. But the yield rate was still below 70 percent and purity was between 70 to 95 percent, even after multi-step purification processes.
By contrast, Park's team used the chemical effects of ultrasound and a liquid solution to make nanotubes at atmospheric pressure and room temperature.
The newfound method worked handsomely as it enabled volume production of high-purity nanotubes without a purification process and its yield rate also improved to more than 90 percent. Mass Production of Carbon Nanotube Becomes Possible"
Senior Associate Gina Miller brings to our attention a film from a team affiliated with University of Toronto: "N is for Nanotechnology is a new 30 minute documentary that discusses the field of nanotech. You can download the trailer at this website: http://www.knhproductions.ca. You can also click through drawings at the site. I have not figured out where, when, or even if the documentary is going to air or if it will be available for purchase?" The trailer looks promising. óCP
While current work is bulk materials-based, researchers in Texas are setting high goals for future achievements in nanomedicine: ìThe whole idea of being able to develop devices that we can manipulate at the cellular level to perform a function is very compelling"…Rosenblum likens these devices to a kind of miniscule robot ìbecause they are programmed to perform a certain task and report back to us. We can track exactly where they are in the body…We have hurdles to overcome because these are very complex devices…But we think this has the potential to solve crucial problems in cancer diagnosis and care.î
Though the size scales are not precisely "nanoscale". The merging of transistors with quantum dots suggests that we are going there.
See: New Transistor Laser Could Lead To Faster Signal Processing.
Ed note. This is yet another area which was not covered in Nanosystems (not that it could cover everything) — but we have no concept with regard to what the limits may be in nanomagnetics, nanoopticalelectronics, nanosupercondunction, etc. These limits are still largely unexplored. Hell, we don't even know the limits of things from drug synthesis technology (and therefore minimum production costs) to DNA sequencing technology (so one can know your precise genome on a generic basis to knowing your precise genome on a cellular basis). Without those your physician is effectively operating blindfolded.
So we are operating blind at a number of developmental levels and if we want humanity to make the fastest possible progress we should fix that.
Spacedaily is reporting (here) that scientists have managed to bond oxygen to platinum breaking through the so-called "oxo-wall". One must ask, given the catalytic properties of platinum and the reactive propensity of oxygen, what could an oxo-platinum tipped Fine Motion Controller (or SPM) do?
Consideration of higher molecular weight elements is largely lacking in Nanosystems. Yet most elements from iron to uranium have some very interesting properties at the nanoscale level. Should these not be explored in more detail?
Emeka writes "Intimations of Rod Logic "…The rise of nanotechnology has led many researchers to revisit mechanical computing…It turns out that… nanomechanical memory cells, due to their size and speed, could outperform their counterparts in magnetoelectric systems…" Are we seeing the precursors to the rod logic computers predicted by Eric Drexler? "…The device closely resembles silicon nanoscale oscillators that researchers have been making for years and could be made by the millions using standard chipmaking techniques. Nanoscale oscillators vibrate at high speeds, and are being developed largely as compact, high-frequency sensors and communications devices. The memory cell requires closer control than oscillators in order to be switched between the two flexed states…"TRNMag"
PingS writes "I am going to be a sophomore in electrical engineering this upcoming year. I have been tracking nanotechnology for the past four months, and read through multiple literatures on the Foresight website including Engines of Creation and the Unbounding Future. I have also read the recent publication Recent Advances and Issues in Molecular Nanotechnology. I am currently working on Nanosystems, but it is 'very technical' for a sophomore, so I am progressing 'very slowly'. I want to let you guys know that I have done a lot of background research into nanotechnology and am familiar with most of the current issues and debates (Smalley, Whitesides).
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