Author: Foresight Editor

from the IMM-Prizes-entry dept.
Lawrence Fields and Jillian Rose writes "This is our submission for the 2002 IMM Prizes in Computational Nanotechnology, under the category of "rendering":

http://www.phleschbubble.com/album/beyondhuman/res pirocyte_still.htm

(Please see our description for our entry for "simulation".)"

from the Molectronics dept.
If youíre looking for more information about the accusations of scientific misconduct being leveled against researchers at Lucent Technologies' Bell Laboratories who claimed breakthroughs in molecular electronics and superconducting fullerenes in a series of papers last year (see Nanodot post from 17 December 2001), hereís a sampling of recent press coverage:

• An item from Reuters News Service ("Bell Labs Probes Validity of Acclaimed Experiments", by Daniel Sorid, 22 May 2002).
• Kenneth Chang of the New York Times has written several in-depth articles on the story (Note: access to the NYT site if free, but requires registration):
  – "Bell Labs Forms Panel to Study Claims of Research Misconduct", 21 May 2002.
  – "Similar Graphs Raised Suspicions on Bell Labs Research", 23 May 2002.
  – "A Sudden Host of Questions on Bell Labs Breakthroughs", 28 May 2002.
• The story was also covered in an article in Chemical and Engineering News ("Bell Labs papers questioned", by Mitch Jacoby, 27 May 2002.)

Lawrence Fields and Jillian Rose write "This is our entry for the [2002 IMM Prizes in Computational Nanotechnology], under the category of "simulation".

The URL below leads to the entry webpage for our respirocyte animation:
http://www.phleschbubble.com/album/beyondhuman/res pirocyte01.htm

To see the quicktime movie, just click on the "click here" text near the top of the page (please note you need Quicktime 5 to view the movie).

The respirocyte, designed by Robert Freitas, is a proposed artificial red blood cell (RBC) which would be injected into the bloodstream. Respirocytes would actively intake oxygen in the lungs and release it in the capillaries, then absorb carbon dioxide before releasing it in the lungs. By working much more efficiently than the body's own RBC's, they would help keep a patient's tissues alive after emergencies which compromise lung function, or other situations of low blood oxygen levels.

The animation was created by Phlesch Bubble Prods. for a PBS documentary about the future of humanity entitled "Beyond Human" (produced by Thomas Lucas Productions)."

Collected Coverage of May NanoBusiness Conference Numerous press reports of the NanoBusiness Spring 2002 conference, organized by the NanoBusiness Alliance (NBA) and held 19-21 May 2002 in New York City, covered the diversity of presentations made during the conference:

• A report from United Press International ("Nanotech's development called inevitable", by Scott Burnell, 20 May 2002) described the visionary presentation by Ray Kurzweil on the potential capabilities of advanced nanotechnology, as well as brief mention of the remarks made by former U.S. House Speaker New Gringrich.
• Gingrichís remarks received more extensive coverage in a similar piece on the Small Times website ("Visionaries see the promise and the nightmare of nanotech", by Jack Mason, 21 May 2002) that also included coverage of Kurzweilís speech.
• Additional coverage of Gingrichís keynote address appeared on the Wired website ("Newt Gingrich Gets Small", by Patrick Di Justo, 20 May 2002).

Coverage of the business and venture capital perspectives on the emerging nanotech sector:

• Another item from Scott Burnell at UPI ("Private funding limited for nanotech", 21 May 2002) noted that "Long lead times for payback on investments probably will discourage venture capitalists from funding nanotechnology start-up companies for some time, [conference] speakers said."
• The cautious approach of some venture capitalists toward nanotech investments was highlighted in an item from CNETís News.com website ("With nanotech, VCs are playing it safe", by Tiffany Kary, 23 May 2002). The article also appeared on the New York Times website.
• A somewhat different perspective was offered by a piece on the Wired website ("Big Bucks From Little Science", by Patrick Di Justo, 23 May 2002).
• Finally, waynerad noted "This article at nanotechweb is from a participant at two nanotechnology business and investment conferences in the US (Nanotech Planet in San Jose and the NanoBusiness Alliance's NanoBusiness Spring in New York City). He says, 'Despite the worst conditions for raising funding for a decade, venture capital and professional services companies are scrambling to get a piece of nanotech.'"

Stephan J. Schmidt writes "According to a press release, Infineon announced that "Infineon Technologies achieves breakthrough in carbon nanotube technology – First microelectronics compatible growth of nanotubes at predefined sites on silicon wafers". The press release is online at:
http://www.infineon.com/news/press/206_101e.htm"

from the late-but-catching-up-fast dept.
The IEEE was not the first engineering professional society to notice nanotechnology, but they are moving fast now. From the June 2002 newsletter "The Institute": Half of the IEEE Societies (19) are represented on its Nanotechnology Council…The Council will hold its second nanotechnology conference on 26-28 Aug. in Arlington…The IEEE is also developing a Web-based virtual community platform to enable collaborations…open to anyone…"

from the "pressure-cooker-stage"? dept.
An accessible overview of future computing hardware is available at Popular Science: "Nanocomputers may also hold promise for managing vast databases, solving complex problems such as long-range weather forecasting, andóbecause they can theoretically be integrated into nanomachinesómonitoring or even repairing our bodies at the cellular level. All this remains highly speculative, of course, because nanocomputing research is at the pressure cooker stage."

from the if-a-harp-plays-on-the-nanoscale-does-it-make-a-sound? dept.
A Christian Science Monitor article reprinted at Technology Review describes a nanoscale "harp" made with by "carving" silicon with a beam of electrons: "It may be the world's smallest harp, but it doesn't play music. It's an example of a nano-electrical-mechanical device. Like a real harp, it has 'strings.' The strings are 50 nanometers (nm) in diameter. That's 50 billionths of a meter, or about 150 atoms thick! They range in length from 1,000 to 8,000 nm. The whole "harp" is the size of a red-blood cell."

from the the-race-is-on dept.
Ken Kahn brings to our attention additional info on the nanotechnology portion of the European Union's Sixth Framework Programme. Mentioned are: self-assembling materials and structures; molecular and bio-molecular mechanisms and engines; methodologies or instruments exploiting the self-assembling properties of matter and developing nano-scale machines. The U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative may want to take note.

from the politicians-in-lovefest-for-nanotech dept.
Smalltimes reports on what surely could be called a nanotech lovefest at a Senate hearing. Here's a sample: "In the coming years, nanotechnology research funded by the National Science Foundation could aid the development of electronic circuits and devices from a single atom or molecule," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space. "Who knows what potential that may have for medicine, for technology, even for homeland security?"…[Gingrich, a Republican:] "The explosion of knowledge in nanoscale science and technology and in the quantum behaviors associated with that scale, from smaller than one atom to about 400 atoms, represents a profound transformation in our understanding of the natural world," Gingrich said. "Every member of Congress should take time to learn the basics of nanoscale activities and the potential of quantum behaviors."