Author: Foresight Editor

from the dollars-for-spheres-'n-tubes dept.
David Kanaan forwards this news: "Applied NanoMaterials, Inc., a provider of nanotechnology-based products, today announced that it has raised $1 million in first round financing. The investor in this round is the Newton Technology VC Fund which also has an option for an additional $2 million investment in the company. Applied NanoMaterials commercializes a revolutionary scientific discovery: nanospheres and nanotubes of inorganic compounds that were discovered at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel."

from the not-*that*-inevitable dept.
Senior Associate Patrick Salsbury writes "Just found The Lifeboat Foundation, which seems to be the latest project of Eric Klien, founder of the (now defunct) Atlantis Project.

Overall, I like and support the idea of moving into space, and building "space arks" to preserve live and spread it around the Universe, however, I find the choice of language and scenarios on the Lifeboat pages to be…well…alarmist. There's talk about the "inevitability" of a gray goo scenario, and various references to info from Foresight newsletters that I'm almost (but not entirely) sure have been taken somewhat out of context.

Here's a sample of the negativity I'm talking about (from the FAQ):
"Obviously, gray goo is inevitable and with that being the case, so is the end of life itself."

I suspect that having this sort of language and attempting to frighten people into the prospect of space exploration isn't going to be the most productive way of doing things. I'm sure the page could use a review by the various folks here. Go explore the above links, and Crit away! (I tried to embed http://crit.org/ links in the above URLs, but slash munged them.)"

from the possibly-not-a-breakthrough-after-all? dept.
Tulsi Zeidman brings to our attention an article stating that the Bell Lab's work on a single-molecule transistor, published in Science and Nature, is now being questioned.

from the macro-money-for-tiny-tech dept.
Science Geek reports that a Alexander Mittal, 17, of Greenwich, Conn., won a top prize in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his computer science project, ìNanoconstruction with Self-Assembling DNA-PNA Complexes.î The project is said to have the potential to change the way computer chips are developed, resulting in smaller, faster and cheaper electronic devices. Mittal will receive a trip to the Nobel Prize ceremonies in Stockholm, a scholarship of $50,000, and a high-performance computer. Read more for the full press release.

from the Molectronics dept.
According to a press release (20 May 2002), IBM announced it has created "the highest performing nanotubes transistors to date and has proven that carbon nanotubes can outperform the leading silicon transistor prototypes available today". According to the release, the IBM researchers were able to achieve the highest transconductance (measure of the current carrying capability) of any carbon nanotube transistor to date. The company said, "With the announcement, IBM is taking carbon nanotubes . . . another step closer to becoming an option for replacing silicon transistors in future devices."

The announcement garnered widespread attention. Read more for additional details of the research and selected press coverage, as well as links to posts on earlier IBM nanotube-related research.

The 13 May 2002 issue of the information technology industry trade journal Information Week contains an extensive feature article on nanotechnology ("The Next (Not So) Big Thing", by David M. Ewalt) that takes a quick, broad look at the field before narrowing down to its potential impact on the IT industry. In an accompanying editorial ("The Future Is Here And It's Verrry Small"), IW Editor Stephanie Stahl emphasizes the point that "nanotechnology has the potential to become one of those disruptive technologies that will dramatically change the way you do business".

The IW issue also contains several sidebars on current and potential applications of nanotech:

• Nanotech Products Will Arrive In Years, Not Decades
• Nanotech May Aid Hospitals, Patients
• The Sky's Not The Limit For Nanotech
• The Nanotech Players

Thanks to Phil Wolff for submitting some of these items.

Mr_Farlops writes "German researchers have developed a simple method to turn light into mechanical energy on the molecular scale. By shining light of one frenquency on an azobenzene molecule, they caused it to crimp and contract, pulling a load. By switching to another frequency, they caused the molecule to relax and stretch, releasing the tension."

Read more for details, links to web reports, and information on other research that indicates lasers can also be used to generate rotary motion in carbon nanotubes.

from the Loose-ends dept.
Hereís a small collection of coverage of the Foresight/IMM Senior Associates Gathering, held in Palo Alto, California, 26 to 28 April 2002:

• Senior Associate and San Jose Mercury News business & technology columnist Dan Gillmor posted some preliminary notes on presentations made at the Gathering by Ralph Merkle, Ray Kurzweil, Stuart Brand, Paul Saffo, David Friedman, and Eric Drexler, in his eJournal entry of 27 April 2002.
• Gillmor also commented on the Gathering in his regular column the following week ("Futuristic small technology promises big changes for all of us", 4 May 2002). As Gillmor notes, "Drexler thinks the nanotech community needs to do a better job of explaining the potential for good. He told this year's gathering, held last weekend in Palo Alto, that we need a ëpicture of the future — a world view — that is workable and appealingí to the wider community, not just the already converted." (If the Mercury News link is broken, the article is also available on the Small Times website.)
• A lengthy piece by Ron Bailey of Reason Magazine ("Whatís the purpose of life? Nanotechnology might provide the answer", 1 May 2002) focuses on a thoughtful and thought-provoking debate between Foresight Advisor Ray Kurzweil and Gregory Stock (Director, UCLA Program on Medicine, Technology and Society) that took place during the Gathering ("BioFuture vs. MachineFuture") on Saturday, 27 April 2002. (Links to some of Baileyís previous commentaries on nanotechnology can be found in a Nanodot post from 3 August 2001).
• Ray Kurzweil has posted a presentation regarding the debate ("Arguments for a Green AND Gray Future") on the KurzweilAI website. Links to audio clips of both Kurzweilís and Stockís presentations, their debate, and the Q&A session that followed, are included.
• Although it was published before the Senior Associates Gathering, an extensive and reasonably well-written article in the Washington Post ("The Next Generation: Biotechnology May Make Superhero Fantasy a Reality", by Joel Garreau, 26 April 2002) touches on many of the looming issues of human genetic and tissue engineering, bio and nanotechnology, transhumanism, AI, and the singularity, and presents views from many perspectives.

Brian Wang writes of news about "carbon nanotube as field emitters

The original paper is described in this abstract in Applied Physics Letters: ON-CHIP VACUUM MICROTRIODE. Integrated, solid-state design had many advantages over the old vacuum-tube style electronics. But some of the tube characteristics, such as the ability to handle high power, might be nice to have on a chip. With carbon nanotubes, acting as miniature emitters of electrons, this might be possible (See Update 454, http://www.aip.org/enews/physnews/1999/split/pnu45 4-2.htm). A new innovation in this regard is the development of an on-chip system of vacuum triodes. Scientists at Agere Systems (a company spun off from Lucent Technologies) build their chip using microelectromechanical (MEMS) technology; a lateral field of carbon nanotubes is grown on a cathode which can then be rotated into a vertical position in order to face a grid (10 microns away) and anode (100 microns away). Radar, electronic warfare, and satellite communications are expected to be the chief applications areas. (Bower et al., Applied Physics Letters, 20 May 2002)"

Mr_Farlops writes "Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories have developed lipids that can grab and carry other molecules as they dart about on an artificial membrane that mimics those found in cells. Producing such a process is not novel however, the methods used to examine it and the insights gained from such examinations are. Because the movement of the lipids appears to be predictable and easy to control, the researchers speculate that such processes can be harnessed to aid in the construction of nanoscale devices."