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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Author: Foresight Editor

Texas foundation seeks to fund nanotechnology research

from the Institutional-innovation dept.
According to an article in the Houston Business Journal ("Nanotech funding foundation to be established in Bayou City", by Jennifer Darwin, 12 April 2002), "A unique endeavor is under way to fund nanotechnology research in Texas, and help turn the Lone Star State into the worldwide center for nanotechnology activity. NanoTex is being established as a foundation designed to fund nanotech research at Texas-based institutions. The Houston-based organization is still in the early launch phase, so its legal structure is not complete and fund-raising has not yet started."

"We truly have an opportunity in Texas to create something that would be the Silicon Valley of the 21st century," says Conrad Masterson, who developed the concept. "It's an area where we have a unique leadership advantage worldwide."

Researchers learn from natural ion channels to design new ones

from the Natural-Nanomachines dept.
An article in Science News ("Channel Surfing: Atomic-resolution snapshots illuminate cellular pores that control ion flow", by John Travis, 9 March 2002) describes the work of researchers who have been uncovering the details of the structure and function of ion channels — protein complexes that act as natural, highly-specific atom sorting devices.

In addition to revealing the operating principles of natural sorters, the research has provided insights into the design of de novo sorter designs, as shown in another online article on the Nature Science Update website ("New channel built: Chemists copy from cells to make a tunnel for salt", by Philip Ball, 13 March 2002), which describes work by George Gokel and colleagues at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, who created a synthetic peptide-based channel can be opened and closed by applying a voltage.

Additional details of research into ion channels and other types of natural atom sorters can be found in Nanodot posts from 17 January 2002 and 2 November 2001.

Open Source GM Crops?

Gina Miller writes "Genetically-modified crops spotlight issues of safety, openness, and intellectual property that will become even more important with molecular nanotechnology. Some similar concerns are reflected in the Foresight Guidelines on Molecular Nanotechnology.

UK report says gene crops could create superweed. Cross-pollination of seeds spilt during harvest allowed three varieties of genetically modified rapeseed plants to exchange herbicide resistance genes, creating a "superweed" resistant to all three herbicides. To avoid these superweeds that would be difficult to eliminate, the recommendation is that only one variety of herbicide resistance be used in genetically modified plants.

Panel Urges U.S. to Tighten Approval of Gene-Altered Crops. The caution recommended by the UK panel was reflected by a panel convened by the US National Academy of Sciences. Noting that biotechnology companies are developing new plants containing combinations of genes, or genes that cause the plant to produce industrial chemicals or other exotic materials, the panel concluded that testing of genetically altered plants should be made "significantly more transparent and rigorous." The panel's conclusion implies that public access to data should take precedence over the ability of companies to keep data confidential.

Can a company still profit from data it releases to the public? Swiss Firm Unveils Plan for Sharing Rice Genome One company poised to publish a "draft" (not completely finished) sequence for the genome of a variety of rice announced a compromise in which the company 'would freely share the information with researchers, but keep the right to license and patent commercial developments'. Other companies preparing sequences of other varieties of rice have promised completely free access to the information. How access to scientific information developed by for-profit entities will be handled is clearly an issue very much in flux: from open source software to biotechnology and gene patents. What will be the trade-offs as nanotechnology matures?"

Nanotube-laced epoxy: three times harder, far bett

brianwang writes "The longstanding promise of superfortified heat-conducting materials has become a reality. University of Pennsylvania scientists have determined that adding a relatively small number of carbon nanotubes to epoxy yields a compound three-and-a-half times as hard and far better at heat conductance than the product found in hardware stores. The researchers report their successful tinkering with the commonplace adhesive in the April 15 issue of the journal Applied Physics Letters. Led by Penn physicist Alan T. "Charlie" Johnson, the team created a composite of 95 to 99 percent common epoxy mixed with 1 to 5 percent carbon nanotubes, filaments of carbon less than one-ten-thousandth the width of a human hair. "These findings add considerably to carbon nanotubesí luster as possible additives to a variety of materials," said Johnson, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at Penn. "In addition to adhesives such as epoxy, we are looking at nanotube-based greases that might be used to carry heat away from electronic chips." Johnsonís group determined that epoxy doped with nanotubes showed a 125 percent increase in thermal conductivity at room temperature. "This is the first published report of enhanced thermal conductivity in a material owing to the addition of carbon nanotubes and the first demonstration of simultaneous thermal and mechanical enhancement of a real-world material," Johnson said. Epoxy is an attractive target for fortification with carbon nanotubes, Johnson said, because itís relatively easy to mix the minuscule filaments into it, and there are clear industrial benefits in a harder, better-conducting epoxy. Other scientists have attempted to fortify epoxy with carbon nanotubes, but Johnsonís group succeeded in dispersing the nanotubes more evenly. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-04/uop -net041502.php"

Upcoming speaking engagements by Drexler, Peterson

from the Plan-ahead dept.
Upcoming speaking engagements by Foresight Chair K. Eric Drexler and President Chris Peterson include:

Extropy Institute Resource Directory – Nanotechnol

Anand writes "The nanotechnology section in Extropy Institute's Resource Directory is now available. It has been divided into three subsections, papers, websites, and miscellaneous, and each subsection contains categories for further improved organization. One of the main goals for the directory is to make each section a continually valuable resource for not only laymen and amateurs, but also for experts. Each section will be regularly updated; any link addition or removal suggestions or comments are very appreciated."

Values are the key to making nanotech work FOR the

Lincoln Roseanna writes "Values are the key to making Nanotech work FOR the future When discussing the implications of Nanotechnology, one assumption has been clearly stated; that someone, somewhere, will abuse the technology.

The strength in that belief of ourselves is the force that creates war, though mistrust, fear, guilt and paranoia.

The emergence of commercial applications for nanotechnology, usable, saleable, mass-producible products, means that we are entering a new stage of evolution. Just as technology for transport changed the way that industry, society, cultures and countries interact with each other so profoundly, this new technological revolution will, in time affect every aspect of our lives on this planet. It is time that the implications of this type of research and development were taken very seriously. It is time that we thoroughly analyse and shift our motivation, and our values."

Read more for the remainder of this lengthy comment.

UCLA researchers propose detailed mechanism for ribosome function

from the Natural-Nanomachines dept.
The translation of DNA/RNA instructions and the synthesis of proteins is arguably the most complex single-site operation carried out by biological systems at the molecular level, and it's done by relatively huge molecular machines called ribosomes. Insight into the operation of these naturally evolved molecular assembly devices could be invaluable to the design of artificial molecular machines.

According to a press release [new URL for archived press release], two UCLA molecular biologists propose a solution in the 21 March 2002 issue of the journal Nature. In their paper, James A. Lake, UCLA professor of molecular, cell and developmental biology, and UCLA graduate student Anne B. Simonson attempt to explain the molecular details of the protein synthesis process, including the location and movement of more than 10,000 atoms. In addition, they have located a novel binding site for transfer RNA (tRNA) when it enters the ribosome.

The research, which involved sophisticated computer simulation, was federally funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy and the Astrobiology Institute

Previous research aimed at working out the structure and function of the ribosome was noted here on Nanodot on 4 April 2001 (with links to earlier posts).

Agilent awards Europhysics prize to nanotube researcher

from the rewarding-innovation dept.
Agilent Technologies Inc., the scientific and instrumentation division spun off by Hewlett-Packard some years ago, announced in a press release (11 April 2002) that it has presented the Agilent Technologies Europhysics Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Condensed Matter Physics to four scientists for their pioneering work in the study of carbon nanotubes. The award was presented at a general conference of the European Physical Society (EPS).

Agilent's Roberto Favaretto, vice president and general manager, Europe/Middle East/Africa, presented the 2001 award to Sumio Iijima, Cees Dekker, Thomas W. Ebbesen and Paul L. McEuen for the discovery of multi- and single-walled carbon nanotubes and pioneering studies of their fundamental mechanical and electronic properties. "The Agilent Technologies Europhysics Prize demonstrates our commitment to fundamental contributions in scientific areas essential to Agilent's future," said Favaretto. "These researchers have made a key contribution by creating an entirely new field in condensed matter physics — a field at the intersection of nanoscience, nanotechnology and molecular electronics."

Dekker was also awarded the 2002 Julius Springer Prize in Applied Physics for his work on the electrical properties of carbon nanotubes and their application in molecular electronic circuits (see Nanodot post from 5 February 2002).

Hypothesis suggests how quantum effects may play a role in brain function

from the Biological-quantum-teleportation dept.
For those who have been seriously inspired or irritated by Roger Penroseís hypotheses on the possible basis of consciousness in quantum effects occurring inside neurons in the brain, a trio of researchers has published a speculative proposal that suggests that biological microtubules may act as quantum electrodynamic cavities and have the potential for quantum entanglement, teleportation and computation. The authors suggest that this mechanism may be responsible for how the brain works, or might at least provide biological building blocks for creating quantum computers. A preprint of their research paper is available online on the arXiv preprint server at http://www.arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0204021.

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