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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Author: Foresight Editor

Micro magazine considers nanotech for semiconductor industry

The November/December issue of Micro Magazine, a trade for the semiconductor manufacturing community, has an article on nanotechnology ("When Micro Meets Nano: Small things considered", by John Conroy). Not surprisingly, the article focuses more on short-term possibilities for molecular-scale transistors, carbon nanotubes, and atomic layer deposition of interest to the microelectronics and semiconductor industry. It also presents some mildly pessimistic comments on the possibility for more advanced nanorobotics from Susan Sinnott, a researcher in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Unviersity of Florida and co-chair of the Ninth Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology in November 2001.

Minatec hopes to create European "Silicon Valley" in France

from the World-Watch dept.
An article on the Small Times website ("French megaproject for microtech hopes to cultivate new companies", by Genevieve Oger, 14 January 2002) provides a useful overview of the purpose and activities of Minatec, a new micro- and nano-technology education, research and business incubation center being developed in Grenoble, France. According to the article, when the facility is completed some time in 2003, the Minatec center "will be $160.3 million worth of buildings and clean rooms to house up to 3,500 researchers, entrepreneurs and students working on micro and nano projects. The site will hold two engineering schools, joint laboratories for still-developing startups and research and development teams from large companies. . . . Its supporters hope that in time it will turn the region into a European "Silicon Valley" for micro and nano." As the article also notes, "Right now, Minatec is mostly about microtechnology, rather than nanotechnology. The center wants to attract more nanotech activity, but has yet to generate the same kind of interest and momentum it has spawned in microtechnology circles."

The initiative to create Minatec was previously covered here on Nanodot on 28 November and 1 August 2001.

EU formulates research budget for Sixth Framework Programme

from the World-Watch dept.
According to information on the website of CORDIS, the (European) Community Research and Development Information Service, the European Union Council of Research Ministers has approved a budget of about 16.3 billion euros (about US$15.6 billion) for scientific research and development under the EU Sixth Framework Programme, which will span the period from 2002 to 2006 . Of this, about 1.3 billion euros (US$1.2 billion) will be devoted to "nanotechnologies, intelligent materials, and new production processes". Some marginally useful materials regarding the nanotech portion of the programme are available on the CORDIS website. The budget is subject to approval by the EU Parliament and finance ministers.

A useful resource (though not updated very often) on EU nanotechnology activities is the Cordis web service on nanotechnology.

Business Week profiles tech "gurus"

In its 4 January 2002 issue, Business Week magazine profiles a number of "Gurus of Tomorrowís Tech". The researchers profiled include Kaushik Bhattacharya at CalTech ("Materials Made to Order"), a specialist in active materials, some of which employ nanoscale components; and Len Adleman at USC ("Tapping DNA Power for Computers"), who is a leading researcher in the use of DNA molecules for computing.

Templeton: "Open source ape" may become first AI

from the unnerving-thoughts dept.
Senior Associate Brad Templeton, also chairman of Electronic Frontier Foundation, has been thinking about AI through uploading: "However, the uploading scenario presents a rather disturbing conclusion. The first super-beings may not be based on humans at all, but instead may be apes. In the course of modern science, it is always the case that we experiment with animals first, years before we attempt anything on people. It's the ethical way, and in many cases the only legal way. As such, as we develop the technology to scan or convert an existing brain into an artificial form, we'll try this first on animals. We'll start with lower ones, and then work up to our closest relatives, the chimpanzee and bonobo…Indeed, the software of this chimp brain might be made available for free distribution. An "open source" ape, for all to experiment on." He makes a plausible case; worth reading.

Nanotechnology policy and research in Canada

from the World-Watch dept.
While the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) and various state and regional programs in the U.S. tend to dominate the news from North America, there is a very significant and increasingly well-coordinated nanotechnology effort underway in Canada as well.

The primary source for current news about Canadian efforts can be found on the Nanotechnology home page of the Canadian National Research Council (NRC), which includes information about policy, government and industry research activities, and an extensive listing of nanotechnology work at Canadian universities.

The establishment of the Canadian National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, part of the NRC system, was covered here on Nanodot on 15 November and 27 August 2001.

Some interesting historical background can be found in the policy discussion that led to the establishment of the NINT:

Pulsating Space Hairs

Rocky Rawstern writes "From Space Daily comes a story about about how artificial "hairs" can provide a precise method for steering small satellites. This technology may be useful with picosatellites. The study is being led by researchers at the University of Washington, and is featured in latest issue of the journal Smart Materials and Structures. The full story is here http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanosat-02a.html"

[Editor's note: The article actually just reprints this press release from the University of Washington.]

USC lab launches project to create nanobot swarms for ocean research

from the mechanoplankton dept.
According to a press release (9 January 2002), the Laboratory for Molecular Robotics (LMR) at the University of Southern California School of Engineering has received $1.5 million research grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to create swarms of microscopic robots. The application envisioned for such a system is to monitor potentially dangerous microorganisms in the ocean.

According to Ari Requicha, a USC professor of computer science and the project's principal investigator, the project spans the fields of nanotechnology, robotics, computer science and marine biology, but is centered on the development of the ultra-small robotic sensors and software systems to control them. Requicha said it will be possible to build nanoscale devices with electrical and mechanical components so that the devices could propel themselves, send electronic signals and even compute. While individual nanoscale devices would have limited computing power and capability, the plan is to have vast numbers of them operating in concert.

Requicha said that nanotechnology today is at the same stage of development as the Internet was in the late 1960's. "The idea that we'll have swarms of nanorobots in the ocean is no more far-fetched than the idea of connecting millions of computers was then," he said. "I don't think these robots will be confined to the ocean. We will eventually make robots to hunt down pathogens or repair cells in the human body."

Read more for additional details on this ambitious project.

More on nanotech initiatives in Taiwan, mainland China

from the World-Watch dept.
A brief item from a Small Times correspondent in Taiwan ("Taiwan focuses on nanotechnology, competes and cooperates with China", by Jen Lin-Liu, 9 January 2002) provides additional information on the countryís developing national initiative to concentrate its efforts on nanotechnology. Taiwan has designated nanotechnology as one of three new industries that they will focus on. The other two are information technology and biotechnology. The article also notes that while the governments of Taiwan and mainland China may be rivals politically, nanotechnology could be one area where they can cooperate.

Recent nanotech-related activity in Taiwan and China was noted here on 7 January 2002, and on 20 November and 18 December 2001.

JPL studies autonomous robotic work crews for space

According to a press release (9 January 2002), NASA researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California have successfully demonstrated the first use of multiple rovers that work tightly in sync to perform tasks such as coordinated grasping, lifting and moving of an extended payload, while navigating through obstacles on natural terrain. The JPL researchers say the rovers function much like a construction crew without a foreman. They note that once the system has been programmed with basic behaviors and coordination models, it is a truly distributed and autonomous intelligence across the robot team that gets the job done, responding to situations of the minute

For more information, visit the JPL Robot Work Crew website.

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